Menu Monday

Today I'm linking up to Rachel for Menu Monday.

Thanks to my momma for making this menu Monday possible.  ;)  She sent me home with lots of fresh herbs last week, and I was determined to use as many of them as possible every day.  As a result we had some delicious food!  Halfway through the week I noticed I'd taken pictures of all our food, so I thought I'd share on Menu Monday.

Monday - We'd just gotten back in town from our weekend trip, so we picked up Mexican food takeout.  For the record, I think this weekend was the first time we'd eaten out for dinner since the day we brought Henry home from the hospital.  That's a serious record for us; we normally eat out quite a bit and have been trying to cut down for years, but were always unsucessful!

Tuesday - Baked Salmon with Tzatziki sauce, Alexia Saute Reds, (red potatoes, baby portabella mushrooms, onions and green beans), and salad with balsamic vinaigrette:

This is one of our favorite ways to eat salmon, as well as a good way to use fresh dill.  It was our first time buying the Alexia red potatoes and we both really enjoyed them.  I've tried other Alexia products before and we've never been disappointed.

Wednesday - Beef Souvlaki with leftover Tzatziki Sauce, Roasted Balsamic Vegetables, and Rice Pilaf with Orzo

The beef recipe was from the Williams Sonoma Mediterranean cookbook, (the original called for lamb, but I substituted steak), and it was really good!  Souvlaki is the Greek word for skewer according to the book.  I used the recipe for the marinade and husband grilled the skewers of beef, yum!  I make rice pilaf all the time and don't follow a recipe, but I was looking for recipes using orzo the other day on Pintrest, (I've never cooked orzo before and was looking for a way to try it), and this pilaf recipe came up.  I really liked the mix of the orzo with the rice, and thought it was a good basic recipe, but didn't have a ton of flavor as it was written.  I added shallots, mushrooms, and some fresh thyme and it was really good.

Thursday - Southwest Stuffed Peppers and salad with ranch dressing

I used some leftover rice pilaf, leftover takeout salsa from Monday, and fresh corn that I cut off the cob, (I already had it in the fridge for something I was going to make last weekend before we unexpectedly went out of town).  These were so, so good and very filling, (this is husband's plate and he couldn't finish both the peppers, I only ate one).  I will definitely be making them again.

Friday - Blackened Chicken with Avocado Yogurt Sauce and Cilantro Lime Quinoa

I saw this on pintrest the other day, and knew I had to make it.  Some of my favorite things are cilantro, avocados, and spicy food in general, put those all in one dish and I'm sold.  This was another hit in our house and husband in particular really liked the quinoa.  I think this is a good dish to start with if you've never cooked quinoa before, it's totally manageable and non-intimidating, and the end result is delicious!

Saturday - Orzo with Chicken and Lemon

FYI - This is the serving bowl, (about 4 servings), not one person's food!  As a side note, I wish you could see more of this bowl, it's gorgeous!  My younger brother made it and gave it to me for Christmas, his stuff is so beautiful!  I keep trying to get him to open an etsy shop so I can show more of it off. ;)

I had planned for us to have Cobb Salad for dinner, but around dinnertime I realized I had forgotten to eat lunch, and wanted something more substantial than salad.  I took a look at my pintrest recipe board, and found the recipe for Orzo with Chicken and Lemon, and we actually had all the ingredients on hand already.  We didn't have quite enough tomatoes, so I added some fresh spinach and sauteed baby portobello mushrooms, and we thought they went really well with it.  Even the leftovers were great, it's one of those meals that tastes like it's from a restuarant, (in a good way!), and tastes/looks pretty impressive even though it's really easy.

Sunday - Beef Fajitas

Not a great picture because it was later than our normal dinner time and a certain bambino was getting fussy so I just snapped one picture really quick.  Basically this is grilled steak, grilled veggies, (zucchini, yellow squash, orange bell pepper, and onion), fresh guacamole, salsa, and sour cream in a wheat tortilla.  We eat this just about weekly, it's a favorite in this house, (what did I tell you above about some of my favorite things being avocado, spicey food, and cilantro?).

So, that was what was cooking in our house this week, lots of new recipes and not a bad one in the bunch!  I asked husband which was his favorite of the three new recipes from pintrest, (the southwest stuffed peppers, blackened chicken with cilantro lime quinoa, and orzo with lemon and chicken), and he said he honestly couldn't pick a favorite, they were all good.  I kind of have to agree with him.  Who needs tons of cookbooks when you have pintrest?  ;)

Jennifer