Hey, hey, ya’ll! Hope you’re having a lovely Thursday. I love short weeks, Friday comes so much faster!
I’ve been meaning to start doing weekly meal plans for a while now. I tried it once and I even bought all the ingredients, but I forgot to write down the dishes I intended to make. I had no clue what to do with all the ingredients I purchased. FAIL. I decided that a short week would be a good time to try again since it’s only 3 days worth of planning. I can ease into it that way. I planned away and then was off to the grocery store for ingreeds I didn’t already have. How easy is that? <–best part.
Round 1 of this week’s meal planning extravaganza was a huge success.
Green salad with feta and kalamata olives not shown. |
Notice the new print? It’s a nice change, huh? It was one of my purchases at World Market! It is reversible but I think the other side looks like a Thanksgiving dinner, so I’ll stick with this side until fall, I think. We’ll see.
Stupid kitchen light ruins all my pictures. Sorry. |
Herbed Bow Ties and Chicken
adapted from the Herbal Kitchen
- kosher salt
- 12 oz whole grain bow-tie pasta (farfalle)
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 Tbsp coarsley chopped sage
- 6 oz chicken breast, cubed (or tuna)
- 3 Tbsp capers, rinsed
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped dill (or parsley)
Bring a large pot of water to a boil with 2 Tbsp salt. Stir in the bow ties.
Pour the olive oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the sage and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes. Add chicken or tuna, 1/2 tsp salt, and a good grind of fresh black pepper. Remove the skillet from the heat.
When the pasta is done, drain it and toss it into the chicken in the skillet. Sprinkle with the dill or parsley and toss it again. Serve right away.
Note: The original recipe included 1 medium onion, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick from root end to top…if you’re into that. I’m perfectly content living my life sans onion.
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The side dish was also phenomenal.
Thyme-Scented Green Beans with Almonds
adapted from 1001 Ways to Cook Southern (Shelby, page 845)
- 1 lb fresh garden green beans, trimmed
- 1 Tbsp Earth Balance (or light butter)
- 1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp chopped toasted almonds
Arrange green beaners in a steamer basket over boiling water. Cover and steam 6 minutes or until crisp-tender. If you don’t have a steamer basket, fill a large pot with about 1/2 inch of water with a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Add the beaners and boil for about 5 minutes until they’re just right.
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in green beans, thyme, salt, and pepper, cook until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle beans with almonds.
Counting calories? Here are the {awesome} stats on the beaners. I changed the recipe slightly so this isn’t quite right for the above recipe. I made it healthier, though, so it’s all good.
Per serving: calories 76; fat 3.7g (sat 2g, mono 0.5g, poly 1g); protein 3g; fiber 3g; chol 5mg; Iron 3.5mg; sodium 196mg; calc 80 mg
The only problem with this dinner is the excessive amount of stove work that you have to do. Everything is prepared on the stove. It was friendly reminder of how small my kitchen is. But that’s usually a problem with anything we try to cook in our kitchen. I kept running out of places to put hot pans, bowls and dishes. But who knows, we may end up in a tiny apartment someday and I’ll miss this! Yipes! …or maybe someday I’ll have my dream kitchen…
The Pilot had a busy week with lots of piloting and academics. He didn’t want to have sore muscles while pulling G’s either, so we decided to take a few days off of Supreme 90. That way he could take it easy when he got home from his 12 hour work days. Elle never minds when we skip workouts because it means more snuggle time with her favorite persons.
A little something to think about: ” If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it. Anything you want to, do it. Wanna change the world? There’s nothing to it.”
[Best. Movie. Ever. Made.] The Glee cast sang this and it made me so happy. Sometimes I get caught up in all the frustrations of life and forget to view my paradise.
Have a listen, and if you’re like me, sing along. Yes, out lout and at the top of your lungs, duh! Enjoy.