Weekly Menus - July 9, 2012

Hey hey hey! And we're back! There's been a lot of travel, a lot of ordering in, and a lot of not going to the gym. That changes now! I'm doing the goals again, and the weeks are Monday-Sunday. So this week the goals are:

Gym: 4 times
Cooking: EVERY NIGHT! (fingers crossed I don't resort to PB&J one night but even that counts!)

Here's the ambitious menu for the week! I've allotted for two leftover days.

Monday: Spring Salad (apple, goat cheese, chicken, cranberry walnut vinaigrette) and Cauliflower soup
Tuesday: White Fish Special with Rice
Wednesday: Coconut basil chicken curry with Rice
Thursday: Shepherd's Pie
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Sweet and Fiery Pork Tenderloin
Sunday: Leftovers; Black Bean Soup; quesadillas

I also started a new system. With a composition notebook, I'll be writing down my grocery list on the left and my weekly menu on the right. That way as I'm planning my menu, I'll make sure I have everything and throughout the week, I can jot down what we need or what I'm inspired to cook for next week. We'll see how that goes.

What are yall up to?

The best chicken salad in the world!

Apricot almond chicken salad is one of my FAVES for lunch. Here's my recipe... I just kinda wing it on amounts and adjust as I taste.

• 1 lb. chicken breast (salted/peppered, baked, cubed). I actually usually buy the tenders bc theyre cheaper and bake faster.
• 5 celery stalks chopped
• 5 green onions chopped
• Sliced almonds
• Mayo (I like reduced fat b/c it's not as gloopy and it makes my ass less gloopy as well)
• Apricot preserves (you don't use a lotta mayo cause you use this instead)
• Dried apricots chopped

I definitely didn't use all of the green onions pictured here. I just mix it all up! I usually do chicken first w/ a tiny bit o mayo, then celery and green onions, then I add some preserves and mix, then add the dried apricots, almonds, salt, and pepper, and I mix (and add additional preserves if necessary). I put it on some 100% Dark German whole wheat for lunch today... HEAVENNNN

Rick Bayless Recipes

Ryan and I both love Mexican flavor profiles so there are 3 Rick Bayless recipes I want to make soon...

chipotle cream shrimp
http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=325

milanesa de pollo with avocado-tomatillo salsa
http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=180

spicy fish in a packet
http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=181

Chicken Enchiladas Recipe Reviews

I cannot describe in words how awesome this was. It's a totally walmart recipe but it can easily be high-browed up. For instance, using a crema fresca instead of cream cheese. Here is the straight recipe:

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas from MyRecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 Onion - chopped

2 4oz cans of chopped green chiles (The recipe only called for one. I used two.)

1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened

3 c of cooked, shredded chicken

White Pepper - to taste

8 flour tortillas

Monterrey Jack cheese

1 c whole milk (The recipe calls for 2 c of whipping cream, but I didn't have it and didn't want to use it)

Heat oven to 350*

Saute onions until soft

Add chopped green chiles and cook together for about 5 minutes

Add cream cheese and stir until melted and well mixed with veggies

Add chicken and stir until heated through and combined

Add white pepper to taste

Take a flour tortilla and fill with chicken filling, roll up and place on a baking sheet

Repeat until baking sheet is full or you run out of chicken filling or tortillas

Cover with monterrey jack cheese and pour milk/cream over all

Bake for 30-45 minutes (mine was getting golden after about 20 minutes so I took it out then)

It was so easy and so good and even better today for lunch. 

Enjoy!

June 10 - Weekly Menu

Ookkiiieee doke, my turn.

Sunday: Roasted chicken, chimichurri veggies, roasted rosemary potatoes (my first real meal since last Wednesday!! i had a super painful infection in my intestines and could only eat bananas, pudding, and toast for so long. i feel good today though finally!)
Monday: Chicken pesto potato hash with fried egg on top (this was freaking delicious and super fast)
Tuesday: Girl night at Apothecary Cafe
Weds: Mushroom/poblano tacos early then going to Zilker Park for Blues on the Green
Thurs: Shrimp and blue cheese grits (a la Ryan)
Friday: Driving to Dallas... any ideas for something easy/quick I can make for us before we hit the road??

Week of June 10th - Weekly Menu

** Don't know how this didn't post last night, but here is my menu for the week! **

I'm starting early with my menu this week because we're traveling and want the leftovers to sustain Will and Amelia while I'm gone.Will's traveling Monday, Tuesday; I'm gone Wednesday through Friday. I get in Friday night so for sure there will be some delivery going down. We'll see how this goes...

Sun- Shepherd's Pie
Monday- Chicken Enchiladas - Found this delicious looking recipe on MyRecipes.com, but I think I'll adjust to make it slightly healthier. Or maybe not...
Tuesday- Sloppy Joe's with Baked Fries and corn on the cob
Wednesday-Friday: In DC so hopefully the above will give Will and Amelia enough leftovers to survive!
Saturday - Coconut Basil Chicken Curry + Rice and Broccoli
Sunday - Baked Tilapia Fish Tacos

Hope we stick to this! I really had to rack my brain for ideas on recipes this week - even though it's not even really a full week of recipes! My creative juices must be running low. All I want is cake and macaroni and cheese. and pizza of course. Have yall been cooking? What's been going on?

S'mores Cupcakes..

So this weekend I decided to ignore my Lose it! app and pretend it wasn't bathing suit season. I have ALWAYS wanted to make s'mores cupcakes and Sunday turned out to be the perfect day for them.

While I was in Dallas for Ali's graduation I watched Tia Ana make the merengue for the Tres Leches and took serious notes. These cupcakes provided the perfect opportunity for me to practice that recipe.

*CAUTION* these are delicious cupcakes so there will be lots of sugar... and it will be worth it. (I might have had one for breakfast this morning)

makes 24 cupcakes
Components
1. Graham Cracker Bottom (from scratch)
2. Chocolate Cake/Cupcake (from box)
3. Merengue Top (from scratch)

Graham Cracker Bottom 
(I had leftovers of this so next time I'm either making the base thicker or only making half of this recipe)

3 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
10 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line a cupcake pan with baking cups.

In a large bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter until evenly coated. Place a tablespoon sized scoop of the mixture in the bottom of each baking cup. Using a glass or bottle the size of the base of the cupcake, press down the graham cracker crumbs until they form a solid crust.

Bake for 5 minutes to allow the base to harden. Cool for 5-10 minutes before filling with cupcake batter.

Cupcake Batter
I went to the grocery store and bought Betty Crocker's Devil's Food Cake Mix and made the batter according to the instructions.

Scoop the batter on top of the graham cracker base and bake for as long as the box tells you to.

Mine was on 325 degrees F for 18-22minutes.

Set aside and let cool once that is done.

Merengue Top

Sugar Part:
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup water
- Boil on med/high heat in a pot
- Until sugar drips off fork slowly (thicker than olive oil but not as thick as honey)

~Meanwhile~

-Place 4-6 egg whites in Kitchen Aide Mixer (Yoli and Tia Ana fight about how many egg whites to use- Tia Ana says 4)
- Put on speed 6
- When REALLY frothy (starbucks frothy..) increase speed to 10 then...
- Pour sugar mix (from above) sloowwlly into kitchen aide
- The bowl will get hot from the warm sugar mix - keep mixing at that speed until bowl had cooled down

*Dad says the secret is to add a pinch of Cream of Tartar during the mixing process too

Oh and I don't have one of those fire torcher things so my cupcakes look like the picture above but without the fire look..

And you're done! Sorry for the delicious temptations that are now on your kitchen counter! I brought some into work today.

Cris

Short Week's Menu

I have to write this menu down or else I'll forget! Even though it's a short week I HAVE to stick to the menu. This past weekend, we had fried cheese curds at every meal. This is not a joke. Every. Meal. We also went to a farm in what is now being called Amelia's Worst Day Ever. It turned out alright because she's such a trooper.

So...Menu...

Monday: Got in late so ordered in salads. Yes. Salads. They were awesome.
Tuesday: Carne Molida with ground turkey + black beans + rice
Wednesday: White Fish Special with rice and roasted broccoli
Thursday: Honey Dijon Pork with brussel sprouts
Friday: Leftovers or out.
Saturday: Brisket with corn tortillas

What have yall got going on??

Wknd review + weekly menu

Whhaaaaaat a weekend I just had! It was so amazing to get some QT with the Mirshak fam and to nuzzle lil AMELIAAAAAA.... obsessed with her. Chicago was far cooler than I had imagined and I really, really love it there!!! It's like NYC but you can actually drive around and park the car. Seriously- what an awesome city. Michelle, you have a great setup there, and I can't wait to come back when the guest room is ready :)
Anyway, it was a super indulgent weekend. I never really have desserts but when I do, I just crave them more and more after. So I'm scaling back this week on sugar and carbs and such. This week's menu:

Mon: Ratatouille and grilled whole grain bread
Tues: Sushi for a girlfriend's bday
Weds: Grilled whole fish and sauteed rainbow swiss chard, OR spicy orange stir fry w/ brown rice
Thurs: I just can't stop myself... poblano and mushroom tacos
Fri: Out! Tyler moved here and Taylor's in town for another wknd, so we'll all go out somewhere

Carne Molida Recipe

The actual name is Carne Enchorizada. Carne Molida is easier to say though :) This is something that we grew up eating at least once a week. Yoly would whip this up along with rice. I remember coming home from school or practice and seeing the serving dishes ready and waiting on the kitchen island. Ahh... to have a Yoly in my life again.

I'm sure she used ground beef, although I don't remember the flavors being all that different. I loved it with ground turkey and to be honest I don't think I have ever bought ground beef. So I'll stick with the turkey.

I'm new at the documenting process and completely forget to take a shot of the finished product.... I was starving and couldn't shovel food in my mouth and snap a picture at the same time. But here we go!

Weekly Menu - week of April 23

Oh what a couple of weeks! Between San Francisco and New York, I don't really know where my head is. And I definitely left my stomach in San Francisco. There has been very little that draws my attention to food lately. Chicken tenders did it yesterday. Hopefully getting back into the routine will force me to start making better eating decisions. Since my brain hurts and I'm still in my robe (NO JUDGEMENTS!), I'll just cut right to the chase- below is this week's menu:

Monday: Roasted Tarragon Chicken
Tuesday: White Fish Special
Wednesday: Carne Molida (ground turkey with potatoes, green peppers, tomatoes, and carrots)
Thursday: Roasted Salmon (probably a la Louise with dill yogurt sauce)
Friday: Leftovers or Out
Saturday: Brisket

Juicin' tomorrow

Ookkkaayyy scratch everything for tomorrow's menu- a PR company just delivered 6 juices (fo' free!) for tomorrow from Snap Kitchen's Clean Start program. That's ALL I'm allowed to have tomorrow. I've never done a juice fast before so I'm a tid bit terrified. But it's just one day and it's not like I'm gonna go to bikram after (or ever), so it'll be fiiiine. I have to track my day/hunger/energy level and post about it on my blog, so yall will be able to read the results there on Thursday.

Snap Kitchen Clean Start Juices (in the order that I'm supposed to drink them):

- Super Greens (kale, spinach, cucumber, lemon)
- Energy Boost (coconut water, papaya, watermelon)
- Antioxidant Juice (beets, apple, cayenne pepper)
- Carrot Ginger Elixir (green apple, carrot, ginger)
- Spicy Basil Lemonade (coconut palm sugar, basil, lemon)
- Raw Protein Cashew Shake (raw cashews, agave nectar, cinnamon)
>>I'm missing one of the juices in the pic above

Is it wrong that I now want to binge tonight at dinner? I won't... I won't... think wedding dresses, think wedding dresses.

Vegtastic

Going greeeeeen this week with no meat or cheese (and very litte bread and crackers). I had a really, really, REALLY indulgent wknd and I just feel like Oprah. I'm 1 month out from trying on dresses in Chicago with Michi! Time to prioritize fruits and vegetables. I also watched Food, Inc this wknd and OMG scary. I went to the grocery store after and it was way more expensive to buy mostly organic eggs and veggies... but it didn't make that much of a difference, and not buying meat or wine def brings down the gro bill.

Monday PM: mushroom/poblano tacos
Tues lunch: leftover tacos
Tues PM: spicy orange veggie stir fry
Weds lunch: big greek salad with pepperoncini, olives, artichoke, tomatoes
Weds PM: Kale with mushrooms and poached eggs I've never had kale before.. so we'll see how this goes
Thurs lunch: out to lunch at Leaf for a big salad
Thurs PM: spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and a side salad
Fri lunch: big greek salad with pepperoncini, olives, artichoke, tomatoes
Fri PM: out somewhere? maybe sushi

I've been making blueberry banana smoothies with iced coffee blended in for breakfasts... so good.

Weekly Menu - Week of 4/2

I am going in the complete opposite direction as Beth apparently. I haven't gone grocery shopping this week for dinners. Trying to use up what we have before the big birthday weekend!

My goals from last week, which were the same, rendered the same results 5/6 for eating-in, 3/4 for exercise. I'll get there soon! Just have to push myself a liiiiiitle harder.

Below is what I have going on- totally uninspiring.

Monday - Porterhouse steak with sage-butter mashed sweet potatoes (pic at left!) Dad sent us some crazy waygu steaks a while ago. Finally made this one and it was beyond words good. Of course I spend 15 minutes fanning the smoke alarm because it was going berserk over the smokiness. 
Tuesday - Leftovers (had Chinese food Sunday - love that tradition)
Wednesday - Honey Hoisin Chicken wings (didn't make this last week)
Thursday - Carne molida (just ground turkey with some veggies) with rice
Friday - Amelia's birthday and Louise in town!!! We'll have to do a birthday dinner and sake bombs as is the tradition.
Saturday - Pork shoulder with tortillas + fixings and hamburger buns with bbq sauce. and lots of cake. Dinner at The Bristol with the birthday girl and the Hannas!
Sunday - Easter Sunday! Brunch at the Rhineharts. Probably order in dinner since we'll be recovering from a party weekend.

I'll see if I can convince the mister to do a veggie only week ... or I just won't tell him we're doing it. mwahaha.

Weekly Menu!

Heyyy party people! I convinced Ryan to do 1 week of no-meat dinners. Miracle! I'm also gonna try to make it as dairy-free as possible for extra cleanliness. Here's what's on the menu:

Mon- Harmony's in town and we're doing dinner at this vegetarian/vegan restaurant.
Tues- Mushroom/poblano tacos on wheat tortillas with avocado, cilantro. No cheese or sour cream.
Weds- Spicy orange veggie stirfry with brown rice.
Thurs- Grilled whole fish stuffed with lemon and thyme with roasted garlic broccoli.
Fri- Chana masala and veggie korma with brown rice.

I'm gonna also try to do lunches and breakfasts the same way. Here are some ideas.

Breakfast ideas:
KIND granola with almond milk
Berries and honey
Wheat toast and scrambled eggs

Lunch ideas:
Baked falafel with hummus
Whole wheat toast with avocado, sprouts, tomato
Leftover mushroom/poblano tacos
Greek salad with tabbouli, pepperoncini, olives, tomatoes