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  • Tag: Lent

    • My April Menu Plan

      Posted at 8:00 am by Rachel, on March 31, 2019

      My kids keep reminding me that April will be here on Monday! And Easter is in April! All that to say that we are very excited for April. Here in Georgia, things are finally heating up, so I’m starting to pull out some of my favorite warm weather foods. I’m looking at you, dinner salads! I tried to keep the meals pretty simple for this month, so there is a lot of low-prep, make ahead, and some store-bought favorites.

      I still haven’t finalized an Easter menu yet. A couple of years ago I made Easter Dinner on Two Sheet Pans, and while it was a very satisfying meal, we really enjoyed our Christmas meal of appetizers and sides. Ahh, decisions! Either way, I’ll be making another lamb cake, and maybe some other sweet things since we like sweet things.

      Sandwiches

      My kids have trouble eating most sandwiches beyond a PB&J or grilled cheese – it is hard for their little hands to hold it all together! I usually serve them the sandwich components on a plate – it keeps them happy and is just easier for everyone.

      As with all recipes, if you want great results, start with high quality ingredients. Don’t skimp on the bread! I’m serving these up with oven fries – probably going to alternate between Russets and sweet potatoes, throw some different seasonings on them – these look pretty tasty.

      • Caprese sandwiches – fresh mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, fresh basil, and a balsamic reduction on some good bread
      • Black bean burgers – It’s been a while since the last time I made these. I am guessing that at least one of my kids will not want to eat the black bean patty, so I’m going to reserve some plain, unmashed black beans for them just in case.
      • Roasted Sweet Potato Wraps with Caramelized Onions and Pesto – These are SO GOOD and they freeze phenomenally. Even better, my local Target now carries Simply Balanced tortillas (no hydrogenated oils!).
      • BLTs

      Eggs

      Eggs are moving to Mondays for April! These are a great, easy meal, so perfect for a weeknight. I want to make the quick quiche from Ellie Krieger’s You Have It Made one night. It is nice to change things up from time to time and this was a solid recipe.

      Pasta

      I’m keeping things fast and easy this month. All of these pastas are easily served with or without sauce, and two of them (bowties with pesto and tortellini with red sauce) I’m just going to buy at the grocery store. My sometimes picky eaters will eat the Lemony Broccoli Pasta without modifications and sometimes like to dip their pasta in the sauce.

      • Penne with Arrabbiata Sauce
      • Lemony Broccoli Pasta
      • Fast and Easy Pasta with Blistered Cherry Tomato Sauce – If you’ve never tried making a homemade tomato sauce, this is an excellent recipe to start with! It is so easy but still so flavorful. One or two times and you’ll be able to make it by heart.
      • Bowties with pesto
      • Tortellini with red sauce

      Meat

      • Maple mustard chicken thighs – Already prepped and in my freezer! I’m going to try these in my slow cooker.
      • Slow Cooker Shredded Balsamic Beef – I always like to try new slow cooker recipes, and I thought that this one sounded pretty good. I want to sear the meat before putting it in the slow cooker, and other than that I’ll follow the recipe as written.
      • Huli Huli Chicken from The Complete Slow Cooker – My husband has requested this again! It’s so good and the leg quarters look so impressive when they come out from under the broiler. I’m no grilling expert, but I suspect you could finish this up on the grill instead of using the broiler.
      • Orange chicken – I plan to make the sauce and cut up the chicken ahead of time and stick them in the fridge until dinner – just a bit more manageable than trying to get it all done at dinnertime. I might try making it in my wok this time.

      Pizza – For our weekly pizza I use this crust recipe with this sauce.

      Salads/Bowl Meals

      • Polenta with roasted veggies and pesto –  I’m linking this recipe so you can get the general idea and see a picture of what the end result looks like. The pesto and polenta recipes they include are probably great, but I have not tried them – I simplify a bit by using store-bought pesto and this polenta recipe. Also, tomatoes and zucchini are delicious, but feel free to sub in whatever veggies you like.
      • Greek salad with broccoli and sundried tomatoes – This looks like less prep work than my previous go-to Greek dinner salad, and it has sundried tomatoes, which we recently rediscovered at a friend’s house.
      • Southwest salad
      • Asian chicken salad

       

      Posted in Dinner, Menu Plans | 0 Comments | Tagged beef, chicken, Dinner, kid-friendly, Lent, Menu plan, pasta, salad, sandwich, soup, vegetarian
    • My March Menu Plan

      Posted at 3:00 pm by Rachel, on February 27, 2019

      March is upon us! Lent begins this month with Ash Wednesday on March 6th. Because this is a penitential season, I decided to limit how much meat I put on this menu. Specifically, I’ll be cooking meat on Thursdays as well as the 17th (St. Patrick’s Day) and 19th (the Solemnity of St. Joseph). I intentionally chose Thursday as our main meat night, because Catholics abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays during Lent. Our lunch is usually the previous night’s leftovers, so this will be an active reminder of the sacrifice for us every Friday.

      My other food goals for the month are 1) to eat some eggplant and 2) take my new wok for a spin. One of my kids asked to try eggplant recently, and we have already made it to serve on the side once, but I want to take advantage of her interest and make it a couple of more times this month. I used my wok once last month to make this vegetable stir-fry, and promptly destroyed the starter-seasoning I did. Whomp whomp. So I will be re-seasoning in the oven and then, more importantly, using my wok! If you have any interesting stir fry or other wok recipes, please send them my way!

      Eggs

      It was fun getting a little fancier with a souffle at the end of February, but this month I am back to basics. I will be keeping Sundays simple this month with scrambled eggs and roasted veggies.

      Pasta

      • Spaghetti alla Carbonara – I’m using the recipe from How to Cook Everything, the first place I usually look for basic recipes
      • Fast and Easy Pasta with Blistered Cherry Tomato Sauce – If you’ve never tried making a homemade tomato sauce, this is an excellent recipe to start with! It is so easy but still so flavorful. One or two times and you’ll be able to make it by heart.
      • Spaghetti Aglio e Olio – Another great basic – I will be pairing this with broiled eggplant
      • Skillet Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Eggplant – This will be my first try at this recipe. My husband requested a pasta topped with bread crumbs and my daughter requested eggplant – check and check!

      Vegetarian

      • Quinoa and Roasted Vegetable Salad – This salad is an offshoot of this recipe. The way I usually make it these days is pretty different from its mother recipe, but I still use that salad dressing. The original is great too, although it might be hard to find butternut squash this time of year.
      • Chipotle Portobello Oven Fajitas with Sweet Potato Cornbread – I will probably leave some of the fajita vegetables raw for my kids. As I recall, this recipe is more medium than mild spiciness, and they do not like spicy foods right now.
      • BBQ Sweet Potato Burrito Bowls – I know that this link leads to a recipe for BBQ Chicken Burrito Bowls, but I will be omitting the chicken to make it vegetarian. I usually roast up the zucchini with some cubed sweet potatoes. About half the time I forget or just choose not to include the chicken and it is always a satisfying meal.
      • Weeknight Enchiladas – I think the last time I made these I ended up with 3 or 4 pans of enchiladas because there were so many beans leftover. Great for stocking the freezer or sharing with a friend!

      Skillet/Wok

      • Chicken and Snap Pea Stir-Fry – As I mentioned, I am trying to break in my wok. This looks like a nice, simple recipe for a beginner like me.
      • Potato Kielbasa Skillet
      • Stir-Fried Chicken with Kale from How to Cook Everything
      • Beef tacos with Budget Bytes’s taco seasoning

      Pizza – For our weekly pizza I use this crust recipe with this sauce.

      Soup

      • Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Soup
      • Vegetable Soup from Meals Made Easy
      • Unstuffed Cabbage Soup with Potato Cakes – My mom gave me a recipe for Unstuffed Cabbage Soup years ago and a few years back I adapted it for the slow cooker. Recipe forthcoming! Potato cakes are another family recipe. They are on the more indulgent side of ways one can eat a potato.
      • Creamy tomato soup – A solid recipe from The Complete Slow Cooker. My kids keep asking for it – no complaints here!
      • French onion soup
      Posted in Dinner, Menu Plans | 0 Comments | Tagged chicken, Dinner, kid-friendly, Lent, Menu plan, pasta, skillet meal, soup, St. Patrick's Day, vegetarian, wok
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