Feb 1 - 7

Alright, let's start off with some reviews. The fish tacos were quite tastey. Unfortunately, the avocados I bought weren't quite ripe enough and I'm not sure if I overcooked the fish. It definitely has potential, though! The bacon and kale minestra was very good. A great cold-weather, hearty soup with a rich flavor for a broth soup. The chicken pasta with pine nuts, raisins and rosemary was also a winner. I'm sure it helped that I used chicken leftovers from my rockin' roast chicken! An easy meal with lots of flavor. Finally, the broccoli cheese soup was my favorite. I accidentally bought too much broccoli so I plan to make it again this week for lunch for me! :)

On to this week. I hit the jackpot with Rachael Ray's site today with 3 recipes I plan to try. I still struggled to fill in the rest of the week, though. Go figure.

Hoagies with Soup

Hearty Winter Veggie Pilaf

Sausage Crepesadillas

Chicken and Cherries

Ravioli with Pesto and Tomatoes

Firecracker Enchiladas

SNB Chicken Nuggets with Baked Beans

Jan 25 - 31

Thanks to our neighbors party last night, I'm exhausted at the moment and barely had the energy to come up with this week's menu let alone do reviews from last week. I'll try to cover them next week :) Luckily we have a couple of roll-overs from last week and taco night at home group this week to help me out!

Bacon and Kale Minestra

Loaded Baked Potatoes

Paella

Broccoli Cheese Soup with Crusty Bread

Shake 'n Bake Chicken Nuggets with Baked Beans

Chili Lime Cobb Salad

Jan 18 - 24

I have to toot my own horn for a minute here. I'm really getting the hang of roasting chicken/turkey! My father-in-law came up with a method for his holiday turkeys that leaves the meat - both white and dark - melting in your mouth. I decided to apply a similar technique to our chicken this last week and it was perfect!

Low and slow is the key. I prepped 2 whole chickens by stuffing each with 1/2 a head of garlic (sliced in half horizontally), 1/2 a lemon and a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary. The outsides were rubbed with olive oil and seasoned with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. I added about 1 can of chicken broth to the pan, but I later discovered this probably wasn't necessary. Cover the roaster and bake at 275 or 300 for about 4 or 5 hours. They're not "presentation worthy" (i.e. no dark crispy skin), but the flavor and juiciness more than make up for it. Making 2 at a time also allows for plenty of leftovers for another day - bonus! We love having roasted root veggies along side the chicken as well. With 2 chickens in the roaster and a small oven, I have to cook the veggies separately, but it's all worth the work and the wait.

On to this week...

Fish Tacos (see "C's" comment from last week for recipe)

Bacon and Kale Minestra

Uptown Down-Home Chili

Loaded Baked Potatoes

Chicken Pasta with Raisins, Pine Nuts and Rosemary (using leftover roast chicken)

Shrimp and Veggie Stir Fry

Pizza

Jan 11 - 17

Our warm and hearty meals sure helped us get through the cold snap that passed through last week. I guess I'd never realized how much food those recipes make, though. The good news is we have plenty of left-overs to get us through a night or two this week which means less cooking for me! Keenan and the kids really enjoyed the salmon cakes, but I thought they lacked a little something. The double dumpling stoup was pretty good, but definitely not your traditional chicken and dumplings. We love potato gnocci around here (the 2nd dumpling in the soup) so that was definitely a hit and meatballs always go over well with the kids. I'd have to say it was more a glorified chicken and noodle soup than anything.

I wasn't very inspired for a menu this week so I'm pulling out some old stand-bys. Maybe next week I'll be more creative :)

BLT's with chips and fruit

Smothered bean burritos with cilantro-lime rice (made with left-over homemade beans!)

Creamy Green Chilie Chicken Enchiladas (didn't get around to this one last week)

Homemade Turkey or Chicken Pot Pie

Roast Chicken with Veggies

Brats with Beans and Sweet Potato Fries

Jan 4 - 10

Time to get back on track! Between travelling and the holidays I've been out of my usual menu making routine. While we had fun, I'm glad to be home and getting back in the swing of things. Ari will be back in school, we'll go back to the Y and we'll all need to eat some good food! It's supposed to be really cold this week so I've tried to plan some hearty, feel-good meals to keep us warm and cozy.

Creamy Green Chilie Enchilada Casserole

Turkey Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

Beans and Piquant Cornbread

Smothered Bean Burritos (using leftovers)

Double Chicken Dumpling Stoup

Salmon Cakes with Steamed Broccoli

Hearty Spaghetti with Meat Sauce