The weekly menu

Monday was a very necessary holiday after Saturday and Sunday were not very restful (Kyle was gone Saturday and then we all left town for our Chico visit on Sunday).  I try to soak up Kyle’s days at home like crazy.  This short week was SO great.  It was rainy on and off so we were limited in our activities and that can sometimes lead to quite a bit of energy bottled up indoors.  But we totally managed to make the week fantastic, which I think was in large part due to having Monday off to food prep and catch up on housework and crap.  Vacuuming and deep cleaning the upstairs left me feeling better than any therapy session could.  Ahhhhhh…

Thai tofu lettuce cups with brown rice for a Meatless Monday meal.

The recipe is from Cook Illustrated Vegetarian Cookbook and was both easy and fast.  And most importantly, delicious.

I didn’t know if P would be down with the tofu with the Thai flavors – there was LOTS of basil and fish sauce and stuff, but he totally loved it.  Next time I’m making two tofu tubs’ worth for a recipe for all of us, because 14 ounces isn’t enough for the three of us.

This cookbook is full of winners.

I turned to the crock pot on Tuesday – first sautéing the sausage on the “brown/sautee” setting, with some onions, celery, and carrots.  Later I added broth and wild rice, and then cabbage an hour or so before dinnertime.

P didn’t want the broth at first, but then suddenly he did.  Fickle toddler shenanigans.  He liked the sausage, veggies, and rice too, so whatever.

Another veg meal.  Black bean, quinoa, mango, and avo with a cilantro lime sauce I made up.

P wasn’t down with the sauce, but liked it otherwise.

Side note: peeling a mango is annoying and doesn’t yield very much.  From now on I’m going to pay for the pre-cut pieces or buy frozen and thaw them.

Thursday felt like Friday, which is because we skipped gymnastics and for once didn’t have a morning activity.  P and I had some arts and crafts fun (his favorite) while the rain came down outside.

I also roasted brussels and yukon gold potatoes during the painting and whatnot.

Reallllllly wish I measured and wrote down the recipe for this one.  I zested and juiced one meyer lemon, and whisked it with ~1/4 cup mayonnaise (the good kind).

Then added the roasted root veg and some slivered almonds.

I intended for that to be the whole meal, but then at the last minute I thought maybe it needed something else so I quickly put lentils in the rice cooker and – bam – a protein side dish was born.

Plus stewed tomatoes and Annie’s BBQ sauce (also from Thrive).

Dinner is served.

I left patty-cakes’ lentils plain because he’s not a tomato fan and he totally loved them.  He also loved the brussels and potatoes which is new and exciting (because he usually doesn’t eat potatoes when I make them), but might (definitely) have something to do with the mayo based sauce they were covered in.  😉

Crock pot again for Friday night’s dinner.  I love the flexibility these meals give me because they make my afternoon wide open.  I also set up red rice in the rice cooker, so dinner was totally taken care of by noon.

Kyle texted me around then saying he was coming home early, asking if I wanted to go get a pedicure.  Uh, lemme think abut that?  YES!!!!  I’ve had a gift card for 6 months that I haven’t used, so to say it was long overdue would be…obvious.

Oh and while we are on the topic of being spoiled.  !!!!!!  This was my first Temple coffee (decaf soy cafe au lait) which Kyle brought me home midmorning as a surprise since he had a meeting with a coworker there anyway.  The. Best.  He also got me a vegan gluten free samoa donut because he said he couldn’t NOT get it for me.  How did I get this lucky in life?

Later that afternoon I ran to the library to pick up Against All Grain (I had ordered it, so it was all ready and waiting for me to pick it up), which I then read while getting my pedi.  What a Friday!!  I got home by 5, nursed my babe, put her to bed, and served us up some grub.

I used this recipe for chimichurri sauce from Bon Appetit, but made some changes based on our preferences and what we had on hand (less parsley, shallot and garlic infused oil instead of shallots and garlic, aleppo pepper instead of jalapeño).

The carrots were added after I browned the chicken thighs on the “brown/sautee” setting.  Perfecto.

Now it’s time to get my weekend food prep on.  Bread baking above and banola baking below.

Happy weekending all!