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Monday, November 1, 2010

Shalom in the Home

I've been having ongoing conversations with multiple kindred spirits of late, the most recent, LH, about "owning the home."  It's taken me about 2 years to finally grasp just a part of this concept, and making it work for me.
The first place where I've started trying to "own the home" is by actually making it a place where we want to hang out--thus, making it aesthetically pleasing.  Seriously, with as much HGTV as we watch, we should have this down to a science by now, but of course, we're slow learners.  And naturally, sometimes the budgets get in the way--we have to remind ourselves we aren't doing $50,000 kitchen makeovers or quickly staging our house for $2k.  In due time, I say, in due time...

And then secondly in "owning the home" is having a well-run, efficient kitchen.  This is a monster of a challenge to figure out as meal-planning can get sketchy at times.  Some weeks it's a breeze. I look at the weekly ads for our grocery stores and see what I already have in stock at home and we're golden.  Other weeks, it's more a matter of what can I scrounge up that won't seem too random and mismatched?  So...here's what we're eating this week.  It's basically a combo of what I already have on hand tripled with what I want to buy at the store and what's not overly complicated to make.  Without further adieu...

This week's 5-night meal plan:

  • Chipotle-inspired burrito bowls (Greg's version based on The Simple Dollar)
    • Chipotle Rice recipe
    • 1-2 cans black beans (or make your own from dried beans) 
    • Guacamole (this is our favorite part!)
    • Sour Cream / Greek yogurt
    • Salsa (either homemade or store-bought)
    • Cilantro
    • Black Olives
    • Shredded cheese of your choice 
    • Tortilla chips on side
  • Homemade Pizza
    • Since we are going gluten-free for approximately 3 months, and pizza is one of my all-time favorite foods, we've found ways to get around it!  I've seen recipes online for how to make your own dough from almond flour, which I have yet to tackle, so in the meantime, I've used Bob's Red Mill GF pizza crust mix, then added our own tomato sauce, and I make a cheeseless pizza for me with whatever fixings I like, and a cheese pizza for Greg & Mia with whatever fixings they like.  Might I suggest black olives, red and green bell peppers, Italian seasonings, plus some kind of meat?
  • Marmalade Curry Chicken
    • I found this website (crockpot365.com) a few weeks ago, which felt like a godsend after weeks of finding really bizarre gluten-free recipes that had become quite discouraging to try to make.  This woman cooked with her crockpot for an entire year! and all recipes are gluten-free because her daughter has celiac's disease.  I made a few adaptations to the recipe for our liking--I used apricot preserves instead of orange and our own homemade chicken broth.  We served it over rice with some salad or veggies on the side and it was delish!  I tried it the last time my MIL was in town and it was a crowd-pleaser.  
  • Turkey burgers w/ sweet potato fries
    • There are so many recipes for this kind of meal on the interwebs.  I usually take 1lb thawed ground turkey, mix in some chopped onion, and season away with garlic salt, garlic powder, S&P, onion powder, and maybe some type of dried green herbs and make about 4 patties.  Heat on a skillet or the grill.  If you want to follow a specific recipe, try here or here (for us, minus the breadcrumbs).  These look pretty similar to what I've tried before.  And as I'm gf for now, I eat it sans bun!  Mia loves the taste of these burgers.
    • Sweet Potato Fries
  • Chicken Tacos
    • This has become one of my newest obsessions lately, but I can't go too overboard with it otherwise I know I'll make us all sick of it. I saw this idea on a friend's Facebook page. Take 4 large frozen chicken breasts or thighs, one can of Rotel, one can full of water and some salt and onion powder. I made an adaptation by using one can of homemade chicken broth instead of water the first time and it was super tasty!  I've been serving it up with hard or soft taco shells, some leafy greens, greek yogurt, guacamole or avocado, and then splashing a few of the Rotel tomatoes on top.  In German, ser gut.
And that's that! Salud!

4 comments:

Jamie and Trey + Three said...

I am impressed! I know what we are having tomorrow-Chipotle burrito bowls. I am so excited to have their recipe for the rice-love that stuff. Thanks for your input on our sleeping issues. It is SO frustrating when he won't sleep. As I am typing this he is in his bed crying. He alternates between crying for mama and dada-breaks our hearts, but I refuse to give in. I keep reminding myself that it is in his best interest-just wish I could somehow convey that to him :) Thanks again for the recipe ideas.

Rhonda said...

Hey, this all sounds great! What I want to know if what is on the menu for next week? ;)

Rose said...

yum! here's a GF recipe I've been meaning to send you...it's delicious and not too complicated:

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2333

-you can probably forgo the arrowroot starch...the sauce will just be a little more liquidy...or maybe you could sub with some GF flour
-since the cheese is just a garnish you can skip it all together (the flavors from the fillings are fabulous so you don't really need cheese)

Megan said...

Rose! I actually tried that recipe the other week; I found it on the original recipe auther's blog (gluten free goddess). How crazy! It was really good. I tried vegan cheese on it, which really had not much of a taste, so I figure next time I can skip cheese altogether. Thanks for thinking of me with that!