Our bi-annual shipment of organic foods arrived last week, so we are back to eating simply. I find that when I am grocery shopping for dinner items, I need to be more creative or forced to make "dishes" because the actual quality of the foods is lesser, if that makes any sense. Now that we're back in business with our home delivery service, we can go back to the basics - no real need for a ton of sauces or toppings or casseroles. And not a moment too soon! Today marks 30 days until Blogalicious Weekend 2014 - "simple" is exactly what I need from here on out. Monday Cheddar-Bacon Burgers on the GrillTuesday Skirt Steaks w. Cheesy Smashed Red PotatoesWednesday Baked Salmon and RisottoThursday Nashville Fried Chicken w. and Green BeansFriday Beats Me! It's Our Anniversary Weekend! … [Read more...] about What’s for Dinner: Burgers, Skirt Steak, Salmon and Fried Chicken
food
How to Throw a Progressive Dinner Party
Any kind of dinner party is my kind of dinner party; casual, formal, indoor, outdoor, in celebration of a special occasion or just because. Two weekends ago, some neighbor friends and I co-hosted a progressive dinner party - where we moved from house to house for each course. The idea came about one day when we were hanging out at our neighborhood pool and brainstorming ideas for getting our families together. After casually talking about it for weeks and weeks, we finally got it together and did it! And it was a totes fun. When I shared what we were doing with some friends and family members, I was surprised to learn that many of them had no clue what a progressive dinner was and so I thought I'd share it here for the world to see. How to Throw a Progressive Dinner Party Step 1: Decide on the hosts. For maximum good times, I'd recommend selecting at least 3, if not 5 families to participate. 90% of the fun is walking from house to house, so if you're just a group of two families, then the 'travel' part of the evening is minimally exciting. We had 5 families participating in the dinner but we decided to just have 4 families host the dinner that evening because everyone has small children and we didn't want the evening to end too late. I should mention that we opted to include kids this time around but, obviously, this works for adults-only too (if not better!).Step 2: Select a Theme. Things are always more interesting when there's a theme! Plus it takes a lot of the guesswork out of planning and it lends a feeling of cohesiveness to the evening even through multiple changes in setting. Because this was our fist attempt, we went with Mexican, because it's a relatively easy cuisine to make and HELLO? Who doesn't like Mexican food? Cheese + Carbs = YES.Step 3: Select a Date. This was probably the hardest part of the whole shebang. Five families with eleven kids between us? Imagine the schedules going on. Naturally, I double-booked myself and had a slight panic attack when I realized that I had agreed to participate on the exact same day as Oprah's "The Life You Want" Weekend - I ended up having to miss the first course. We used Doodle to poll everyone for availability and that was super easy to use. Pro tip: check all three of your calendars before committing to a date. (Lesson learned).Step 4: Assign the Courses. There should be some strategy to this part of the planning because you want the flow of the meal to be in line with the location of your houses. For example, you don't want to have appetizers at one house, the main course 3 blocks over and then back to the original street for dessert (especially if you have little feet to consider). We started with the house furthest away from the street where the bulk of us lived for appetizers and cocktails, then we followed with the salad and kid dinner course, the main course, and then dessert, all on the same street. Each house had an adult beverage and the kids had toys … [Read more...] about How to Throw a Progressive Dinner Party
What’s For Dinner
We're battling a kid with strep throat over here. NO fun. It's true what they say: "a parent can only every feel as happy as their unhappiest child." And until my sweet Giggles is, well, giggling again, my heart is heavy. Fever, painful sore throat, trouble sleeping - the works. The biggest indicator that she is miserable is her lack of an appetite because she is my "eater." Making dinner this week won't be nearly as fun without my biggest customer enjoying the meals - it's all chicken noodle soup and soupy grits for her at the moment. Here's hoping she's up for her favorite Wegman's pizza by Friday. What's For Dinner This Week Monday: Sesame Oil Roast Chicken + Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese + Candied Carrots Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan + Linguine Wednesday: Deconstructed Stuffed Peppers w. Ground Beef and Wild Rice + Green Salad Thursday: Homemade Pizzas w. Fresh Mozzarella + Veggies Friday: Beats Me! … [Read more...] about What’s For Dinner
My Signature Drink for Fall
Do you feel that? It's a crispness in the air that means that summer is actually over and it's time for football, firepits and Fall shenanigans. Once upon a time I had a friend whose mother-in-law had her house decorated to match each season. I used to aspire to one day be that homemaker but I've since let go of that aspiration and made peace with adding just a few signs of the season to our home. We've already mounted our college football team's flag to the front of the house (Go Gators!), planted an array of warm-colored mums along the front walkway, and re-painted the firepit in anticipation of cool evenings on the patio. Naturally, the only thing missing is a signature drink for the season.In planning last year's holiday menus, I stumbled across the recipe for The New England Express concocted by Bon Appetit's Andrew Knowlton. I decided to give it a try and it was an instant hit! Best of all, it was a snap to make and easy to serve in 'punch' form. And so, I present to you my signature drink for Fall. Consider it my interpretation on decorating my home with Pinterest-worthy gems. Recipe courtesy of Bon Appetit … [Read more...] about My Signature Drink for Fall
Ah, The Dinnertime Grind: Gina Neely Gives A Fresh Take on What to Make #Sponsored
It's 5:30pm. You had every intention of making a well-rounded meal for your crew that included a protein, vegetable, fruit, dairy, and grain just like the USDA taught you to. Except your daughter decided (at 3:15pm) to try out for the school play (at 4:00pm) and you forgot that your other daughter had to stay after school for Brownies and your son is hungry "NOW, Mama!" and you are seconds away from letting them all eat cereal for dinner.Don't despair, we've all been there. In fact, the scenario above was my house, 2 weeks ago. I've been menu planning for ten years, mainly to stay organized and minimize my dinnertime stress, but also to make sure that my kids are eating intentional, healthful meals. Sometimes though, life happens and my good intentions are thrown directly out the window. When I recently learned about the new findings from the 2014 Fresh Takes On What To Make with Green Giant Frozen Survey in which more than a third of parents surveyed admitted to forgetting about, or even purposely cutting out, vegetables when crunched for time at the end of the day, leaving them out of meals an average of twice a week, I wasn't at all surprised. Oftentimes, it's so much easier to just make them some mac and cheese or a grilled cheese sandwich and vow to the parenting gods that you will serve veggies tomorrow. [Sidenote: Also, according to the survey, four-out-of-five (83%) parents agree that no dinner is complete without a vegetable. So when there just seems like there's no time to serve anything else, we get an automatic serving of...guilt!]Then there's my other issue besides Time: it's the stress of coming up with fresh dinner ideas 365 days of the year! That's a lot of dinners, my friends, and there's only so many spaghetti and Taco Nights one woman can stand. Green Giant to the rescue! Green Giant Frozen Steamers is kicking off the ‘Fresh Take on What to Make’ campaign in partnership with celebrity chef and TV host Gina Neely. The campaign features exciting ways to transform tried-and-true go-to meals with just five ingredients, and aims to provide time-crunched parents with helpful ideas and tips to reinvent dinnertime.Sign me up! You can find expert tips, meal ideas from Gina Neely like her Quick 'n Easy Chicken Pot Pies using Green Giant Steamers Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower and Cheese Sauce, and more on greengiant.com/easymeals. You're Invited!Green Giant and Gina Neely are hosting a Google+ hangout on Tuesday, September 23 at 8pm ET/7pm CT. RSVP to Join HERE! Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Green Giant. All opinions are my own! … [Read more...] about Ah, The Dinnertime Grind: Gina Neely Gives A Fresh Take on What to Make #Sponsored
