Reviews of this week's meals, so far

This week is my "all crock pot, all pinterest" meal plan.

So far it's going well, and the meals are....meals.

Honey Soy Chicken
Too much soy!  I even cut back what it called for by almost a 1/2 cup.  The house smelled so good when I got home from work, and we all ate it up.  Then I took the kids to swim team practice, and when we got home, they all chugged water like it was going out of style.  We were parched from all the sodium.  If I made it again, I'd use HALF the soy sauce it calls for.

Broccoli and beef
Forget the picture on the original post, mine looked *nothing* like this.

I used stew beef from my half a cow, which is always tasty.  I threw it in at 8:20, and by 12:30, it was cooked, so I turned it to "keep warm".  I'd use less cooking time in the future.

However, it was BLAND.  Also, the sauce is supposed to thicken with boiling and cook the broccoli.  No, it did not.  I had to separate the beef (which was self-shredding at this point), and boil the sauce and the broccoli on the stove top.  I also added 3 tsp of pureed ginger for flavour.

I'd sort of do this again, but in a 4 hour cook time, and throw it all in together with some ginger.

It's going to be be a pinterest/crockpot week!

As an experiment, the next week's menu plan will a crockpot centric menu...involving recipes I've found on pinterest.

Sunday will be a beef supper at one of the local churches, I'll start on Monday.

Monday - honey soy chicken with noodles
Tuesday - Crockpot Beef and Broccoli with rice
Wednesday - Coconut Ginger Chicken
Thursday - Crockpot Maple Ham, with roasted new potatoes
(in the interest of full disclosure, I've made this before, and own the cookbook in which it appears)
Friday - leftover ham

A review and refresher

I've been chatting with some friends lately, and now that September is here, it seems like we all have the same issues:  how to handle the meals and organizing around back to school and activities.

Does anything stress busy families out like meals?  It may be packing lunches for school/work, or trying to plan a menu around multiple schedules, trying to work on a budget, or working with allergies...or worse, all of the above!

What are your biggest challenges to making a meal plan?  Is it time? Energy? Special needs? Just plain hating it?

Right now, I know I need to plan more meals.  Honestly, I'm just lacking motivation to get it done.  I know that my weeks go much more smoothly when I have a meal plan lined up, and it helps me grocery shop too.  But GAH!  Some days, I just don't want to!  I know I can't be alone.

My new addiction

A few years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to Mango Avocado Salsa.  It was tasty, but I kind of let it slip out of my mind.  A couple of weeks ago, I had some girlfriends over for cocktails and appies...and another friend brought Mango Avocado Salsa.  I was hooked.  I practically ate it with a spoon out of the bowl.  I've made it a few times since, and shared the love of it with my mom and husband too.

So, guess what was on the menu for supper tonight?  The best part is that my kids don't like it, so more for the grownups!

Mango Avocado Salsa
one mango, diced into tiny pieces
one avocado, diced into tiny pieces
1/4 - 1/2 red onion, also diced small (vary to your taste, I'm not a big onion fan, but this is good)
some minced garlic, 2-3 cloves or so
jalepeno pepper, diced up, just shy of one good sized pepper is good for me
about a handful of chopped cilantro

mix all that up with
a good glug of olive oil
some salt (to taste)
and
the juice of a lime (or two)

Tonight, we had it with grilled chicken.  Well, the adults did.  Later, we're eating the rest with multi-grain tortilla chips.

BBQ Dijon chicken

This past week was SO HOT.  On Tuesday, it was even too hot to bbq.  I picked up a deli chicken at the grocery store on the way home from work, and put it on the table with a pile of salad stuff to mix our own salads.  I even shredded some cheddar cheese, put it on the table and it *melted*.  Seriously.

That said, I did get back to the bbq on Wednesday.

I made dijon chicken and veggies.  This was so tasty!

Mix:
1/3 cup djion mustard
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp herbes de province
1/4 cup olive oil

I had about 2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and thighs.  I cut the breasts to similar size as the thighs, and tossed with about 2/3 of the marinade, and let rest for 1/2 an hour.

Meanwhile, I cut a zucchini and 2 peppers, and one red onion into chunks, and tossed with the remaining marinade.

Then I grilled it.  Simple as that.  My kids, who claim to hate mustard in all it's forms, inhaled it.  Ha!

Pork, peaches, peppers

Am I *ever* glad that I decided to only bbq this week.  The temperatures are soaring here, and our house is HOT. We don't have central air, and it's lacking in breezes, which makes for melty days.

Last night, I made a grilled pork with balsamic peach salad.  It's adapted from the most recent Rachael Ray magazine.  My kids ate parts of it, and my husband inhaled it.  There wasn't even time to snap a pic, he was all over it.  It was very colourful and pretty, and very, very tasty.

I took about a 1/3 cup of olive oil, added 4-5 tbsps of balsamic vinegar, some minced garlic and a good shake of dried thyme.

Then I chopped up 2 red peppers, half a red onion, and halved 4 peaches.  Drizzled with a tbsp or two of the dressing.  I sliced a pork tenderloin into 4 pieces, and tossed with a bit more of the dressing and let sit.

Meanwhile, I washed a bunch of baby spinach and a romaine lettuce.

Preheat bbq to med-high, and toss all the veggies into my bbq basket (one of my best tools in summer!), and put the pork on to the bbq.  Grill until done.  Then serve over the lettuce, with a drizzle of the dressing on top.  So good!  I really liked how the balsamic vinegar marinated the pork, and how well the peaches mixed with the peppers and onion (even though I don't eat onions, I can appreciate the flavour they add).

A mangotini picture

Just because it needed a picture to go with...