I have been finding it more pleasurable to be spending time in the kitchen. I actually started decorating it a bit. Kinda. Our kitchen is pretty clean, but not really decorated. You won’t really find it on a house tour because as much as we like the openness of it, I don’t really like the color of our cabinets. I dream of white cabinets. One day, it will happen, if God allows of course.
Monday we ate Pasta Puttanesca with Oven Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic, Olive Oil, and Lemon Juice…
I followed the recipe exactly and it came out fantastic. Ben and I could have use more red pepper flakes in it, but the girls are eating it too, so we kind of have to go light on the kick. The recipe didn’t call for any protein, so we used shrimp.
The Oven Roasted Cauliflower was another yum. It was a variation of a normal vegetable dish we make, but this recipe called for lemon which was a good zing. The recipe says to put 1/4 cup olive oil, which I think is a bit much, so I put 2 tbsp and kinda stuck my hands in and rubbed it all around the florets. I think that worked just as fine. Will make this again.
Tuesday, we had Salmon Cakes BLT Burgers…
We actually made this on Sunday too and it was thanks to Jen from Our Happy Family leaving a comment on how to make it. Once I saw her comment, I knew I wanted to try it right away. I love crab cakes, so I thought this one sounded good and pretty healthy.
I used whole wheat panko bread crumbs along with two cans of salmon. I don’t like celery, so I didn’t use it. I used half an onion and four cloves are garlic. For seasoning, I used cayenne pepper (lots!) and cumin. Mixed in a bowl along with two eggs. Then, formed patties and placed on a pan and stuck it in the oven for 20 minutes, flipping after 10 minutes. Thanks Jen!
For the burger, I baked some soy bacon (tastes like the real thing to me!), mixed some siracha and eggless mayo together for a sauce. Toasted some whole wheat buns, added some greens, a dollop or two of sauce, the salmon cakes, 3 slices of soy bacon, and some avocado and we had ourselves a winning burger! For veggies, we had some canned beets.
Wednesday, we indulged in Chicken Cacciatore…
A pretty good dish, though Ben felt like it was missing something. I accidentally chopped the onions instead of slicing and I used shiitake mushrooms instead of white mushrooms. While we were eating it, Ben and I both added more red pepper flakes to our own plates because we love things spicy and felt it just needed something more. The girls seemed like big fans of this dish as they were all devouring it, so that’s a good sign.
Out of this week’s dishes, Monday was by far my favorite.
Week 2/27 – 3/2
Tuesday: Ginger Soba Noodles
Wednesday: Ground Turkey Tacos (something I already know to do)
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: Pizza or something easy
I am in need of more vegetable dishes to accompany our meals. Ben is good at figuring those out on a whim. Me, not so much. Have any good quick veggie dishes to share! We have canned veggies ready to eat on hand, in case I don’t plan for it, but I would like to start planning for it more.
All your meals look fantastic! One of my favorite veggies to add (especially with a sandwich or burger) is kale chips. You can find lots of recipes online and they are wonderful!
I am gonna give the salmon patties a go tonight! What did you heat the oven to?
Thanks & blessings!
nicole- oh! we call them kale krispies and those are my fave!
cass- 350!
Yay! Thank you!
we've been on a roasting kick in our house lately – I toss whole or halved (depending if i have time) Brussels sprouts and baby portabella mushrooms in olive oil and salt and throw 'em in the oven for 30 minutes, which gives me enough time to get the rest of the dinner together. I was gonna suggest kale, too, which we sauté in sesame oil.
Your meals look delicious! You've inspired me to try that first one with the shrimp. Oh, and how do you like the taste of canned salmon? It just sounds kinda strange to me, but we eat tuna, so I'm sure salmon in a can is just as tasty!
A sweet friend bought me a subscription to Rachael Ray magazine for Christmas so I've been trying lots of new recipes. Tonight is ratatouille pasta where you roast all the veggies together first then add them to some pasta. (http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipe/roasted-ratatouille-with-pasta/) It sounds like a good way to get veggies and a main course in one! We'll add some TJ's Italian chicken sausage for protein (and you could probably add lots of red pepper flakes to yours for a kick 🙂
one of our favorites is zucchini fried in a bit of olive oil and once they're brown a bit, I sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese and you've got yourself some (pretty healthy I think) fried zucchini!
hi Ruby,
Have you thought of homemade frozen meals? I would do a big portion of a family favorite and freeze part of it. So a fastfood evening is still a healthy food evening. We do that lots in our household 🙂 🙂
Esther
goose and bear- i know i was weary of canned salmon too, but it is actually pretty good. we even have mix it with some siracha sauce and avocados and eaten it with seaweed and dip in soy sauce. a sort of on the fly version of sushi.
esther- hm… never thought about that. maybe will need to plan for something like that too!
I love your family meals feature. I made the spicy korean tofu last night and LOVED it. I'm always eager for new ideas and your menus are great- tasty and nutritious!
Also- I love reading about you and your family and really appreciate your honesty about the ups and downs of being a mom/wife/working woman.
I always find it easy to roast vegetables with salt and olive oil. Also, I use epicurious.com a lot to find simple recipes for vegetables. And Alice Water's cookbook, Simple Food, has so many great easy peasy recipes for vegetables that require no ingredients except what usually is on hand. And it helped me understand how to cook them so I can wing it more now.
I have a lot of soba noodles! Don't buy it! I'll bring it for you on Sunday!
My go to veggie dish is a no cook dish that my kiddos love and seriously can't get enough of. I just cut up some cucumbers and tomatoes and squirt a whole lot of lemon juice and sprinkle with a little salt.
It's one of my favorites also!!
My goodness… my tummy is rumbly! One of our family faves is just sliced cucmbers with a drizzle of rice vinegar and a dash of sea salt and ground pepper. It's light, fresh and the girlies can't get enough. I'm going to try the roasted cauliflower with garlic, olive oil & lemon. That sounds yummmy!
Here are some tasty recipes!
Lemon Lentil Soup with Crumbled Feta:
http://www.takeamegabite.com/lemon-lentil-soup/
Roasted Sweet Potato & Black Bean Quesadillas:
http://www.takeamegabite.com/roasted-sweet-potato-black-bean-quesadillas/
Rocket Pesto Pasta with Mushrooms:
http://www.takeamegabite.com/rocket-pesto/
wow, you went all out this week! i've been cooking a lot lately too. it's funny because i actually JUST pinned a pasta puttanesca recipe from pioneer woman's blog! i've never had it before & the tapenade sounds so delicious! i like the idea of adding shrimp to freshen it up, yum!
The salmon cake BLT sounds fantastic! I usually use turkey bacon, but I've never heard of soy bacon! I guess I'll have to check that out next time I'm at my supermarket…the sriracha/mayo combo is one of my favorite sauces of all time, though! Definitely will try! :]]]
-Z
zplustheworld.tumblr.com
i tried this asparagus recipe recently, and quite liked it!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-asparagus-with-balsamic-butter-sauce/detail.aspx
There are MANY pinterest recipes for Brussell Sprouts these days.
If the library has “The Silver Spoon Cookbook” I would check it out. It has several veggie recipes.
Oh glad you liked the salmon cakes! I never thought to try them on a burger before, but we love soy bacon so I may have to try that too, yum! Our favorite veggie dishes are steamed baby bok choy (super fast and good plain or with a drizzle of olive oil) and this is a great asparagus recipe too http://www.chroniclesofacuriouscook.com/2010/02/dressed-asparagus-from-jamie-olivers-revolution/