What's on the Menu? 6/28-7/3

I'm going to try some new recipes this week, so hopefully I'll find something blog-worthy!

Saturday: *new recipe*Mustard-Maple Salmon, Wild Rice, Green Veggie
Sunday: Homemade Pizza (fontina, turkey pepp and mushrooms)
Monday: Tex-Mex Pasta Salad (Todd’s request)
Tuesday: *new recipe*Buttermilk – Brined Pork Chops; corn on the cob; green veggie
Wednesday: *new recipe*Orzo Salad with Chickpeas, Dill and Lemon; Green veggie; bread
Thursday: Waffles and Low-Fat Sausage (Leo’s request)

What's on the Menu? 6/22-6/26

Sun – Turkey Burgers (from the freezer); Fries
Mon – Veggie Sides Night! Mashed New Potatoes; Steamed asparagus; Black-Eyed Peas;corn on the cob
Tues – Catfish; Spicy Asian Slaw; leftover peas
Wed – (neighbors over for dinner) app – pitas and baba ghanoush; Kabobs; wild rice; spinach salad
Thur – Tuna sandwiches and chips; any leftovers

SW Pinto Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayonnaise

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I really haven't tried anything terribly blog-worthy.

I made these Pinto Bean burgers - they were ok, but I won't make them again. I intended to freeze half, but then I realized they had sour cream in them...I was worried about how that would freeze. ???

So, since they weren't AWESOME, I won't go into tons of detail. I am finding that I prefer bean patties that do not have breadcrumbs in them. I think this is the second bean patty recipe I have made with breadcrumbs mixed in that I didn't love. The nice thing about these was that the recipe made huge, hearty patties.

Before beans and corn...

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The completed mixture...

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The patties. I refrigerated these for awhile so they would firm up.

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Making the chipotle mayo. When I open a new can of chipotle peppers, I chop them in the food processor and then freeze. Then I just scrape some off as I need it. Most recipes use so little and the can usually has lots left over.

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Final Product...

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What's on the Menu? 6/9-6/12

I'm taking it easy this week b/c I am tired!


Mon - lentil tacos
Tues - turkey spaghetti; salad
Wed - (new recipe) SW Pinto Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayo; broccoli; cauliflower
Thur - tuna

Exotic Mushroom Pizza

For dinner Friday night, I decided to try this recipe for Exotic Mushroom Pizza. When I was in Austin with girlfriends recently, we had a mushroom pizza while eating at Cru, so I think that's where the craving came from.

I got oyster mushrooms, cremini, shiitake, and button (? maybe) mushrooms at the Asian market in Carrollton. It was my first trip to Super H Mart....and WOW! It was so nice! It had lots of little restaurants in the store, Asian food, and some American items, as well. The produce prices were great. I think I got all these exotic mushrooms for less than $10.


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I sauteed the mushrooms...

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Then sauteed again in red wine...

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Topped the crust with gorgonzola, fontina, and chili-garlic sauce.

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And the final product. We both agreed that it was too much mushrooms - it overpowered the cheese. I think it also needed a touch more of the gorgonzola. We ate it for leftovers the next day, too, and we thought it was even better then - we could taste the cheeses more.

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Black-Bean Hummus

Last Friday, I tried this Black-Bean Hummus recipe from the Dallas Morning News. It was billed as a kid-friendly recipe, but neither of mine would eat it - even on crackers. Oh well. I've done all I can.

But the grown-ups loved it. I added a little salt, and I would add some jalapeno if I knew kids weren't going to eat it. It was wonderful - lots of flavor, and a little change from traditional hummus!


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Cuban Black Bean Patties with Pineapple Rice

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I'm sorry - that zucchini doesn't look very appetizing!

For some reason, I couldn't get it together while I was cooking this (gosh, wonder why? *cough* Leo *cough* Henry), but it tasted pretty good. I burned the zucchini and filled the kitchen up with smoke.

But, anyway, the patties and pineapple rice were YUMMY! I have yet to meet a homemade bean patty I don't like. They just seem kinda labor-intensive. Usually I double and freeze half...I keep having this crazy idea of having a bean patty co-op where everyone makes like five batches of one kind, freezes them, and then swaps with four other people so you have five batches of different kinds in your freezer. Anybody wanna? lol.

So, this recipe was pretty easy. Something about the amount of beans needed is off. I wanted to double, so I bought two cans. It calls for 2 cups of beans and says that is the amount in one can. But there is only 1.5 cups of beans in a can...so I ended up with not quite enough beans. Then the patties were small (I made 8), so we each ate two, but it calls for eating one. But they definitely weren't 1" thick. We had nothing left to freeze b/c we both packed them for leftovers. WHEN I DO IT AGAIN, I will triple the beans, double all the other ingredients, and hopefully have some to freeze.

For the rice, I used whole grain wild rice instead of white. Baked it with Alton Brown's recipe. Then I added the sauteed pineapple, cilantro, and salt. It was a great accompaniment.

Crisp Salmon with Lemony Spinach & Faux-tatoes

We are trying to branch out with our salmon repertoire, so I decided to try this Crisp Salmon recipe. It was SURPRISINGLY easy! I started cooking at 5:15 and was done with the whole meal by 6pm - that's an EASY recipe around here.

First, I worked on the faux-tatoes. Since we had french fries last night, I basically substituted mashed cauliflower for the potatoes in this recipe. I prepared them exactly like mashed potatoes...but I just used cauli. So, I got the water started and cut the florets off a head of cauliflower.

Then, I prepared the "breading" for the salmon. Since it was just panko, dried minced onion, oregano, paprika, and pepper...there was no chopping. So I just assembled and breaded the salmon.

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The recipe called for these to be cooked in a non-stick skillet that could go in the oven, but I just used my well-seasoned cast-iron skillet. It worked perfectly. I browned on one side and then stuck it in a 400* oven.

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While that was baking, I sauteed some garlic and then cooked some baby spinach. So easy. I added lemon zest and pepper, as called for in the recipe.

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For the cauliflower, I just drained and put it over 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp sour cream and salt and pepper and mashed by hand. Yummy - an old favorite around here.

This meal got high marks! The flavors and panko on the salmon were great, and the veggies were yummy and so easy.

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Grilled Turkey Burgers - from Dallas Morning News

A few weeks ago, Oprah featured a recipe with a grilled turkey burger with lettuce and fruit included in the patties. The recipe was too involved for me, but I thought adding these ingredients sounded interesting.

Then I saw this recipe in the paper for turkey burgers that sounded promising. It didn't disappoint. The added veggies definitely make the patties more moist! We even forgot to baste with the olive oil/bbq sauce, and they were still great. Leftovers were moist as well!


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What's on the Menu? 6/1 - 6/5

A little update...

We are still getting back to 'normal' around here. Leo's preschool (in Garland!!) ended a week ago, so we are finally finished with that commute. Problem is that school goes on a little longer on this side of town, so no summer activities have started here yet. He isn't starting a 'schedule' until June 9. So Mommy has had very FULL days keeping him busy. As many of you know, he is NOT a homebody and wants to be on the go all the time. We have been to the FW Zoo several times (we got a membership), Peter Piper Pizza, new parks here in town, etc. Please forgive me for not being as attentive to the blog. Honestly, for the last few months, I've just been trying to keep my head above water.

And now, on with the show!

This week's menu...
Sun - New Recipe!turkey burgers from Dallas News; oven fries
Mon – New Recipe! Crisp Salmon with Lemony Spinach and mashed cauli
Tue – Beef, Cheese, and Noodle Bake (I don't think I have blogged this one.) Salad
Wed - New Recipe!Cuban black bean patties w/pineapple rice; zucchini
Thur – Tuna sandwiches