This week's menu...

Every weekend my husband and I create a dinner plan or weekly menu. We both love good food and are on a mission to expose our three girls to a variety for ethnic cuisines and flavors. We still make pizza, grilled cheese (aka Gorilla Cheese in our house) and chicken nuggets, but we are trying to limit the amount of processed foods we consume. Thus much of what we make is from scratch or is semi-homemade. We have a shared pin board on Pinterest called Weeknight Dinners that we both post recipes to that we would like to try AND that we think the kids might like. Below is the list we've come up with for this next week. I'm not sure yet which day will be what yet, but check back and I'll share what we thought of the recipes, any changes or substitutions I make, and actual photos of what our meal looked like. I'd love to hear any questions or comments - especially if you try the recipe too!

Chicken enchilada pasta shells

http://www.aspicyperspective.com/enchilada-style-mexican-stuffed-shells/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=aspicyperspective

Crock pot Greek chicken + farro + cucumber tomato salad 

http://www.chef-in-training.com/2013/07/slow-cooker-greek-chicken/

Grilled Hawaiian chicken with coconut cilantro rice

http://bevcooks.com/2011/07/grilled-hawaiian-chicken-with-coconut-cilantro-rice/

Roast chicken leg quarters + wedge salad 

(I make this all the time and honestly can't remember where I got the recipe. I'll write my steps down and share it with you. As well as how I make stock with the bones in the slow cooker afterwards.)

Vietnamese Bun Noodle Salad

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2014/04/vietnamese-bun-refreshing-noodle-salad-with-vegetables-chicken-herbs-gf-df.html

Shrimp Scami + pasta + green beans

http://www.smokedngrilled.com/easy-healthy-shrimp-scampi/

Summer Corn Chowder!

Tonight I used what we had in the house to make an AMAZING Summer Corn Chowder (if I do say so my self!) The lemon zest, nutmeg, and fresh parsley are key to keeping this fresh tasting and not heavy. Extra fresh pepper and the green onions took it over the top. All of my kiddos gobbled it up too! Gotta love a meal where you are using whole foods, it comes to the table in about 30 minutes, AND everyone likes it!

Ingredients:

• 8 ears fresh sweet yellow corn, husked and silks removed and kernels cut from cob
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 8 slices bacon, cut into 1/4 to 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 medium yellow onion chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 cups water
• 1 lb red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream (or 1/2 and 1/2)
• Zest of 1/2 a lemon
• 1/4 cup minced flat leaf parsley
• 4 sliced green onions

Directions:

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until onion has softened and just starting to brown around edges, about 8 - 10 minutes. Add in the flour and garlic and cook 1 1/2 minutes. While whisking, slowly pour in 5 cups water. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, then stir in corn kernels and potatoes. Add in bay leaf, & nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a light boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley, lemon zest, and cream. Sprinkle each serving with green onions. 

For the love of Pesto!

Pesto is one of throes things that for me is more of a method then a list of ingredients for a recipe.  It's all in how you like it to taste... Serving it to kiddos? Maybe a little less garlic, or try blanching the garlic to remove some of the harshness. Don't have pine nuts? Try another nut or seed. No basil? Any herb or green will do, or even a combination. No parmasean? Use another dry hard cheese, or leave it out completely.

Last week I was searching for something to serve over pasta to go along with some basic grilled chicken. In looking at what I had on hand, I decided to make a spinach pesto. It ended up too garlicky and spicy for my kiddos, but my hubs and I really enjoyed it. I spread a bit of the leftovers on 9 grain toast a few days later and it was pure heaven!

Spinach Pesto:

Ingredients

2 big fistfuls of fresh baby spinach

5+ fat cloves garlic

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup roasted salted pepitas

1/4 cup canola oil

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (I use a very fruity California EVOO so a Tbsp is the perfect amount)

Directions

Wiz everything in a food processor or blender. You may need more liquids. If so, drizzle another tablespoon or so of oil or you could use water. Blend until you have the consistency you like. 

Toss it with fresh cooked pasta for a tasty side. Slather it on toast and serve with a hard boiled or poached egg. Smother a brick of cream cheese & serve with crackers for a fresh & easy appetizer. 

Marmalade Pancakes

Citrus is in season right now. And I LOVE citrus! Last week I picked up beautiful pink fleshed Cara Cara oranges & satsuma cuties from which I made orange sugar. Simply add the zest of an orange to a couple of cups of sugar. Stir to make sure the zest is spread throughout. Store in an air tight container (I use a canning jar.) well. This morning I noticed we had one Cara Cara left and I decided to make pancakes! This is the same square pancake recipe I've shared before, but with an orange twist and an orange syrup to go along. The girls and I gobbled it up! Seriously tasty! 

INGREDIENTS:

(Pancake)

2 cups AP flour

2 1/2 Tbsp. Sugar (I used orange sugar)

2 tsp baking powder (heaping)

1 tsp baking soda (heaping)

1/2 tsp salt (level)

Zest of 1/2 an orange

2 eggs

2 cups milk

1 Tbsp Apple cider vinegar

2 tsp orange extract 

(Marmalade Syrup)

1/2 cup sugar (again I used 

Juice & remaining zest of 1 orange + 2 satsumas

Nonstick cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:

1). Preheat oven to 350*

2). Spray 9 x 13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

3.) Add apple cider vinegar to the milk & let sit while you measure the dry ingredients into a large bowl. 4.) Combine wet & dry ingredients & mix until just combined. Do not over mix. 

5.) Spread evenly in prepared pan & bake for 25 - 35 minutes.

6.) Mean while, combine the syrup ingredient in a small sauce pan & heat over low heat until it bubbles rapidly. Set aside until ready to serve.

7.) Allow pancakes to cool in the pan for 5 - 10 minutes, then slice or use cookie cutters to make shapes. Drizzle with marmalade syrup & Enjoy!

Lollipop Sincerity

Just a quick story today. My two year old cracks me up. When I announced that the plan was to go to Trader Joes, she asked if we could get lollipops. I gave her a quizzical look and she said with her sweet little lisp "Mama, lollipops are good for me. I'm not sick anymore. Daddy gave me Tylenol." And she was most sincere.

Chocolate Chip Square Pancakes

I love pancakes but I don't love standing over the stove flipping them while everyone else gets to eat! Well one night I found the solution while perusing Pinterest. Square pan-cakes! Pancake batter BAKED in a 9 x 13 pan! Genius! And so the next morning I tried the recipe. While the concept was good, the flavor was not pancakey enough. So after trying and tweaking several recipes, I finally landed on one that works. If you have a favorite pancake mix, by all means, use that and bake it up! But if you don't, below is mine.

This morning - after days and days of people in our house being sick - it seemed a little sunshine was in order and chocolate chip pancakes fit the bill! I use this same basic recipe and method to also make lemon berry or cinnamon swirl pancakes. You could be extra fancy and cut shapes out with large cookie cutters once baked, but Thats a little more than I want yo do most mornings. 

And now, instead of flipping pancakes, the oven bakes them while I sit with my coffee & my children play. It's glorious. 

Chocolate Chip Square Pancakes

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups AP flour

2 Tbsp. Sugar

2 tsp baking powder (heaping)

1 tsp baking soda (heaping)

1/2 tsp salt (level)

2 eggs

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract 

1/4 cup oil 

1/2 cup chocolate chips 

Nonstick cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:

1). Preheat oven to 350*

2). Spray 9 x 13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

3). Mix batter & spread evenly in prepared pan.

4). Evenly distribute chocolate chips over batter.

5). Bake for 25 -35 minutes.

ALTERNATES: another of our favorites is to sub lemon extract for the vanilla and frozen or fresh berries for the chocolate chips. For a cinnamon swirl, use vanilla extra in the batter, and melt 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, & 2 Tbsp cinnamon in a small sauce pan over medium heat, until combined and the sugar is melted. Do not boil. Then drizzle by spoonfuls over the batter and bake.