Greek Turkey Burgers

Have you ever had a turkey burger and immediately thought, well, that was disappointing? Yep. Me too. I think that describes all of the turkey burgers I ever had...until recently. I didn't make them for a while, even though they're pretty healthy, because I was never satisfied with the final product. Turkey is lean--the stuff I get from the store is only 7% fat. For comparison's sake, good beef burger uses beef that is at least 20% fat. That's why turkey burgers are usually dry compared to their juicy, beefy counterparts. Also, turkey itself it pretty...plain. It doesn't taste like a whole lot. That's why many turkey burger recipes call for savory flavor elements like Worcestershire sauce--those recipes are trying to build in some of the umami turkey naturally lacks. 

The photo you see below is from a recipe I pinned a while ago. It's a recipe for Greek Burgers (apparently from CleanCuisine.com, per the watermark, though I couldn't find this recipe on that site anywhere when I just went looking for it), and it calls for lots of delicious stuff like oregano and garlic and feta and lemon juice. If you added that stuff to a beef burger, it would be weird--the flavor of all the goodies would be completely overwhelmed by the beefiness of the meat. But in a turkey burger, that stuff is amazing. 

So I made these burgers for a while. They were much, much tastier than a standard, bland turkey burger, but they were still dry. So I did some more scouring and research before I had an ah-ha! moment: since turkey lacks fat, I COULD ADD FAT BACK IN. What fat goes well with oregano and garlic? Olive oil. Done. A tablespoon of olive oil (ish--I never measure these things) added to a pound of ground turkey helped the juiciness factor a lot. But I knew I could still do better.

Then, about six months ago, I read an article by the good folks over at America's Test Kitchen that really revolutionized the turkey burgers I now make. They added a really bizarre ingredient that I would never in a thousand years have thought to add--gelatin. Essentially, they sprinkle a tablespoon of unflavored gelatin over 3 tablespoons of chicken broth, let it set up, then dice it finely and add it into the meat mixture. It sounds strange. But if you think about it, it makes sense; the little cubes of solid, neutrally-flavored chicken broth melt as the burger cooks, but are encased in the ground turkey, sealing in the juices and creating a juicy, drippy, umami-filled burger.

We had these burgers tonight, and they. Were. Amazing.

Here's my recipe.

Greek Turkey Burgers

1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey

1 Tbsp. unflavored gelatin

3 Tbsp. chicken broth

1 1/2 (ish) Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

2-3 pressed or minced cloves of garlic 

1 Tbsp of dried oregano OR 3 Tbsp. of chopped fresh oregano

1/4 c. crumbled feta

2 c. chopped spinach

Salt and pepper to taste (or use lemon pepper, if you've got it--it's not necessary, but works really well in this burger)

First, sprinkle the gelatin over the chicken broth and set aside. Come back to it in about 10 minutes, when it has set up, and finely dice it. 

In a large bowl, combine the turkey with all of the other ingredients, including the diced gelatin mixture. Use a large ice cream scoop to portion out about 1/3 c. of the turkey. Lightly shape into a ball, then gently press into a patty. (I get about 8 patties from this quantity) Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat, then add some olive oil to the pan. Season patties with salt and pepper or lemon pepper, and cook for about 3 minutes on the first side, flip, and cook for about another 3 minutes, or until done. Be careful not to overcook--you still want the burger to feel a littlest squidgy. (Open your hand and press the plump area right below your thumb. A perfectly-cooked turkey burger will feel something like that.)

Serve immediately on a brioche or potato bun.

I suggest topping with any or all of the following items:

Spinach

Sliced tomato

Finely sliced red onion rings

Thinly sliced cucumber

Tzatziki sauce

Menu Plan + Sausage+Mozzarella Pasta Recipe

I'm probably speaking to dead air, but I thought I'd start posting here again. I've got a few recipes I've begun making that I'd like to have handy here, so hopefully blogging once a year won't become a habit.

This week:

(In no particular order this time--scandalous!)

1) Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

Sesame Noodles with cilantro

Homemade egg rolls or potstickers (I have both in the freezer, so we'll decide which sounds better that night.)

2) Hot Chicken Salad

Steamed Green Beans

3) Ham

Mashed Potatoes

Salad

4) This dish: (I have some lightening-up modifications in mind, but here it is as it was served to us at a friend's house a few weeks ago. It is her parents' recipe, and she was kind enough to share!)

Sausage & Mozzarella Pasta

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 tbs olive oil

3/4 lb spicy Italian sausage, casing split & removed

4 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes

1 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)

2 1/2 tbs dried oregano

2 tbs sugar

1 1/2 tbs tomato paste

1/2 tsp salt

2 bay leaves

1 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 box Penne Pasta

In a large skillet, melt the butter with the oil over medium heat.

Crumble in the sausage, and the garlic and onions.

Saute until the sausage just begins to brown, 7 to 10 minutes.

Carefully, pour off the fat.

Add the tomatoes, breaking them up with your hands.

Stir in the cream, oregano, sugar, tomato paste, salt and bay leaves.

Gently boil until fairly thick, 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves and stir in the mozzarella cheese.

Simmer just until the cheese begins to melt, about 2 minutes.

Spoon over cooked pasta.

5) Scalloped Potatoes with Ham and Peas

We used to do leftovers on Saturdays. Well, not anymore. Sunday lunches were stressing me out--by the time we got home, our youngest two couldn't decide whether they were tired or hungry, or both, and were generally miserable. Now, I usually make something light on Saturday, or we rely on things like salads and sandwiches, and we save leftovers for Sunday afternoons. That way, we can come home, zap stuff in the microwave, and get the Littles in bed tout suite. Also, reserving leftovers for Sundays means we don't fall into the expensive "let's-just-grab-takeout" habit too often. I do enjoy having a nice family meal on Sundays, but I've come to realize that for our family, it's more about who we're eating with (ourselves! all at a table! together!) than what we're eating. The kids and Hubs don't care what they're eating, as long as it's tasty; I was the only one who wanted something traditional and fancy. But I also want sanity. So, at least for the foreseeable future, leftovers it is.

Menu Plan

Another week, another menu plan. I'm starting to get a bit busy at home--I'm almost 37 weeks along in my pregnancy, so in theory, this baby could come at any time. I'm feeling the need to prepare for this--cleaning and organizing, washing baby clothes, shopping for things like newborn diapers and such, and so on and so on. You might call it nesting. I call it clearing-the-clutter-to-make-room-for-the-chaos. In light of this, this week's menu is heavy on items that are easy for me to prepare. No apologies here! These are all yummy things that we love to eat. It should be a good--and hopefully productive--week.

Monday
Maple-Sesame Fried Rice
Pork Pot Stickers (from a box. I love homemade, but they definitely don't fit in with the easy-to-prepare theme this week)

Tuesday
Mockzagna
Salad

Wednesday
BLTs on Homemade Challah
Tomato Soup

Thursday
Honey Roasted Chicken
Roasted potatoes
Salad
Challah

Friday
Chicken Tetrazzini OR Chicken Enchiladas

Saturday
Vegetable Beef Soup

Sunday
Leftovers

What's on your menu this week? I'm always looking for new ideas!

Menu Plan

This week is a little bit funny. For the first time ever, and only for this week, Abe's work schedule won't permit him to be a home at dinner time. That means the rest of us are on our own. That's one less parent to watch kids while the other one (me) fixes dinner, one less parent to fight the almost-inevitable dinnertime battles, one less parent to clean up. In light of this arrangement, I've decided this week's meals are going to be easy and VERY kid-friendly. This week is about picking my battles, and I've decided dinner is one battle we can shelve for the time being. Here's this week's menu:

Monday
Steak Salad
Bread

Tuesday
Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Oven Fries
Cut-up veggies and dip

Wednesday
Sloppy Joes
Mac n Cheese
Peas

Thursday
Turkey Pot Pie

Friday
Pick-a-recipe-from-a-cookbook day

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Takeout

Menu Plan

Okay. I've concocted a menu plan, but I'm not feeling so great today, so absolutely nothing on it sounds good to me. With that in mind, there's a good chance that when I am feeling better, I'll make some changes. Even though I feel like I prepare a large variety of meals, when I look at my menu plans, they all somehow seem the same to me, and this week's seems especially boring.

Starting next week, I think I'm going to try a new approach or two to meal planning to try to break us free from meal boredom. First, I'd like to look at the menus of the restaurants we love and try to duplicate some of the things we like to order there--we don't eat out super often, so this may be a good way to make us feel like we do. Second, I'd like to take a new look at some of the cookbooks and cooking magazines I have on my shelves--there must be many yummy-looking recipes in them that I haven't tried yet. We may even develop a few new family favorites! Also, I may start leaving a day meal-plan-free and trying to be more creative on that day; last Saturday, I cooked up some yellow rice and combined it with leftover cooked chicken, and made some flavorful black beans to go with. We topped it all with cheese and sour cream, and I couldn't BELIEVE what a hit it was with my family. I was just looking for an easy way out of preparing a big, time-consuming meal, and my creativity paid off.

Well, enough talk of creative meals. Here's this week's boring meal plan!

Monday
Homemade pizza
Salad

Tuesday
Brats with onions and peppers
Oven Fries w/ parmesan and rosemary

Wednesday
Ham
Scalloped Au Gratin Potatoes
Peas

Thursday
Lemon Sage Butter Roasted Chicken
Herbed spaetzle
Broccoli

Friday
Chicken Noodle Soup
Homemade bread

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
TBS lunch; then Super Bowl food later. I haven't totally decided what, though...

Menu Plan

This week, I need quite a few quick, get-out-the-door meals. So that's what's on the menu!

Monday
BBQ Chicken Sandwiches w/ caramelized onions, cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce
Go-to Mac and Cheese

Tuesday
Ravioli "Lasagna" (layer cheese ravioli with sauce and mozzarella and bake for a shortcut lasagna)
Salad

Wednesday
Shepherd's Pie (I'll brown the ground beef the night before, when I make the "lasagna")

Thursday
Schultzie's Mess (big breakfast-for-dinner scramble with potatoes, ham, peppers, onions, cheese, and eggs)
Buttermilk biscuits with jam

Friday
Soup TBA

Saturday
leftovers

Sunday
takeout

What's a Meal Plan?

Just kidding. I almost always have one, I've just become such a horrible blogger that no one ever gets to see it except me. Which I guess is better than nothing. Here's this week's plan:

Monday
Cuban Sandwiches (sliced roasted pork, ham, pickles, provolone, mayo and mustard on a homemade soft, slightly-sweet mini baguette, grilled panini-style) (an dI will likely add sliced tomato and some greens to mine, 'cause I can)
Salad

Tuesday
Roasted chicken
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Glazed Carrots

Wednesday
Tortellini with chicken and pesto cream sauce
More Salad (I've got some nice greens I don't want to go to waste!)

Thursday
Roast Beef
Homemade noodles
Steamed Peas

Friday
Hawaiian Ham Steaks
Pineapple-almond Rice Pilaf
Veggie TBA

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Chinese?

Menu Plan

This week:

Monday
Roast Beef
Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic
Glazed Carrots
Buttered Peas
Cole slaw
Rolls

Tuesday
French Chicken in a Pot
Rice pilaf
Broccoli with cheese sauce

Wednesday
French Dip Stromboli
JoJo Potatoes
Salad

Thursday
Homemade Pizza
Veggie Sticks and Dip

Friday
Sausage and Egg Casserole
Maple Streusel Muffins

Saturday
Leftovers for lunch, dinner with friends?

Sunday
Pasta with Pesto Alfredo Sauce and Chicken

Basic Sweet Dough

This one is a no-brainer: it's a recipe from America's Test Kitchen (foolproof), it's easy (thankyouverymuch), and it is perfect for any sweet dough application, like sticky buns, cinnamon rolls, hot cross buns, or Entenmann's-like danish. Oh, the deliciousness.

This basic recipe makes enough dough for three Entenmann's-sized danishes. My favorites are cream cheese and cinnamon (additional recipes to follow).

But here's where it all begins...

Basic Sweet Dough

3/4 c. buttermilk (or clabbered milk), warm
6 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled until just warm
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp.) yeast
1 tsp. salt

Whisk together the buttermilk, butter, and eggs.

In a large bowl, whisk together 4 cups of flour, the sugar, yeast, and salt. Add the buttermilk mixture and mix until the dough comes together. (I use a stand mixer for this, but if you don't have one, you can always do it by hand--it'll just mean more kneading)

Let your stand mixer mix the dough on medium-low for 10 minutes, or knead by hand for 10-15 minutes, adding flour as needed.

Knead the dough by hand on a floured counter top until it's smooth and elastic--about 1 minute. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

How you proceed depends on what you're making next; I divide it into three even portions when I'm making danishes/coffee cakes, but use the whole recipe of dough to make a 9x13 pan of sticky buns or cinnamon rolls.

Menu Plan

Coming soon: Recipe for homemade danish (my new obsession)

This week's menu plan:

Monday
Breaded Pan-fried Pork Chops
Green Bean Casserole

Tuesday
Chicken and Spinach Three-Cheese Stuffed Shells

Wednesday
French Dip Sandwiches
Potato Wedges
Salad

Thursday
Egg Rolls (holdover from last week)
Fried Rice
OR
Beef/Veggie Stir-fry

Friday
Kielbasa
Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Crock Pot Chicken-In-A-Pot
Glazed Carrots
Herbed Noodles

Menu Plan

I'm actually excited about this week's menu plan, which is a nice change! The kids and I went to the grocery store to pick up a prescription today and spent some time meandering the aisles, during which time I was reminded of a whole bunch of stuff I love, but haven't made in a while.

Here's this week's plan. But since there are a few TBA events this week, I've elected not to assign days to the meals; they'll just have to work themselves out according to how much time we have at home!

Taco Night
Spicy Shredded Beef
Mexican Rice
Refried Beans
Tortillas and fixins

Greeky Night
Greek chicken pita sandwiches (on Naan)
Greeky Greek Roasted Potatoes
Zataar and olive oil for dipping (not Greek, I know. but still good)

Italian Night (kinda)
Roasted Chicken w/ pesto vinaigrette
Spicy Orzo
Grilled Romaine Salad

Asian Night
Homemade Egg Rolls
Asian Chicken Wings
Sesame noodles, Lo mein-style

Tex-Mex Aberration Night
3-Bean Chili with cheese and sour cream
Elbow Mac or Rice (depends on my mood)

Menu Plan

It's Turkey Week. not officially, of course; that happens in about a month. But every year, the grocery store has such fabulous deals on turkeys, and I never can pass them up. Trouble is, you only need so many turkeys in your freezer. So this week is all about using up a turkey to make room for the next bird. I've got one in the fridge thawing and plan to brine it overnight tonight and cook it tomorrow (pray that my oven hangs on, by the way). For the rest of the week, we'll just see how far we can stretch the leftovers...I'm guessing pretty far.

Monday
Spaghetti
Homemade marinara
Homemade bread w/herb dipping oil
Salad w/grated parm, sliced olives, and yellow peppers

Tuesday
TURKEY!
Mashed potatoes
Gravy
Green Beans
Applesauce cake

Wednesday
Pizza w/alfredo, sun-dried tomatoes, turkey, spinach, mozzarella, and feta
Cheese pizza for the kids
Salad

Thursday
White Turkey Chili
Yellow Rice

Friday
Turkey Pot Pie

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
More leftovers or possibly Beef with Broccoli stir-fry over Jasmine Rice

And here's last week's menu plan, which I never officially posted:

Monday
Smoked Sausage
Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli

Tuesday
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Roasted Chicken Legs and Thighs

Wednesday
Beef Stew with Carrots
Homemade noodle-dumplings
Apple Crumb Galette (like a pie, but not baked in a pan--sort of tart-esque)

Thursday
Fried Rice
Pot Stickers with dipping sauce

Friday
Takeout pizza + breadsticks

Saturday
Breakfast scramble (eggs, potatoes, onions, peppers, cheese)
Sausage links

Sunday
Leftovers

Short Week Menu Plan

Hey, all! Short menu plan week this week. My mom will be coming to stay at our house this weekend, beginning on Thursday, so I'm leaving all of the weekend meal decisions up to her (insert evil laugh here).

Monday's dish is a re-creation (in part) of a meal I had last Friday when Hubs and I went out for our Anniversary; he had a Wild Mushroom and Butternut Squash lasagna, and I had Cheese tortellini with chicken, toasted pine nuts, browned butter and sage, drizzled with pumpkin butter and topped with toasted sage-rubbed breadcrumbs. It was delicious. I don't have any pumpkin butter, so we're winging it without. We'll have Cheese Ravioli with browned butter and sage, pine nuts, and the sage breadcrumbs. We'll also have steamed broccoli with garlic chips, because we must have vegetables!

Tuesday will be Hot Chicken Salad, just because I crave it.

Wednesday will be Beef Stew because it can go in the crock pot, and we never ended up having it last week.

Thursday, we'll have leftovers and round our meal out with salad if need be. And it usually needs be!

As I said, Friday and forward will be up to my mom. But don't worry--she is an extremely capable and accomplished cook, so it will all be well.

Hope you have a great week in your house!

Back on the Bandwagon

I've just recently started cooking in earnest again--if you don't already know, we're expecting again, and I'm just now getting into my second trimester with some renewed energy. My poor garden bore the brunt of my energy-deprived neglect; I worked and weeded and planted and watered, then I got pregnant and tired pretended there wasn't really a garden out there at all. The unfortunate part is that I lost interest round about the time things were ready for harvest and needed the most attention. My wonderful husband helped me put up a few tomatoes, and I made a batch of pesto to last me the year, but other than that, much of my produce went to waste. Fortunately, our neighbors were able to use a bit of it, but still. I have been longing for the first frost to come so I could officially let go of my garden guilt, because I have lots of it. I pretend next year will be better, but I'll have a tiny baby in tow, so I'm not sure it will.

All of that to say that if I didn't have time or energy for a bountiful garden that could feed my family, I certainly didn't have energy for inventive and involved meal planning, much less energy to blog about it. But here I am, at week 15 or something like that, and though my house will take a while to recover from my constant napping, my meals are ready to jump right back in. I'm hoping to shake it up a little; looking at my repertoire, I'm just frankly a little bored. Hopefully, over the next few months, I'll find some fabulous new dishes and rediscover some old favorites to post here.

Monday
Meatloaf
Scalloped Potatoes
Peas

Tuesday--Our Anniversary!
Either we'll go out and the kids will eat leftovers, or we'll have
Roasted Chicken
Rice Pilaf
Salad

Wednesday
Crock Pot Beef Stew
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day Bread

Thursday (Or, the day on which we might actually celebrate our anniversary on account of needing child care)
Either we'll go out and the kids will eat leftovers, or we'll have
Roasted Chicken, etc., etc.

Friday
White Chicken Chili
Sweet Corn Cake

Saturday
Pot Stickers w/ chili dipping sauce
Vegetable Fried Rice

Sunday
Takeout or leftovers

Menu Plan

This one's for you, Katie D. :)

Well, we're back into the swing of things after a marathon of family vacations. We've actually been back for over a week, but frankly, I was worn out. And THEN, coming up with a dinner menu on the fly every night has been even more taxing...so it's time to get back into the normal routine of planning and shopping accordingly. Summer always presents more work, what with the gardening and preserving of food for the winter months, and I simply can't spare the energy to try to come up with a nutritious meal for my family when my brain is already fried from all of the weeding and pruning and what-have-you.

Speaking of the garden, that is one of the joys of summer cooking for me: the abundance of fresh produce right outside my back door. This year, we've got several varieties of peppers and hot peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, yellow squash, beans, broccoli, lettuce, and a variety of tomatoes, along with cilantro, dill, rosemary, and basil. Later on, we'll also have corn, watermelon, and pumpkins. I can hardly wait. So as you read the menu plan for this week, insert fresh garden produce wherever you see veggies mentioned.

(And cross your fingers for my tomatoes--they're not doing so well...)

Sunday
Home-fried tostadas
Refried beans
Spicy Shredded chicken
Cilantro
Tomatoes

Monday
Hamburgers
Fried potatoes

Tuesday
Honey Mustard Garlic-rubbed Pork chops
Steamed Broccoli with cheese
Honeyrock Melon

Wednesday
Grilled BBQ Chicken Legs
Big Old Salad
Cornbread

Thursday
Country-Style Pork ribs
Corn on the Cob
Buttermilk Biscuits w/ Strawberry jam

Friday
Grilled Steak Salad
Garlic-Rosemary Focaccia

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Wish I knew. Probably Pasta Salad with chicken.

Menu Plan

Busy week this week! Errands yesterday, Hubs' softball game tonight, Charis' farm field trip tomorrow and my sister-in-law's High School graduation ceremony tomorrow night, dinner with friends on Friday night, church fellowship on Sunday, and hubs informs me he may have to work OT on Saturday. Whew! But we still have to eat, so....

Monday
Grilled Burgers
Baked Mac n Cheese
Peach Cobbler

Tuesday
Grilled Flank Steak, sliced
Home Fries with Garlic and fresh dill
Creamy corn

Wednesday
Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti with broccoli or spinach (haven't decided which yet!)

Thursday
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Salad

Friday
dinner out--bringing dessert (TBA)

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Fellowship Sunday--cookout at church

Menu Plan + bonus recipe: Greek Sauce

Yep, I know it's Wednesday. but I've been finding that it is helpful to look back at past menu plans to draw ideas for new ones, so I'll add this one to the pot.

I fired up the grill last night and grilled 2 steaks, 5 pork chops, 1 chicken breast, and four huge smoked sausages. From that, we'll have meals for most of the week.

Monday
Pasta salad with grilled chicken and LOTS of veggies

Tuesday
Grilled Pork chops finished with Greek-style sauce
Roasted Potatoes with golden garlic chips (also finished with Greek sauce)
Butter-braised fresh green beans

Greek sauce: 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 Tbsp. melted butter, 3 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp dried oregano, 1 tsp. garlic powder OR 1 clove garlic, grated, kosher salt and pepper to taste.
Whisk together the lemon juice, butter, oregano, and garlic powder. Drizzle in olive oil while whisking briskly. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle over finished pork chops or roasted potatoes. MMMMM!

Wednesday
Pan-fried homemade egg rolls
Maple-sesame bacon fried rice

Thursday
Naan sandwiches (filling to be determined--maybe thinly sliced steak that I grilled last night, with onions, mozzarella cheese and peppers for me; sliced chicken, spinach, cheese, and tomatoes for the kids; sliced steak, cheese, spinach and spicy mayo for hubs)
Corn on the Cob

Friday
Grilled Smoked Sausage
Sauteed Vidalia Onions
Potato Salad

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Takeout or leftovers (if we still have some)

MONDAY! Memorial Day!
Brats?
Baked Beans?
Corn on the cob?
Oven Fries or Potato Packets?

Menu Plan

Greetings, all four of you! Back again. It's supposed to warm up this week, and my garden will be the better for it, I'm sure. You'll see a number of Turkey entries this week--we're using up the Turkey I roasted last week. Also, we just bottled maple syrup with my husband's folks, so you'll see maple a couple of times this week, too. Mmmmm good.

Let's get cooking!

Monday
Sweet Italian Sausage w/sauteed onions and peppers
Potato-Cheddar Pierogies
Roasted Green Beans

Tuesday
Turkey Pot Pie
Broccoli Slaw

Wednesday
Maple-Sesame Bacon Fried Rice (with veggies)

Thursday
Chinese Turkey Salad with Fried Wonton Crisps and Sesame Seeds

Friday
Cuban Sandwiches
Saffron Rice with Peas

Saturday
Out-and-about
School Carnival, Going Away Party

Sunday
Leftovers

Menu Plan

Ah, Monday. You present all sorts of challenges, don't you? My current dilemma is of the What Are We Gonna Eat nature. I figure I'll start by letting you know what we had last week. Maybe that will get my creative juices flowing for this week's menu.

Also coming up--a post about homemade salad dressing. I started making my own about a year ago, and we hardly use any bottled dressing any more. It's easy to make, and it's CHEAP! It also tastes a lot fresher, and there's the added benefit of being able to tailor the dressing to personal tastes. I may post that yet today, but I will post it by tomorrow at the latest.

LAST WEEK'S MENU:

Monday
Baked Ziti
Salad

Tuesday
Grilled Pork Steak
Cacio e Pepe Roasted Potatoes (Roasted potatoes tossed with freshly grated Parmesano-Reggiano cheese and liberal amounts of freshly cracked black pepper immediately before serving)
Roasted Corn on the Cob

Wednesday-Cinco de Mayo!
Barbacoa Burritos with black beans, cilantro-lime rice, fresh roasted corn and roasted jalapeno salsa, shredded cheese, and sour cream
Homemade tortilla chips
Fresh Guacamole

Thursday
Scrambled Eggs
Hash Browns
Sausage Links

Friday
Out to eat. I had Asian Lettuce Wraps, Abe had a Bacon and Bleu Cheese Burger, and the kids had Mac and cheese and Pizza

Saturday
Linguine with Roasted Garlic Pesto Alfredo
Grilled Romaine Salad

Sunday-Mother's Day!
Out for pizza. The kids had a cheese pizza, and Abe and I had pizza with alfredo, roasted chicken, bacon, mushrooms, feta, and mozzarella, sprinkled with oregano and parmesan cheese. Wowsers. It was GOOD!

THIS WEEK'S MENU

Monday
Tacos w/home-fried shells, onions, peppers, leftover barbacoa, salsa, and cheese
Yellow Rice

Tuesday
Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad--loaded with peas, carrots, romaine, peppers, cucumbers...

Wednesday
Roasted Turkey
Mashed Potatoes
Stir-fried garlic veggie blend (sugar snap peas, red peppers, mushrooms, water chestnuts)

Thursday
Grilled Pork Loin
Sauteed Vidalias
Jasmine Rice Pilaf

Friday
Chinese Turkey Salad (or leftovers)

Saturday
Junk food at the baseball game

Sunday
DEFINITELY leftovers...we'll have plenty, I'm sure!

Cinco de Mayo!

You know, I love Thanksgiving. I love the Turkey and stuffing and the green bean casserole and the pies and the hours of thankful indulgence. And I love the 4th of July, a day which begs for a menu of juicy smoked-this and grilled-that and heaps of pasta salads, potato salads, baked beans, corn, and ice cream. Independence and a cookout. What's not to love? And there's Easter, with its savory ham. And Christmas, with its crumbly, sugary cookies and decadent baked sweets. I know holidays weren't created with food in mind, but when holidays roll around, food is always on my mind.

That's why I will welcome any holiday that demands I prepare a menu of more food than we could possibly eat. Cinco de Mayo (The 5th Of May) commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. Not super relevant to my every day life. But oh, how I love south-of-the-border food. And yes, I'm fully aware that many of the items we call "Mexican food" are not, in fact, Mexican. I'm okay with that. Because at the end of the day, Cinco de Mayo encourages me to use lots of cilantro and limes and spicy peppers and guacamole, and that's always a reason to celebrate.

I started LOVING Mexican food about 10 years ago. I've always liked it, but growing up, I just usually ate Taco Bell-type interpretations. Good, but MEH. Then I went to a restaurant called Maggie's Kitchen, which served authentic Mexican food cooked by actual Mexicans. Then I went to Nina's Taqueria, which, again, served real Mexican food prepared by people who know it. And I went to those places again and again, all the while discovering a deep fondness for Barbacoa. And for cilantro. And that beautiful, slightly-tomatoey, slightly-spicy rice. And refried beans that aren't pink and don't come out of a can. And real, honest-to-goodness pico de gallo and salsa verde and and and and....

So when it came time to have my own kitchen in my own house where I get to do all of the shopping and the cooking and the meal planning, I decided to make room in our calendar for a Cinco de Mayo celebration. Our menu is fairly standard; last year, it was fajitas, this year, burritos, but mostly, it is the same stuff. This year, it will be my own version of Barbacoa (because I don't have access to a whole sheep, a pit lined with volcanic rock and mesquite, and leaves of a maguey cactus, I'm using chuck roast and a crock pot) to serve in gigantic burritos stuffed with black beans and cilantro-lime rice, sour cream, shredded cheese, and homemade salsa with roasted corn, tomatoes, and jalapenos. On the side, we'll have Mexican rice (like they serve at Nina's Taqueria), fresh guacamole, and fresh, home-fried tortilla chips. To top it off, we'll drink Lime Jarritos soda.

So it's not my holiday. So what? I will still eat myself silly celebrating it. Viva Cinco de Mayo!! Next up: Bastille Day!