I usually feel much more comfortable following a recipe that I know has been tested and deemed satisfactory by someone with much more culinary experience than myself than I do creating my own recipe. And to be perfectly honest, at 5:00 when I'm hungry and tired, my creative juices aren't usually flowing and I don't want to even think about coming up with my own dinner creation. I have my favorite websites that I like to pull recipes from and I trust them to be reliable. I tell you all of that to let you know that I broke out of my old recipe search habits and I actually came up with my very own shrimp stir fry recipe recently - and everyone liked it! A trip to Trader Joe's was all it took to give me the inspiration for this dish. Great looking produce and a bag of frozen shrimp screamed shrimp stir fry to me. I had intended to bring my ingredients home and look up a recipe for stir fry but a quick search of the internet proved useless. I like to load my stir fry up with vegetables and keep my sauce simple. After several minutes of searching, I realized that I was not going to find what I needed to I decided to venture out on my own. (Scary territory for me.) I pulled the hoisin sauce from my general tso's chicken out of the refrigerator, and my sauce idea was born. A little hoisin, a little soy, some sherry for flavor and some cornstarch to thicken. Here is the key to putting together a great stir fry in a short amount of time --- prep everything ahead of time! I'm not kidding. Having all of the ingredients prepped and ready will save you tons of time and lots of headaches when you're ready to make your stir fry. Shrimp Stir Fry
Combine hoisin sauce, soy sauce, cornstarch and sherry. (Not pictured in order.) Add partially cooked shrimp and sauce to skillet. Cook until sauce thickens and shrimp is cooked through. (Check out that steam!) I served my stir fry with brown rice and pineapple slices. Yum. Ciao!
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My grandmother and I had a tradition of going out for waffles at our favorite little coffee shop when I was really small. My grandfather would take the two of us out for waffles before I could even tie my own shoes. I have the best memories of our conversations over a steaming plate of buttery waffles.
I have tried to recreate those waffles for my family at home. Although the atmosphere is different and the company has changed, the waffles are just as crispy I remember. Buttermilk Waffles 1 Tablespoon sugar 1/2 cup sour cream 2 cups flour 2 eggs 1/2 cup dried buttermilk 1/4 teaspoon vanilla 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup oil 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 1/4 cups seltzer water
Pour batter into the waffle iron and wait for the beep. I like my waffles simple - with just a sprinkling of powdered sugar. My family likes to eat them with maple syrup and fresh strawberries. Either way - they're delicious. Ciao! Meal planning seems to be a universal struggle. We all have to face the dreaded "what's for dinner?" question on a regular basis. That one little question - those three simple words - can be the source of a whole lot of stress for a lot of people. (And I am certainly no exception.) What should I make for dinner? What ingredients to I need? Am I going to have to run to the grocery store? How am I going to find the time to fix this meal? If I make this, is my family going to eat it? Any of that sound familiar? We all struggle with those same questions. Everyone handles their meal planning differently. I wish that there was one easy solution for perfect menu planning but unfortunately, what works for one person is probably not going to work for another. Even though I don't have a secret formula for menu planning I can share with you the way that I go about planning the meals that I feed my family each week. I don't want to deceive you into thinking that menu planning is easy or that it happens automatically. There is an initial time commitment to menu planning but trust me when I tell you - if you take the time to plan well, it will save you LOTS of time in the long run. I normally spend about 30 minutes each week looking over our calendar for the week and trying and figure out what meals are going to work best. I have a weekly schedule of meals that I like to start with and then I go from there. Monday: Meatless Monday (Usually Fish) Tuesday: Chicken Wednesday: Salad, Soup or Sandwiches Thursday: Beef or Pork Friday: Pasta or Pizza Saturday: Something Grilled Sunday: Breakfast for dinner night It rarely ever works out quite that perfectly because there are all kinds of things that get in the way of my dinner plans. Soccer games, practices, weekend trips, dinner time meetings, unexpected catering orders, etc. Let's face it -we're all busy and sometimes we just don't have the time to prepare a fancy meal - or any meal for that matter. I do my best to cook for more than one meal at a time so that when those dinner interruptions occur, I have something quick that I can serve my family in spite of those obstacles. But inevitably there are those nights when I find myself running out to pick up dinner at 8:00 at night because we're just getting home from a soccer game and everyone is starving and I don't have anything on hand that I could feed my family. (It happens to the best of us my friends. You're not alone.) So with all of that being said - I can't help but think that there are people out there who need some practical menu planning tips. And by practical I mean, actual menus from real people, living real (busy) lives. So with that in mind, I've decided to publishing my own personal dinner menu AND coordinating grocery list on my blog for the next few weeks. I have to admit that I feel surprisingly vulnerable by exposing my menus to the world. (Yes, I AM just that awkwardly introverted that even publishing my menu makes me feel exposed and uncomfortable.) I just cant ignore this nagging feeling that I've had lately that there are followers out there who could really benefit from having some really practical menu planning advice. So without further ado, this is my menu and coordinating grocery list for our week. Monday: Broiled Salmon with Lemon (A new recipe from Cooking Light that I was supposed to make last week but never got to. It happens.) Tuesday: Fundraiser Night for Leukemia/Lymphoma Society at Moes (If you happen to live in the Monroe, GA area, stop by Moes between 4:30 and 7:30 to help us raise money for Team Callie.) Wednesday: Chicken Poblano Tortilla Soup (Hoping the weather cooperates so we're not eating soup in 95 degree weather.) I am using up some leftover roasted chicken that I have for this recipe too. Thursday: Steak Quesadillas (Dinner will probably be eaten in the car this night so it's something super easy to pack and eat on the run.) Friday through Sunday: We are doing something special for our 23d wedding anniversary so I'm taking a break from cooking for a few days. (Even I need a break every once in a while.) Groceries Flank Steak Salsa Chicken (Leftovers) Soy Sauce Salmon Olive Oil Worcestershire Sauce Poblano Pepper Chicken Broth Lemon 14.5 ounce can Diced Tomatoes Onion Whole Wheat Tortillas Carrots Tortilla Chips Cilantro Onion Powder Avocado Refried Beans Ginger Garlic Colby Jack Cheese I'd like to say that this is going to be an unusually busy week but to be honest - every week on our calendar looks a lot like this. (I wouldn't trade it for anything though.) Now I am turning this decision over to you, my faithful blog followers (and those of you who stumbled upon my blog by accident), of whether or not to continue this menu publishing adventure. I need your input. Did you find my menus useful, helpful or even the least bit interesting to read? Leave me a comment and let me know. By the way, if you want to get my weekly menus and grocery lists emailed to you - sign up in the subscribe box in the upper right corner of the blog. It might just be the most useful email that you get all week. :) Ciao! Sometimes even the best dinner intentions don't turn out the way that I planned. At 4:30 in the afternoon, I started preparing this meal - making the spice rub, mixing up the homemade barbecue sauce and prepping the chicken. I thought for sure that I was ahead of the game and that we would be happily gathered around the table, enjoying our chicken dinner by 6:00. What I forgot to factor into my dinner plan was a check of the grill. Much to my surprise, we were completely out of charcoal. Soooo - one trip to the store and 2 hours later we were finally eating our barbecue chicken dinner. Ultimate BBQ Chicken 1/3 cup ketchup 2 Tablespoons water 1 Tablespoon honey 2 teaspoons cider vinegar 1 teaspoon dijon mustard 2 teaspoons chili powder 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon cumin 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 4 bone in, skin on chicken breast halves
Combine ketchup, water, honey vinegar and mustard in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Place chicken on a hot grill and baste with barbecue sauce. Cook until chicken reaches and internal temperature of 165 degrees. Let rest 10 minutes. Serve with remaining sauce. Despite the extended amount of time that it took ME to make this dinner, it really was a simple meal. The homemade rub and barbecue sauce really made this chicken extra special. After appetizers of salad, broccoli and rolls, we ate this chicken for dessert. It was worth the wait though. Juicy, flavorful and smoky. A perfect barbecued chicken dinner.
Ciao! There are certain things that I tell my kids so often that it just becomes part of our everyday dinner conversation. Things like: don't talk with your mouth full, only put the amount of food on your plate that you can eat, try something new - you might like it. (I'm sure you parents out there can relate to those typical dinner conversations.) One of the perks (or drawbacks) to growing up in my house is that you have to at least TRY a LOT of new foods. I've introduced my kids to all sorts of crazy foods and pretty much insisted that they at least take a taste of each of them. "Try something new - you might like it"." My kids have heard it so often - they think it's my life mantra. So, I took a bit of my own advice - went out on a limb and made a meal that I wouldn't normally choose: Smoked Pork Loin with Fruit Chutney. I've never been a big fan of chutney with savory dishes but I have to admit that this one sounded pretty yummy. And I could hear my own words ringing in my head as I read through this recipe - "Try something new". (Said in my very best "mom" voice.) Setting a good example for my kids and trying something new today. Hope this goes well. Smoked Pork Loin 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup kosher salt 3-4 pound boneless pork loin roast, trimmed 2 cups apple wood chips Chutney 3/4 cup dry white wine 1/2 cup dried apricots, diced 1/2 cup dried cherries 1/4 cup white wine vinegar 3 Tablespoons water 3 Tablespoons brown sugar 2 Tablespoons fresh grated ginger 1 Tablespoon butter 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard Kosher salt
Unwrap roast and pat dry. Place pork on a hot grill along with a pan of water (for steam). Cook until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees. (1 1/2 - 2 hours)
Transfer roast to cutting board and tent with foil. Let stand 30 minutes. Slice roast. Serve with chutney on the side... or on top. In my opinion, this pork loin with fruit chutney was delicious. Unfortunately, not everyone in my family agreed. Ben and I really enjoyed the combination of the salty, smoky pork with the sweet and tart fruit but Courtney did not agree. As usual, after hearing the usual "try something new" prompting, she took a bite and then politely pushed her compote off to the side of her plate - never to be touched again.
Courtney is probably the most POLITE picky eater that I've ever met - she's always very complimentary of the foods that she doesn't like. After she tasted this chutney she told me that it "LOOKED like it would taste good." :) I love that girl. Here's to a lifetime of "Trying something new." Ciao! |
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