Monday, January 21, 2013

Dinners for January 20 - 25, 2013

This holiday weekend has given us more time than usual to make some dinners with prep times longer than 30 minutes. This week I chose two dinners from Dinner: A Love Story (the book), one that is quick and easy and one that takes little more time.

The turkey chili we made last night was a slam dunk with my 7 year old. When I first said I was making chili earlier in the day, he said he didn't like chili and that it was too spicy. But from the moment I started to sauté the onions and garlic till I added the cinnamon at the end, he was orbiting around me asking when... when... when... could he finally taste what smelled so good. He ate two bowls of chili and declared this the best dinner he's ever had. A quick note, I only added 2 tablespoons of chili powder because I was worried the spice would turn off my kids. It worked great and I think I am going to slowly up the chili powder amount over time.

Sunday: DALS book selection recipe - Turkey chili with homemade cornbread muffins

Monday: Spinach feta quiche with salad

Tuesday: DALS book selection recipe - Apricot mustard chicken, crispy broccoli and mashed potatoes (sorry, no link available)

Wednesday: Roasted salmon and brussel sprouts with barley pilaf

Thursday: Sausage, kale and pasta

Friday: Dinner out with friends

Saturday: TBD

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Missing in Action - The Dinner Edition



Sunday: Dinner at a friends house

Monday: Roasted pork chops with kale and farro

Tuesday: Lamb meatballs with pita pockets and yogurt mint sauce

Wednesday: Butternut squash with pine and penne pasta

Thursday: Cobb salad

Friday: Butternut squash and kale pizza

Saturday: TBD

Oh my, where has the time gone? I have been so bad about posting menus, it's almost a shame to be trying again. But this is a new year and a new start, right? I was inspired by the Seven Days, Seven Meals challenge over at Dinner: A Love Story and for the past two weeks I have introduced about five new dinners into our repertoire, including two from this week's menu. Sadly we have not had many hits with this experiment! My kids each ate one lamb meatball and declared it inedible, but the adults inhaled them. The Spicy Black Bean Burgers with jalapenos omitted for the kids were met with a resounding "Um, no thanks!" Same goes for the Spinach Feta Turkey Burgers - they ignored them and ate the sweet potato fries instead. I almost pulled out my cottage cheese trick, but they redeemed themselves by inhaling the Crispy black bean tacos with coleslaw.This has not been an easy ride, folks. Oh well, I love trying new recipes and while all were not winners, we definitely have room to grow around here. Wish us luck. Have you had any success with new recipes lately?