Yay! I'm back! After a whirlwind summer full of wonderful travel opportunities and not much time cooking at home, we are finally getting back into a normal routine. (Whatever THAT means.)

So here's next week's menu:

Saturday
Paul's Skirt Steak Fajitas with sun-dried tomato wraps and multi-colored peppers (yum)

Sunday:
Fajita leftovers on a picnic!

Monday
Skinny Chicken Tikka Masala

Crab Cakes (made with tuna because the crab looked questionable at the store)


Thursday
Pumpkin White Bean Chili

Friday
Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps


Saturday
Black Bean Burgers

Sunday
Cheeseburger Casserole

Smoothie recipe

I just made a delicious smoothie and I just HAD to share it with y'all. It was inspired by one I found on Martha Stewart's Pinterest page

The one above has almonds and oats and uses vanilla yogurt. I didn't have most of that so I used what I had on hand and changed the proportions a little.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup pecan halves
4 ozs Fage 0% plain Greek yogurt
1/2 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1 tsp pure maple syrup

The pecans and the strawberries together are really delicious! Give it a try sometime!

Spring has Sprung

Spring has sprung in a very visible way here in Atlanta. And that is not necessarily a good thing. While the weather is beautiful and it makes you want to spend time outside, the pollen count is off the charts! On a 100 point scale, the pollen count today is 8024! No kidding!

Luckily it is supposed to rain today so hopefully much of that yellow dust will wash down the storm drains. In the mean time, I am choosing to enjoy this beautiful weather. One of the ways Spring always seems to affect me is that it makes me want to eat more "real" foods. It makes me want to cook at home more too! So here is our menu plan for this week.

Thursday:
Buffalo Turkey Burgers with Blue Cheese Broccoli Slaw
Sweet Potato fries

Friday:
Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala


Saturday:
Turkey Meatloaf


Sunday:
Southwestern Black Bean, Quinoa and Mango Medley

Monday:
Cheeseburger Casserole

Spring Break Meals

I have actually been planning my meals over the last few weeks, but I forgot to put them on the blog! Have you discovered ziplist.com yet? It has really helped me to plan ahead and make my grocery list to go with my meal plan. In busy times like this last week, it has really been a life-saver!

I ventured out to Patak's yesterday to get some bacon but as with every trip there, I knew I wouldn't be coming home with only bacon. I ended up getting ground beef, ground pork, Italian Sausage, deli turkey, Muenster cheese AND bacon. (All for less than $25, btw). Since they butcher everything on site, I feel really good about the quality of what I am getting. But let me tell you something - the bacon is worth the trip by itself. This shopping trip inspired my menu for the week - usually it is the other way around.

There are two meals which appear here without any corresponding recipe link. Basically, this is because DH makes them himself with no recipe. The "Runzas" are nostalgic tributes to a restaurant chain in Nebraska (where DH lived as a teen). They are pretty darn tasty and a little bit decadent so we don't have them all that often. And the chili is a catch as catch can kind of recipe in which we use stuff in the cabinets/fridge. Works really well but the recipe changes almost every time.


Saturday:
Runzas

Sunday:
Mexican Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas

Monday:
Rigatoni with Creamy Sausage Sauce

Tuesday:
Chili

Wednesday:
Honey Roasted Butternut Squash and Spinach Salad
and Roasted Chicken

Thursday:
Vietnamese Flank Steak

Post Recital Post

Sunday:
Doubles
Marinated Beef
Broccoli Rabe

Monday:
Cuban Style Pork and Sweet Potato Slow Cooker Stew
Corn Bread

Tuesday:
Chicken with Artichoke Hearts
Roasted Cauliflower

Wednesday:
Alton Brown's Stove Top Mac & Cheese

Thursday: (Valentine's Day Italian Feast)
Spaghetti & Meatballs
Antipasti
Bread

Friday:
Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Skinny Blue Cheese Dressing

Back to life, Back to reality

Oh, and also this is the week of my RunDisney half marathon!

So this week is getting back to school for me, getting back to school for my kids and getting ready to go run a half marathon!

Sunday:
Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps
Avocado

Monday:

Cuban Pork & Sweet Potato Stew
Crunchy Bakery Bread


Wednesday:
Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Thursday:

Lasagna with Homemade Tomato Sauce
Salad