Make it or Fake It

I try to make a lot of what we eat from scratch. I know it's kind of out of fashion, but hey, that's me. I think making it's less expensive, and I think it's healthier without a lot of the chemicals, artificially-produced ingredients, preservatives, and so many more unknowns in our food. I also enjoy cooking. I enjoy my breaks from cooking too, don't get me wrong, but for the most part it satisfies the creative side to me when I can take a bunch of stuff, throw it together, and present a beautiful, healthy, tasty meal to my family. I also believe that it is my "job" to make the meals. I am fortunate to stay at home and not have to work (that is, I work, but I don't have a formal job and no real salary). To make up for this lack of income, I feel it is my job to take care of the things that two income households might hire out. I do the laundry, the cleaning, the childcare and I do the cooking instead of us eating out, usually. The more I save, the more I increase my imaginary salary! But, like I said, that's me. The reality is that most people don't like to cook. This week's menu gives you both options: make it or fake it. It's up to you.

Sunday:
Make it: Grilled Whole Chicken, roasted vegetables, homemade dinner rolls
Fake it: Rotisserie Chicken, steam-in-the-bag vegetables, brown-and-serve dinner rolls

To grill a whole chicken, rinse and pat dry the chicken. Coat a foil roasting pan with cooking spray. Place chicken in foil pan, and dust with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Place in preheated grill over indirect medium heat (uncovered) for about 15 min per pound. No basting, no turning, no nothing. Your chicken will come out golden brown and crusty-skinned, with juicy tender meat inside.

For the roasted vegetables, choose several different veggies. We like fingerling potatoes, baby carrots, yellow onions, acorn squash, and sweet potatoes. Wash and prepare the veggies, then place in single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil, and sprinkle generously with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Roast at 400 for about 45 min or until tender.


Monday:
Make It: Carolina Blond BBQ Sandwiches , baked beans,
Fake It: Lloyd's BBQ Sandwiches, baked beans, deli cole slaw
My grandmother made superb baked beans, homemade, from scratch. This is one recipe I have yet to attempt! Even we will be eating canned baked beans. If you're faking it, look for Lloyd's BBQ in a tub in your grocer's refrigerator.

Tuesday:
Make It: Spaghetti, salad, french bread
Fake It: out to eat, Italian!

*note: make extra sauce for Saturday's pizza

Wednesday:
Make It: Pasta Jambalaya
Fake It: Zataran's Jambalaya (with added meat if desired)

Thursday:
Make It: Tacos
Fake It: Tacos made from a tub of El Paso ready to serve Taco Meat


Friday:
Make It: Maryland Crabcakes, home fries, steamed edamame
Fake It: Frozen Crabcakes, Ore Rida Fries, steam-in-the-bag edamame

*note, if you're making it, make double the crabcakes, as they freeze beautifully and doubling makes better use of . They also make great crabcake sandwiches for a future lunch or dinner! Try them with chili sauce (next to the ketchup) or Creamy Caper-Dill Sauce.


Saturday:
Make It: Homemade Deep Dish Pizza, salad
Fake It: Frozen Pizza


Shopping List (for Make It):
yeast
2 lbs lump crab meat or artificial crab meat flakes or 1 lb each
parsley
1 lb ground beef
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
taco shells and/or tortillas
tomato
shredded lettuce
mozzarella cheese
pepperoni (or your choice pizza toppings)
potatoes
edamame
1 chicken
fingerling potatoes
sweet potatoes
1 acorn squash
3 yellow onions
1 bag baby carrots
coleslaw
coleslaw dressing
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
baked beans
red bell pepper
1 can black beans
1 can rotel
turkey keilbasa
whole wheat penne pasta
mexican blend shredded cheese
green onions
1 loaf of bread (from which to make breadcrumbs)
1 lemon (optional)

Changes...

Things are changing in the life of Dinner Diva. Temperatures are cooling down, gracing my morning runs with a blessed breeze that leaves me feeling invigorated rather than beat down at the end of my miles. School has started, and with it a full schedule of inked-up calendars and post-it reminders. And DH and I are making some life changes that mean my time in the kitchen is limited...for now. Quick fix dinners are the theme this week: enjoy!

Sunday: Flat Tire Burgers in Edmond (I don't even want to think about how many miles I'll have to run to burn off my awesome juicy burger and crispy onion rings!)

Monday: Shrimp Stir Fry, Steamed White Rice, Egg Rolls

Tuesday: Grilled Salmon Steaks, Steamed Broccoli, Brown Rice Pilaf

Wednesday: Grilled Steaks, Roasted Green Beans, Breadsticks

Thursday: Fresh Tomato, Sausage, and Pecorino Pasta, salad

Friday: Garden Vegetable Crustless Quiche, fresh fruit

Saturday: Pizza Night


Something new, a grocery list! I'll try to include a shopping list each week...your comments are welcome!


egg beaters (1 1/2 cups)
1 16 oz carton cottage cheese
8 oz shredded sharp cheddar (reduced fat)
6 oz shredded monterey jack cheese (reduced fat)
pecorino cheese
1 11 oz can refrigerated breadstick dough, such as pillsbury

simply potatoes potatoes and onion
4 small zucchini
1 green bell pepper
8 oz presliced fresh mushrooms
parsley (fresh)
tomatoes (2.25 lbs)
1 onion
fresh basil
2 lbs fresh green beans
freash broccoli, 2 lbs

penne pasta
1 box brown rice pilaf

8 oz italian sausage or turkey italian sausage
rib eye or new york strip steaks

pickled jalepenos
kalamata olives

frozen egg rolls
frozen tuna steaks
frozen shrimp, 1 lb
frozen pizza

Al Fresco

Me and my good friend Al Fresco are gonna reacquaint this week. The weather in Oklahoma is finally comfortable enough for outdoor dining, and I know it won't last long this way, so I plan to take full advantage. There's just something about eating outside. It can be formal or casual, romantic or family oriented. Meet my friend Al. You'll like 'im!

Sunday: Grilled Shrimp and Tomatoes, cornbread
The perfect outdoor meal! Enjoy!

Grilled Shrimp and Tomatoes
1 lb. shrimp, thawed and peeled
6 med tomatoes, home-grown or farmers' market work best, cut into small wedges
4 T. olive oil, divided
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 T. fresh basil, chopped
fresh parmesan shavings, optional

Toss shrimp and tomatoes with 2 T. olive oil, coating well. Grill shrimp and tomatoes in a grill basket over med-high heat 10 minutes, or until shrimp is opaque, stirring occasionally. Combine remaining oil, salt, pepper, vinegar, and basil and drizzle over shrimp and tomatoes. Sprinkle with fresh parmesan, if desired.


Monday: Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin, Quinoa Salad with Peaches, Steamed Edamame

The tenderloin is my choice for this month's meal swap. If you make this, you might as well make two at once and freeze one for later in the month. To freeze, prepare the recipe as followed. After you wrap the pork in the bacon, wrap tightly in foil, label and freeze. To prepare after freezing, thaw completely (overnight), then roast as directed.

Buy steam-in-the-bag edamame if you can find it, and this colorful meal will be ready in about 20 min.

Tuesday: Chicken Puttanesca with Fettucine, fresh French Bread, Quick Salad

Quick Salad

1 bag salad, any variety (we like baby mixed greens or romaine)
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin 1" pieces
1/4 purple onion, thinly sliced
feta
croutons

Our favorite dressings are Newman's Own Light Balsamic Vinaigrette and Newman's Own Light Caesar. Both add flavor to the salad without adding a whole lot of extra calories and fat. We all know that the dressing is what makes the salad edible--my brother is the only one I know who eats his salad naked--but we all also know that the dressing can be what makes a salad unhealthy. Anyone who has read the nutrition information for a McDonald's salad knows that a salad can be just as bad calorie-wise as a cheeseburger. Sad, but true. My only point is that if you're concerned with health foods, pay attention to your salad dressing.

Wednesday: Maple-Glazed Salmon, Brown Rice Pilaf, steamed fresh broccoli

Use boxed pilaf for simple prep (we like Near East brand).

Thursday: Black Bean Tacos, Fiesta Corn Salad

Fiesta Corn Salad
5 leaves romaine lettuce, cut into fine strips
1 c. frozen corn, thawed
1/2 c. salsa
4 green onions, thinly sliced

Arrange romaine confetti on each of 4 plates. Combine corn and salsa. Top the lettuce with the corn mixture. Sprinkle with green onions.

Note: double the black bean taco mixture and the avocado salsa, and refrigerate for tomorrow's meal.

Friday: Black Bean Nachos

Black Bean Nachos
4 C. baked tortilla chips
black bean taco mixture
8 oz. monterey jack or pepper jack cheese, shredded
avocado salsa

Arrange chips in a single layer on a baking sheet. Top with black bean taco mixture (reserving shredded romaine). Top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 15-20 min or until cheese is melted. Top with romaine and avocado salsa, and serve.

Saturday: Pizza night
This has become a favorite family tradition. We pull a picnic blanket into the living room, start a movie, and have our family meal on the floor!

Bridge to Fall

In Wisconsin, the air is cooling off and the leaves are beginning to change, signifying a new season is approaching with each breezy gust. While it's still very much summer here in Oklahoma, and temperatures are still well above 90 and even reaching triple digits fairly regularly, school has started and the smell of freshly sharpened pencils reminds me of Fall. With that in mind, how does one plan a menu? In between seasons along with new and busy schedules dictate a kind of transistion...a bridge to Fall.

Quick and easy weeknight meals, plan-ahead meals, even slow cooker suppers are the focus of the upcoming weeks and months.

September is also a good time to think about joining or starting a meal swap. The convenience of having something already prepared far outweighs the slightly extra work of having to prepare it. A meal swap makes it even easier to have pre-made meals, by allowing you to make one meal 4 times, all at the same time, but you get 4 different meals to eat. It's like magic!

Monday: Parmesan Orzo and Meatballs, fresh crusty french bread

Tuesday: Veggie Fried Rice, cheese wontons (optional)

Wednesday: Oatmeal Pancakes, fresh fruit, pure maple syrup

Other toppings for pancakes include yogurt, peanut butter, or applesauce--think healthy, get creative!

Thursday: grilled steak, oven-roasted sweet potatoes, steamed sugar snap peas


Friday: 15 Minute Mozzarella Chicken Sandwiches, fresh orange wedges, baked chips

Saturday: Pizza Night

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I have just completed my second lifetime triathlon. Time to think about food:

Sunday: out to eat...sorry, but my legs don't even want me to STAND up in the kitchen tonight. We're thinking of trying out this dive of a restaurant near us that was featured on Man Vs. Food on the Food Network channel. It looks very scary from the outside, but everyone says what it lacks in ambiance it makes up for in flavor. You only live once, right?

Monday: Our 13th anniversary: I will prepare an oh-so-elegant anniversary dinner, which happens to be my husband's favorite and most-requested meal: tacos. Yep, tacos. I have a year of menus with almost no repeats and he asks for tacos. Gotta love him! Be sure to make extra taco meat for Wednesday's feast.

Tuesday: Weeknight Frittata, fresh fruit

Wednesday: Mexi-Stuffed Potatoes

Thursday: Catfish Po'Boys, potato chips, raw veggies (dip optional)
Our favorite veggie in the raw is sugar snap peas, but baby carrots, pepper strips, broccoli or cauliflower would each be a lovely side.

Friday: Pizza Night

Saturday: Roasted Vegetable and Feta Ziti, french bread, salad (optional)

Carb-Load

Atkins, schmatkins. I'm carb-loading in a big bad way this week, and it makes me happy. I love my carbs! (unfortunately I love them so much I tend to keep them around for a very long time as excess weight)



But this week I have an excuse to give in to my irrational carb cravings. My triathlon is Sunday, which means not only do I get to eat extra carbs, but I also get to taper my training sessions. Aaaah, the blessed taper week!



Sunday: Pioneer Woman's Beans and Cornbread

This is the first time I've included PW in my weekly menus. I got her cookbook from my awesome sister-in-law for Christmas, and I love reading her. Her recipes look really really good (too good...the woman loves her butter and bacon!) and she is hilarious and fun to read, but so far have not fit well into my trying-to-eat healthy menus.



Monday: Red Beans and Rice



Tuesday: Seafood Paella

I've been wanting to try Paella for a long time, but haven't been able to justify the cost of saffron nor been brave enough to try the recipe without it. Well, I finally bit the bullet and bought saffron, (Target, $10). My brother cooks up a mean Paella; I wonder if mine will pale in comparison?



Wednesday: Twice-Baked Spinach Potatoes, honeyed carrots

If you're not interested in keeping this meal vegetarian, feel free to serve the potatoes as a side to a nice grilled chicken breast or some grilled pork tenderloin; I'm serving them as the main dish.



Thursday: Zucchini Fusilli, garlic toast



Friday: Croque Monsieur, potato chips, coleslaw



Fancy name for a simple sandwich, a Croque Monsieur is just like a grilled ham and cheese crossed with savory french toast. Simple to make, filling, healthy...an easy family pleaser.

Saturday: final carb-load before the big day! Linguine with Spicy Shrimp, Garlic Bread, fresh salad

Food as Fuel

Somewhere after the invention of, perhaps, the sugared donut, people forgot that food is fuel. We need it to provide calories for our bodies to burn for energy, nutrients to help our bodies perform the way they were intended to perform, and keep our systems working properly. Instead, food has become a treat, a reward for the stressful lives we live, a comfort for down times, a vehicle to slow the rumbles. Instead, everything we put in our mouths, somehow, has to be the best thing we've ever eaten. Flavor has outranked content and convenience has become the CEO of our menus.

Before you think, "hello, soapbox!," let me be the first to admit that I love food. Not for its nutritional properties either, I love (LOVE) to eat! I eat the wrong things and I eat too much of everything. But I'm trying. I'm trying to see food as fuel. I'm trying to look at a food before I put it in my mouth and think, "how will this help me?" Beyond the obvious eye roll of satisfaction or curbage of cravings, that is. I'm trying to read labels before I even bring the food home. Especially now, with my triathlon two weeks away, I've got to become more considerate of what I'm asking my body to do, and how my food choices will help it do that.

Here's to a healthy, or at least healthier, week, everyone!


Sunday: Lasagna, spinach salad, whole wheat french bread

My favorite lasagna recipe uses regular (whole wheat) noodles but does not require they be boiled first. I use a combination of ground turkey and extra lean ground beef, and light ricotta. It's a little effort that goes a long way. One recipe feeds our family multiple times.

Lasagna:
12 (1 box) whole wheat lasagna noodles, uncooked

1 jar marinara sauce
1 lb meat (1/2 lb lean ground beef, 1/2 lb ground turkey)

15 oz light ricotta cheese
1.5 cups mozzarella (light if you can find it) cheese
1/4 C. shredded fresh parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley, or 2 T. dried parsley
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

.5 cups mozzarella
2 T. parmesan

Brown and drain meat. Combine meat and marinara. Set aside.

Combine ricotta and next 6 ingredients. Set aside.

Coat a 9X13 pan with cooking spray. Spread 1 c. meat sauce in bottom of pan. Arrange 3 uncooked noodles on top of sauce. Top with 1 c. sauce, 1/4 cheese mixture. Repeat layers (noodles, sauce, cheese) until all is used up. Top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan.

Coat one side of aluminum foil with cooking spray, place foil, oil side down, on lasagna. Bake at 350 45 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 15 more minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 15 minutes before serving.


Monday: Shrimp Fried Rice

Tuesday: Double Bean Burritos, tex-mex salad
it's so hard to find side dishes for mexican dishes, other than the obvious refried beans and mexican rice. This Tex Mex Salad is easy and delicious, and provides the perfect balance to burritos.

Wednesday: (Birthday Dinner!) Grilled Rib-Eye Steaks, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Steamed Green Beans

This is my all-time favorite meal. It's simple, but it's delicious, and with the color combination from the black grill marks to the bright oranges and greens, it's absolutely gorgeous on the plate!
I eat my YAMS plain, because they have enough natural sugar for my taste, but my husband and kids enjoy them with a sprinkling of brown sugar. Nothing on the steaks but salt and pepper (or if you must marinade, marinade in light bottled italian or balsamic vinaigrette)

Thursday: Chipotle Salmon Burgers, home fries, Grilled Tomatoes with Basil Vinaigrette

I found the most delicious grape tomatoes at the farmers' market last week! They were huge, almost the size of romas. So tasty that we all enjoyed them plain as a snack...no dip, no nothing. Just pop, mmm, heaven. I will see if the same farmer is there this week, and if so, I'll be grillin' me up some fun.

I omit the mayo on the burgers and they're still good!

For the fries:
Oven to 400. Cut several white potatoes (I use 6 for our family of 4) into french fries or wedges. Toss cut taters with 1/3 cup oil, 1 t. kosher salt and 1 t. black pepper either in a mixing bowl or in a ziploc bag. Arrange coated fries onto a baking sheet, assuring single layered-ness. Bake at 400 for 45-60 min, or until golden brown and cooked through, stirring every 15 minutes to prevent sticking.

Friday: Apple Puffed Pancake, fresh fruit
After my lecture about food as fuel, I'll throw in this oh-so-unhealthy gem. Actually, it's not that bad!

Saturday: Pizza night!
Okay, okay, I promised you healthy:
Pizza Margherita