let’s eat: on the menu

Everything’s starting to get back into a bit of a rhythm, which is nice – even a busy rhythm is welcome. Mother’s Day weekend I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with the magnitude of all the things I needed to do in the upcoming weeks, coupled with the fact that I had let so many other things slide for so long. But M and I really buckled down and knocked a lot of things off the list each night, and all through the weekend (and managed to squeeze in a lot of fun and relaxing things as well). Cooking and eating well certainly helps.

We’ll lump Monday night in with last weekend because we had a Girl Scout banquet – and as nice as it was to participate, it was still a church basement full of boisterous girls and a buffet with little for the vegetarian minded to eat. I left with a killer headache that lingered into Tuesday and Wednesday. But then we rallied and things turned up from there.

Tuesday I made a Pea, Scallion and Gruyere Quiche that I saw when flipping through Real Simple. It was very simple – you can even use a frozen pie shell if so inclined. Be warned – whether you make your own or buy a premade one – use a deep dish pie pan. There’s enough filling for two shallow ones. I served this up with lightly dressed field greens and roasted corn and everyone devoured it – particularly the girls. It was a good start to a good eating week for them. I also made the Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp Bars from Smitten Kitchen that popped up this week because we had an overabundance of strawberries on our hands.

Wednesday I made a repeat recipe from Smitten Kitchen – the Broccoli, Cheddar and Wild Rice Casserole. This seems more like comfort food to me – but it was perfect because it was raining and freezing cold that day, and I had been driving in that nasty weather for four hours that day. I needed this dish.

Thursday I made Zucchini Fritters – and assumed that ten nice sized ones would be enough – the girls could each have one to pick at. Except they devoured multiple ones and we ran out quickly. I also made a riff on the Tomato and Mozzarella Salad from The Splendid Table, and they ate those up too.

Friday we decided, rather at the last minute, to catch a show at The Fox, so M and the girls brought home Dewey’s for dinner. Saturday night I made Friday’s dinner – Breakfast Burritos plus Asparagus with Thyme Butter on the side. Another meal where everyone out-ate the offerings – I think we have some growth spurts happening, and I’m catching a glimpse of the upcoming teenage years. Recipe portion adjustment happening now.

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend. It’s going to be hard to top the weather and general balance of productiveness / restorativeness (I know that’s not a word) around here. Man, we needed it. If you ate something good – please share!