Menu Plan Monday – May 14
May 14, 2012 by Ann Dunaway Teh · 2 Comments
For all the mother’s out there, I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day. It was fun celebrating this year with 2 children! I always enjoy spending the day with my extended family as well. I also got to have a fun date night with my 3 year old at an arena football game Saturday night. It was good to have some mommy-son time and we had a blast.
From this past week, I did end up making one substitution on my menu. My husband couldn’t get home from work early enough to cook, so I made Slow Cooker Maple Country Style Ribs which I really love as it is super easy and has great depth of flavor. I hadn’t been made it in a while since I still cannot eat soy or dairy. But I found a great recipe for a Soy Sauce Substitute which worked perfect in this recipe! I’m excited to try out more recipes with it and glad to have some more flexibility in planning meals. I finally got the camera out and started taking some pictures of a few other favorite dishes:
Slow Cooker Rotisserie-Style Chicken
Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Apples
The Brussels Sprouts were wonderful! I’ve been working hard at learning to like Brussels Sprouts and it is finally working – I really am starting to like them and in recipes as good as this one it is hard not to! Research has shown that is can take 15-20 tries for a child to like a food and I think the same can be said for adults too.
I did have one just so-so baking result this past week. We had a play date on Friday with one of my son’s classmates who has an egg allergy. I haven’t used my donut pan much and decided to try my hand at vegan donuts. I made vanilla and chocolate donuts. I added some flaked unsweetened coconut to the icing for a little extra flavor. The recipe didn’t quite work – it was too dense but they still tasted okay, just not as light and fluffy as I would like. The kids still gobbled them up – especially my son preferring the parts with the icing, of course! I think using whole wheat pastry flour woud have yielded a much better result. And for my family, I’ll include eggs next time.
Vegan Vanilla and Chocolate Donuts
Here is what is planned for this week:
Monday: Maple Soy Salmon (using my Soy Sauce Substitute) with Quinoa and Steamed Broccoli
Tuesday: Lentil Burgers with Honey Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala (subbing coconut milk for the cream) over Brown Rice with Green Beans
Thursday: Garden Turkey Meatballs and Spaghetti (subbing nutritional yeast for the parmesan cheese)
Friday: Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Grilled Zucchini
Saturday: Evening Out
Sunday: Simple Supper
I hope you all have a wonderful week! And for more menu inspiration, head over to Menu Plan Monday on I’m an Organizing Junkie.
Menu Plan Monday – May 7
May 7, 2012 by Ann Dunaway Teh · Leave a Comment
One of the many blogs that I enjoy reading is Money Saving Mom. I really like her freezer cooking posts and right now she is doing a series on 4 Weeks to Fill Your Freezer. I wish I had more freezer space to do more of it myself. But I was inspired by her first post on Banana Bread and made two loaves – one we ate right away and the second is in my freezer. I did make a few changes: used all white whole wheat flour, subbed half the coconut oil with applesauce, bumped up the amount of vanilla to about 2 teaspoons (okay, it spilled while I was measuring but I was going to add more anyway!), added 1 tablespoon of cinnamon (no banana bread is complete without it!), cut the sugar to about 1.25 cups total and used almond milk in place of the milk. I might play with the recipe some more and post my own version in the near future. It was a good recipe overall though and very easy to whip up two at once.
Chicken Larb
The standout meal from this past week was the Chicken Larb. This was super easy to make and fast too! I opted for ground chicken from the grocery store to make this even speedier and served it with green lettuce leaves rather than cabbage. I did make some rice too to go along with it and everyone gobbled it up, even my three year old had seconds. This is the perfect warm weather meal as it is quick on the stove (i.e., won’t heat up the kitchen too much) and has a light, zestiness for a hot night.
Here is what I have planned for the coming week:
Monday: Chinese Pork in Egg Sauce (husband’s specialty) with Brown Rice and Baby Bok Choy with Oyster Sauce
Tuesday: Veggie Frittata with Homemade Bread (not sure what just yet) and Sliced Canteloupe
Wednesday: Rotisserie-Style Chicken with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Apples
Thursday: Chicken Quesadillas with Steamed Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrots
Friday: Cookout at local park for grand opening
Saturday: Slow Cooker Veggie Lasagna (I’m still dairy free so I’ll whip up something else for myself) and a Green Salad
Sunday: Chicken Sausage and Vegetable Pasta with a Spinach and Orange Salad It’s Mother’s Day, I almost forgot!! Happy Mother’s Day!
Have you found any wonderful new recipes lately? What is your favorite warm weather recipe?
Menu Plan Monday – April 30
April 30, 2012 by Ann Dunaway Teh · Leave a Comment
I had the opportunity over the past four days to participate in a Dale Carnegie lab class. It was a condensed version of the real course where new trainers are practicing their coaching and facilitating skills. It was an amazing experience and reinvigorated me to continue to follow my heart and passion with my business as well as work on strengthening certain relationships. It also was a good reminder of my theme for this year which was to be more intentional as I have definitely strayed from it recently. I was most surprised about the dynamic and synergy that was created in the room in just 4 days among all of the participants. If you ever get the opportunity to do one of these classes, do it! It was incredible and I cannot say enough good things about it.
Now onto my real purpose today, my menu plan! Well, this past week went off without a hitch! The first time in a long time where my menu went exactly according to plan. The Black Bean & Salmon Tostadas were a nice surprise, though my husband felt the canned salmon was too fishy in this type of recipe since it wasn’t cooked. I didn’t notice. I think next time I will do a tostada bar with a variety of toppings and let everyone assemble their own. It was a nice, light dinner though. The Walnut and Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken would have been better if I had a rack to bake them on so it is crispy on all sides. I had tried to buy one beforehand but couldn’t find one at the stores where I went. It was still very good though.
Here is what is planned for this week:
Monday: Corny Salmon Cakes with Roasted Zucchini and a Green Salad with Strawberries
Tuesday: Taco Bar (fix a variety of toppings and let everyone assemble their own) with a Salad
Wednesday: Chicken Larb with Bibb Lettuce Leaves
Thursday: Rice and Beans with Steamed Broccoli
Friday: Turkey and Vegetable Spaghetti with a Waldorf Salad
Saturday: Evening Out
Sunday: Simple Supper (i.e., clean out the refrigerator)
I hope you all have a wonderful and intentional week! For more menu inspiration, check out Menu Plan Monday on I’m an Organizing Junkie.
Menu Plan Monday – April 23
April 23, 2012 by Ann Dunaway Teh · 3 Comments
This past week was the first in a very long time that went off almost exactly as planned. We ended up having some dinner guests over on Saturday night so I changed the menu. I ended up making this Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin with Carrots and Potatoes with a Blood Orange, Strawberry and Avocado Salad. The pork is such an easy dish to make for dinner guests – I love that I’m not rushing around the kitchen as company is here finishing up dinner. And it was kid-approved by all 5 of the children sitting around the table!
This past week’s menu was really good overall – probably one of our better ones in a while. All of the food was delicious. But I must say that the Braised Coconut Spinach and Chickpeas with Lemon over Sweet Potatoes turned out even better than I imagined, and not just in taste but also in acceptance. The only problem was that I should have doubled the recipe because there was not enough for anyone to have seconds. This will definitely be showing up more often on our table. The leftover Slow Cooker Carribean Jerk Chicken made a great addition to the Spring Chicken and Barley Soup and added a unique flavor angle with the allspice and cinnamon.
Here is this week’s menu:
Monday: Black Bean & Salmon Tostadas (bumped from this past week) with Sliced Pineapple
Tuesday: Falafel with Whole Grain Tortillas, Lettuce and Tomatoes served with Cara Cara Oranges
Wednesday: Walnut and Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken [recipe altered to be dairy-free] with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans
Thursday: Meatloaf with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli
Friday: Evening Out
Saturday: Homemade Pizza with a Spinach and Strawberry Salad
Sunday: Simple Supper (i.e., clean out the refrigerator)
What is your favorite entertaining dinner menu?
Recipe Redux – Creamy Creamless Asparagus Soup
April 21, 2012 by Ann Dunaway Teh · 5 Comments
So happy that spring is here. Farmers markets are cranking back up and a whole new crop of fruits and vegetables are arriving. For this month’s Recipe Redux theme of “First Shoots of Spring” I chose asparagus. Asparagus is one vegetable that I did not start eating until after college. I don’t know if I suddenly developed a taste for it or if I finally had it prepared properly. Cooked too long, it can quickly turn to mush. But I now love asparagus. Unfortunately my husband does not. So I do not prepare it that often but when I do I usually just roast it in the oven. So simple and delicious with a tender crunch and subtle sweetness.
Inspired by the drizzly cooler weather we have been having lately, I decided soup was in order. I am currently dairy and soy free so while a creamy soup is what I had in mind, it isn’t something I can eat. By using potato and avocado in the recipe, I got the creamy texture that I wanted, not to mention a boost in flavor and nutrients!
My 3 year old told me after trying it “Mommy, this is yummy! Thank you for making it.” I still am beaming from the compliment. My husband even ate a bowl. While I did serve the soup hot, I think it would work really well as a chilled soup too.
Creamy Creamless Asparagus Soup
Yield: 4-6 servings
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1/4″ pieces, tips reserved
1 medium red potato, peeled and chopped
5 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
1 avocado, pitted, flesh removed
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or about 1 tablespoon fresh)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup loosely packed basil leaves, chopped
- Heat olive oil in a stock pot. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add asparagus pieces (except for the tips), potato and the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10-15 minutes until the asparagus and potato are tender.
- While the soup is simmering, blanch the asparagus tips and then plunge in cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside.
- Add the avocado to the soup and puree with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender.
- Stir in the lemon juice, thyme, salt and pepper.
- Serve in bowls and garnish with the chopped basil and asparagus tips.
Garden Lentil Bolognese
April 19, 2012 by Ann Dunaway Teh · 1 Comment
Years ago when I was living in New York City, I attended a party one night and a lentil pasta sauce was served. I fell in love with the dish and have tried to find similar recipes over the years, but have never attempted to make it on my own, until now. I don’t know what took me so long. I love lentils and am always trying to find new recipes with them. Lentils are part of the legume family, and are high in fiber and protein as well as other nutrients like iron and folate. They are extremely versatile and cook quickly, no soaking required! So I decided to create my own recipe based on my fuzzy memory of this dish that has always been stuck in the back of my mind. My creation turned out better than I expected and my family ate it up. My three year old even ate the leftovers the following day, which is high praise as he generally doesn’t like leftovers! Enjoy!
Garden Lentil Bolognese
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, quartered
3 garlic cloves
1 red bell pepper, quartered
1 zucchini, cut into large chunks
1 yellow squash, cut into large chunks
1 cup red lentils
1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Water as needed
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
freshly grated parmesan (optional)
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with olive oil. Meanwhile, place the onions and garlic in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Sauté the onions and garlic in the pan until soft, about 5 minutes.
- While the onion and garlic are cooking, put the bell pepper, zucchini and squash in the food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Add to the pan with the onions and garlic. Allow to cook for another 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened.
- Add the lentils, crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Using the tomato can, add about a half can of water. Stir together. Add the Italian seasoning and the next 3 through the crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and allow to simmer for about 20-25 minutes or until lentils are tender. Add more water as needed to keep the desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve over whole grain spaghetti with freshly grated parmesan if desired.
Have you ever had a dish that stood out in your mind and lingered in your memory for years?
Menu Plan Monday – April 16
April 16, 2012 by Ann Dunaway Teh · 2 Comments
I’m so excited that I finally got my garden planted yesterday! This year I am doing okra, tomatoes, jalapenos, red bell peppers, zucchini and cucumbers. Of course I have a bunch of herbs planted, including basil, Thai basil (it grows like a week popping up all over my garden!), oregano, thyme, mint, dill, rosemary and parsley. Pictures are coming once it looks a little more impressive! I also did my first container plantings by my front door – I did a mix of 4 different flowers/plants, 2 of which I don’t know the name of but it sure does look pretty! I’ll post a picture once it fills out more and is in ful bloom. Now to keep myself on task with watering it often enough!
From this past week’s menu, the garden lentil bolognese was fantastic. I’ll be posting that recipe later this week. I loved it as did my 3 year old, which was a pleasant surprise. The Corny Salmon Cakes were also a hit. My 3 year old helped mix them up, which was quite the mess at first. But it all came out good in the end. It is sometimes hard for me to let go and let him make a mess while we cook – but I’m learning. This may be our favorite salmon cake recipe yet. The original recipe does call for cheddar cheese, which I cannot eat right now. I subbed nutritional yeast, and it was really good. This was my first experiment using nutritional yeast as a vegan cheese substitute and although I was a little wary, it turned out much better than I anticipated.
Here is what is on tap for this week:
Monday: Braised Coconut Spinach and Chickpeas with Lemon over Sweet Potatoes
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Carribean Jerk Chicken (bumped from last week) with Brown Rice and Steamed Broccoli
Wednesday: Spring Chicken and Barley Soup with Rosemary Whole Wheat Bread
Thursday: Mustard Maple Pork Tenderloin with Roasted New Potatoes and Green Beans
Friday: Spaghetti and a Green Salad
Saturday: Black Bean & Salmon Tostadas
Sunday: Clean out the Fridge!
I hope you all have a wonderful week! For more menu inspiration, check out Menu Plan Monday on I’m an Organizing Junkie.
Menu Plan Monday – April 9
April 9, 2012 by Ann Dunaway Teh · Leave a Comment
I hope you all had a Happy Easter for those that celebrate it. My contribution to our Easter meal was a mixed green salad with blood oranges, strawberries and avocado in a balsamic vinaigrette. I just love putting fresh fruit in salads! We had a nice day with family and I finally cleaned out my garden so that I can plant my vegetables next weekend. So far, I am planning on tomatoes, jalapeños, cucumber and okra. I seem to never have luck with bell peppers so I may not try that again this year. Of course I’ll be planting plenty of herbs as well. My mint and thyme has already come back from last year.
And here is another picture of my daughter, 3 months old today! Time flies…..
From this past week’s menu, the standouts were the Garden Turkey Meatballs and Spaghetti that my sister-in-law made and the Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin. Even without the parmesan cheese, the meatballs were great. I’ve made this recipe once before and I forget how good they are. The pork tenderloin, which I actually made with a pork loin was very flavorful and moist. Even though it involves some cooking before going into the slow cooker, which I generally don’t like to do, these extra steps really provide a boost of flavor. We also enjoyed making our own pizzas one night. Everyone had their own dough to personalize it. My son had so much fun making his own pizza – he even put on sweet bell peppers which lately he won’t eat. Involving children in meal preparation is a great way to get them to try more foods, even if it is pizza with veggie toppings!
Here is what is planned for this week’s menu:
Monday: Lentil Bolognese Spaghetti (going to combine a few recipes) with Roasted Zucchini
Tuesday: Husband cooking dinner (most likely Asian inspired)
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Carribean Jerk Chicken with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans
Thursday: Savory Herb Pork Chops with Mashed Red Potatoes and Broccoli
Friday: Corny Tuna Cakes (will probably sub salmon) from The Mom’s Guide to Meal Makeovers with Sauteed Mediterranean Vegetable Blend
Saturday: Huevos Rancheros with a Green Salad
Sunday: Clean out the Fridge!
Have a wonderful week!
Menu Plan Monday – April 2
April 2, 2012 by Ann Dunaway Teh · Leave a Comment
April?? Already?? I cannot believe my little girl is 12 weeks old today! I want time to slow down, in addition to about 6 more hours in every day to get done all that I need to and maybe find a little extra sleep along the way.
My three year old is taking more of an interest in helping in the kitchen, which I love. He is a good helper. He helped me make the Skinny Coconut Shrimp this past week. I had high hopes that he would like the shrimp, but alas he did not. He just doesn’t like shrimp, though I keep trying in various forms from time to time. It takes persistence but it can take 15-20 exposures for chilren to like a food. I’m not sure we are quite there yet! But both my husband and I really enjoyed the shrimp. My son also helped me with the Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas, which turned out rather spicy since I accidentally used canned jalapenos instead of green chiles. I picked out as many of the jalapenos as I could for him so it wasn’t too spicy and he did pretty well eating it. He isn’t a big fan of spicy, but as long as we don’t use that word then he usually will eat it.
Here is what is on tap for this week:
Monday: Roasted Dill Salmon with Quinoa, Zucchini and Squash
Tuesday: Homemade Pizza with Green Salad
Wednesday: Garden Turkey Meatballs and Spaghetti (minus the parmesan cheese – might experiment with subbing nutritional yeast)
Thursday: Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken Nuggets with Blackberry Mustard and Steamed Broccoli (bumped from last week)
Friday: Apple Sausage Quesadillas (found a dairy free and soy free cheese substitute for myself)
Saturday: Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin with Carrots and Potatoes
Sunday: Easter Dinner (TBD)
Happy April! If you need more menu inspiration, head on over to Menu Plan Monday on I’m an Organizing Junkie.
Menu Plan Monday – March 26
March 26, 2012 by Ann Dunaway Teh · Leave a Comment
My big highlight from this past week was not directly food related, but certainly indirectly so! I attended the Georgia Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the Georgia Dietetic Association) Annual Conference in Athens. Liz Weiss, one of the Meal Makeover Moms, was speaking about social media. I have met Liz on a number of occasions, and of course, if you pay any attention to my blog, you know how much I love the Meal Makeover Moms. Between their blog and their 2 cookbooks, hardly a week goes by that I am not using one of their recipes. Both Janice and Liz are wonderful and incredibly down to earth. Well, I had the pleasure of driving Liz to the airport after her talk. It was so much fun to get to spend time with her. We got to pick each other’s brains with all kinds of ideas. It was so refreshing and energizing! Stay tuned!
Now, on to the food recap. The cake baking continued this week but not for any real occasion other than I had 12 egg yolks to use up leftover from my angel food cake the week before. I couldn’t bear to throw them out so I did some searching online and came up with this Daffodil Cake, which is essentially a chiffon. I certainly prefer the angel food cake but this was a cinch to make. With some sliced fresh strawberries, it was quite tasty.
I did end up adapting the Bowtie Pasta with Salmon and Peas (a Meal Makeover Mom recipe!) to suit my tastes and use ingredients I had on hand. I made a garlic white wine sauce and added in artichoke hearts. It was delicious. I’m going to play with it some more and post the recipe but I loved finding another way to use canned salmon, which is both convenient and rich in omega-3s.
Here is what is on our menu this week:
Monday: Skinny Coconut Shrimp with Baked Okra and Squash
Tuesday: Mother-in-law’s birthday dinner (TBD)
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Stout and Chicken Stew
Thursday: Balsamic-Glazed Pork Chops with Grits and Sauteed Spinach
Friday: Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken Nuggets with Blackberry Mustard and Steamed Broccoli
Saturday: Evening Out
Sunday: Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas with Swiss Chard (bumped from last week)
Click on over to Menu Plan Monday on I’m an Organizing Junkie for more menu inspiration!