Weekly meals August 17 – August 21

Meal updates from last week:
My husband and I loved the Sicilian pasta!  I used rigatoni pasta for this recipe, and we topped it with fresh parm and some torn basil.  We all really enjoyed the tacos, I didn’t have any turkey in the freezer, so I used ground beef instead, they turned out just as good.  I picked some zucchini last week and grated two of the smaller ones into the taco meat, with the larger one I made a batch of chocolate chip zucchini muffins.  This weekend we ate out on Friday night and then were invited to friends for dinner Saturday night.

This week the weather is supposed to remain HOT, so I will be trying to use the grill and make large salads.  We are getting ready for back to school, so our late nights and sleeping in days are coming to a close!  I still have a large zucchini left and found a recipe from @pinchofyum for gluten-free zucchini muffins.  Head to her Instagram feed for the recipe.

• Mexi salad from Mandy’s Gourmet Salads cookbook, I paired this salad with some sautéed shrimp.  Find a similar Mexican salad recipe here.  I seasoned the shrimp with some cumin, salt and chili powder these complimented the salad flavours perfectly.  As I mentioned last week this cookbook is amazing (and a steal of a deal $21 on Amazon)!  I will be using it three times this week for recipes.
• Wolfe salad from Mandy’s cookbook, find a similar recipe for arugula and quinoa salad here.  I won’t be using quinoa as it is not our favourite, instead I will use some steamed brown rice.  Our salad protein will be marinaded chicken thighs.  I will use the marinade from the spring roll bowl recipe from @littlebrokenblog.  This is the best marinade!
• I am keeping it simple tonight with some BBQ beef burgers, black bean burgers, grilled corn, baked beans and tots.  I am trying a new veggie burger that came recommended from a friend.  I will let you know what I think.
• Spicy noodles with pork, scallions and bok choy from @cookinglight I will need to use the stove for this meal, but this is the only time this week.
• We are heading to friends for dinner and I will be taking the Shanghai salad from Mandy’s.  As I mentioned last week, I made this salad but used the tamari dressing instead of the dressing from the recipe.  Find a similar tamari dressing recipe here.

Other than making the gluten free zucchini muffins I don’t have plans to bake.  I did buy a large bag of peaches this weekend at the market, but I’m not sure if I will use them to bake, or we will just eat them fresh.  Blueberries are still plentiful and very inexpensive, so there may be more muffins in my future. Grocery list 135 is back!

Stay healthy,
Sara

Weekly meals March 2 – March 6

Meal updates from last week:
We really enjoyed the chicken piccata as well as the Korean chicken.  I loved the tofu stir fry, my son didn’t like the sauce but ate all of the tofu.  My daughter didn’t even try the tofu this time?!  The balsamic salad was a perfect side dish for our grilled sausages, I tweaked the recipe a little bit as we ran out of blackberries.  I ended up using blueberries and raspberries, and made the dressing with some blackberry balsamic instead of blending whole blackberries.  I don’t think that it made a huge difference in the taste at all.  We spent the weekend away in the mountains with friends skiing and enjoying some down time.  On Friday night dinner was waiting for us when we arrived, it was a bowl of chicken enchilada soup, such flavour and so delicious.  Saturday night I made a sheet pan of sausage, peppers and gnocchi. This is a recipe that I have shared before, so simple and so good, it also makes great left overs.

This week we will be eating at home Sunday-Thursday, Friday we are going out for dinner with friends, Saturday we don’t have any plans.  The weather is beginning to change and we are starting to think about spring sports and spending more time outside!

• Soy-glazed chicken with pickled cucumbers from @nytcooking if you cannot access this recipe from the link then you can set up a free trial with their site.  Sometimes you can access recipes through their Instagram account.  I will serve this with steamed rice.
• Turkey and roasted red pepper hummus patties from @thedaleyplate we will eat these with fries and a Greek salad.
• Mexican quinoa salad from @eatingwell with grilled garlic-lime shrimp.
• Tacos from @melskitchencafe I will serve these in soft shells with all of the fixings.

I don’t have any plans to bake this week, but I did have a chance to make a batch of banana blueberry muffins last week.  I also picked up a box of spring Rice Krispies and a bag of marshmallows because I just couldn’t resist and I  know my kids would love to help make them.  Get ready to shop with grocery list 121

Happy cooking,
Sara