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
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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
Bad Food Blog 