The weekly menu

They aren’t in order but here was last week’s menu.

First up, grilling!

I usually let Kyle pick our weekend eats because he loves BBQing and doesn’t get a chance to do it on weeknights.  This pork was on sale so we went for it, knowing that the extras could be used in lunches, etc.

I made a simple salad on the side – just tomatoes, goat gouda, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt +pepper.  The basil and tomatoes were from the garden.  The goat gouda was from TJ’s and was realllllly good. I wanted to snack on the whole thing as I was making it.

Oh, and there was brown rice too.  And chocolate for dessert, natch.

Up next!

FCC stands for family cooking club.  As in, my mom and sisters and I are all making the same recipe (biweekly) in our own kitchens.  We are alternating who picks the recipe and this week was the inaugural one, chosen by Laura.

It’s a Jamie Oliver recipe – cajun chicken with okra and sweet potato mash and grilled corn salsa.

I made my own cajun spice blend which I have extra of for future use.

I prepped the salsa ahead of time, which was a big time saver.

The sweet potato mash featured a new to me ingredient, sweet chili sauce.  I’ve been eyeing his at TJ’s for a while and was glad to have an excuse to buy it.  It’s yummy!

This was my first time pan frying chicken and it was easier than I thought.  I pounded it first, then breaded it in spices and cornmeal, then basically let it cook in olive oil while I fed P dinner. Very hands off aside from the one flip I did.

I used the tomatoes from our garden for the salsa.  I also tried to give P some softened sweet potatoes (before I mashed them) which he had zero interest in.

All assembled!  Gorgeous no?

I gave Kyle the leftovers with one of the extra pieces of pork and he was a happy camper.

These tamales are from Costco (!!).  I feel embarrassed for admitting this since we are in California where real deal Mexican food is a way of life, but they are seriously good.  They’re sold in three five-packs and this was our third time having them. We both really really like them and they are an easy option to pull out of the freezer at the last minute.  Great flavor and no sketchy ingredients whatsoever.

I made this balsamic lime chicken and potato salad but doubled the amount of lime juice and balsamic (needed more oomph) and added green beans (from our garden).

There were leftovers so I had it for lunch one day too.

Even though fried chicken was on the menu for later in the week I wasn’t feeling up for it so instead I made up kale salads.  It had one whole avocado massaged into it, along with a chopped apple and olive oil and red wine vinegar.  Simple but effective.

With his and hers burgers on top (black bean and salmon).

I also made ice cream so stay tuned for that recipe…

And that’s the week!