I cooked this week! And since I haven’t done one of these posts in well over a year, I thought I would celebrate my success by sharing what I made. It also gives you a glimpse into my evenings. You would think they would be easier with only one child at home, and in some ways they are. Then again, I lost my other chauffeur, so in some ways our evenings are crazier than ever.
- Saturday: With my brother-in-law in town, we were going to go out to dinner. However, we had so many leftovers from the bridal shower that I was able to bring enough home to feed the two boys and still have another meal or two left. It made the evening easier, and my brother-in-law got to watch his alma mater’s football team play from the luxury and quiet of our home.
- Sunday: I love cooking, but I love watching football more. Plus, I don’t enjoy giving up a relaxing Sunday afternoon to prepare a meal. That is why I have been trying to incorporate more slow cooker meals into my menus. They are time savers during the week, but I LOVE them on Sundays because it means I can have a nice family meal without any of the hassle. This week I tried yet another Cincinnati chili recipe as I continue my search to make Skyline Chili at home. This one was tasty but not authentic Cincinnati-style chili. It was too thick, and the spices were off. I actually enjoyed it more without the pasta as regular chili than I did as a three-way.
- Monday: Trying not to eat pasta every night of the week is always a challenge in my house. That is why tonight I opted to make creamy chicken taquitos in the slow cooker. I prepped everything on Sunday, so all I had to do was turn on the slow cooker and leave for work. Holly gets home right at the 8 hour mark and was able to turn off the heat until I could finish the recipe.
- Tuesday: Jim ended up having an emergency at work and had to stay late, leaving Holly and me to question whether it was worth making a full meal for just the two of us. We ended up doing an impromptu breakfast for dinner with omelets and toast. Omelets make for an easy, quick, healthy, filling, versatile, and delicious meal and tend to be one of my favorite things to make when I have no desire to make anything else.
- Wednesday: A headache felled me today thanks to drastic changes in the weather. Jim was already out dropping Holly off at dance and going to the gym so he picked up something from Culver’s for both of us, and we called it a night. I’m perfectly okay with this.
- Thursday: Much cooler temperatures means comfort food. Comfort food means pasta and cheesy goodness. Tonight’s dinner is yet another one from my beloved Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese cookbook with its version of tuna noodle casserole. The best part is that while it may be made of (really good) cheese and pasta, I feel better knowing that there is not a single processed ingredient in meals like this.
- Friday: Holly and I are on another dance weekend. We arrived in the Detroit suburbs just after dinner time. After six hours in the car, neither one of us were interested in a big meal, so we walked to a sub shop two blocks from our hotel and grabbed some sandwiches. Nothing fancy but it served its purpose and met my requirements that we don’t have the restaurant at home.
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What was for dinner at your house this week?
At some point this week we are having ham and cheesy potatoes and then on another night chili dogs or something like that. Tonight we volunteer so there never time to cook and then right after the girl goes to rehearsal so she will have to get a quick bite.
I made scrambled eggs for the senior home on Sunday. 84 eggs to be exact. I don’t ever want to see an egg again.
Ham and cheesy potatoes – another thing I now want to make. We always keep Ensure or other protein shakes on hand in case Holly doesn’t have time to grab something before dance. They are easy and do a decent job of giving her energy to get her through rehearsals.
That is a lot of eggs. No wonder you don’t want to see an egg for a while.
I am in the mood for comfort food today. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is calling my name, but we already have rigatoni and meatballs planned for tonight. I’m saving that chicken taquitos recipe!
Grilled cheese and tomato soup. I know what I’m making next week!
Ok I LOVE reading about what other people eat. Just love it. Let’s see if I can remember what we are this past week. Saturday we had family in town. They treated us to dinner in DC at a fabulous restaurant. Sunday we ate leftovers. Monday L was at work until 9:30pm but I made a quick meal of Alfredo noodles from a package (my day also got away from me and I had little time to cook), with shrimp and peas from the freezer. Everyone loves this, and for processed it could be worse, since I add the healthy shrimp and peas. Tuesday L and I went to the Third Eye Blind concert, so he ate a late lunch at work, I ate a sandwich at 4pm, and my son had a Halloween party at church so we called it good with that. Wednesday L had multiple work events (really cool ones-book party and then a premiere thing) and wasn’t home until midnight. Son and I scrounged. Thursday I finally cooked for real and made a homemade pork lo mein with mushrooms and broccoli. Delicious, even if L got home at 9pm from work and went immediately back to working from home, until 3am. At least he had a good meal to enjoy while doing so. Tonight I made chicken Caesar salad. L had another work thing and got home about 9:30. Yes- crazy week. All these events in one week aren’t typical but working from home late is. We can talk about that privately. Anyway, that was our week.
I am a firm believer that if you can always improve the health factor of processed foods (and most often taste) with the addition of fresh ingredients. It is a bit like you made your own carbonara. The concert sounds so much fun! This week has not been big on cooking so far, but I hope to remedy that tonight.
Okay, that working until 3 AM is insane. What is going on there?