Last Week's Meals

I'm working on the next installment of our trip report but I wanted to post this before it became Last Month's Meals.  I thought it would be a good way for me to remember not only what I served but what worked and what didn't work.

I had about five minutes last week to plan our meals.  Rich was leaving to run errands and offered to do the grocery shopping and because I'm not a fan of wandering the aisles, I threw together a list for him.  

Grilled Chicken - We cooked chicken on the grill along yellow summer squash and baked potatoes (finished on the grill. ) We also quickly cooked up some corn on the cob.  I knew someone would balk at the squash so I placed a few pieces on all the plates and told the girls that they had to eat what had been served to them.  Rich and I were in the kitchen filling our plates and when I walked back into the dining room, I was surprised to see the squash gone except for the piece that Allie was inhaling.

"Wow!  You all like the squash?  Does anyone want more?'

"No, thank you.  We just ate it first to get it out of the way."  "Yeah, it didn't really taste like anything."

"Well, if it doesn't really taste like anything, you could eat some more."

"No, thank you."

Lasagna - I assemble my lasagna the way the girls and Rich prefer it - lots of sauce and thin layers of cheese.  As with the squash, everyone had to eat a few slices the baked zucchini.  Emily said it tasted like potato chips and asked for more.



The girls all asked for leftover lasagna the next day for lunch.  I reheated the zucchini and allowed them to dip it in ranch dressing.  Hey, I can't win every battle.  

Veggie Tacos - My plan was to roast a head of cauliflower seasoned with chili powder, ground cumin, garlic powder and onion powder and heat up kidney beans.  The cauliflower and the beans would be the "meat" of the tacos.  I also had the usual toppings: shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, taco sauce, shredded cheddar cheese and sliced avocado.  Well, I completely forgot about the kidney beans and Rich was running late, which meant he would most likely be eating after we had already finished.  The cauliflower was almost gone before I remembered the beans.

How tasty does that look?



I have two who gobble this up and one who picked it out of her taco.  She claimed that she likes raw cauliflower better so I told her she could have hers raw the next time.  Rich ate it (along with the forgotten beans) but he doesn't love it.  My plan for the next time is to roast cauliflower and also cook some meat for those who want it.  I prefer the cauliflower.

Crock Pot Chicken - We had two leftover chicken breasts from the night we grilled and they needed to be cooked.  I dumped them in the crock pot along with a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles.  We used to do this quite often with salsa but I have two who complain and don't like shredded chicken, which is a shame because it's so easy to prepare.  This night, I served the chicken with rice pilaf and green beans.  At one point, one of the complainers was complaining about the chicken so I told her to mix it in with the rice.  "No, thank you.  I think I'll enjoy the rice on its own."  

  

Chickpea Patties -  This was one of the more successful meals of the week.  Everyone will eat chickpea patties.  I convinced them to try these homemade sweet potato fries again (which I sort of screwed up but it didn't really matter) and they all happily ate them.  For sides, we had roasted broccoli and sliced tomatoes.  So while this was all really good, it was a lot of work and Rich commented on how it appeared I had used every bowl and pan in the house.  Yes.  Yes, I did.