This week's menu

 Second breakfasts: Waffles, boiled eggs, fruit + yogurt

Sunday- Black eyed peas with cornbread, roasted cabbage
Monday- Shrimp tacos
Tuesday- Chicken nuggets and roasted potato
Wednesday- Turkey wraps
Thursday- Veggie soup
Friday- Salmon with salads

Happy New Year!

roasted brussels sprouts and sweet potato salad

For the past 3 years or so, I've been living without a decent oven. Besides being a bit of an eyesore, the oven in our house heated unevenly and the temperature fluctuated. Plus it was too small to fit my pans.
*cue sad music*

I managed to make do with a pretty badass little toaster oven, but things like frozen pizzas and anything larger than 6 inches were impossible.

However, recently I purchased a new, gorgeous, modern, DOUBLE oven. I can make a turkey and a cheesecake at the same time, nbd.
*cue angels singing*

What's the first thing I did? I roasted some brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes. They turned out absolutely beautiful. Then I used them to trick out my salad.

[How to roast them? Cut into smallish pieces, then coat with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, giving them a bit of a stir/shake every 10-15 minutes.]

I forsee a bit of a salad series on the horizon, since this former salad-hater is actually digging salads lately. They're an easy way to get veggies, and my body needs them after this particularly pudgy holiday season. Plus I started to like them more when I realized I could do more than the standard 'lettuce-cucumber-tomato' routine.

My salad motto is: More substance. Less lettuce. I can add Mexican rice if I want and call it a burrito bowl. Nice.

This salad includes:

Iceberg lettuce chunks
Shredded carrot
Cubed squash
Cucumber
Tomato
Roasted brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes
A dollup of a chickpea + olive oil puree
Balsamic vinegar dressing

NOM.

One pan Salmon and Roasted cauliflower

Ready for an easy one-pan dinner?

Grab some salmon. Put it on a pan. Next to it, place thawed (or fresh) cauliflower. (I prefer frozen cauliflower over fresh because it doesn't smell like farts.)
Moving on.
Top the whole shebang with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, fresh parsley, and freshly squeezed lime juice.
Sprinkle parmesan over the cauliflower only.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, until the salmon reaches 145 degrees.
(Serve a wedge salad while it cooks.)

Serve with a wedge of lime.

Easy. Peasy. Noms.

Menu

I've totally been avoiding dinner prep and grocery shopping by cooking various soups for the past week or so. Hey, soup is quick, weather-appropriate, and uses up freezer and pantry staples so there's no hassle.

But having a menu makes things a lot easier, especially when things get busy, so here it is. Plus it's pushing 70 degrees here today, so soups are less easy to pass off. Ugh. I hate this weather.

Second breakfasts:
GF Chex mix, waffles with peanut butter

Sunday- Salmon + roasted cauliflower
Monday- Honey sesame chicken
Tuesday- Spaghetti
Wednesday- Shrimp tacos
Thursday- Chili (Except it turned into girls night)
Friday- Stir Friday

Have a nice, productive week.

Sauteed asian salad

Oh, God. I need vegetables. I need a deep cleanse. I need to walk 5,000 miles.

This year a very indulgent trip to Texas wine country (to celebrate my sister's quarter quell birthday) took the off-ramp smoothly right into Thanksgiving, and I embraced every fat second of it.

After steadily guzzling great wine and grazing on rich foods for a few days, I feel like I'm on the verge of gout or heart disease. A bit of an exaggeration, but the truth is I feel fat and bloated and not great.

So today my body is begging for vegetables, fish oil capsules, and lots of water. I haven't exactly been to the grocery store lately, so after a bit of black Friday shopping (purely to get steps), I stuck my head in the fridge. I shifted aside the gravy-laden leftovers and searched for the vegetables that languished in the crisper while I noshed on cakes and buttery mashed potatoes and honey glazed ham. (Mmm, ham.)

I give you this big ass bowl of vegetable love. It's beautiful.

I highly encourage a loose interpretation of this recipe. Use up your sad veggies! Everything gets new life after a deep sautee with garlic. Even limp celery.

Sauteed Asian Salad

Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
2 stalks of celery, diced
2 T. water chestnuts, chopped (from a can)
1/8 wedge of red cabbage, chopped
a sprinkle of sesame seeds
1/8 wedge of iceberg lettuce, chopped

Sautee everything but the lettuce in olive oil.

Put the sauteed veggies on top of the lettuce. Top with a bit of sriracha sauce, a sprinkle of GF soy sauce, and a big squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Start to feel like a human being again. Let go of the Jabba mentality. Do your best to maintain until the next wave of holiday gluttony hits.

[Namaste, bitch.]

Menu

This week's menu goes up after fumes from refinishing my kitchen cabinets have taken over my brain. Plus wine. Excuse any typos.

Second Breakfasts- boiled eggs, cottage cheese with fruit

Tuesday- HEB Meal Simple- I lovveee these and a lot of them are gluten free. So easy, I just have to pick a side. I ended up with some sort of basil beef feta pinwheel.
Wednesday- Burbon chicken and salads
Thursday- Black bean enchiladas
Friday- Salmon (another HEB Meal Simple)
Saturday- Oh WAIT. That's our 4th wedding anniversary! I'm not cooking!
Sunday- Tuna melts and tomato soup

Chicken Sweet Potato Kabobs

Ok so I tried this recipe on a whim because I'm tired of the same old chicken. And it was really good!

The spice rub is spot on and the glaze complements it perfectly. It caramelized a little bit on the sweet potatoes and made them taste like candied yams. It's got a bit of a spicy kick, which worked really well. I'd use the spice rub again, and I'd make this recipe again. Even for company.

 

I did modify the recipe a bit, so I re-posted it with my changes.

Chicken Sweet Potato Kabobs

The basics:

2 large sweet potatoes
2 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 medium red onion, cut into 1½-inch chunks and layers separated
8 (12-inch) bamboo skewers

Spice Rub:

2 t. garlic salt
2 t. chili powder
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 t. cumin
1 t. paprika
¼ t. crushed red pepper

Glaze:
1/3 c. honey
2 t. balsamic vinegar

Instructions

Soak the bamboo skewers in water.

Clean the sweet potatoes and pierce with a fork. Microwave on the baked potato setting.

Mix the spice rub in a bowl. Mix the glaze in a separate bowl. Set aside.

When the potatoes are done, let them cool for a minute while you chop the onion.

Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour a bit of olive oil in a medium bowl. Throw the chicken chunks in the bowl and top with the spice rub. Mix with your hands. You're going to have to get your hands all chickeny anyway when you make the skewer.

Make kabobs by alternating chicken, sweet potato, and onion. Place on a cookie sheet and pour the glaze on top.

I don't know how to work the grill. So I set my oven to 350-400ish* and cooked for appx 30 minutes until the chicken read >165 degrees with the meat thermometer. Served with broccoli and cauliflower.

*My oven is 30 years old and doesn't maintain temperature, so that's the best I can do. I'm literally ordering a new oven tomorrow.