week of june 16

Hi lovely ladiessss

Monday: Leftover fajitas
Tuesday: Unstuffed poblano casserole. Honestly, I love anything with poblanos.
Wednesday: Thursday: Mama in town! So excited about it! Gonna make steak with mushrooms in a red wine sauce and cauliflower puree. I've made this recipe a bunch of times and always love it.
Friday: Taking my mom here. The only Cuban/Caribbean food in Austin and it's so so delish.
Saturday: Ugh.... So my mom will be in town still (staying with us), and Ryan's parents will be in town too to go out on the boat (staying 20 mins away at the lake). And Ryan's dad wants us all to go out to dinner together. Like why would anyone wanna do that? Putting together the 2 sets of parents is so weird. Going to try to avoid it completely. I don't wanna share my Marcia time.

Anybody else? Lou, any other new recipes from Blue Apron?


xo bef

Hi Everyone!

This week is a bit crazy for me, and I'm trying to clean out the fridge/pantry/freezer. But below I posted a few of my most recent discoveries. 

• Copycat Lemon Chicken - I did sub about 1/3 of the butter with coconut oil and it still tasted amazing. I love it with asparagus on the side. 

• Faux Fried Chicken - I used chicken thighs. Amazing! And easy. 

• Grilled Corn with Bell Pepper Butter - I made this at a BBQ last weekend. It was a big hit and perfect side dish. I also added jalapenos to the bell peppers to add some heat.

Happy Eating! I'll have it more together next week. And I can't wait to try that Korean Beef, the freekah, and, of course, the Chancho en Pepsi Cola. 

Baby food and Blue Apron

Hi, hi, hi, hi.
I've missed ya'll, but love reading weekly meals. I've been doing a lot of cooking these days (more than ever), but it's mostly baby food since B is a monster baby and loves to eat everything I put in front of her. The doctor said that baby food isn't necessary and that I should just be pureeing up whatever we eat, but since you usually do delivery or frozen (TERRIBLE), I'm now more motivated than ever to get cooking. Can you imagine how much she'll love the shepherds pie?!?

I guess it hasn't all been delivery or frozen because I have been doing Blue Apron. Have ya'll heard of it? It's pretty fun and a great concept. They send you a box that has the ingredients for 3 different meals, usually chicken, fish, and pork or beef. This pork recipe is by far my favorite thing we've made. It would be perfect for a dinner party because it seems fancy with the rhubarb, but it's really easy and well balanced. Really crisp and delicious for summer! What I love most about the recipes is that you use ingredients you'd never otherwise choose! Who knew that Freekah was healthy and delicious?!?! If you guys want, I have 3 week free trials. You can try it out.

Also, I'm not afraid of the Pepsi. Putting it on the list.

Ingredients

• 6 Ounces Rhubarb

• 1 1-Inch Piece Ginger

• 1 Bunch Thyme

• 1 Lemon

• 1/2 Bunch Asparagus

• 1/4 Cup Whole Almonds

• 1/2 Cup Cracked Freekah

• 6 Pork Tenderloin Medallions

• 2 Tablespoons Honey

• 3 Tablespoons Currants

• About 585 Calories Per Serving

• Makes 2 Servings

Cook the freekah:

Heat a medium pot of salted water to boiling on high. Add the cracked freekah and cook 22 to 25 minutes, or until tender and cooked through. Drain thoroughly and set aside as you continue cooking.

2

Prepare the ingredients:

While the freekah cooks, wash and dry the fresh produce. Cut the rhubarb into ¾-inch pieces . Peel and mince the ginger. Pick the thyme leaves off the stems; discard the stems. Using a peeler, remove the rind of the lemon, avoiding the white pith; mince the rind to get 2 teaspoons of zest. Quarter the lemon and remove the seeds. Trim off and discard the woody ends of the asparagus; cut the asparagus into 2-inch pieces. Roughly chop the almonds.

3

Make the rhubarb chutney:

While the freekah continues to cook, in a small pot, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium-high until hot. Add the ginger and cook, stirring frequently, 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until softened. Add therhubarb, honey, lemon zest and the juice of 2 lemon wedges. Bring the mixture to a simmer then reduce the heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 12 to 15 minutes, or until saucy and thickened. Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of olive oil; season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

4

Cook the pork:

While the chutney simmers, pat the pork medallions dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper on both sides. In a large pan, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium until hot. Add theseasoned pork medallions and cook, loosely covering the pan with aluminum foil, 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until browned and the juice runs clear. Transfer the cooked pork to a plate, leaving any drippings in the pan. Set the pork aside to rest as you continue cooking.

5

Toast the almonds:

While the pork rests, heat the reserved pork drippings on medium until hot. Add the almondsand toast, stirring frequently, 1 to 2 minutes, or until browned and fragrant.

6

Finish & plate your dish:

To the pan of almonds, add the asparagus and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until softened and bright green. Add the currants,cooked freekah and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until well combined; season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat. To plate your dish, add any juices from the cooked pork to the freekah, then divide the pork medallions andfreekah between 2 plates. Top with the rhubarb chutney and garnish with the remaining lemon wedges. Enjoy!

Cookin in a NEW kitchen!

Y'all... Y'ALL. It's so nice cooking in our new kitchen!!! Bigger sink, more burners on the stove, dishwasher that actually makes dishes cleaner. It's all so miraculous.

So anyway, here's what's on tap for this week:

Sunday: Went to XGames. Was 1 billion degrees. Had a salad when I got home and passed out.
Monday: Melissa was over, we made a Thai Fish Curry that I need to post here at another time. There's no version online to link to. But it was awesome and pretty easy!
Tuesday: Meeting a girl for cocktails and oysters and other assorted appetizers. Ryan's on his own (aka eating wings or cheeseburgers bc his metabolism hasn't changed since he was 8).
Wednesday: Having ppl over to grill. They're making/bringing spring rolls and peanut sauce. I'm making rice and Korean Beef (if you haven't made this yet, you're a damn fool).
Thursday: I know we're supposed to hang with another couple, some of Ryan's friends, but not sure if we're cooking or going out yet. TBD.
Friday: Date night to Cru Wine Bar downtown. I see some tuna tartare, pizza, and great wine in my future.

If we cook at home on Thurs, I'm considering making Unstuffed Poblano Casserole because I heard it's easy and like sosososososo good.

I really wanna make Chancho en Pepsi but 2 liters of Pepsi literally gives me anxiety. I made the mistake of Googling the ingredients in Pepsi. Don't make my mistake.

Mich- I want the recipe for ribs and for choc mousse.

Chancho en Pepsicola Recipe

Chancho en Pepsicola

*******************

1/2 sick of butter
1/2 tbsp of sugar
pork tenderloin, cubed
2 liters of pepsi
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, sliced
3 pieces of garlic
1 tomato, chopped
Worcestershire sauce
mustard

Melt butter in a skillet. Add 1/2 tablespoon of sugar and brown the pork.

In a separate pot, add 1 liter of pepsi. Once warm and the pork is browned, add the pork to the pepsi pot.

In a blender, liquefy the second liter of pepsi, onion, green bell pepper, tomato and garlic. Add to the pork and season with Worcestershire sauce and a bit of mustard. Cook until pork is super tender and the liquid is reduced (you're going for a little syrupy).

Forget about the fact that you just cooked with 2 liters of pepsi, and enjoy with mashed potatoes!

Week 23 - We're back!

Let's just pretend that May didn't happen. I don't know why I didn't write. We cooked a ton, but between selling the house (woot!) and work being crazy, posting just didn't happen.

I had already planned out my menu this week when I went through some old cookbooks. I'll be digging up some oldies for the next few weeks. This one is pretty standard though!

Sunday: Chancho en pepsi cola
Also made gallo pinto, chicken salad, and chocolate mousse with Amelia. It was fun!
Monday: Salmon with pasta and broccoli
Tuesday: Leftovers for the family. Momma's getting dinner and drinks with a friend!
Wednesday: Coconut chicken curry
Thursday: Spaghetti with homemade bolognese sauce
Friday: Out most likely
Saturday: Ribs- I'm going to perfect this recipe so it's fall-off-the-bone every time!

What do you have going on?? xo

Week of April 28

Well hellooooo again, my loves. It's been a long while since I've posted. We're moving on Friday into the new house, so things are crazy for us. Nothing from the kitchen is packed yet though, so we don't have any excuses for ordering in :)  But the entire house is a mess, and it's literally killing me.

My new job has a cafe where 2 meals a day, plus dessert are served. Breakfast has tons of fruit, hardboiled eggs, yogurt, 1 fruit smoothie, 1 veggie smoothie, kolaches, croissants, and muffins every day. Lunch is sometimes weird but usually okay, and there's a dessert at lunch every day. Today it was assorted petit fours (see snapchat), but there'a also been a chocolate fountain, cupcakes, chocolate truffles, ice cream sundaes, and more. I'm getting fat y'all! Needing to reel it in at work and at home, and also step up my gym time. Going twice this week.

Monday: Meeting a friend for super early dinner, gym 8-9
Tuesday: Making Ryan grill something? Grilled fish and broccoli maybe?
Wednesday: Chipotle lime chicken, beans, okra
Thursday: Keepin it simple- out for fajitas
Friday: MOVING DAY!!!

I really wanna try making a tamale pie sometime soon- it just looks so damn good, even though it's def not healthy.

xo
bef

Week 17 2014 + A whole lotta rain

It is gray gray gray here. I guess it beats cold cold cold. But still, it's end of April. I need warmth, and sunshine, and all things hot. I'm starting to get cranky.

The weekend was fine weather-wise, but still cold. Two more weeks until we're in Mexico and then I can hopefully shake off the crank.

Below is our menu for the week, and we're adding a goal of gym/exercising 4 times this week. I will be happy if we get anywhere near that. So, like, once would be a huge step up.

Monday: Salmon with cauliflower soup
Tuesday: Steak and Carnitas Fajitas. Skirt steak recipe I used to do in high school. Sort of remember, I'm going to wing it. If it's good, I'll post! Carnitas recipe here.
Wednesday: Lasagna. The Stouffers kind. No judgement.
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Burgers and baked fries.
Saturday: Mom's in town! Probably out. Nothing planned though.
Sunday: Mariana's first communion party - no plans, but might be out in the suburbs still or do something low key in town.

What have yall got going on??

xo

Week 16 2014

Easter! Spring! Sunshine! Patios! I love this time of year. We hung outside a lot this weekend. Will fancied up our outdoor spaces- moved the table from the back porch to the front terrace, hung up a chair swing on the back porch, cleaned up the fire pit. It was great. We went to the park twice, had popsicles after nap time, (which should be a daily thing because I can't think of anything better than popsicles after nap time), and listened to music while playing outside.

This week I'm feeling so uninspired. Don't judge me. I just needed to put the week's menu on here to make it official so I don't eat pb&j for dinner every night, which is what I want to do.

Sunday: White boy tacos (ground beef with chili powder, cumin, and groudn coriander, served with corn tortillas, sour cream, cheese and lettuce)
Monday: Chicken tenders and mac and cheese with the girls while Will is away in NYC for work
Tuesday: Turkey Burgers - I'll let Will man the grill
Wednesday: Chipotle Beef Stew with grits (I do this in the slow cooker)
Thursday: probably leftovers- Will has class
Friday: Out with the Hassbergers at The Dawson
Saturday: Grilled Brats and Turkey Hot Dogs for the girls - again, I'll let Will man the grill :)

What do yall have going on? xo

Week 15 2014 Menu

What happened to weeks 11-14? They didn't. *Cue Twilight Zone music*

Life just happened. What can I say. We were still cooking and setting menus, but I didn't post. Shame on me.

We're coming back from an amazing time in California to celebrate Cristina's 25th birthday! It was awesome- good food, good drinks, pool time, family time. It was all awesome. The highlight was when a girl fell in love with Alex at the bar and was creepily standing just outside of our circle laughing at his jokes. Polky-dots, we will never forget you!

Here's what we have going on this week:

Monday: French Onion Braised Chicken
Tuesday: Garlic Shrimp and Quinoa
Wednesday: Salmon (Lou's with Dill or Asian-inspired)
Thursday: Sloppy Joes
Friday: Out to Nellcote with some friends
Saturday Brunch: With the Hannas!!!
Saturday dinner: Leftovers + Asparagus soup
Sunday: Easter! We'll spend the day with family in the suburbs

We're also starting a vegetable chart for the girls. It's really basic, but it's a star chart to make sure they have a variety of fruits and vegetables in a week. There are rows for Red, Orange, Green, Blue, and Purple, and we put a sticker in that row if we eat that vegetable that week. According to mom (and Traditional Chinese Medicine) the goal should be weekly which completely feels attainable. Plus putting in the form of a star chart makes it fun!

My goal for next week is to try one or two new recipes.

What are yall up to this week? (Minus Eli who is prancing around California for the next 18 days!!)

Week 10 2014

I didn't post last week because I really wasn't feeling it. I cooked only a little bit, and we definitely took a hit because of it. I didn't bring my lunch in, the girls had breakfast for dinner twice, and I had a PB&J for dinner one night.

Will was in New Orleans, so the girls and I had a lot of quality time together. We had a sleepover at my uncle's house on Saturday night. Complete with a spa event where the girls got mani/pedis. Sunday we went to a birthday party for Amelia's park friend. They had a little petting zoo come in and it was AMAZING. Chinchillas, chicks, turtles, an anteater, an owl, a pig... oh and a chihuahua (randomly). The below shot is just before Amelia casually brushed the poor chinchilla off her head. He landed on his feet. He was fine. Amelia said she didn't like it scratching her head. Annelise hated all the animals- she was playing with the windows most of the time. I got them together for the turtle, but they hated it. You can see Amelia moved her legs way off to the side so as not to touch him.

Amelia and Chinchilla

With a really old turtle. The girls did not like him.

I'm still not totally up for cooking, but at least I have a plan! Here is what we have going on:

Sunday: Cauliflower Turkey and White Bean Chili. This was a spontaneous recipe. I was making cauliflower soup while cooking the ground turkey for the chili, and I said 'What the heck' and dumped the cauliflower soup in the chili pot instead of using chicken broth for the chili. It came out really well and different. 

Monday: Coconut Chicken Curry

Tuesday: Out for a coworker's goodbye dinner. Leftovers for the rest.

Wednesday: Zuppa Toscana

Thursday: Irish Beef Stew 

Friday: Leftovers or out. Nano's older kids might be staying with us over the weekend, so what to stay flexible.

Saturday: Pollo en salsa blanca. Really easy chicken in white sauce that dad used to make for us at the restaurants when we were little. Have we posted the recipe here before?

Sunday: Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork tenderloin

What do yall have going on??

xo

Week 8 2014 Menu

Helloooooooooo!

Sorry this is a day late. I'm moving at snails pace this week. Both girls are now sick. Last night, Annelise refused to sleep anywhere that wasn't touching me. At one point, I was sprawled on the bed, reaching down into the travel crib with my hand on her butt. As soon as I removed my hand, she screamed. I had her sleeping on my chest, and tried to roll her off me, onto the bed, in between me and Will, and she screamed. Finally, I took her downstairs and was resolved to let her cry, but she fell asleep right away! Then, two hours later, Amelia came busting into the room and climbed into bed, but it took her over an hour to fall asleep. It was a squeeze play and Will and I lost.

Last week's Chicken Marbella was AMAZING really recommend it!! Thanks Lou for sharing!

As far as meals go, this week is relatively easy.

Monday: White Fish Special
Tuesday: Irish Beef Stew with mashed potatoes and broccoli
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Pineapple Pork Shoulder (I'll put up the recipe later!)
Friday: Will and I have a black tie event that a friend invited us to. Should be fun to dress up!!
Saturday: Roasted Chicken. Amelia was invited to a sleepover at my uncle's house. She's pretty excited, although she thinks she's moving there, and excited about it. So I'm disturbed she thinks she's leaving for forever.

What are yall up to?? Miss you all so much! xo

Week 7 2014 Menu

Hi everyone!

We had a rough weekend. Amelia was sick throughout so I didn't sleep much. Will did plan a wonderful Vday dinner for us - oysters and king crab legs. Saturday, we hung around with the girls and prepped for a brunch that we were hosting on Sunday. Then yesterday, our offices were closed for President's day, so Will and I went to see Monument's Men. I thought it was good. Will hated it, though.

Here's this week's menu- nothing too elaborate, except I'm really excited to try Lou's Chicken Marbella recipe.

Monday - Rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes
Tuesday - Leftovers (or Will has to fend for himself - I have a class at CrossTown Fitness to check out!)
Wednesday - Chancho en pepsi-cola (a Yoli recipe, I'll save the breakdown for another time if we haven't shared on here already)
Thursday - Beth's Poblano Pepper Tacos
Friday - Chicken Marbella
Saturday - Shrimp tacos (or something like that)

By the way, for the brunch, I made two types of breakfast casseroles - one vegetarian, one not - , along with steel cut oats. I'd never made steel cut oats before, but really recommend them! Much heartier than the quick cook stuff and it's the exact same product.

The vegetarian breakfast casserole came out amazing so I really recommend it:

Mediterranean Breakfast Casserole
cubed challah bread
eggs
milk
cottage cheese
feta cheese
basil, chiffonade
jarred roasted red bell peppers, chopped

preheat oven to 375
lay the cubed challah bread in the casserole dish and sprinkle the feta cheese and roasted bell pepper on top
whisk together eggs, milk, cottage cheese and pour over bread mixture in casserole dish
top with basil
bake in the oven until it starts to brown on top and is no longer wobbly if you jiggle it (super scientific metric, nbd)

Also - these are my sous-chefs:

Week 6 2014 Menu

We had a super successful game night on Saturday night! It got sloppy pretty fast and we spent our hangover on Sunday at Target letting the girls create mass chaos. We're such good parents. I think this was the first time that both Will and I were nursing hangovers at the same time. All in all it didn't go too bad. Bars were 100% lowered- Amelia watched Brave two times in a row while Annelise napped and Will and I lay motionless on the bed.

This week I'm not feeling too ambitious on the menu. I have to start training for the half marathon, and I'm pretty sure I agreed to running the Chicago marathon in my drunk state on Saturday. Need to figure out how to get out of that one...

Sunday: Leftovers
Monday: Roasted Red Pepper Pasta with roasted broccoli
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Asian Chicken Wraps
Wednesday: Creamy Chicken Quinoa and Broccoli
Thursday: Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes
Friday: V-Day. Will's getting oysters and we're drinking champagne when the girls are asleep. Low key :)
Saturday: Sausage Pasta Bake

Lou, I'm going to try the Chicken Marbella next week!

What do yall have going on?

xo

Week 5 2014 Menu

Hi everyone,

Firstly I miss yall. I had an amazing time with Louise and Baby Blake this past weekend and it made me realize how isolated I feel most of the time. Being with Lou and B was so special and heart warming, not to mention she's the cutest thing and I can't wait to introduce her to her best friends, Amelia and Annelise!

A menu is not really happening this week because we have a weird schedule, but here's a loose framework of what we have going on.

Sunday: Will picked up philly cheesesteak sandwiches for the Super Bowl
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Will and I are going to Phantom of the Opera so we'll pick up some food beforehand.
Wednesday: We got invited to Disney on Ice with some friends. Lord help us.
Thursday: Chipotle Beef Stew. Lou found out the hard way that this is really spicy. I'll use Beth's trick of squeezing the sauce out of the peppers and discarding the peppers. Last time Will and I just forced it all down, so this will hopefully go down smoother.
Friday: Sausage Ragu with Polenta - this was a huge hit last time! Really recommend it.
Saturday: Game Night got rescheduled last time so really looking forward to it! Lou lent us her Cards Against Humanity for the occasion. Same menu as before: Peruvian chicken with veggies
Sunday: Shrimp tacos

What are yall up to?

xo