Meal Plan for the week

Sometimes, I procrastinate so much that I surprise even myself. And as a lifelong procrastinator of the very highest caliber, that's saying a lot. ~smile~

But, I did actually make a meal plan this week, and we're following it for the most part. Lots of great spring produce is coming in, making the farmers' market so much fun, as well as trip to the garden (both at home and at my mom's house--I'm a lucky woman).

Friday: Indian curry with potatoes, beet greens, mirlitons, and onions, raita, rice

Saturday: out (lunch), pizza (supper)

Sunday: baked potatoes (lunch), waffles with strawberry syrup (supper)

Monday: pan seared swordfish with dill sauce, sauteed chard, asparagus, roasted fingerling potatoes

Tuesday: deconstructed in season burritos--roasted potatoes, chicken, sauteed collards, all in a big pile, topped with monterey jack, cilantro, onions, and jalapenos. I'll probably throw pintos in there, too.

Wednesday: vegetable plate--turnips, onion gratin, "fried" squash, salad

Thursday: slow simmered cube steaks, mashed potatoes, beets

Date night kabobs

I frequently shop at a big international market here in Atlanta. It's huge, full of beautiful meat and produce, and it's an adventure every time we go. On the plus side, we also are one of the few non-international families that shop there, so we are memorable. At least that's what I like to think. I hate to think they remember us because we are loud, and my 3 year old frequently likes to munch on a cucumber throughout the store, asking questions about everything and everyone that he encounters. I like to put that part out of my head.

So, this week, Muhammed the butcher (at the halal butcher counter, of course) recommended that we try the lamb kabobs. Y'all. So good. They were spicy (but not hot), tender, and so flavorful. A really nice way to have lamb.

During pregnancy, I try to make sure that I eat potassium rich food almost every day. Orange juice is one of those foods. I don't really like it, but I do my part for a healthy baby. This was a cocktail made of orange juice, seltzer, and a marischino cherry. Better than orange juice straight, but you know, o.j is always going to be o.j.

For this meal, I splurged on almost in-season, but not quite, still way to expensive, and not that great, tomatoes. Luckily, the Tomato King is on the ball this year, and we have several tiny green tomatoes on our plants. I think he's aiming for my birthday to present me with the first one.

Those lovely kabobs.

And, we also grilled asparagus and scallions to go alongside.

Another great meal shared with my favorite guy. Thanks for the tip, Muhammed!

Perking me up

Sometimes when you are feeling especially large and pregnant and tired and not so attractive, well, it's really nice when you discover someone says something nice about you.

Thanks Mom!

Meal Plan Monday

Another week....and today starts an exciting month. I'm having baby number 3 exactly one month from today. So, the 31 day countdown has begun!! Yikes. I'm excited and scared, and this time, I know that you can't possibly be *really* prepared for a new baby, so I'm trying to be all laid back about the changes that are coming. But, it's exciting, nonetheless. All that to say, I'm still doubling recipes for the freezer here and there in hopes of making things easier the first few weeks of June and July.

My favorite grocery store had lettuce on sale for $0.49/head this week, so lots of salads, too.

Friday: patty melts, roasted potatoes, corn on the cob

Saturday: out (lunch), homemade pizza (supper)

Sunday: chicken ala king over biscuits (lunch), Italian wedding soup (supper)--doubled for the freezer

Monday: chicken alfredo with broccolini and peas, salad

Tuesday: crawfish etouffee, rice, some sort of sauteed mirlitons, salad

Wednesday: crunchy tacos, strawberry shortcake (going strawberry picking this day!)

Thursday: chana masala, rice, naan bread, yogurt chutney (an overload of carbs, but it'll taste good!)

As always, check out orgjunkie for lots more meal plans and menu ideas!

Cinco de Mayo

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo in frugal style--with $3 burritos at Moe's!

The boys think that eating at a "wassant" (aka restaurant) is so much fun. For mama, I'm not sure that it's that much fun. What used to be relaxing has turned into a giant adventure of keeping people occupied, not yelling (inside voices, please!), and making sure that at least the bare minimum of civility and table manners are adhered to.

Still, it's fun to celebrate all of the holidays and special days we can.

Hope you had a great Cinco de Mayo!

Field trip

My 3 year old is a tiny bit obsessed with Curious George... After all, George is a monkey, and he can do things people can not do! So, recently, George had a show all about signs. And, one of the signs was the crosswalk "walk" and "do not walk" signs. My mom lives in a town with a great downtown area. There are several blocks with vibrant restaurants, shops, lots of people, and just across the street, the university. Every time we have driven through for the last several weeks, Will has asked to walk in the crosswalks. I promised him that as soon as the university was out for the summer (and traffic was lighter), we'd go.

That was this week.

Will and his Honey examining the signs.

One very happy boy!

I love seeing the world through a 3 year old's eyes. To me, that's one of the best parts of being a mama. It's a lot of fun.

Spring garden season

Oh, I've missed my blog! I have a beautiful, fast, exciting new laptop, and I'm so glad that I'm able to get back to blogging!

I love the beginning of garden season. It's so exciting to see things start coming up and to start planning meals by the seat of my pants. I jokingly call my mom's garden my personal CSA....but it's not so much a joke as it is reality. She is very generous with her garden, and every time I see her, I come home with something exciting. She loves to grow things (as does my husband), and I love to cook them, so it works out very well for us.

This week, she had an abundance of dill (which is beautiful just in a vase as a flower), plus it was time to thin the baby beets. I got a huge colander full of baby beet greens (which cook down to nothing, but taste oh so good), as well as the dill.

I can't wait to see what will be growing the next time I get over there!

I was inspired by this recipe, and I added a little to make it mine. I was out of shallots, so I used green onions. Out of wine (the horrors!), so I just omitted it. And, I used about 1/4 cup of chopped dill. But, other than that, it's exactly as written.

To serve, I mixed the beet greens (quick sauteed in olive oil with garlic and chili flakes) with spaghetti noodles, then topped with the halibut and the dill piccata sauce.

This turned out so well! We loved it. It's definitely a repeater.