Menu: March 15th- March 21

Alright, here we go! First menu post...
I am going to have to play with the format of how to post these so, again, be patient with me :) I think this week I will try just listing the menu and highlighting some of my favorites with a description and a recipe. If you'd like the recipe for something that was not highlighted, just leave me a comment and I will add it! And since this menu is from last week, I can highlight a few of my favorite dishes and one very big disaster.

Monday:
Marinated Shrimp with Greek Panzanella Salad

Tuesday:
Pork Chops with Mango Salsa; Cauliflower and Broccoli Gratin; Bread and butter

Wednesday:
Korean, grilled chicken wings; Microwave Rice; Grilled asparagus

Thursday:
BLT's and tator tots

Friday:
BBQ with neighbors: Cheesy potatoes; grilled bbq chicken legs

Saturday:
Big breakfast! Sausage balls; sausage; eggs; orange rolls; orange julius.

Sunday:
Leftovers!!

OK, Let's start with the dishes. I have just three words for you: Greek. Panzanella. Salad. If you are a fan of summer, then you will be a fan of this dish. The recipe comes from Ina Garten, a chef on the Food Network. She combines cherry tomatoes, yellow and orange bell peppers, english cucumbers, thinly sliced red onion and crumbled feta cheese and tosses them all together with a really simple, homemade greek dressing. Then, to take it to the next level and make it even MORE mouth-watering, she adds homemade croutons!!! Genius! These toasted little pieces of heaven soak up all the flavors of the salad and leave you in a tiny, greek-induced coma.

*A few suggestions I have (little changes that I make) are to add the dressing to the salad right when you are going to eat it. In the recipe she says to combine all ingredients and let sit for thirty minutes. However, I have found that if you want to have any salad the next day, the dressing is better left off. And more importantly, the croutons MUST be added right before you eat it or you will end up with large chunks of soggy bread. This week, I actually made garlic toasts to eat with the salad instead of making the croutons and it was just as good if not better. (To make garlic toast: slice french bread and either drizzle with a little olive oil or spread with some butter. Then you can either sprinkle them with a little garlic salt and toast at 350 until golden or wait until they are toasted and then rub with a cut piece of whole garlic)

Sound delicious? Look up the recipe here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/greek-panzanella-recipe/index.html

Next dish? Korean BBQ wings. If you like asian food, something a little spicier, and have been known to eat a chicken wing or two-- this is a great, much healthier option than those fried wings you'll find at just about any restaurant you visit. You marinate them overnight in a blend of soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar, spicy korean chile paste and green onions and then just simply grill them up! Simple and delicious.

And one last dish that cannot be ignored from this list: My mom's cheesy potatoes! Talk about cheesy, creamy, tangy goodness. These potatoes go with anything from eggs in the morning to just about any meat that comes off the grill. My favorite is teriyaki beef (a classic summer dish with a secret Hawaiian recipe from my childhood-- but that is a completely different blog post)

You'll want to mix these up the night before...
Mom's cheesy potatoes
Mix together:
One pint sour cream (I use reduced fat)
One can cream of mushroom soup
4 Tbl. melted butter.
One small onion, finely chopped (or one Tbl. onion powder)
3-4 cups shredded, sharp cheddar cheese (You can adjust this by your tastes but trust me, cheesier is better!)
1 Tbl. salt
One package frozen southern style hashbrown potatoes (I use Ore-Ida)
Pour evenly into 9x13 baking dish.
The next day, bake at 375 for one hour, or until bubbly and brown around the edges.

A tip from the wise? Go for the crunchy edge bits first!! :)

Ok... now for the not so fun part-- the disaster. We all have them, those recipes you are really excited to make. You've read all the reviews, looked at the pictures and can't wait to get cooking. Then you spend an hour preparing it, get it to the table, your husband takes one look, asks what it is, and then quickly and subtly passes it right on by. You on the other hand take a huge, heaping spoonful! This is the moment you've been waiting for! You take a big bite, chew, taste, pause... Oh. This is not so good. You finish your dinner, leaving the huge, heaping pile of food alone, and then throw the entire dish into the trash. Disappointed you walk straight to the recipe holder, grab the recipe and put it where it belongs-- right on top of the dish... in the trash.

This weeks disaster was something called a cauliflower and broccoli gratin. In theory it should have been good: cauliflower, broccoli, gruyere cheese, parmesan cheese, milk and bread crumbs. Maybe I just don't like cauliflower as much as I remember. Maybe my cauliflower was one day past its usable time frame. Maybe all the other reviewers were wrong? Who knows. All I know is that I won't be making it again. If you would like to try your luck, go for it. I wouldn't want to keep anyone from their beloved cauliflower :)

I hope you will try these wonderful dishes and tell me what you think! I will post next weeks menu as soon as I make it.