It's not that we don't eat dinner in the summer...

It's just that we don't really plan it...

Right now, the veggies in the garden are growing quite well, which means the weeds are growing twice as well. To weed around all the lettuce, I had to pick a bunch of it. Just couldn't get at the weeds otherwise. And so, this week, we've been having salad. And it has been hot, so there hasn't been much other action, food-wise. Phil braved the melty temps yesterday to grill some salmon -- we put barbecue sauce on it -- and we had salad with strawberries and blue cheese. That was the big dinner accomplishment of the week.

I did make my first ever batch of strawberry freezer jam on Tuesday -- made 2 batches, actually. My mom makes it, and this year I consumed massive quantities of it while training for my race -- pbjs for breakfast stuck with me during the long runs -- and I was feeling bad about taking some out of her freezer every time I saw her. So I made my own supply!

It was fun! I bought 4 quarts of berries from the farmers market (the ones from my own garden get eaten before they get in the house) and used just over half to make the jam. The rest is left over for eating (hence the strawberry salad). I'm wondering now what else I can turn into jam, and I'm having to remind myself that a freezer full of jam won't do me any good if I don't eat it. So I should probably just stick with strawberry for this year, but all those little filled jars just looked so cute!

New Stove!

We haven't cooked with it yet -- it's grilling weather -- but isn't it pretty? I turned it on to make sure it works.

What does a first grade teacher eat at the end of the school year? Lately, pretty much everything...

It's always a bit of a struggle at the end of the school year to try and consume some sort of produce and less than five cheese or chocolate products each day...  So I plan healthy, but sometimes a lovely family from school shows up with fabulous deluxe pizzas from their pizza shop, and you just have to say, "Well, okay."  So this was our menu last week and our plan for this week, peppered with lots of Dove chocolates and pizza and other lovely stuff...  Yum.

Last week:

Sunday we had a gorgeous dinner...  Lamb and veggie kebabs with tabouli.

Monday we didn't like quite so much...  we had shiitake mushrooms from the farmer's market, and so found this recipe for Bass with Shiitake Mushroom Sauce.  We weren't thrilled with the bass -- maybe a different fish wouldv'e been better.

Tuesday was my new go-to quick dinner:  Grilled pizza on Naan flatbread.  Just dress it up with whatever toppings you want (mushrooms, red pepper, basil, turkey, asparagus...) and put it on a hot grill.  I usually grill it indirectly (turn off the burner right underneath it) so it can cook without the bottom burning, though a crispy bottom isn't always a bad thing (don't take that out of context, please!).  Salad is lovely with this too.

Wednesday we grilled turkey burgers.  Topped them with sauteed mushrooms and swiss cheese and had cole slaw.

Thursday was that chicken and strawberry salad with blue cheese that I mentioned a few weeks back.  Balsamic vinegar + strawberries + blue cheese = love.

And for this week?  This is the plan.  But all bets are off if someone waves pizza in my face.

Sunday 

Chicken salad:  tear up a rotisserie chicken, add whole wheat pasta seashells, chopped celery, chopped red onion, some frozen peas, chopped red pepper, chopped mushroom, capers, chopped tomato, basil (I'll basically just empty out the veggie drawer), mix with some mayo and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  Carrot sticks on the side.  Great to bring as leftovers for lunch (so to perhaps avoid the temptation of the aforementioned pizza).

Monday

Grilled salmon salad:  the first row of lettuce in the garden is ready, so we'll grill salmon and mix it with the lettuce.  Again, whatever other veggies still exist after last night's chicken salad veggie fest will be added.  Dress with oil and vinegar, salt and pepper.  Maybe some bread.

Tuesday

Flatbread pizza again.  

The rest of the week???

Can't predict, really, so I'll just stick with this much for now.

Have a lovely week, everybody!

We're Getting To That Time...

When Mike and Dave requested that I give them copies of my menus each week, I told them I was really good about making menus during the fall/winter/spring...  during school, when I had to be more organized.  But I can feel us slipping into summer eating mode:  What veggies are around?  What do you feel like grilling tonight?  Should we just have Dairy Queen for dinner instead?

And so, I think I'll present my summer version of my menu plan...  It's a little sketchier, less of a plan and more of a recap, but still tasty...

And by the way, happy Memorial Day, everybody.  Bust out the white shoes!  

Tuesday

Phil wasn't home, and I think my sore sore muscles were so craving protein after my big run last weekend, so I whipped up a huevos rancheros style pile of food on a plate:

Whole grain tortilla, sprinkled with cheese.  Bake in the oven until the cheese is melty.

In a pan, cook up some black beans and salsa.

Chop a tomato.

Fry an egg.

Layer it like this:

Tortilla on the bottom, then beans, then tomato, then egg.

Wednesday

We found a massive amount of morels up north last weekend, and brought some home with us.  We grilled salmon with that lovely barbecue sauce (like a few weeks ago), sauteed the morels in butter and garlic, and sauteed zucchini in a pan.

Thursday

I have no idea what we'll eat tonight.  We finished the last veggie in the fridge with last night's zucchini...  Going up north for the whole weekend = no grocery shopping gets done.  Doing walk-throughs of Kroger after work is such a dangerous thing for me (I can spend $50 just picking up stuff for dinner).  I know we have turkey burger, so maybe that...  I can just dash into the store for buns, right?  No stopping anywhere else?

I think we need serious grocery shopping this weekend.  Everything's bare.

May 17 - 21

We're working on expanding our garden and just got new patio furniture, so we're all about the deck right now.  But it's only supposed to be in the 50s today.  So we'll balance the need for grilling with the need to not freeze...

Sunday

Venison fajitas

Monday

Grilled salmon

tabouli salad (with cucumber and feta -- yum!)

grilled zucchini

Wednesday

Grilled chicken (I'm thinking barbecue sauce, Phil's pushing for smothered -- cheese, bacon, stuff like that)

Grilled veggies (zucchini, onion, mushroom, red pepper)

Thursday

Salad with leftover grilled chicken and some fruit (apple?  strawberry?  grapes?) and feta and onion and anything else still in the fridge

Friday

Pre-race meal:  Pizza and beer!  Yay!

May 9 - 14

It's another week of crazy nights.  So actual dinner is a lucky thing!

Sunday

It's Mother's Day!  We cooked for Phil's family...

Grilled leg of lamb -- marinated in garlic, herbs, delicious spices

Oven roasted potatoes

Oven roasted veggies -- asparagus, red pepper, onion, mushroom

salad

bread

Monday

The theme is "foraging in the forest."

Morels (we found at Kensington) sauteed in butter and garlic

Asparagus (found on the side of the road during a run) steamed in water and olive oil, salt and pepper

Grilled salmon (we didn't find it in the forest, we found it at Costco) with Sansonetti's barbecue sauce (Sansonetti's is a Holly company -- they make bq sauce, salsa, stuff like that.  Yummy.)

Tuesday

Flat bread pizza with artichoke and kalamata olives and whatever else is in the fridge

Salad

Wednesday

Pasta with stuff in it

May 3 - 7

I'm officially starting to taper down my training for the race...  less running, more resting.  This is the time I usually get my pre-race fat, and I always swear to eat more mindfully during the next taper.  But not this week.  Maybe it's because I write my menus when I'm STARVING!!!

Anyway...

Sunday

Flank steak -- rub with good spices (ancho chile powder, other orange things, salt, pepper), grill, slice thin

Roasted potatoes

Salad

Monday

Salad with chicken, strawberries, blue cheese, and cashews.  It's a variation on a recipe I saw in this month's Cooking Light.  I'll probably just do a balsamic dressing -- the combination of balsamic vinegar and strawberries makes me salivate an embarrassing amount.

Wednesday

Pasta with whatever we got...  saute veggies, maybe some scallops, perhaps some tomato sauce or pesto (or both!), mix with pasta.  Lots of yummy cheese on top.

That's it for this week.  It's one of those kind of weeks...  a lot of peanut butter will be consumed in the place of actual meals.  Next week might be calmer!