Cinco de Mayo Meal

image via foodnetwork

If you're still looking for a good "Mexican" dish to serve for Cinco de Mayo tonight, I'd highly recommend Rachael Ray's Mexican Lasagna. I made it last night for Tyler and we both loved it!

It's a bit healthier than your traditional lasagna because it uses ground chicken instead of beef. I was hesitant at first, but I didn't even miss the beef, or hardly notice the difference! I also used what I had on hand - instead of hot sauce, I used medium salsa, and instead of spinach tortillas (which I am definitely using next time) I used flour. It was super easy and we'll definitely make it again. (Also, her recipe says that it serves 4, but it really serves a heaping 6 portions. Probably more like 8 if you have a side dish.)

Happy Cinco de Mayo! (I think many of our neighbors behind our complex ditched school today to celebrate. How fun!)

Weekly Meal Plan

I love cooking. 

The only part of cooking that doesn't get along with me is the dishes. I hate the dishes. With no dishwasher - not even a husband because he is so busy with school right now - cooking is infinitely less fun. But this post isn't about dishes, so I'll move on.

I'm trying really hard to stick to a meal plan and make dinner five out of seven nights a week. Below hopefully you can find some dinner ideas, and learn how I've conquered the beast:

Step One  |  Casually peruse the weekly ads, circling anything that sounds yummy with a thick, red sharpie. Add stars for things that sound extra delicious. My favorite place to shop is Sunflower Market, our local farmer's market/grocery store. I circle all the wonderful fruits and veggies on the front of their ad, then check out their bulk section. This week I'm picking up brown rice for 79-cents/lb, and I usually also stock up on some couscous and walnuts when they're on sale.

Step Two  |  Flip through your recipe book, looking for recipes that coincide with the weekly sales. My recipe book is filled with cards and printouts, divided by section. I also have a dinner inspiration section where I simple made a huge list of possible dinner ideas. It makes it easier just browse that list and pick a few. I also discovered Sunflower Market has a large collection of healthy recipes using mostly fresh, raw ingredients.

Step Three  |  Using your grocery list printout, write down the ingredients you'll need for that week, recipe by recipe, day by day. Here's what mine looks like this week (forgive me for the awful picture):

Step Four  |  Grab your reusable bags and head out the door. If I have time, I hit up Walmart and price match from the ads. Last night I price matched Sunflower Market's fresh produce and got 4 large apples, 4 oranges, a head of romaine, a large head of broccoli, celery, cantaloupe, bananas, and a cucumber for $9. Not bad, but I will admit that Sunflower Market's produce is much better quality. (I ended up having to go to Sunflower Market anyway because Walmart didn't have strawberries.)

Step Five  |  When you're home and everything is unloaded, tape your list to the fridge and follow your menu!

This week we're starting with tomorrow, on Wednesday. I usually write this plan out on Friday and shop on Saturday, but because of graduation next week and family coming into town, we won't need to plan for Thursday and Friday.

This week's recipes are:
Tuesday  |  Beef Enchiladas (one change: we use red enchilada sauce instead of picante sauce)
Wednesday  |  Baked Potato Soup (I freeze the extras in the sour cream containers used for the soup, making individual servings. Then I just thaw two in the fridge!)
Thursday  |  Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry
Friday  |  Rib-eye steak with steamed broccoli and Caesar salad
Saturday  |  Twice-baked potatoes (we usually go out for lunch or dinner so I never plan much for Saturday)
Sunday  |  Breakfast: Souffle Omelet with Balsamic Strawberries, Dinner: Homemade Ravioli, roasted red potatoes, salad
Monday  |  Spaghetti, homemade french bread, salad
Tuesday  |  Chicken & Fish*, roasted red potatoes, steamed broccoli (I don't eat fish, so I just substitute my serving of fish for chicken in for whatever recipe I am using)

For more dinner ideas, this month we have also made stir fry, French onion soup with a side of asparagus (between the two of us we eat nearly a pound of asparagus), garlic chicken pizza (excellent, fast pizza dough recipe found here), Chinese chicken salad, chicken parmesan, and bbq pulled pork. Good luck! I hope this encourages at least one of you to start cooking more regularly! :)

Chinese Chicken Salad

One of our family's favorite meals is Chinese Chicken Salad. My favorite part is that everything is entirely homemade, from the dressing to the wontons.

Tip: You can find uncooked wontons in the refrigerated produce section of the grocery store, by the pre-packaged lettuce, berries, pesto, etc. I searched for 45 minutes trying to find them once! They are about $2.50-3.00 a package, and will last a long time. Just freeze what you don't use, or make cream cheese wontons for dessert!

Also, you can find plum sauce in the Asian section of your grocery store.

Chinese Chicken Salad

Makes enough for 6-8 people

several heads of romaine lettuce

un-cooked wonton strips

orange, sliced and cut into chunks (or canned mandarin oranges)

sliced almonds

1/2 lb. chicken, cooked and cubed

cooking oil (for deep-frying)

Dressing:

3 T. vinegar (I mix red and white)

2 T. sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

1 T. plum sauce

1/2 t. salt

1 t. pepper

1 T. sesame oil

Mix all dressing ingredients together and set aside.

Wash romaine and tear into bite-sized pieces. Toss almonds, oranges, and cooked chicken with romaine.

Toss salad with dressing (less is more!) and sprinkle wonton strips on top. Serve immediately.

To fry the wonton strips: 

1 Heat a cast-iron skillet on medium and fill with cooking oil, about 1/2" - 1" deep. 

2 With a knife, cut wonton wrappers into strips (they come in squares, so I cut each in fourths to make four strips.) 

3 When oil is hot and bubbling, drop wonton strips in. Immediately turn over with tongs until lightly golden and crispy. Drain in a paper-towel lined bowl.

Tips for frying: I make sure the oil is really hot. Get your fingers wet with water and (carefully!) splash some on the oil. If it bubbles and pops, your oil is hot enough. Also, the hotter your oil is, the less time your wontons will need to be fried. I know my oil is the right temperature when I'm can only fry four strips at a time. Any more than that and they burn on me because I'm not quick enough!

Chicken Fajitas

Tonight I made Chicken Fajitas for dinner. First I asked Tyler what Mexicans put in their fajitas (he served an LDS Mission in Leon, Mexico for two years before we met, so he knows his stuff.) He told me they don't really make chicken fajitas and we've super-Americanized the term fajita.
Sad. No luck there.

Then I was too lazy to find a recipe, so I just started making things up as I went along. (Yes, Mom. I know your jaw just dropped open in surprise, but I really did! And it turned out fantastic!)

It had a little bit of sweet from the raisins and a little bit of smoky flavor from the cumin to it. We'll definitely be making it again soon. Here's the recipe:

Chicken Fajitas

Serves 4

15 minutes or less (!!)

4 chicken tenders (1/2 lb, maybe?)

1 red bell pepper

1 small tomato

1 onion

1/2 can black beans

1/4 c. raisins

large palmful of ground cumin (2 T. maybe?)

small palmful of coriander (1/2 T.?)

s & p

Toppings: 

Avocado

Sour Cream

Pepper Jack Cheese

Tortillas (8)

Chop onion, bell pepper and tomato. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Sautee onion, pepper, tomato, and chicken in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until chicken is cooked through and onions are translucent. Add beans and raisins and mix well. Add cumin and coriander, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat and cook until warm throughout.

Serve with warm tortillas, avocado, sour cream and cheese.

Notes: 

-The raisins sound weird. I know. But I tried a similar fajitas recipe several weeks ago with raisins and I couldn't get it off my mind! Every fajita needs raisins for that sweet punch.

-If I had roasted sweet bell peppers I would have used those instead of a fresh pepper.

-This should easily serve 4 people. If you want to add more chicken, it could serve 6. 

-We used fresh, uncooked tortillas from Costco and cooked them ourselves. Once you've tried them, you'll never go back to store-bought, pre-cooked tortillas!