This week's menu

This week's theme: KALE. I bought a giant bag last week for 2 bucks and I've eaten kale all week, even given some away, and barely put a dent in it. So kale is going into everything this week.

Anyone want some kale?

Monday- Vegetable Soup (with kale, sweet potato, maybe quinoa)
Tuesday- Chicken pot pies
Wednesday- Grilled sausage with veggie mac and cheese
Thursday- Creamy chicken enchiladas
Friday- Grilled fish (or shrimp kabobs if I can find some for a good price)

Carrots

The carrot. A simple, cheap, often overlooked vegetable.

Sometimes I get fancy and cut them at an angle, and sometimes I sweeten them with a bit of brown sugar. Honestly I rarely add sugar, but sometimes they taste better with a bit of glaze, especially when paired with a really salty dish or one with contrasting flavors.

Glazed Carrots

Combine in a saucepan:

3 carrots, peeled* and sliced
1/2 c. water
dash of salt
1/2 T. brown sugar (optional)

Bring to a boil and cover, simmering, until they are tender. The time varies. I do this last while preparing dinner, and I let it go for as long as it takes for the rest of dinner to cook. Sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes 20. It's all good and a very forgiving recipe.

*I am generally not the type of gal who peels her carrots, but in this case if you don't peel them, the skins get all tough and brown and yucky. Peel the carrots.

Turkey Meatballs

... or meatloaf, or burger patties. I've made this recipe all different ways, following the same recipe but cooking it differently to fit my needs. These were supposed to be mini meatloafs today, but it was too darn hot to crank up the oven. Stovetop meatballs it is!

I love adding shredded veggies to these. Any way I can sneak in extra vegetables is an automatic win in my book.

Turkey Meatballs [or Meatloaf or Burgers]

1 pound ground turkey
2 eggs
2 handfuls of GF chex cereal, crushed.
1 shredded carrot or zucchini
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. GF BBQ sauce (I'm obsessed with Sweet Baby Ray's)

Mix all of the above in a bowl with your hands. Yes, your hands. Get in there and smoosh it up.

Form into patties, meatballs, or place into greased muffin tins for mini meatloaf.

Cook in a pan over medium meat or place in an oven at 350 until a meat thermometer comes out reading 170. I always use a meat thermometer with these because I haven't developed the eye for telling when ground turkey is done.

Top with extra bbq sauce because like I said, I'm obsessed.

This week's menu

Firmly into summer, are you surprised to see bbq and salads? Frankly, the only reason we're not doing it more is because of my wonky work schedule. When I'm done with night shifts, (I think next week should be the end) I'm going to be relying heavily on the grill to avoid heating up the house with the darn oven. Good thing I've got a trusty little toaster oven that can get most jobs done just fine.

Monday- Grilled deer sausage, beans, broccoli (per hubs request)
Tuesday- Mini Chicken Pot Pies
Wednesday- Artichoke and Chickpea Salads
Thursday- Chris has dinner with family but I'm working late, so leftovers!
Friday- Fish baked with olives and lemon with glazed carrots

Patriotic dipped strawberries

July 4th is not complete without patriotic food. America likes to celebrate with food and explosives. No surprise there.

This year is no exception. I've seen this idea for Red White and Blue Strawberries on Pinterest before, and it's really easy. The hardest part is the prep. If everything is prepped right, the process goes pretty smooth.

Patriotic Dipped Strawberries

Step 1: Wash the strawberries and lay them out to dry.

Step 2: Create an assembly line:
-Put a pot of water on the stove to simmer and place a bowl over it. Add in white chocolate chips so they melt while you prepare the other equipment. (Double-check to make sure the GF status. Some may be manufactured on shared gluteny lines.)
-Prepare a cutting board or other portable flat surface by placing a sheet of waxed paper on it.
-Fill a bowl with blue sugar. Make your own by adding blue food coloring to sugar and shaking in a jar or plastic bag.

Step 3: Dip. Dip.
-Dip the dried strawberries into the chocolate. If they're a little damp, dry with a paper towel before dipping or the chocolate won't stick. Leave a little red showing at the top.
-Dip the end of the strawberry into the sugar to make a blue "stripe."
-Lay on the waxed paper to set.
-Repeat.

Step 4: Place the cutting board/wax paper in the refrigerator to let the chocolate harden, and serve!

Step 5: Optional- Take advantage of the fact that you have melted chocolate and dip anything else you can find. Other fruit, GF pretzels, etc.  No sense in wasting it!

While you celebrate today, eating your patriotic strawberries and trying not to get sunburned, remember, always:

This week's menu

More night shift days this week, although not quite as late. Good thing, too, because I'm not used to that. Makes planning dinner really hard, and last week we had to forego a few meals in favor of sandwiches [and a rotisserie chicken with instant mashed potatoes] because I ran out of time. What-- I put avocado on the sandwiches so they're gourmet. Lunchmeat saves the day a lot around here. The rotisserie chicken was just a genius random idea.

This week focuses on meals that are a little more leftover-friendly, because I learned that reheated shrimp stir fry is a little funky. Ya herrd?

Monday- Meatball Stroganoff with peas
Tuesday- Crock pot BBQ chicken with zucchini salad
Wednesday- Vegetable quinoa soup
Thursday- Turkey meatloaf with cheesy zucchini rice
Friday- Fish baked with olives and lemon with glazed carrots


Also it's so hot lately that I don't want to cook or eat much, so honestly I've been happy some nights with a popsicle or some watermelon. Watermelon is surprisingly filling. For like an hour.
Here's to enjoying this hot, muggy summer weekend. My neighbor gave me some aloe vera babies that I'm hoping to plant them in a place where they'll thrive. I think I already killed the Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow she gave me. Bummer.

Sloppy Joes

The thing about sloppy joes is that they're super easy and are a great way to use up ground beef, even leftover ground beef or burgers. I grew up eating Mamwich out of a can that my mom would doctor up with a few extras. These taste a lot like I remember. Nostalgia plays a big factor in these!

Sweet and tangy and meaty and on a sandwich. What more could you want?

Sloppy Joes
1 pound ground beef
1/2 chopped onion
1 c. ketchup
1/4 c. water
2 tsp worchestershire sauce
2 tsp mustard
1/2 c. bbq sauce
1/4 c pickle relish

Cook the beef and onions in a large saucepan over medium heat until the meat is cooked and no longer pink. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer until the consistency is still sloppy but not soupy.

 Serve on GF bread (I like Udi's) or buns with sliced pickles. Cheese is optional, and this is one of the rare occasions that I choose not to add it.