Summer Snacks

It feels like the heat has been turned on full blast outside.  Now I am craving cold and frozen snacks in the afternoon.  To satisfy this craving I made Banana Berry Popsicles yesterday.  Today was Chocolate Strawberry Shakes.

The popsicles were made by blending together a banana and berry juice.  The kids wolfed these down, but I think they liked the shakes even more.

The shakes were 12 large frozen strawberries, 2 cups milk and 2 tablespoons of sugar-free instant chocolate pudding.  This was wicked easy.  I also like swapping out different flavors.  Frozen bananas are a great substitute for the strawberries.  Also subbing in different pudding flavors adds lots of possibilities.

Grilled Pizza

It is that time of year yet again, when the grill and patio furniture get dragged out of hibernation.  Cooking and eating start to move outside as the days get warmer and longer.

Monday night I was inspired by a recipe for spinach and mushroom pizza.  The original recipe that I saw relied heavily on prepared/processed ingredients.  I switched it up a little bit by making my own crust and sauteing fresh mushrooms with garlic (DaGoof will not eat canned mushrooms).  I did use frozen spinach, tomato sauce and shredded cheese since I had these items on hand and I wanted to use them up.

I divided up about 1 pound of pizza crust into 4 smaller portions.  Easier to stretch and transfer to the grill.  After grilling for about 2-3 minutes on the first side I flipped the crusts.  Each crust was topped with sauce, mushrooms, spinach and cheese (mozzarella and feta).  Grilled for a few more minutes until the cheese melted.    

DaGirl was not crazy about the slightly charred bottom on her pizza, but everyone else chowed down.  I can't wait to grill some more pizzas.  How should I top the next batch?  Sausage and caramelized onions or  ham and pineapple or chicken and broccoli?

Mothers Day Breakfast

Just a little something I whipped up for DaMom for breakfast in bed.

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Soy-Marinated Chicken

This was very yummy, and ridiculously easy.  Especially since I got DaGoof to man the grill.  The only change I made was to use a tablespoon of honey instead of the thyme.  While the chicken cooked I made a quick pasta salad.  I tossed spaghetti, red peppers and cucumbers with some teriyaki sauce.  I think some diced or crushed pineapple would have been a nice addition to the pasta.  Or maybe grilled pineapple for dessert next time.

DaGoof, DaBoy and I really liked dinner.  DaGirl said, 'the spaghetti tastes funny.'  She quickly polished off the chicken and requested more of that.

I think the leftovers will be delicious served cold or toss the chicken with the kids favorite peanutty noodles.  

Menu Plan - Part 2

This week I have put together a menu plan.  The plan for this week includes the following recipes:

• Spring Vegetable Carbonara
• Lobster and Corn Risotto
• Soy-Marinated Chicken Thighs
• Tomato Florentine Pasta Bake

I have already made the carbonara and the lobster risotto.  I served both dishes with a simple green salad.  The carbonara was not bad, but I didn't get any rave reviews either.  DaGirl requested more lobster but was not really into the risotto which surprised me because in the past she has devoured risotto.  I am not feeling very inspired in the kitchen lately and turning out so-so dinners is not helping me get back into the groove of wanting to cook.  I need to find a few wow recipes. 

Anyone have any suggestions? 

Menu Planning

This week I am winging it.  I try to make meal plan for the week, but I hate doing it.  When I make a plan pulling dinner together every night is a snap.  When I do not make a plan, every night making dinner feels like a chore.

Why don't I just do a plan then?  I think it is due procrastination and laziness.  It usually takes me a couple of hours to come up with a plan and put together a shopping list.  Because it takes so long I put it off until next week.  I need to come up with a faster way to menu plan.  Or maybe I need to plan for a couple of weeks at a time.   Maybe DaGoof could come up with a few suggestions for things he would like to eat.

Sloppy Joes & Moomies Beautiful Burger Buns

Tonight we had sloppy joes and salad for dinner.  I started with an old Cooking Light recipe, and made a couple of minor modifications.  I added some diced mushrooms since I had them on hand, switched an orange bell pepper for the green, and used turkey instead of beef.  DaGoof and I really liked these but the kids were indifferent, they picked at the meat a little but just devoured the bread.

I mostly followed Moomie's Beautiful Burger Buns recipe.  The only change I made was to use 5 ounces of whole wheat flour and 8.75 ounces of all purpose flour.  The rolls were a major hit!  The kids loved helping to shape the rolls, and they even enjoyed eating them more.