After coming back from vacation I was more than ready to hit the kitchen and enjoy some homemade meals. We had a few definite wins this week so I thought I’d share. On Monday night we made tacos- so easy, so delicious- with our favorite taco topping. If you haven’t made taco topping yet, what are you waiting for?
Tuesday rolled around and we had our usual “grilled chick x veggies” on the menu but I wanted to do something a little different. So I marinated the chicken (Lillie’s Q Carolina Gold, get yourself some if you are into that kind of thing, it is amazing and if you are in Chicago, Mariano’s sells it) and roasted some broccoli and then I perused my handy dandy Pinterest board and found a recipe for “creamy garlic noodles” that claimed to be very similar to America’s favorite Pasta-Roni. What do I know, I just like a little noodle side dish from time to time so I made them (subbing Kraft green can parmesan cheese for Mama Francesca cheese blend and cream for whole milk) and we thought they were pretty awesome. My only complaint is that for a side dish it makes a large amount of noodles- enough for a family of 4 at least. And then, because I was feeling like we needed more green on the table I made Freckled Citizen’s easy cucumbers- I’ve heard them called “table cucumbers” before. Over the course of the week I’ve made two batches, one with apple cider vinegar, another with rice wine vinegar and sesame seeds- both were awesome.
And finally, to jump on the internet bandwagon, I finally got around to trying Trader Joe’s BBQ Rub (coffee, brown sugar, salt, garlic) on a pork tenderloin that we grilled and it was really, really good. Have no fear if you don’t have Trader Joes…it would appear you an order it on Amazon. I think you could use it on any cut of meat, but it lends itself really well to pork. Speaking of pork/rubs, we picked up a package of applewood smoked bacon sea salt last fall and it is also fantastic on pork chops- highly recommend. You could probably find this at most speciality spice shops. I paired the tenderloin with grilled zucchini, some couscous and more cucumbers of course!
And because the topic lends itself here, this is my list as of late of Things My Toddler Devours
- Soup of any and all types, including spicy and vegetable packed
- Yogurt. She wants to feed herself so I like buying the Siggi Icelandic yogurt which is crazy thick (less drippy) and really low in sugar. Target used to carry it in squeeze tubes, but alas, they don’t any more.
- Smoked salmon
- Pomegranate seeds
- Blackberries
- All other berries after she eats the blackberries
- Coconut chips
- Things that can be dipped in ketchup or ranch dressing
- Pasta, if we serve it in a bowl with a spoon and let her feed herself
- Sausage
Next week I’m dying to try EA’s “tomato, shallot and mozarella tartiche” and Smitten Kitchen’s Sticky Sesame Chicken Wings. How about you? Any good recipes lately?
