Tag Archives: Cooking

I am still working my way through the Newstart cookbook. I think it’s going to take awhile before I make all of the recipes. As we complete a recipe, I put a little check mark next to the recipe title in the index. The check marks are very sparse compared to the number of recipe titles. At least I won’t be running out of recipes any time soon!

Sunday
Breakfast – Smoothies – banana/peach
Lunch – Quesadillas
Dinner – Apple Burritos, pg. 28 with Maria’s Tortillas, pg. 10

Maria’s Tortillas

Monday
Breakfast – Smoothies – banana/strawberry
Lunch – Subs
Dinner – Broccoli Amandine, pg. 108
*Extra – Make Three-Bean Salad, refrigerate overnight

Tuesday
Breakfast – Smoothies – banana/strawberry
Lunch – Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with Three-Bean Salad, pg. 141
Dinner – Spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce, pg. 96

Wednesday
Breakfast – Banana French Toast, pg. 27
Lunch – Subs
Dinner – Lentil Links, pg. 111

Thursday
Breakfast – Smoothies
Lunch – Stir-fry
Dinner – Tacos

Friday
Breakfast – French Toast, pg. 27
Lunch – Subs
Dinner – Tofu Loaf, pg. 113
*Extra – make pumpkin pie – Crust – pg. 58, pumpkin pie filling in cupboard

Sabbath
Breakfast – Smoothies
Lunch – Chow Mien
Dinner – Pizza – onion, mushroom, basil

Last week, I made summer vegetable enchiladas. The filling was extremely colorful!

We enjoyed the new cheese sauce and the tomato sauce but thought the filling was better suited for stir-fry. At least the enchiladas looked pretty!

I am SO happy that I am finally feeling normal. In fact, I was feeling so normal last night that I ran 4.18 miles. Now I’m a bit sore but it’s a good feeling.

We actually ended up with too many meals planned this week and I’ll have to prioritize what I’m cooking. It’s so nice to have options.

Monday – Spaghetti
Tuesday – Garlic ginger noodles (new recipe)
Wednesday – Tacos
Thursday – I will be attempting sushi for the first time but not sure what to make with it. Miso soup/gyoza/soba noodles/or…
Friday – Thai Green Curry (new recipe)
Sabbath lunch – 8 minute vegan enchiladas (new recipe)
Sabbath dinner – Homemade pizza

Writing up our menu is making me hungry!

Two new recipes this week! I keep intending to complete this in advance but I’m still writing up my menu at the last minute. I’ll try again to have a complete menu and shopping list by the end of the week.

Monday – Taco salad (new recipe from last week)
Tuesday – Soba noodles & gyoza
Wednesday – Tacos
Thursday – Orange chicken
Friday – Mushroom-Spinach Curry (new recipe)
Sabbath dinner – Homemade pizza
Sunday – Rigatoni with homemade sauce

I can’t wait to try these new recipes, especially the taco salad. I cooked the black beans this morning so we’re definitely having it tonight. Three weeks on the menu and we’re finally going to try the recipe!

Only one new recipe this week. The rest are old favorites.

Monday – Orange chicken
Tuesday – Tacos
Wed – Soba noodles & gyoza
Thursday – Taco salad (a new recipe from the Boca Burger package)
Friday – Curry
Sabbath lunch – Ramen
Sabbath dinner – Pizza with mushrooms and red onions
Sunday – Rigatoni with homemade sauce

Here is a photo of one of our new favorites, Greek Delight. I’ve switched this meal to the occasional lunch as it requires very little assembly time (a much needed requirement for dealing with my husband’s unpredictable schedule).

Yum!

We were on vacation last week, a stay-cation. We stayed home most of the week, ran a few errands, and visited the Phoenix Art Museum. It was great!

Usually I write our meal plans on Thursdays and have a shopping list completed by Friday afternoon. That makes it easy for us to shop for groceries if we venture out on Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Because of our vacation, I didn’t do my normal menu planning for this week and ended up picking pretty easy dishes. Next week, I’ll get back to trying new recipes!

Sunday – Tacos
Monday – Greek pitas
Tuesday – Soba noodles & gyoza
Wed – Spaghetti (jarred sauce)
Thursday – Hot dogs
Friday – Riblets and mashed potatoes/gravy
Sabbath lunch – Mushroom Udon (not homemade, unfortunately. Must learn how to make this!)

I have one week left of intense kanji studies. Right now I’m investing around three hours per day in study time and thus chose mostly repeat and easy to make recipes for this week. I need all of the extra time I can manage!

Monday – Spaghetti and garlic bread
Tuesday – Soba noodles and gyoza
Wednesday – Greek Delight
Thursday – Tacos
Friday – Orange chicken styled tofu
Sabbath lunch – Coconut Stir fry
Sabbath dinner – Pizza (Italian pizza crust, red onion, mushroom, fresh basil, homemade sauce, Daiya “mozzarella cheese”)

Last week’s results:
Greek Delight – This is amazing. We had enough ingredients to make it for dinner one night and two additional lunches. SO good!

Sesame Tofu Stir Fry – We didn’t like it and decided it wasn’t worthwhile to change it to suit our tastes.

Ruth asked for a photo of our pizza, so here it is! I am still trying to perfect the crust; it turns out a little doughy but tastes great. Unfortunately, the undercooked crust didn’t look as appetizing as the uncooked pizza. So…

My hubby took this photo and called it “the obligatory artsy-fartsy food photo.”

I had a lot of fun picking this week’s menu. I tried picking recipes that used ingredients we already had. It was about half successful!

Monday – Greek Delight – (New recipe) This will use up the last of my basil plant.
Tuesday – Soba noodles and gyoza
Wednesday – Soft shelled tacos
Thursday – Spaghetti
Friday – Riblets and mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy (gravy is a new recipe)
Sabbath lunch – Sesame Tofu Stir Fry (new recipe, rolled over from last week)
Sabbath dinner – Pizza (Italian pizza crust, red onion, olives, fresh basil, homemade sauce)

Last week’s results:
Macaroni and Cheese – This one was a no go. I really wanted to like it, but the coconut milk didn’t really work. We didn’t buy the recommended brand so maybe that was the problem.

Italian pizza crust – Awesome! Our pizza ended up a bit differently than planned as we ended up not having all the ingredients. Whoops. I made the pizza with this crust, homemade pizza sauce, red onion, fresh basil, a smattering of olives, and Daiya mozzerella cheese. YUM! We loved it so much (in part because of the fresh basil and partly because of the crust) that we’ll be making the pizza again this week.

I had a bit of trouble coming up with meal ideas this week. For some reason, I just wasn’t inspired while working on the menu. Somehow I ended up with four pasta dishes…

Monday – Macaroni and Cheese (new recipe)
Tuesday – Tacos
Wednesday – Soba noodles and gyoza (a favorite! We love making gyoza.)
Thursday – Spaghetti
Friday – Sesame Tofu Stir Fry (new recipe)
Sabbath lunch – Coconut stir fry
Sabbath dinner – Pizza (onion, mushroom, homemade crust)

I’m still trying to figure out if there’s a way to mix this menu up a bit so we don’t have so many pasta dishes in a row. I don’t think there is! Oh, well. We probably won’t be eating any pasta next week…

Last week’s successes:
Vegan Meat Lover’s Pizza Casserole – I’m not sure how I felt about this recipe, but my husband loved it. He said it tasted even better reheated than fresh out of the oven.
Pasta in Lemon Cream Sauce – A big hit! Next time we make this, we’re going to double the greens, using half spinach and half bok choy. Yum!

I haven’t posted a menu in a month!

Monday – Monterey Frittata – This was really good! A bit salty, so I’ll decrease the salt next time. But I really liked it! Now to see how well it reheats…

Tuesday – Soba noodles & gyoza

Wednesday – Vegan Meat Lover’s Pizza Casserole – We’re only doing the sausage (first time trying it), leaving out the pepperoni. I just really wanted a baked pasta dish.

Thursday – Pasta in Lemon Cream Sauce – Not sure how I ended up with two pasta recipes in a row, but they are very different!

Friday – Curry

Sabbath lunch – Coconut stir fry
Sabbath dinner – Pizza – mushrooms, olive, bell pepper

Sunday – Tacos

Three new recipes this week! I think that might be a record. At least one of them was already a hit!