DInner Menu 04/23-04/27

People need to bounce ideas off each other for dinner ideas to avoid ruts. SO here is the next week for my family. we are going to the farmers market and a local health food store for our shopping. SO I like to make a menu to know what i need to buy. Plus I no longer have the luxury of daily shopping now that I am a working mom again.

Monday- Pan seared fish (whatever is wild) with roasted potatoes that have thyme, lemon, and whole garlic cloves, and a salad( fresh greens, maybe some pea shoots, and what ever looks good at the farmers)
Tuesday- Chicken teriyaki with roasted cauliflower mash and roasted beet salad with apples, bacon, and smoked blue cheese
Wednesday- Asparagus, bacon and mushroom quiche with salad
Thursday-pot roast with carrots, turnips, onion, and celery maybe with some brown rice
Friday-Tacos, (from the leftover roast) with cabbage, onions and cheese and  black beans

hope this helps with your menus =D

My go-to's....SPRING EDITION (part 1)

Every mom has her go-to recipes. Mine change for the seasons somewhat, but sometimes I just alter a recipe for whats in season. Like pasta or tacos, stuffed cabbage and soups/stews. Good basics that can be altered for what you have in season, and in your cupboard.  Right now it is spring, and the best part of spring, (besides flowers, and sun) ASPARAGUS! So right now we are eating it about five times a week, because in about a month it is gone.  (and with asparagus when it is out of season, not only does it not taste as good, it costs exponentially more)  So consider a few options for spring... Quiche, and/or frittatas (very similar, but if you don't feel like making a crust, a frittata is a great alternative.)  Asparagus, mushrooms, and some Swiss cheese (bacon wouldn't hurt) quiche...YUM!  Wild mushrooms are also starting to come around so we are enjoying our  roasted asparagus and wild mushroom salads.  And how about our leafy greens. Its kale, chard, spinach time people!

Simple dressing (good for kale salad, or asparagus and wild mushroom salad, or anything...)

• juice of one lemon (two if not a juicy lemon or you really love lemon.... like me)
• 1/4c Bragg's Amino
• 1/2c olive oil
• 1/4t salt (to taste)
• 1/2t pepper
• splash of tarragon vinegar (optional)

shake shake shake!

Roasted Beet Salad

• 4 smallish/medium beets peeled, cut into large bite size pieces and roasted* at 400 degrees for ~35-40 min until tender (serves two and a half-babies are a half in my book)
• 1 apple peeled, cored and cut into small bite size pieces
• 2-4 slices of good bacon cooked and chopped up
• a good amount of smoked blue cheese ( I say a good amount because if you really like blue then go for it, if you are only a moderate fan, then maybe a little less is better. ALWAYS TASTE YOUR FOOD!)
• drizzle of Olive oil
• drizzle of balsamic (we happen to have access to a balsamic truffle creme and holy cow it is great-nice work if you can get it)

toss and serve warm
*Of course whenever roasting a veg I cover it with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Stolen Kale Salad

• fresh kale ( you can gauge how much, because honestly I love this so much I eat a whole bunch of kale to myself) washed and dried
• handful of sunflower seeds (roasted)
• handful of pumpkin seeds (roasted)
• handful of sunflower sprouts
• red onion (I recommend pickling your onions for extra POP....that's a different post)
• small amount of feta crumbled (optional)
• simple dressing*

clearly this is a very sophisticated, precise salad, so you must follow the recipe exactly! And I named this Stolen kale salad because I full on stole this recipe from a local health food market. I'm not gonna lie. But shit, its really good and not enough people eat kale!


Asparagus and Mushroom Salad

• 1 bunch asparagus
• a variety local wild mushrooms- two big handfuls or one handful and a Portabello
• 3 small beets peeled and roasted
• simple dressing -to taste

roast the mushrooms and asparagus separate from the beets because they take much less time you can start the beets first. (4oo degrees for 40 min) Then, once they are done do the other veg at the same temp,but only for 20 min. Of course whenever roasting a veg I cover it with olive oil and salt and pepper. I would go really light on the S&P for this one because you will be adding the dressing. This might be one of the few salads that I would not add bacon or cheese to... hmmmm weird....

SO this is only part one of an idunnohowmany part series. I will post my quiche recipe including my great grandmothers pie crust, but don't tell my dad....stay tuned!