It's Turkey Lurkey time...

If you've never heard the song referenced in this post's title, please FEAST YOUR EYES.  Because, it is one of my all time favorites.

So, last year around this time I had this wild idea that I'd really like to host Thanksgiving at my house this year.  2013 Me was clearly a bit on the over-zealous side, but 2014 Me decided to just go with it.

As you've probably noticed, I have been a terrible, neglectful blog owner and meal planner. I've planned November, but mostly week by week.  (I will try to be back for December to finish out the year strong...maybe.)  However, I'm going to attempt to make all of that better by sharing the NMOTB menu for Thanksgiving 2014 (hopefully to be repeated in years to come.)  I'll include recipe links, but there are a few things here and there which are family recipes that I can't really share.  Not because I don't want to, but because I have practically studied how to make these things successfully. Unless you all want to swing by my house and watch me.  Bring wine.

Without further ado, I present to you The NMOTB Thanksgiving Extravaganza (AKA: How to Try Really, Really Hard Not to Give 15 People Salmonella Poisoning).

This is a picture of the veggie tray I actually made for Thanksgiving 2012. #nailedit

Appetizers Because nobody is hungrier than guests who can smell turkey but can't eat it yet.
- Veggie Tray with Ranch Dip and Hummus
- Cranberry & Rosemary Cheese Spread
- Assorted Cheeses and Olives
- Mixed Nuts

Dinner Because my middle name is "Casserole."
- Roasted Turkey with Stuffing {I'm not going to lie, I was going to kind of wing it on the turkey (pun totally intended) since I've seen my mother-in-law put hers together many times and it always comes out perfectly, but then I started getting really nervous that I'd screw it up.  So, I'm mostly going to follow the suggestions under the link.  And have my fingers crossed.  For the stuffing, I just follow the directions on the bag.}
- Mashed Red Potatoes and Gravy {Following the recipes for both which have been handed down for generations.  Trust me on the red potatoes...they make the BEST mashed potatoes you've ever had.}
- Corn Casserole
- Sweet Potato Casserole {Never been big on this myself...I put it on my plate every year (because, THANKSGIVING), but it isn't my fave.  My husband, on the other hand, lives for it, so I'm trying this recipe out.}
- Green Bean Casserole {Our family is the traditional sort that just likes the recipe on the back of the soup can.  What can I say?}
- Macaroni & Cheese {I grew up with two Southern-cooking grandmas, so this has to be on my menu.  However, I have a lovely guest bringing it for me, so I'll ask her for the recipe to share some other time!}
- Brussels Sprouts and Quinoa with Cranberries {Warning, this recipe comes from Thug Kitchen which is the best recipe website on the planet, but has language that is probably NSFW.}
- Roasted Broccoli {We were going to have steamed asparagus, but the roasted broccoli is SO much better, my husband convinced me to switch.}
- Cranberry Sauce {Another recipe out of Thug Kitchen.}
- Green Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette {I had this dressing at a dinner party the other day, and OHMYLORD.}
- Dinner Rolls {Did you see the list of food I just said I was preparing?  I bought frozen rolls. Deal.}

Dessert Because we'll all need something to tide us over before we start digging into the leftovers.
- Pumpkin Pie {Another recipe to be made by a guest. I can't bake.  It's no secret.}
- Apple Pie {My husband is making his recipe...he insists upon this every year.}
- Sea Salted Caramel Torte with Chocolate Ganache {Right, so remember when I said I can't bake?  So I decided to try baking by making an exceptionally complicated dessert with three different components.  This won't end well.  For example: I ground the almonds for the crust and then knocked the entire 1/4 cup over into the sink.  At least my apron is cute.}
- Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Oh, and drinks.  A lot of them.  I'm convinced that the trick to a successful Thanksgiving Dinner is to get your guests good and drunk so they'll all be too hungry to notice if your food didn't turn out so well.

In all seriousness, Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday.  Yes, partially because it is a holiday completely centered around eating, but also because it's a holiday that almost always begins and ends with delightful time spent with loved ones celebrating the most important thing a person can possess - gratitude. I am unbelievably excited to start my own traditions this year by hosting this delightful meal.  Here's to many returns.

Veggie luv...

As I've made pretty clear in my posts here, one of the most beneficial things I've found about meal planning is giving my family a varied and well-rounded dinner menu for the month.  Because we like our veggies around the NMOTB house, we go through produce like no other.  The only thing that bothers me sometimes is that I've been known to get stuck in a produce rut.  We generally cycle through the same 5-10 vegetables/preparations a few times a month and that can get awfully boring.

Enter, Door to Door Organics Produce Delivery.

If you're not familiar with the concept, DTDO provides a service where on a weekly/biweekly basis, you can have fresh, organic produce delivered right to your door step.  What I love about it is that the produce box is predetermined for you (though you can build a profile with your tastes/make substitutions as necessary), so it offers the opportunity to try a variety of produce you'd otherwise skip over if you're stuck in a rut (like me.)

When our box arrived (with the apt slogan, "Joy Delivered"), it was like Christmas Day.
I don't think I've ever torn into a box so excitedly before.

The medium vegetable box we ordered was literally brimming with gorgeous, fresh produce.  I also added a few things from their fresh market (they have practically EVERYTHING you could want out of a natural food store).

I might be hooked forever.

DTDO tasked me with creating an original recipe to share with you all as part of a giveaway we'll be doing this week on the blog.  Two lucky Chicago-area readers will receive a $50.00 gift certificate each toward your own box of Joy Delivered.

I wanted to share a recipe that was easy to cook on a weeknight (because in the NMOTB kitchen, those are the best meals you can ask for) as well as a recipe that would offer a way to use any number of the great organic vegetables that would come in a produce box delivery.  This recipe is totally customizable, so make it with your favorite combination of vegetables, use your favorite jarred or homemade marinara, and whatever pasta strikes your fancy.

Hope you enjoy!

{NMOTB Pasta Primavera}

Ingredients:
- 3ish tablespoons EVOO (as if I measured this...do what feels good)
- 3-4 cloves of garlic (sliced thin)
- 1 yellow onion (diced)
- 6 cremini mushrooms (sliced thin)
- 1 zucchini (sliced into half coins)
- 1 head of broccolini (chopped)
- 1 red bell pepper (sliced)
- 1 jar of marinara (I usually make my own, but for the purposes of this recipe, I used Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce which is GREAT and available in the DTDO pantry, do whatever you want!)
- 1 pound of the pasta of your choice (We used this fresh spaghetti and it was OUTSTANDING.  Dried pasta of any shape would be fine as well!)
- 1 can of cannellini beans (rinsed/drained)
- 2 big handfuls of fresh spinach
- Italian Seasoning (eyeball this)
- Salt/Pepper to taste
- Freshly shredded parmesan for garnish

Directions:
- Drizzle some of the EVOO in a large skillet and warm over medium low heat.  Add sliced garlic and heat until fragrant.

- Add diced onion and toss with more EVOO.  Heat until soft/translucent.

- Add all vegetables into pan (and toss with more EVOO if things are a little too dry, you can tell it's one of my favorite ingredients).  Stir everything up, season with Italian Seasoning and a little S&P, and cover the vegetables.  Cook for 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are softened, stirring frequently.

- Meanwhile, boil your pasta in salted water.  If using fresh, this takes less than 5 minutes, so save enough time for whatever you're making.

- Once vegetables have softened, pour marinara and can of beans into the skillet and stir to coat everything.  Taste and adjust seasonings.

- Add pasta and spinach and toss until spinach is slightly wilted.

- Garnish pasta with fresh cheese.  We used this delightful Olive Oil and Rosemary asiago.  Serve with crusty bread for mopping up the delicious sauce and a nice green salad featuring gorgeous DTDO produce!

-----

Are you ready to make your own delicious recipe with a box from DTDO?  Below you'll find all of the great ways to win using my fancy Rafflecopter giveaway widget.  The only bummer of this giveaway is that you must live in the greater Chicagoland area to enter (unless you live in Chicago...in which case, there are no bummers!)  You can search for your zip code here to see if you qualify.  The giveaway ends at midnight on Friday, October 24, and I'll be announcing the winner here on the blog on Friday morning!

However, because they're so awesome, DTDO is also offering $10.00 off your first order exclusive to NMOTB readers.  So even if you don't win the giveaway, you can try out produce box deliveries at a discounted price.  Follow the link here to get started.

Follow the Rafflecopter directions below for multiple ways to enter the giveaway and may the odds be ever in your favor!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Though Door to Door Organics  provided me with a complimentary delivery for review on this blog  the opinions expressed in this post are solely my own.  Obviously I barely have the time to wash my own hair daily, so I'm not going to take the time to write about a product I don't fully endorse.

Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou...

A long while ago, my husband mentioned that he was in the mood for some sort of Cajun pasta.  It was around Lent, so I thought - why not make it a Cajun shrimp pasta and kill two birds with one stone?  The problem was finding the perfect recipe.  I wanted one that didn't use heavy cream and also one that wasn't too spicy or complicated.

Basically, I wanted something that didn't exist.

My sister-in-law shared her recipe with me (which was a huge help), but sort of like all recipes that are awesome - it didn't involve a whole lot of perfect measurements or instructions.  Those are absolutely my favorite recipes - the ones that you know are finished by a feeling rather than by a window of time or oven setting.

Those recipes are also very difficult to replicate.

SO, using her suggestions as a guideline and another recipe as framework, I set out to make my own Cajun shrimp pasta.  I'm happy to say, it was a wild success.  I'm also happy to say, that I actually wrote down what I did so I can share it with you here.

Who's hungry?

{Cajun Shrimp Pasta}

Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb. of shrimp (I use frozen, forgive me.)
- 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
- Cajun seasoning (probably about a tablespoon, but you're just going to eyeball it)
- juice from 1-2 lemons
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- Garlic powder (you'll use less than the Cajun, but ditto about the eyeballing)
- Sliced mushrooms (one small can or 4-5 fresh; dealer's choice)
- 1 red bell pepper (sliced)
- 3/4 cup of milk
- 2 tablespoons of cream cheese
- 1/2 box of whole wheat linguine (cooked)
- fresh shredded parmesan
- ground pepper
- kosher salt

Look at the size of this pepper! Insanity.

Directions

- Start by thawing (if necessary) and marinading your pound of shrimp.  I like mine being cleaned and deveined, but if you're so inclined do all that yourself - go for it.  Toss shrimp in olive oil, minced garlic, juice of half a lemon, and Cajun seasoning.  Let it sit in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

- After your shrimp has had time to marinade, melt two tablespoons of butter in a large skillet and sauté the shrimp in it.  At this point you can add another good sprinkle of the Cajun seasoning as well as some garlic powder.

- Let this simmer until the shrimp is mostly cooked and then add the mushrooms and the sliced bell pepper.  Meanwhile, you can start boiling your linguine.

- Stir everything around so it gets nice and covered in the butter and squirt in some more fresh lemon juice.

- Add milk and cream cheese to the pan.  [Side note: You can use any sort of cream cheese you want. We almost always have Chive & Onion in our house, so that's usually what I use.  The cream cheese just aids in the sauce-thickening process.]

- Let all of that cook down until it becomes a nice, creamy sauce.  I usually like to let the sauce thicken up to the point where it starts to coat the spoon when I stir it.

- Toss in the linguine, add the parmesan, and season with the kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.  PREPARE TO BE AMAZED.

Whoa, whoa, I gotta go back to school again...

Well, here we are at the end of summer.  Also, when did the end of summer start to coincide with the first week in August?  That's nuts!  While I'm a little late in the month to get this monthly meal planning post up, I have a good excuse.  My family and I spent a few days exploring a beach town in Michigan, and I can say with some certainty - I have found one of my new favorite places in the world.

Amen.

Despite being on vacation, I did still do a little bit of meal planning.  We had rental house with a fully equipped kitchen, so one of our first stops was to the grocery store so we could get some ingredients for what ended up being some truly delicious summer meals.  My husband has a new-found love for charcoal grilling and I have a new-found love for not eating in a restaurant every night on a vacation.

Given that I still have a week and a half before I have to report back to work for our next school year, I'm hoping to share some great recipe reviews soon and perhaps a NMOTB post that has nothing to do with food.  (But, no promises, I always fail when I make grand plans like this.)

But, let's get on with what you're really here for - a MENU!  (New recipes that I'll be trying for the month are denoted with a "*."  I'll try to come back here on the blog to review them, but you can also look for short commentary on my Tried It! board on Pinterest.  (I'm currently rebuilding this board after the loss of my beloved I Made This board was lost in an interweb black hole, but there's some good stuff on there already.)

Love the question marks.  Somedays that's all you got.

{August 2014}

Friday, August 1 - {No meal plan - we had dinner with friends instead of eating in!}

Saturday, August 2 - {No meal plan - first night in Michigan and went out for some YUMMY Italian!}

Sunday, August 3 - Grilled Burgers; Tator Tots; Salad

Monday, August 4 - Grilled Chicken (Garlic Herb Marinade); Grilled Corn; Pasta Salad; Green Salad

Tuesday, August 5 - {No meal plan - spent our last night in Michigan enjoying some delightful Mexican food and sangria}

Wednesday, August 6 - {No meal plan - I got home to discover our cupboards mostly bare.  We ordered in.}

Thursday, August 7 - Breaded Pork Chops; Sauteed Asparagus; Cous Cous

Friday, August 8 - Seared Chicken with Avocado*; Quinoa with Corn & Scallions

Saturday, August 9 - {No meal plan.}

Sunday, August 10 - {No meal plan.}

Monday, August 11 - {No meal plan.}

Tuesday, August 12 - {No meal plan.}

Wednesday, August 13 - {No meal plan.}

Thursday, August 14 - {No meal plan. August is so easy!}

Friday, August 15 - Grilled Italian Sausage with Marinara; One-Pan Fettuccine; Salad

Saturday, August 16 - "Ribs a la My Husband" (Don't ask me what he does, but whatever it is, it tastes like MAGIC); Potato Salad (I'm going to try to steal my mom's recipe from her); Grilled Corn (Gotta have as much as we can before the farmer's market is out!)

Sunday, August 17 - One Pot Zucchini Mushroom Pasta* (Love these easy peasy wonderpot meals!); Salad

Monday, August 18 - Cilantro Lime Chicken Pasta

Tuesday, August 19 - Slow Cooker Minestrone*; Parmesan and Sour Cream Bread*

Wednesday, August 20 - PF Chang's Copy Cat Lettuce Wraps*; Chow Mein*

Thursday, August 21 - Lemon Caper Chicken with Cous Cous; Steamed Asparagus; Salad

Friday, August 22 - Grilled Pizza* (My husband and I have been talking about doing this forever so we're finally going to try it!  Fingers crossed that it doesn't become a disaster!)

Saturday, August 23 - Orzo with Cherry Tomatoes & Artichokes*; Salad (This recipe was on the back of the orzo box I bought for another recipe last month - looks so good, I thought we'd try it!)

Sunday, August 24 - Kielbasa & Potato Hash*; Sauteed Zucchini

Monday, August 25 - Beef Stew; Bread; Salad (This will be our first day with school back in session. Growing up, my mom ALWAYS made beef stew on our first day of school.  So, though it may be a little warm to be enjoying a hearty meal like beef stew, I always really enjoyed that tradition.)

Tuesday, August 26 - Chipotle Bowls

Wednesday, August 27 - Chicken Parmigiana; Pesto Pasta; Salad

Thursday, August 28 - Roasted Chicken and Vegetables; Egg Noodles; Salad (My mother-in-law made this dish for us when we visited once and it was very tasty!  I asked her for her secret and it turns out it just came from the back of the box.  That's two recipes this month.  The back of the box is a great place to look for inspiration!!)

Friday, August 29 - A new grocery store just opened near us and they have a great deli counter where you can get some GORGEOUS meals.  We used to have a grocery store like this near us in St. Louis and we would have at least a meal a month which we just picked up on the way home.  So glad we're able to do this again with this new awesome store!

Saturday, August 30 - Salsa Chicken; Cilantro Lime Rice; Corn

Sunday, August 31 - Chicken Piccata*; Angel Hair Pasta; Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Homeward bound...

Check me out.  I was able to register the New Mom on the Blog domain name over the weekend and even get it set up with my old URL.  I'm official y'all.  Though you will be redirected from the old .blogspot URL, you can update your bookmarks or feeds...just because it makes me feel fancy.

I have probably hundreds of foods tied to memories in my life, but the recipe I'm sharing here today has a taste so nostalgic for me, I might as well be sitting beside a campfire outside of my grandparent's camper the moment I take a bite.  I did a little research on Pinterest and it looks like "foil packet dinners" are becoming a pretty popular trend.  Maybe they're en vogue right now, but I can tell you that my family has been making these for decades (and upon talking to my grandmother about the etiology of this recipe - it appears they've been around for even longer than she thought.)

My family always called these "hobo dinners" and if you search for recipes for that, you'll find something very similar to what I'm going to share today. (You can also look for "foil packet dinners" as I mentioned before, or "campfire dinners.")  From what I gather now, this recipe came from a friend of my great uncle, though we always were told this was something my grandmother learned from all of her years as a Girl Scout leader.  No matter where exactly this recipe came from, we know that, like all things that get handed down, we've adapted it slightly over the years and have learned little tricks along the way.  I'm very excited to share it with you today.  The Incredible Hulk (who we all know has his picky eating moments), declared this his "favorite" meal and ate every single bite.  You know it's a winner with that sort of endorsement.

Though these are great to bring along for camping and can be cooked on an open fire, we cooked ours on our grill at home.  You can also just stick them in the oven.  Additionally, once you've learned the method of filling the packets and cooking them, you can pretty much stick whatever you want in there (even dessert items!)  This would also be a great way to cook up some veggies for my non-meateater friends.  (The vegetables were pretty much TIH's favorite part anyway.)

Let's get started.

{Hobo Dinners}

Cast of characters.

Ingredients
- 2 pieces of foil 2-3 feet in length per packet {Use heavy duty foil - we didn't and it worked, but was a pain...learn from my mistake.}
- 1 hamburger patty {Create this however you want - we used our usual method for cooking hamburgers and seasoned them as such.}
- 1 carrot per packet (chopped)
- 1 celery stalk per packet (chopped)
- 1 red potato per packet (peeled and sliced) {The red potato is so important.  My family has been using them in our cooking forever and they are just the best.  No comparison to any other potato variety.}
- half an onion per packet (chopped)
- 1/2 can of tomato sauce per packet
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 pat of butter per packet {My family always uses a pat of Fleischman's margarine which was how the recipe was taught to us.  I haven't used margarine in my cooking in years and don't even keep it in the house.  In fact, when I eat margarine now, it makes me pretty sick.  I do know for a fact that you can use either form and these will still turn out delicious.  But, Time magazine did recently devote its cover to butter with the headline: "Eat butter." Who am I to argue with Time?}

Directions
- Place one burger on top of one piece of foil and cover it with the chopped carrots, celery, onion, and sliced red potato.  Sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste.

There's a nice burger underneath all of that good stuff.

- Pour the tomato sauce directly over the vegetables and add the pat of butter (or margarine.)  Season with more salt or pepper

Next step: take a blurry cell phone image for your blog. #fail

 - Now comes the art of foil packetry.  Make a tent out of the foil and fold it at the top.  Continue rolling down until you meet your pile of veggies/meat/sauce.  Then fold up the sides.

I submit to you: the foil tent.

- Flip your foil packet over and then re-roll it with a second piece of foil in the same fashion.  This will keep the juices from leaking out.

Like so.  (As you can see, the results don't have to be pretty.)

- Repeat these steps until you have a foil packet per person ready to go on the grill.  Hobo dinners are customizable, so if anyone likes theirs a certain way (e.g., no meat, no celery, etc.) you can mark them with nail polish.  (This was a suggestion from my grandmother because she says the nail polish won't burn off on the grill so you'll still be able to see whose is whose.)

We lost our grill to a bird's nest this spring. (Gross.)  Here's the new one.  Ain't she a beaut?

- The cook time for these will vary based on the way you are cooking them.  Ours were on the grill for about 30 minutes and were turned often.  In the oven (at 375 degrees), my grandmother said they take a lot longer.  You want to cook them until the burger is just past pink and the vegetables are soft.

- After they're done, carefully open the packet.  (A lot of steam will come out and the foil will be hot...so many burned fingers as a kid.)  Transfer to a plate if you're fancy like that.

Like a warm hug from grandma.

Other ideas and bits of advice that my grandmother had to share:
- Consider using a chunkier tomato sauce for a bit more substance
- Set the ingredients up assembly line style and have the whole family build their own packet (get the kids involved!)  This is how I learned to do it, so obviously this was my favorite tip.
- Try chicken breast, green onion, mushrooms, rice, and butter and cook using the same method
- Make "banana boats" for desert (bananas, chocolate chips, pound cake, and marshmallows with a little butter).  WOW.  Done and DONE.
- Make extra because these taste even better as leftovers (You see, these people know me...leftovers are totally my jam.)
- Serve with a nice crusty bread (I did this without even hearing it from her first...totally a good move.)

So, that's that!  Trust me when I say your whole family will love this.  My husband was a huge fan - especially because of the simple clean up.  I would love to hear about adaptations anyone tried and how they turned out.  ENJOY!

Nothing ever came from a life that was a simple one...

Okay, sorry for the delay - I'm back with my March meal plan!

As I'm sure I've mentioned here before, we're a Catholic family and so with Lent steadily approaching, you'll notice that on Ash Wednesday and the next several Fridays, we will be abstaining from meat (dates denoted with italics).  Later on in the month, I am going to do a post about making Lenten meals work for our family (especially since my husband used to not eat seafood!)  The post is inspired by Lent, but will feature tons of great ideas for those interested in meatless meal plans (religious practices aside) as well!

Last month's meal plan was interrupted with lots of illness (blah) and social engagements (whoo hoo!) as well as weather cancellations due to our grill being buried under about a foot of snow (also, blah.)  We're throwing a few of those things back onto the menu, but you know how it always goes...we're being flexible.  I can already see the changes on the horizon.

But...this is the meal plan as it stands today!  (As usual, I'm trying a few new recipes this month and I will review them all...along with everything for January and February.  Whoops.  These recipes are denoted with a "*".  Follow my "I Made This" board on Pinterest for more timely recipe reviews and LOTS of obsessive pinning.)

{March 2014}

Saturday, March 1 - Burgers, Tator Tots, Salad

Sunday, March 2 - Pork Carnitas; Fiesta Lime Rice

Monday, March 3 - Leftovers

Tuesday, March 4 - I will be dining out with my Book Club, so the boys are fending for themselves!

Wednesday, March 5 - Shrimp and Guacamole Tostadas; Cilantro Lime Rice

Thursday, March 6 - Italian Chicken (Recipe can be found on the back of Italian Style Progresso Panko Crumbs - it's delightful!); Pasta; Salad

Friday, March 7 - Cajun Shrimp Pasta (My own recipe! Check back for details later in the month!); Salad

Saturday, March 8 - Chipotle Grilled Steak with Lime Butter*; Smashed Potatoes*; (UGH, I WILL TRY TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.)

Sunday, March 9 - Quinoa Chili*; Bread

Monday, March 10 - Italian Chicken with Tomato and Basil*; Pesto Pasta; Salad

Tuesday, March 11 - Sloppy Joes (A family recipe); Tator Tots; Cole Slaw

Wednesday, March 12 - Chicken Caesar Sandwiches; Chips

Thursday, March 13 - Copycat Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls

Friday, March 14 - FISH FRY!  (I took my husband to his first EVER [I know, can you believe?] good old fashioned Catholic church fish fry and we all LOVED it.  Making this an official tradition.)

Saturday, March 15 -  No meal plan. (I'll be visiting my family, so I'm banking on my mom's famous Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe in honor of the St. Patrick's Day holiday. Fingers crossed!)

Sunday, March 16 - No meal plan. (I'll be spending the night rocking out with my old band for a charity benefit.  Dinner will be provided.  Rockstar status also included.)

Monday, March 17 - Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Sauce*; Asparagus (I know, about as un-Irish as you can get!)

Tuesday, March 18 - Grilled Pork Chops; Grilled Vegetables; Cacio e Pepe

Wednesday, March 19 - Salsa Chicken; Cilantro Lime Rice; Corn

Thursday, March 20 - Stuffed Peppers; Bread

Friday, March 21 - MARCH MADNESS (We're headed out to watch some of the games with a group of friends in honor of my most FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR.  RCJHGOKU, by the way.)

Saturday, March 22 - Seared Chicken with Avocado*; Quinoa with Corn & Scallions

Sunday, March 23 - Vegetable Beef Soup (Soup season is slowly fading away [or at least we hope it is!] so we want to make sure we make our Fall/Winter favorite one last time!  I wish I was willing to share this recipe because it is downright incredible. Oh well...)

Monday, March 24 - Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken; Pesto Orzo; Sauteed Zucchini

Tuesday, March 25 - Homemade Pepperoni Pizza; Salad

Wednesday, March 26 - Italian Roast Sandwiches on Brioche; Fettucini Alfredo; Salad

Thursday, March 27 - Simple Chicken and Rice Soup*; Bread

Friday, March 28 - Spinach Artichoke Pasta; Salad

Saturday, March 29 - Grilled Chicken with Barley Corn Salad; Broccoli

Sunday,  March 30 - Pot Roast (Another favorite which needs to be on the menu before it gets to warm outside to enjoy it!)

Monday, March 31 - Chicken Bruschetta Bake; Salad

Sure we could see a new start...

Well, hello February.  And hello blog that I have neglected for the last half of the month.
And hello to you, dear reader.

The last month has been a little nutty for the NMOTB household and while we did do a nice job of sticking to our meal plan (as much as we could), the sticking to "No self-imposed life changes for awhile" resolution we made to ourselves...hasn't gone quite as well.  Namely, my husband started a new job last week.  No worries.  It was just a great opportunity that sort of fell into our laps and after a lot of careful discussion, we jumped on it.

It did require my husband to travel more than originally planned in January, so of course, that did require me to scrap a lot of our meal plan and did not leave me a whole lot of time to do recipe reviews or cook actual meals.

So, here's the February meal plan (which features a whole lot of the January meal plan, sorry about that) and a whole lot of holes because our February is not only short, but it's also really really busy.  Not to mention, we've already had to change things around before I could even post this.  And I'm four days later than planned...

Make sure you check back as I'll try to attempt to be a blogger again this month and will also be doing some recipe reviews - both the ones from January and the ones for new recipes we are trying this month.  Phew.

{February 2013}

February 1 - Well, as this post was being created, we were covered in several inches of snow and it was still falling.  Going to the grocery store just wasn't in the cards.  Our cupboards were unfortunately pretty bare, so we had to order Chinese.

February 2 - SUPER BOWL SUNDAY.  (Wait, I think I'm technically not allowed to call it Super Bowl because it is like trademarked or something.  Whoops.)  Basically our dinner will consist of buffalo chicken dip, guacamole, chili, and all kinds of other things that are ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS.

February 3 - Chicken Parmigiana; Pesto Pasta; Broccoli

February 4 - World's Best Chicken; Pasta; Asparagus

February 5 - Slow Cooker Classic Beef Stew*; Bread

February 6 - Breaded Pork Chops; Roasted Acorn Squash; Cous Cous

February 7 - Chicken Caesar Salad

February 8 - Skillet Chili Mac*; Cornbread

February 9 - Italian Drunken Chicken*; Salad

February 10 - Leftovers

February 11 - No meal plan

February 12 - Asian Chicken Salad*

February 13 - Moist Lemon Chicken; Cous Cous; Salad

February 14 - Valentine's Day!  So, my husband and I usually don't do anything big for Valentine's Day, but every year since TIH was born, we've always gone out to a casual dining restaurant. (Our favorite was a BBQ place when we were still living in St. Louis.)  So, this year we'll likely do the same thing, though we haven't yet found our special, non-special spot.

February 15 - Pork Carnitas*; Fiesta Lime Rice

February 16 - Spicy Sausage Pasta; Salad

February 17 - Leftovers

February 18 - Chicken Stir Fry; Brown Rice; Asian Salad (Here's a good stir fry recipe I found, but usually we just pick our favorite chicken and veggies, toss them together in a skillet with a nice bottled sauce, and fry it all up.)

February 19 - Slow Cooker French Onion Soup Pork Chops*; Boiled New Potatoes; Roasted Zucchini

February 20 - Italian Chicken (Found this recipe on the back of a Progresso Italian Panko box and it is GREAT); Pasta; Salad

February 21 - Pizza; Salad

February 22 - No meal plan, we'll be attending the annual Auction for Autism!

February 23 - Chipotle Grilled Steak with Lime Butter*; Smashed Potatoes*; Broccoli  (THIS MEAL PLAN WILL FINALLY HAPPEN THIS MONTH.  I hope...)

February 24 - Garlic/Brown Sugar Chicken; Pesto Orzo; Sauteed Zucchini

February 25 - No meal plan

February 26 - No meal plan

February 27 - Chicken and Broccoli Noodle Casserole*; Salad

February 28 - Burgers; Tator Tots; Salad

The sweet smell of success...

I don't know if you remember, but I used to write a blog about being a new mom.  And now I write mostly about cooking and meal plans and food.  I hope you aren't growing tired of that.  I feel like people are generally pretty excited about my meal plans and recipes, but I just wanted to call out the elephant in the room.  This is still a blog about parenting.  I just spend most of my life as a parent feeding others.  I hope this makes sense to you because it basically makes no sense to me, but it makes me happy to cook and happier to share it with you.  Okay? Okay.

 So, anyway, a couple of times a month, I like to share my reviews of new recipes I've tried as part of our meal plan. The recipes we have been trying so far have been a wild success.  In case you've missed it, I also repin the pins for all of the recipes I try through Pinterest on my board "I Made This" so make sure you are following!

Slow Cooker Balsamic Beef - Well, to say this recipe was successful would be a major understatement.  For starters, my husband actually MISSED OUT on this dinner due to delayed/cancelled flights while he was out of town.  So, the next day he heated it up for lunch - and then proceeded to eat it for lunch for the next three days.  In fact, we all loved it.  I knew from the minute I mixed up the sauce and poured it into the crock pot that it was going to be perfect.  I served it with some boiled new potatoes and steamed broccoli.  Next time, I'll definitely consider serving it up with some mashed potatoes and using the sauce in the crock pot as as gravy.  Either way, this is a wonderfully easy and delicious meal.

Quick Lime Cilantro Chicken - I accidentally cut up the chicken too small when I did this recipe.  The only thing that affected was the way I wanted to serve it.  I felt like it was small enough to be a taco filling when you're really supposed to eat it over a bed of rice (review for the rice below).  My husband disagreed and said he wouldn't change a thing.  I wouldn't necessarily call this a "quick" recipe.  The prep took a bit of time (zesting/juicing limes, cutting chicken breasts, chopping cilantro, mincing garlic, etc.), but once it was in the pan it wasn't a big deal.  We did a sprinkle of both the chili powder and cayenne pepper along with cumin.  The flavor was awesome.  I am thinking about using this recipe for shrimp or fish to make fish tacos for Lent.  I'll let you know how that turns out!
-----

Fiesta Lime Rice - Oh, holy hell this was great.  My husband who does not like beans or tomatoes even raved about this.  TIH took one bite and said, "MMMMM."  I could eat a giant bowl of this for every meal.  The flavor reminded me of a Chipotle Burrito Bowl, minus the sour cream, cheese, meat, and guac.  So, that also means it's got all of that flavor with mostly healthy ingredients!  BEST.  We used brown rice instead of white and it was perfect.  I allowed everything to sit together for a bit before service which I think helped the flavors meld a bit.  Couldn't recommend this higher.  We had almost none leftover.

Chicken Tortilla Soup - The other day, a friend of mine texted me and asked if I could point her in the direction of a good Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe.  I knew this one was on our meal plan, so I shot her the link with the caveat that we hadn't tried it yet, so I had no idea if it was going to be any good.  She let me know that it was, in fact, delicious and I excitedly looked forward to making it for our Saturday dinner all week.  My excitement must have clouded my judgment.  Because not only did I forget two key ingredients (black beans and red bell pepper...what?!), I also totally neglected to check out the cook time and pretty  much started cooking dinner about 2 hours later than I should have.  (This was also on the day when I completely forgot about a birthday party TIH was invited to until someone texted me.  Seriously.  My brain must have turned to mush from all of the snow days.)  HOWEVER, brain mush aside - this soup is actually DELICIOUS and SUPER simple to put together (as long as you don't forget key ingredients.)  You should not only cover it with every suggested garnish in the recipe, I also read in the comment section that many people suggested serving it with a squeeze of fresh lime over the top. (Definitely do that, it was great!)  Our only snafu in serving this was that the avocado I picked up had clearly frozen at some point (probably when traveling on the truck through our polar conditions.)  So, when I cut into it, it was no good.  The next time we make it, I am really interested to see what the diced avocado adds as a garnish, but it was still pretty dang fantastic without it!

Greek Stuffed Pitas - I will admit right from the start that I had my doubts about this recipe.  First...eggplant.  I like it in small doses, but I was pretty sure my boys weren't going to be into it.  Secondly...oregano.  I know it is so strange since it is such a common ingredient in so many recipes, but oregano is just not one of my favorite herbs.  Sure, I can handle it in spaghetti or pizza sauce, but I've been known to substitute (or fully omit it) in the past in other recipes.  However, this recipe was far too easy to put together to pass up.  When I opened up the oven, I was assaulted by the smell of oregano, and I thought my suspicions were coming true - I was not going to like this recipe.  I felt this way right up until I took a bite.  AND THEN MY SOCKS WERE KNOCKED OFF.  The flavor of the chicken (oregano and all) was PERFECT.  The eggplant took on the yummy flavor of all of the juices of the other veggies, chicken, and dressing and was perfect.  We served ours in whole wheat pita pockets with a little Greek vinaigrette (thanks Aldi) poured on top.  And, of course, feta.  My husband complimented the meal several times between bites, called dibs on the leftovers for his lunch the next day, and has already requested it for a future meal plan.  Simple?  Tasty?  Husband pleasing?  WIN.  (Also, vegetarian crowd - throw some tofu in there instead of chicken, or maybe some beans of sorts and you've got yourself a happy little meal.)

-----
Looks great, eh?  Anybody cook anything delicious?  I'd love to hear!

Comfortable...

Unless you've been living in a cave, you've probably heard that regions in the Midwest are experiencing something called a "Polar Vortex." (I linked you to a Wikipedia article to explain what that is, but I'll give you the Cliff's Notes - it's freaking cold.  Chicago was colder than the South Pole during parts of the day.  They brought the Lincoln Park polar bear INSIDE because it was too cold.  TOO COLD FOR A POLAR BEAR.)  Needless to say, we've all been snowed in (literally, our garage is frozen shut) and have been doing what we can to stay warm and not bored out of our minds.  (I love me a snow day, but being cooped up in the house gets a little maddening after awhile.)

So, what else could possibly be better on a too-cold-for-a-damn-polar-bear kind of a day than a nice, cheesy, comforting, casserole?

Before I go on to share this old family recipe, I must provide the following disclaimer: I know that cream-of-whatever soup is not good for you.  You'll notice there are a lot of foods I post on this blog which ignore some of my own basic food rules (i.e., feeding my  family with mostly whole foods packed with great nutrients).  SOMETIMES YOU BREAK THE RULES.  There are a ton of substitution recipes out there for cream of celery (et al) out there, so if that's your thing - check it out.  Otherwise, continue on.  All the while knowing that this recipe is built for comfort, not health.  And that it should be served in moderation. On days that are too cold FOR AN ACTUAL POLAR BEAR.  Now, proceed...

This used to be one of the simple recipes my dad would put together for us as kids when my mom would work late.  She would cook it sometimes too, but I think my dad was pretty much the king of casseroles in our house when I was growing up.  When my husband and I got married, he requested that I gather some of the simple weeknight meals that my family was accustomed to eating so that we would have some easy things to cook for the two of us.  This recipe?  At the top of his list.  You're gonna love it.  Let's get started.

{NMOTB Hamburger Casserole}

Ingredients
- 1 lb. of ground beef (We usually use the leanest beef we can find.  Go with what makes you happy.)
- 1 box of rotini noodles (We always use whole wheat rotini.  Growing up we used a lot of different shapes of noodles and obviously didn't use whole wheat.  You can experiment here if you want.)
- 2 cans of cream of celery soup (Just get over it.  It's fine.)
- Milk (You're just going to fill up one of the soup cans with milk.  LOOK, RECYCLING.  YOU'RE WELCOME.)
- Cheddar cheese (I use most of a 2-cup bag.  Eyeball this.  You just want enough to cover the top of your casserole)

Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta.  I forgot both steps while photographing this tutorial.  That was a bummer choice.  Do me a favor and don't forget.

- Begin by browning your pound of beef in a large skillet.  Truth be told I've never tried this with ground turkey or chicken (obviously, it's HAMBURGER casserole), but if you wanted to be experimental, I'd love to hear your results...

- Drain your beef once it is browned.  Add to your skillet both cans of cream of celery and then fill one empty can with milk and add that in there too.

- Stir the mixture around until everything is combined and allow to cook over medium low heat until it bubbles and thickens. (At this step my mom would also sprinkle in a little thyme. We've tried it both ways and like it better without. But, by all means - experiment! It's a casserole. You can almost never screw it up!)

Don't worry, it'll look more appetizing in the casserole.

- In the meantime, I hope you were boiling your pasta and didn't forget like me.

- Once your soup mixture has thickened a bit, your casserole is ready to assemble.  Begin by draining your pasta and putting it in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish.  (You can probably put it in something slightly smaller, but you may want to adjust cook times.)  Pour your soup mixture evenly over the noodles.  You don't have to worry about mixing it up, it'll get in there, but make sure it's relatively even so the whole casserole is layered correctly.

- After you've layered the noodles and soup mixture, sprinkle the entire top with cheddar cheese.  Like I said, I usually use most (if not all) of a 2-cup bag of cheddar cheese to do this.  Hey, no one said this recipe was health food.

- Then, just like any good casserole, you stick it in your preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted/bubbly.

You know it looks delicious.

- We usually serve ours with some sort of salad or green vegetable.  Because it makes me feel better about eating something so rich.  IT BALANCES OUT, RIGHT?  Recipe serves at least 8.  Or, two people who like seconds and a busy 3 year old who eats two pieces of pasta - with leftovers.  ENJOY!