Meatless Meals, Week 5

This week my husband and I made an important decision. From now on we will keep the peanut butter and jelly in the same compartment of the refrigerator door. We go through a lot of PB&J in this house (note the extra large jar of peanut butter), and one or the other is usually present in at least one meal every day. The cheese, eggs, produce, milk, etc. all have assigned spaces in the fridge. Why has it taken me this long to designate a spot for these guys?!

So that is the big news here. Nothing much else to report.


But speaking of peanut butter, I really encourage you to try this week's soup recipe. A friend shared this recipe, but I was more tempted by a pureed version. I have to admit I was a bit nervous about this one. Peanut butter and tomatoes? Really? It smelled great, but I didn't trust it. I even waited until my husband and kids all tried bites before I started eating. In the end I was very glad I had ventured into unknown territory because we found a new family favorite:

Wednesday - West African Peanut Soup (rating: 5/5)

I didn't have peanuts on hand, so I left those out and double the peanut butter. I will be making this again, however I may wait until I have obtained an immersion blender. Just because it would be easier, you know. Certainly not because I overfilled the blender and then had to scrape and scrub caked-on orange splatters off the counter, fridge and stove on Thursday because I didn't have time to properly clean the mess before church on Wednesday. No, no, that would be silly. *cough*

Thursday - Picnic

It was a beautiful day and we were in town running errands and decided on an impromptu picnic at the park instead of rushing home to cook. We made giant salads from the salad bar at the grocery store deli, along with some fried okra, fruit, and grilled chicken for the kids. It was a delightful family evening.

Friday - Fajita Pizza (rating: 5/5)

There are lots of fajita pizza recipes out there, so I can't claim I invented this one. I kept it pretty simple, too. I sauteed sliced onions, orange and yellow bell peppers, and garlic in butter with a sprinkling of Trader Joe's taco seasoning. I used my usual whole-wheat thin crust recipe and topped it with a think layer of ranch dressing, followed by the veggies, and topped with a blend of mozzarella and cheddar cheese. My kids love peppers, so this was a big hit with everyone.

Saturday - Pancakes (rating: 5/5)

I forget exactly what was going on this day, but for some reason my husband wasn't around for dinner and I wanted something easy, so we went for pancakes. I make my own mix and always have it on hand, so they are always quick. We had the topped with peanut butter and honey and had orange slices on the side.

Sunday - Chana Masala (rating: 3/5)

Yeah, no, we didn't have anything Irish for St. Patrick's day. I was bummed, but we got over it. I didn't properly plan ahead when grocery shopping and the most authentic dish I could have made with supplies on hand would have been boiled potatoes. It would have been really authentic, but we wanted something a bit more substantial. This was OK. I'm not sure I made it properly, because it wasn't saucy at the end. And even though I used 1/4 of the amount of jalapeno recommended it was a bit too spicy for my tastes, and the kids weren't fans. To be fair I kinda fudged on the spices and basically just used garam masala, curry powder, ground cumin, and cayenne.

Monday - Grilled Cheese, Blue Corn Chips & Peach Mango Salsa (rating: 5/5)

'Nuff said?

Tuesday - Re-fried Bean Quesadillas (rating: 5/5)

Thawed some beans from the freezer, spread them on a tortilla, sprinkled with cheese and green onions, folded the tortilla, and fried in butter.