crafts + recipes + existential dread
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Sunday: Subway after the movies
Monday: rotisserie chicken and salad
Tuesday: London broil, baked potatoes, steamed broccoli
Wednesday: Avgolemono, gyros
Thursday: Crock Pot beef stew, garlic-cheddar biscuits
Friday: Jake’s choice (last home cooked meal before heading back to college)
Saturday: Chinese take-out
Did you hear the news? Ronzoni is discontinuing production of its pastina.
Maybe it’s a Northeastern thing but I am just shocked. They claim there aren’t enough sales, and I’m just like… what? What the heck are people putting their soups when they’re sick? Pastina with chicken broth and Parmesan is the go-to! Oh well. I know other companies make it, but it still comes as a huge surprise to me.
Happy Monday everyone! It is a chilly one here — 34 degrees as I type, brrr. We’ve got a busy week over here. Tonight I have my monthly meeting with the Board of Trustees. I always try to do a slow cooker meal whenever I have an evening meeting like this (or book club, or a committee meeting). The evening meetings are probably the least favorite part of my job, but board members are all volunteers, and many of them also have full-time jobs so we have to schedule around their availability. This week also starts high school musical rehearsal. My senior has one of the lead roles for Once Upon a Mattress, and I am so happy that this year rehearsals will be right after school with a much earlier pickup than in years past.
Anyway, here is my plan for the week. Something will change, I am sure. It did last week! There was an extra day when we got take-out, and I switched a few things around, but it all worked out great.
Sunday: Leftovers
Monday: Crock Pot Mexican chicken over brown rice (bumped from last week)
Tuesday: Chicken fettuccini Alfredo, garden salad
Wednesday: BBQ pork tenderloin medallions, broccoli, smoked gouda mac & cheese
Thursday: Naan pizzas, salad
Friday: Turkey burgers, fries, salad
Saturday: ??? Maybe pizza ???
One thing I would like to do to better help me plan is to do a freezer inventory. I grocery shop based on sales, and then meal plan based on what we already have. I’ve been buying chicken breast like crazy because ShopRite has been selling it for $1.99/lb, but after I vacuum sealed everything yesterday and I was putting it in the deep freezer I realized that I have so much chicken breast. So I need to do a little freezer organization. I also need to use up a lot of what is in there so in the spring we can wheel it outside and defrost it. I love my stand-up freezer, and it was definitely the best pandemic purchase we made, but it does require upkeep and a good defrost is long overdue!
When you’re looking for something for dessert and Sam’s has their pumpkin pies for $2, it is a very easy decision.
Need a delicious recipe for a brunch or a light dinner? Quiche is one of my go-to options because it can be made ahead of time and is delicious with a side salad in the summer or a cup of soup in the cooler months. This is a recipe I worked on with my son when he was in middle school. It actually won him a prize at a “Top Chef” contest that was judged by chefs from local restaurants! I hope you enjoy it
Is it ever too early to start thinking about holiday menus? I think not! As soon as fall comes around my thoughts immediately turn to Thanksgiving, and this cheese ball is always a hit. I’m not 100% sure of this recipe’s origin, but I’m going to bet it was my aunt’s because I have it down in my recipe book as “Aunt Susan’s Cheese Ball.” The Christmas when I was pregnant with my oldest, even though my mom had a huge spread of delicious Polish food (including kielbasa and pierogis), this was the only thing I could bare to eat.
Granted, if you’re a health nut, you will likely turn up you nose. That’s okay because it means there is just more for the rest of us! I usually make this at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas, but it makes a great cheese spread all year long.
It’s been cold here in the Hudson Valley. Like, not just regular winter-cold, but chills-you-to-the-bones cold. The weather has me craving comfort food, and in particular potato soup. I have a great Crock Pot potato soup recipe that I love, but I didn’t want to wait for hours. I decided to make this version in my Instant Pot, and I was ladling up lunch in about half an hour — you can’t beat that!
Oh my, how long has it been since I posted a recipe here? Ages, I’m sure. I’m afraid to even look back to see how long ago it was. Anyway, it’s blueberry season here, and blueberries are one of my favorite fruits! I’ve been meaning to head out to one of the local Pick-Your-Own farms, but with the heat… yeah. This lazy girl just didn’t get around to it. However, they have been on sale at the supermarket and last weekend I decided that I had to have blueberry pie.
This has been my go-to recipe for just about 20 years. Simple. Reliable. It’s the kind of pie your grandma would have made. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
So, if you have an Instagram account, no doubt you have seen photos of people showing off their whipped coffee creations. They look absolutely delicious, and I was intrigued! When I read over the ingredients list, I had a hard time believing that what you start with will create that luscious cream, so I had to try it for myself!
This creates a really strong coffee flavor, so keep that in mind. Apparently, this food trend originated in South Korea and was nicknamed “Dalgona Coffee” because it resembles the look of a popular street snack with the same name in South Korea.
It’s a fun way to mix up an iced coffee because you’ll feel like you just ordered a fancy drink at a cafe, even if you can’t leave your house!
I know, I know, I totally missed Happy Homemaker Monday yesterday. L. was home sick and I was trying to plug away at the library print newsletter, so honestly I just ran out of time. But I was going through old (really old ) posts on my old blog, Pure Sugar and years ago I was so good about posting my meal plan for the week . I thought it was a really interesting snapshot of the recipes and food trends I was into at the time, so I decided to just continue it. Who cares if I make it in as part of a link-up or not? I’m reminding myself that by starting this new blog, it is for me… it’s a way to document and share and I would love for people to read it but if not, that’s OK too.
On the menu this week, Feb. 11-17, 2019:
Monday: Chicken & chicken pea tikka masala, rice, cucumber and red onion salad.
Tuesday: Turkey burgers, tater tots, sweet kale salad
Wednesday: Wednesdays are crazy here. L. has CCD from 4:30-6 and then Noah has CCD from 7:15-8:45. I’m blessed in that I am able to carpool with two family friends and it definitely makes the night a little easier, but dinner can be a challenge. I like to prepare something that is easy to fix and everyone can eat when it makes sense. This week I’m think of making sheet pan chicken fajitas, tortilla chips, fresh salsa and guacamole.
Thursday: ?? Happy Valentine’s Day! ?? I am meeting my parents up in the Berkshires and Laura is spending the weekend with them. If the timing works out (and my 16-year-old doesn’t have to work, video-recording the monthly town board meeting), D. and I are hoping to go out to dinner, but we will see!
Friday: D. and the boys will be winter camping with scouts so it’s just me for two nights! I think I’m going to make myself steak, baked potato, and salad
Saturday: Shopping after work, and since it’s just me I plan to get Moe’s take-out. Probably a chicken burrito
Sunday: Boys’ choice!
Maybe I’ll even start doing a week’s end wrap-up with dinner photos! I really enjoy seeing what other people are cooking up — I get a lot of inspiration that way. Might be fun to give it a go.
