Can someone please tell me where March went? We seem to have missed it. Between spring break, teaching cooking classes and driving carpool, I’m not sure where an entire month went. I’m having the tiniest bit of anxiety about getting summer plans lined up (I already missed the boat on one sports camp for my son) and the growing piles of paperwork taking over every available surface on my desk. This week is packed with cooking classes and a full day of shooting video for my website, so not sure I’ll make a dent in the paper piles anytime soon. Weeks like this make a meal plan even more important around here, have a family meal plan takes one thing off my to do list and frees mental energy. (Not that I’ll be using said mental energy to clean my desk. Let’s get real.) I’m so excited to share videos of my favorite cooking tips and techniques soon. Stay tuned!
MONDAY
Fried rice with onion, asparagus, carrots, peas and thinly sliced bok choy. I have leftover ribeye I’ll dice and sauté in a little neutral-flavored oil, such as grapeseed or avocado oil, along with the diced onion. Then I’ll add in the chopped vegetables, a couple scrambled eggs and the steamed rice, and season it with tamari (gluten-free soy sauce) or coconut aminos (if you’re feeding people with soy allergies). We top ours with sriracha or sambal oelek.
TUESDAY
BBQ chicken thighs in the crock pot. This is a recipe I’ve simplified from the Williams-Sonoma The New Slow Cooker by Brigit Binns. We use 1 1/2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs to feed our family of five. If you don’t want to make a homemade BBQ sauce for this, I recommend the original variety of Bone Suckin Sauce. Full of tart vinegar flavor, their BBQ sauce and some chicken thighs are a magical set-it-and-forget-it crock pot family meal. Add 3/4 jar of sauce, 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs and set on low for 4-5 hours.
WEDNESDAY
French Dip Sandwiches. This is another favorite crock pot meal in our family, and my youngest has been begging to add it to the menu since early March. I’m teaching at Central Market Wednesday night, so I’ll make this earlier in the day. We serve the meat on hoagie rolls with melted provolone, and little bowls of au jus on the side, or on top of spaghetti squash or spiraled zucchini noodles.
THURSDAY
Thin bone-in pork chops with mustard cream sauce. I prefer a whole grain mustard for this, but Dijon is delicious too, and I typically use half & half instead of heavy cream. We’ll sauté a bunch of greens (such as Swiss chard or spinach) and roast new potatoes or fingerlings (which are just coming into season). Hurray for the weekend!
FRIDAY
Babysitter night! Bell & Evans Gluten Free Chicken Tenders or make-your-own English muffin or flat bread pizzas (using store bought naan). Carrot sticks and Thomas Keller’s homemade ranch. His recipe for wedge salads included in the ranch dressing recipe is the perfect accompaniment to grilled steaks — or equally great with a plate of crudité.
Sweetie, I adore reading these postings…. Makes me feel closer to all of you, not to mention all the great recipes! You have so much of which to be proud Keep up the good work.
I especially love seeing that you’re enjoying having a garden.
Love and smooshy kisses,
Auntie Joyce
PS. The deviled egg recipe looks muy interesante.
Thank you Auntie Joyce! And thank you for following along and commenting. I appreciate it ? Try the deviled eggs and let me know what you think!