I keep forgetting to take pictures of what I cook, usually because I’m hungry! And when I do remember, it’s a quick snapshot with my phone so the food doesn’t get cold. Here’s what I cooked this week:
Creamy chicken & green beans with salad (recipe coming soon)
Tapioca pudding
No knead whole wheat bread
Chicken tenders (not a picture worth taking 🙂) with roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and peppers
Spaghetti with meat sauce + salad
Dark chocolate dipped coconut macaroons
Egg salad
Apple pie bars
Green fried rice made with broccoli, bok choy, and peas
Cabbage soup with added carrots
Leftover chicken tenders with spaghetti in olive oil & garlic + steamed broccoli
Whole wheat crepes
Taco salad
Faster no knead white bread
Croutons made with ⬆ that bread
Whenever I’m busy, which is most days, I go to my easy one pan meals like creamy chicken and green beans. I sometimes make it with broccoli and will be posting the recipe showing both versions, since broccoli cooks faster than green beans. 🥦 Also, sometimes, green beans are not worth buying. 👎 I realize my apple pie bars are a little ragged but they did taste great. My husband loves traditional apple pie (who doesn’t?) and he insists it’s just a square apple pie. He says he would like a slice of the pie and I say, “There is no apple pie, but I can give you an apple pie bar.” He says, “Okay – it’s a bar – now can I have a pie-shaped piece?” 😍
My freezer’s getting full. I love to bake so all my breads and cookies are filling up the shelves. This way they are always fresh and we’re not tempted to eat too many sweets. When I say “we” I refer to myself, who is a person of discipline and standards… not the guy who also lives here! 😀❤️ Here’s what I cooked this week:
Chicken pot pie + salad
Deviled eggs
Oatmeal muffins
Salmon patties with rice and steamed Brussels sprouts
Chicken noodle soup
Granola bars
Vegetable stir fry with cashews
Turkey chili + salad
No knead crusty rolls (for the chili)
Buckwheat pancakes
Vegetable soup
Tortillas
Broiled branzino with steamed potatoes and broccolini
Chocolate pudding
Taco salad
Dark chocolate oatmeal cookies (just added as a new recipe!) Guess who already ate two!
While the Super Bowl was on, I made spaghetti. Here’s what I cooked this week:
Spaghetti & meatballs with salad and breadsticks
Chicken noodle soup
Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Vegetable stir fry with cashews (recipe coming)
Tortillas
Vegetable soup with cannellini beans
70% Dark chocolate cashew clusters
Spinach fried rice with Asian salad
Whole wheat bread
Rigatoni with meat sauce + salad
Granola bars
Butterscotch pudding
I tried AGAIN to make sourdough starter this week. It was the fourth and LAST time. I failed every time and I am done! Please don’t tell me how easy it is because it’s not! If it actually was easy, then I’d be having sourdough bread tonight with my spaghetti. The one thing that goes well with carbs… is more carbs! 😋 I may have over estimated my abilities in the kitchen. 👨🍳
I am not an adventurous eater and have a problem with squishy food. That includes mushrooms. I love the flavor but not the squish factor so I always chop them up small. Here’s what I cooked this week:
Chicken & mushrooms with steamed carrots + cucumber slices
No knead whole wheat bread
Chicken stock
Dark chocolate fudge/walnut brownies
Vegetable fried rice with Asian salad
Tortillas
Custard pudding
Chicken & spinach skillet pasta with steamed yellow beets
Lemon blueberry loaf cake
Sweet & sour cabbage soup
Taco casserole the lots of tomatoes and shredded iceberg lettuce
Dark chocolate dipped coconut macaroons
We love beets! Whenever I make borscht, my husband always says, “You can’t beet soup!” 😀
Please forgive my imperfect pictures. They are only snapshots taken right before we eat, and I’m usually hungry! I grab one or two shots and then we can eat. But you might as well see what things really look like in this busy kitchen – a bit messy sometimes. Here’s what I cooked this week:
Simple meat sauce over rigatoni + salad
Oatmeal muffins
Almond butter
Plain jambalaya with chicken and shrimp + steamed beets
Taco salad
Spinach pesto – I always make and freeze – so handy for a quick pasta dinner
Beef stew + salad + crispy focaccia from the freezer
Apple pudding, still a work in progress
Lemon chicken cutlets with rice and steamed broccoli
Pizza and I have a love/hate relationship. I love pizza but dang, it’s a lot of work… and worth every moment! I used my 20-minute pizza dough but I started it in the morning and refrigerated it until dinner. This time I used OO flour and I like it better for the crust. And I used my pizza stone and paddle. I also used my will power not to eat the whole thing in secret and tell my husband the oven broke and we’re having spaghetti. 😀 Here’s what I cooked this week:
Veggie pizza + salad
No knead pumpernickel bread
Custard pudding
Granola bars
Chicken stock
Salmon patties with steamed & panfried potatoes and baby squash
Macaroons
One pan broccoli bean pasta with broccolini + salad
Bran muffins
Oven chicken veggie kabobs
Peanut butter cookies
My freezer is filling up with cookies, mostly smaller ones now. Our typical desserts these days are either pudding or a small cookie. I did notice that the small cookies are disappearing faster than expected. Hmm…? I need to see if Amazon sells freezer-cams! 🙂
I didn’t make any new year’s resolutions because I’m already living them. Well I suppose I could resolve to eat less sweets. I thought about it. I’ll give it some more thought and get back to you. Here’s what I cooked this week:
Lemon blueberry loaf (I found good blueberries in December! 🫐)
Rigatoni and meat sauce with steamed beets
Club sandwiches
Vegetable soup (to go with the sandwiches)
No knead fruit & nut bread
Crispy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Chicken meatballs with spinach-walnut pesto and broccolini + salad
Bran muffins
Almond butter (recipe coming soon)
Broiled salmon with steamed vegetables
Sesame seed breadsticks
Butterscotch pudding
I thought about it some more, about the sweets, and… I need more time. I’ll get back to you after I finish this batch of macaroons. 🙂
Christmas may be coming but it never feels like it here in southern California where it’s warm and sunny, 😎 but not for long because we have a bunch of rain coming! ☔️ Of course I’m baking for Christmas, but it’s mostly sweets to give as gifts. My husband says, “It’s not fair! Chocolate-dipped macaroons are my favorite! Can I just have the scraps?” (He doesn’t know I saved some for him. 😍) Here’s what I cooked this week:
I can hardly wait to start my Christmas baking! Some people hide Christmas presents – me? I need to hide Christmas cookies from the man who lives here. He’ll never find them because they’re in the garage in the pile of junk he promised to clean up.. in 2009! Here’s what I cooked this week:
Pan-fried turkey meatballs but with with chicken – it’s softer so they’re kind of flat but so tasty!
Thanksgiving is just days away and there’s a lot you can do in advance… like planning the perfect outfit to wear for dinner. I recommend pairing a colorful holiday blouse with the biggest stretch pants you own! Here’s what I made this week:
Fresh cranberries for Thanksgiving dinner
Chicken soup
Skinless chicken drumsticks with rice and Swiss chard + salad
Custard pudding
Banana bread (for a friend)
Apple bread (for me!)
Spaghetti with simple meat sauce + salad
Oatmeal muffins
Plain chicken jambalaya + salad
Simple white bread with egg to make bread cubes for my Thanksgiving bread stuffing
Penne with chicken & pesto sauce with steamed carrots & zucchini
Taco salad
I’m so looking forward to my Thanksgiving dinner. Everything is from scratch and is out of this world. I’ll be making turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, steamed green beans, fresh cranberries, gravy, and pumpkin pie with real whipped cream!!! Tomorrow, I’m roasting turkey wings to make stock for my gravy and stuffing. After all that food, we never feel overly full or lethargic, probably because we’re not having anything involving marshmallows! 😀
