* Some recipes from Just Tell Me What to Cook, such as Orange Rosemary Chicken, which was a hit with the whole family. Ramona didn't even ask for a peanut butter sandwich. I liked the Chicken with Lime-Ginger Sauce, but the kids found it a little heavy on the lime, so I'll cut back next time.
* Crock Pot Lasagna: A friend mentioned this recently, so I Googled for a recipe. Yes, you really throw uncooked pasta in the crock pot. I didn't have lasagna noodles, so I used spiral pasta, and I left out the ricotta. The recipe says one hour on high, and five hours on low, but I think I could have cut that back to about three hours on low (however, we were out for the afternoon, so I wasn't home to check on it.) It was overdone, but the kids still loved it.
* Melissa's Roasted Broccoli with Parmesan: so simple, so good
* Couscous: everyone loves it. Except Ramona.
* Meal planning: As much as I hate to admit it (and do it), life is immeasurably easier when I plan meals. My tortured relationship with meal planning has been chronicled:
Meal Planning, Schmeal Planning
An Update to Meal Planning, Schmeal Planning
Another Reason to Love My Husband
And I expect the tortured relationship to continue. And so goes life in the fallen nature and fallen kitchen of Karen.
4 comments:
Hmmmm...how do you think the chicken would taste without the rosemary, thyme or marjoram? In other words, just orange chicken.
I do a version of that same roasted broccoli from the Barefoot Contessa. Add some garlic to the broccoli. I use a lot and just cut the cloves in half. Instead of adding the cheese during the roasting, hold off. After 25 minutes in the oven, squeeze a lemon (or drip RealLemon) over the broccoli and garlic. Then smother in grated parm. Oh. My. Word.
Karen I was looking back at your other posts on how much you struggle with meal planning (me too!!!) and wondered if you'd seen the series of posts on meal planning by Leila Lawler. (1, 2, 3, 4).
What I like about her approach is that it's very practical nuts and bolts, thinking of details other advice columns I've seen overlook. For example, she recommends having a database of complete menus, not just main courses. So simple and yet so brilliant.
Charlotte, I think it would taste orangey and delicious. :) Ambrose, more garlic is always a good thing -- I'll try it that way. Thanks! And, Melanie, I haven't looked through all four links yet, but the first one sounds very similar to what I do (when I do it.) :) In addition to the master list of entrees that I mentioned in that old post, I have a master list of side dishes, too, and then I plan the menu according to what's on sale that week, and according to our schedule, with planned leftover, sandwich nights, etc.
This works really well for me when I actually DO it. Which is always the key. I fall out of any kind of routine in the summer, because Atticus does all the dinners, which is great for summer, and not so good for me in the fall when I have to start over. :)
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