So I went quite mad this week on cooking…
When faced with yet another week of meals. UGH does anyone else wish for a personal chef? I got quite radical. I took my Rachael Ray Express Lane Meals cookbook to Amy’s ballet class and proceeded to dog ear recipes and write out a shopping list. Have you ever heard you shouldn’t go grocery shopping while hungry, pretty sure you shouldn’t plan the meals for the next week either. I went all out and scrapped all those tried and true items we are SO bored with and got adventuresome. Here is my assessment of the results.
Tuesday: Chicken with Scallion-Lime Sauce and Sweet Carrot Rice p. 68. This was a mixed bag. I loved the rice, as did the kids. The sauce was very tart and my note on it was do it the same but next time half the lime and use some white wine, it just needed to be mellowed out. BUT great potential if we try a round two on it.
Wednesday: Chicken Sausage and Egg Sammies p. 82. Personally I loved them! If I have cooked with ground chicken it’s been forever and a day. The kids loved just eating the patties for the sandwiches. Pat is not a man to be happy with a sandwich for dinner so he survived. He was sweet enough to supervise frying the eggs!
Thursday: Road to Morocco Lamb with Pine Nut Couscous p. 138. The spice rub for this is divine! It smelled so good I knew we had a winner, the lamb was so tender and delicious. I worried the kids would think it was too spicy but they ate it right up right out of the skillet. I served them the couscous w/ butter and meat w/o any sauce. They devoured it, even the baby. For how easy this recipe is it’s a winner!
Friday: Crab and Corn Chowda-Mac p. 130. So Easy! And so Delicious. This was also a strong winner. The kids ate it right up. After several bites Kyle asked what kind of chicken it was and I said… well it’s not chicken it’s crab. He furrowed his brow, living near the Oregon coast he has gone crabbing for dungeness crab, he knows what they are. But he was thinking Sponge Bob! So I said… yes you are eating CRAB like Mr. Crab. BWAHAHAHHAHA… OMG they loved it more!
I have on reserve for this weekend Ginger Chicken and Sweet-Salty Noodles with Veggies. Thankfully Pat has declared he will cook tomorrow! He is the true chef, I only make due when necessary. He’s got some big chicken thing on the Traeger Grill all set up. Mommy gets a rest!
At any rate I want to say THANK YOU Rachael! I love your book. I’m sure what I will get for Valentine’s day is another Rachael Ray cook book. You have gotten me out of a bad cooking rut. Pat is almost scared now he’s never going to have a cupboard staple again!
02/18/07, 10:37 AM |
Tanya
You must have been thinking like me! Two weeks ago , I was tired of us eating out WAY too much each week so I sat down with my Rachel magazines and the cookbook Shelli put together with the help of teachers like you when I got married six years ago. I picked out recipes to try, including one of yours, and then headed to the store. I spent $250 and Chris about flipped! But, we haven’t eaten out in two weeks now so I KNOW it’s paid off and we’re eating much healtier. Think I’ll try the Chicken Divan you mentioned. Sounds YUM-O! Hope all is well out West! Columbia has gotten 36 inches of snow this season…wayyyy more than usual so I’ve enjoyed 5 snow days at home with ths girls. LOVE your blog!
Joy