Meals for the Week of June 13, 2011

Even though school is out for most and there’s less packing of lunches, you might still need to pack a lunch for work or maybe for day camp, summer outings to the beach or ball games.  Here’s a few recipes and suggestions that are a nice change from packing leftovers, especially for those who can’t heat up their lunch.
During this time of year, when grilling chicken, I try to make at least one extra.  One of the recipes listed this week provides quantities to ensure extra chicken.  Here are a few uses for that leftover:

• Slicing to include in a salad
• Shred it up, mix with a little mayo, Dijon mustard, a dollop of Major Grey’s chutney, season with salt and pepper and you have filling for a chicken salad sandwich.  
• Slice thin and make a sandwich with lettuce, avocado and tomato.

Turkey Caesar Sandwich- The recipe calls for creating a mayo spread that is like Caesar dressing.  Easy, but you could also mix a little bottled dressing with mayo.
And here’s a slightly different take with a healthy Chicken Caesar Wrap
Taco Turkey Wraps- Sour cream mixed with taco seasonings serve as a spread with deli turkey, add some tomato, avocado and lettuce to add some additional good protein and vitamins. 
Pasta Salad with Broccoli and Peanuts- You can make this on a Sunday and have several servings packed in your lunch throughout the week. 

This week I’ve listed a couple of recipes using skewers on the grill.  Wooden skewers are convenient, but in my opinion not always easy because you need to remember to soak them in water to avoid burning on the grill.  If you plan the meals ahead (ahem, as you should be) that’s fine if you remember to soak them and if you’re making skewers for a party, then wooden is the way to go.  But I highly suggest investing in some metal skewers so you can always use them when cooking for the family.  I have an inexpensive set listed in the e-mealplanning store.

Meals for Week of June 13, 2011

Lemon Dill Chicken Skewers- Alice from the Savory Sweet Life stumbled upon a happy accident with this super quick recipe for chicken skewers.  You can adapt these for the oven broiler or your stovetop broiler pan.  You could even save yourself time and just use chicken breast tenders not on a skewer if you wanted.

Grilled Chicken Pineapple Quesadillas- So good!  Perfect as an appetizer at parties, when cut into triangles, but one or two whole ones are filling as a meal.  Fix a salad or grill some veggies while you grill the chicken and pineapple.  It’s also economical, using just 2 chicken breasts, you get quite a few slices and needs just 4 or 5 slices in each quesadilla. 

Grilled Salmon Steaks with Mustard Sauce- I love grilled salmon, it tastes delicious with just simply seasoned with salt and pepper.  But this recipe gives you a lovely sauce to serve it with.

Simple Grilled Tilapia- Very fast and easy method for grilling tilapia which is a great mild tasting white fish.  It’s very versatile.

Roasted Vegetable Pasta- Meatless but filling, using whole grain pasta, a little cheese and roasted veggies.  This can be just as good with grilled vegetables.

Cheeseburger Joes- Super easy, kid friendly, versatile, try cheddar or Swiss cheese instead of American and ground turkey instead of beef.

Shrimp Tacos with Fresh Pineapple Salsa- I love that this uses cooked baby shrimp, it makes it so easy, you can have your kids help you make this.  If you marinate them overnight as well as make the salsa, dinner time is just assembling the tacos.  It’s a no-cook recipe, perfect for kids to help and also great to fix on a hot evening.

Garlic Marinated Chicken Cutlets with Grilled Potatoes- Chicken breasts pounded thin into cutlets are incredible quick cooking, making for an easy weeknight grilled meal.  Marinating keeps them tender.  The key to this meal is the timing- get the potatoes on the grill first and while they cook you can get everything else ready, grilling the chicken last.  Note:  This recipe is designed to make extras and includes links to the other recipes to use leftovers for.  Scale back the quantity of chicken and potatoes if you don’t want that or keep the quantities as listed and use the leftovers however you want.

West Coast Grilled Vegetable Pizza- it’s like having a salad served on top grilled pizza dough.  Very versatile recipe.

Greek Burger- This recipe apparently originated from Weight Watchers, it’s a super easy turkey burger with feta cheese that you serve stuffed in a pita.

Orange and Thyme Grilled Shrimp- If you haven’t cooked with thyme, you must.  It’s a fantastic herb.  Citrus is always great with shellfish and orange is a nice change from the old standby of lemon. 

Strawberry Applesauce- Its really quite easy to make homemade applesauce.  If you have an apple peeler and corer then the prep is even easier.  This is great to have for breakfast or to pack in a lunch.

Meals for the Week of June 6, 2011

So, I'm trying to get back to cooking more at home (instead of heating my stock pile of frozen meals and various semi-homemade meals from Trader Joe's) and I'm trying to sit at my computer and get back to blogging.  I thought I would start easy and look back through my files and but together a list of great spring/early summer recipes.  Although if you're here in California, you might still like soups and stews to keep you warm in this cold and rainy weather!

A few things I wanted to share-

My other blog,
e-mealplanning recipes will get updated more frequently with more recipes from me plus product reviews. I'm a part of the FoodBuzz Tastemaker program so I will periodically have opportunity to try new products and share my thoughts.  I've got one I just added about those new yummy Magnum Ice Cream bars.

My very talented sister, Chef Elisa recently started her own blog, A Life in Pie.  The very first recipe was a fabulous peanut butter pie that is SO GOOD.  I made one for my family the day she posted the recipe.  I highly recommend it!

Yummy Peanut Butter Pie!

Meals for Week of June 6, 2011

Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia with Salsa- Very easy to make and quick to cook.  Try Trader Joe’s Corn Chile Salsa or a mango salsa instead of tomato salsa.

Curried Chicken with Mango Salad- You can broil or grill this Indian inspired chicken.  Serve with cous cous or quinoa on the side.

Romaine Salad with Orange, Feta and Beans- A salad with protein from beans can be a great low fat and vegetarian main dish.  You can boost the protein with the addition of chopped chicken or turkey.  Otherwise this could be a great salad to serve on the side.  It includes a dressing recipe; give it a try instead of using a bottled dressing.

Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti- Every now and then you need a casserole and this one is not overly creamy or cheesy.  We suggest just using fresh chopped onion and canned diced tomatoes instead of stewed.

Tortellini Primavera- This creamy pasta and vegetable dish is really very versatile.  It can also be something quick to make from the pantry/freezer meal using frozen pasta and vegetables.  But right now it’s a fresh spring dish using whatever vegetables are in season.  It’s slightly lower in fat than traditional pasta primavera because there is no cream.

Buttermilk Chicken Caesar Salad- A slightly different take on traditional Caesar salad using buttermilk as the dressing.

Shrimp Scampi- You can make the recipe exactly as written if you want that restaurant-style dish, or adapt it to suit your tastes; more garlic, less garlic, no wine, more lemon.  Make it your own!

Hamburger and Macaroni- This recipe is better than any processed box mix.  It’s also really easy to make.  Older kids can learn how to brown ground meat and boil pasta.  You can also use ground turkey and whole wheat pasta to make it healthier.


Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili-  Fantastic vegetarian meal, so unique with the combination of the sweet potatoes and the spices.

Lemony Potato Avocado Salad- A different take on potato salad.  Great for spring.  Delicious and fresh tasting.

Asparagus Snap Pea and Avocado Pasta- Pair this with the lemony chicken drumsticks and you have a great spring meal.  Serve a small side portion for dinner and then take leftovers as your lunch.  Substitute whole grain pasta for good healthy carbs.


Peach Mango Popsicles- I’m seeing mangoes on sale everywhere.  With the weather warming up this is a cool and healthy treat and a great activity to make with the kids.  You don’t need an actual popsicle molds, you could use cups or empty yogurt containers.

Update

I really plan to get back to my weekly meal plans. I apologize for being away so long. Good bloggers plan ahead and write posts then schedule them to be posted. I'm not at that level of organization yet.
But here's what I've been up to.






He is now 4 weeks old and I'm starting to get back into the swing of things, but sitting at my desk reading and doing research for the blog has been slow. I've managed to cook a couple meals (like literally 2 meals) from scratch in 4 weeks, but mostly it's been heating pre cooked meals from the freezer or semi-homemade from Trader Joes. But summer is coming and I love the seasonal recipes that come with the warm weather.

I may look back through my files and put together some plans from old favorites.

I would also love to hear any requests or questions, a challenge to find something or provide an answer will help me find inspiration.