(More) Meal Planning, Recipes, and Music {7qt}

Friday, September 7, 2018





--1--

We've had to turn the air conditioning on every day this week, so I maintain that we're still firmly in the grip of summer. I won't begrudge you your pumpkin decorations (I mean really, pumpkins are so pretty!) but we've reached my least-favorite part of the year:

When you can't trust any baked good *not* to have nasty pumpkin hiding in it. WHY would you ruin a perfectly good chocolate chip cookie by putting pumpkin in it???


--2--

I'm much more of an apple person, and we're headed to the orchard today to get a bushel of the best apple ever, honey crisp. I really only like honey crisp raw, because I think it's a waste to try to cook such a delicious apple, so we'll pick up some other types for baking. This weekend is going to be cool, so I'll probably make my favorite apple crumble and maybe some apple cinnamon scones if I'm feeling *really* motivated.

--3--


Half of the 30lb watermelon we picked from our melon patch!

Speaking of food (I mean really, I can't stop... Blame it on the pregnancy, but I'm also just generally a very food-focused person), here's what we've been eating lately (not including pizza delivery, Aldi take & bake pizza, and Costco pizza ;))

Week of 7/31:
- BLTs + marinated chick peas
- Tomato soup + cheesy focaccia for dipping
- Quesadillas/rice/veggies with leftover pork carnitas
- Sheet pan chicken/potatoes/tomatoes
- Bacon Mac n cheese with green beans
- Chicken Caesar salad w/tomatoes & sweet corn
- Pasta w/breadcrumbs, caprese salad

Week of 8/6:
- Sausage & potato soup w/bread
- Enchilada casserole
- Homemade garlic bread w/cheese tortellini topped with bruschetta topping
- Yeasted Belgian waffles/scrambled eggs/smoothies

Week of 8/13:
- Pasta Amatriciana
- Tacos
- Roasted chicken/green beans/potatoes
- Charcuterie platter
- Pesto pasta
- Grilled flank steak w/sides

Week of 8/20:
- Chicken & black bean soup
- Pasta/meatballs/roasted broccoli
- Pork tenderloin/rice/tomatoes
- Pancakes/raspberries/smoothies (to celebrate a successful first week back to school!)
- Potstickers & egg drop soup

Week of 8/27:
- Instant pot braised beef/mashed potatoes/green beans (made double beef + potatoes & froze for easy shepherd's pie later)
- Costco pulled pork/corn bread/tomatoes
- Baked penne w/sausage/salad/garlic bread
- Homemade pizza
- Charcuterie platter

Week of 9/3:
- Ribs, sweet corn, roasted cabbage w/bacon, watermelon
- Bruschetta tortellini
- Tacos & refried beans
- Roasted chicken/potatoes/green beans
- Risotto & summer veggies
- Chicken/bacon wraps w/poblano-lime crema

--4--

I've been taking to Instagram Stories on Mondays (my one day on IG/week) to crowd source recipes, but if you've got good ideas for next week, throw them at me! It's been really great food inspiration to find out what other people are cooking.

--5--

A couple really awesome sales (affiliate links!) you probably don't want to miss - 30% off everything in one of my favorite Etsy shops and buy 2-get 1 Shining Light Dolls in honor of the archangels - add all three archangels to your cart and one will end up free at checkout! Here are direct links to Sts. Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel.

--6--






We headed to our local music festival last weekend and spent a lot of time by the workshop stage because it was in the shade... Which meant the kids got a pretty good view of The Hillbilly Thomists and other groups! John Paul was ecstatic to get to "conduct" during one of the groups' presentations—they were amazed at how well he did, which cracked me up, because they have *no idea* what a ridiculous music brain that kid has!

Peter and Elizabeth were the only ones who were willing to stick it out in the ridiculously long free face painting line—I tried to convince Peter to go for something other than a butterfly, but nope. He really wanted a rainbow butterfly just like Elizabeth! He was *so* pleased, it was pretty adorable.

--7--

Now I've got to get everyone dressed so we can stock up on a trillion apples! Andrew's headed to a baseball game in DC with the big kids tonight... Pray for no rain? Storms in the forecast, and I don't want them to drive all that way for nothing!

Linking up with Kelly!

11 comments:

  1. I'm more of an apple person myself, and I feel the same way about Honeycrisps :) Have you made applesauce before? I want to try my hand at it this year and I'm not sure which type of apple to choose.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup, we can a bunch of applesauce every year - honestly it's good with any type of apple, I'm not picky! When Nichols has second-quality bushels on sale, I just get whatever they have :)

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  2. charcuterie platter....is that an east coast thing, or am I totally lame for not having a clue about what that is???? your menu looks super yummy. I think we are due with February babies about the same time. this pregnancy has me thinking all about food too, but I have been more consumed with canning. canning jam/jelly, pears, peaches, tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, tuna, and very soon crazy amounts of applesauce! blessings from Oregon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's really just a fancy word for lazy dinner ;) Bread, meats, cheeses, olives, fruits, nuts, veggies... Very trendy right now, and perfect for hot weather!

      I've been too hot to can much—I've done lots of jam & have frozen a bunch of pesto, but I skipped peaches this year because I've been feeling so awful, but I should have energy to do applesauce at least!

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  3. can you share the enchilada casserole recipe (only if you recommend it)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally winged it so no recipe, but I googled a bunch to look for ideas and Gimme Some Oven had good recipes both for casserole & enchilada sauce :) I used leftover taco meat & black beans and would have added corn if I hadn't run out!

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    2. oh rats! you are like my husband... he can just throw stuff together. i am a 100% by the books recipe reader!

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    3. I know, I love throwing stuff together and it almost always turns out really well but then I can never share the recipe!! Lots of variations out there though, and I think it would be hard to go wrong!

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  4. If you can find them, I highly recommend the Pink Lady apple. So yummy!

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    Replies
    1. Those & Fuji come in close second and third to Honey crisp! Pink Lady lasts a nice long time in the fridge too, so I'm going to stock up on those once they're in season :)

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  5. Oh, that seventh take. I vote that you write a blog post about your power out and the fire truck and all that.

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