So. I know there are some people out there that are able to menu plan like champions. They're organized and make lists of what they're going to make and what they'll need for the next week or two of meals. Some of them even prep all their meals on one day and then pull things out of the freezer... or make more of one meal so they can use the meat in the next nights meal, or maybe even two nights. I know there are people out there like that.
I am not like that...
I wish I were like that, I wish I could plan ahead and know what I'm going to make... and I've tried it. I had one week where I planned out everything we were going to eat... but by day 3 or so, I was way off from the list, and just ended up doing what I always do... which is throw a meal together with whatever I have in the fridge/freezer and hope it goes well.
And I've gotten pretty darn good at doing that. I don't look at recipes (generally) I just rummage around in the fridge and see what I've got. Usually the meals turn out ok, sometimes they turn out amazing.
Here's some of the highlights:
This meal did not turn out as well as it looks. The chicken recipe was from
ringaroundtherosies.net - it's the Teriyaki chicken recipe... I think it would have been alright with chicken thighs instead of breasts, because the meat turned out really dry after cooking in the crockpot. I generally have some rice sitting around from another meal, and I'd just made hard boiled eggs earlier that day, so this was a pretty easy meal to put together (especially since I went through that phase when I liked making Bento lunches and bought some rice and egg molds from my local Asian market).
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I have to give some thanks to Trader Joe's for this meal. It's pretty much from there, except for the nut pesto on the pasta (the nuts and oil came from Costco). So, the meat is the Chimichurri Wild Pacific Salmon from Trader Joes - I don't usually like cooked fish (I'll eat Sushi, but not cooked fish, I know I'm weird) but this fish is AWESOME. I've bought it quite a few times, until my local TJ's ran out, but they promised me it'll be back in the fall... it better be back in the fall... The lettuce and tomatoes are from TJ's (I love the mini heirloom tomatoes). And the pasta is the linguini they sell at TJ's. Yeah... it was a good meal.
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One night I decided to make fried chicken nuggets, mostly because I'd just made chicken fried steak and I had the oil out already... I had also been watching Paula Dean fry some bacon wrapped macaroni and cheese... yes, that's right...
go look at it and feel your arteries clogging. But from that I learned that you can use crushed up crackers instead of bread crumbs. And what did I have sitting around? Crackers. And of course chicken and eggs and flour. Anyway. This chicken was amazing. I think I could have done bigger pieces... I ended up coating some of them in Frank's RedHot Wings Sauce and put them in a salad with blue cheese dressing... mmm... I'm drooling just thinking about it.
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This was another fish meal. Weird, I know... but since TJ's was out of the Chimichurri Salmon, I ended up trying their Wild Marinated Soy Ginger Cod Fillets. And I have to say... they did it again. It was delicious, and I might add very easy to put in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. I didn't think I liked fish, but I am a changed woman. The noodles are based on the Korean dish
Japchae. The first time I made it was a while ago (mostly because I found the mung bean noodles at my local supermarket) and it's delicious. This time, I used whatever veggies I had sitting around, some in the freezer and some in the fridge. It all went together really well.
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Well, I think that's about all for now. If any of these sound really good to you, then leave a comment and I'll try to remember the recipe so I can post it :D
