Weekly Meal Plan

Hi all! My friend Candace recently brought up a very good point - one reason people turn to cooking blogs for recipes rather than cookbooks is based on the assumption that if a recipe is deemed 'blog-worthy' than it must be a good recipe. In essence, the foodie bloggers are taking the recipes for a test drive and letting others know about their successes. The reason why Candace brought this up with me was that she wanted to know about the recipes that I list on my weekly menus - if I actually made them and how they turned out. So in addition to posting my weekly meal plan, I'm also going to do a quick recap/review of the previous week's menu. I hope this will help others in planning their weekly meals too!

On a side note, while I was perusing the web last night, I found a great cooking blog, The Meal Planner. So if you're like me and try to plan ahead for the week's meals, I encourage you to check out her site! And you'll notice that several of this week's meals are from her blog... :-)

Dinners This Week:

Spanish Roasted Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes; Mediterranean Green Salad

Spring Frittata (didn't get around to making it last week so it's on the menu for tonight's dinner)

Creamy Chicken Marsala; Roasted Broccoli

Sweet Pork Tacos with Avocado Cream; Black Beans, Tomatoes and Corn Salad

Thai-Inspired Meatballs with Coconut-Peanut Sauce; Asian Noodles or Rice; Steamed Edamame

Last Week's Reviews:

Chicken and Edamame in Orange-Ginger Dressing - This recipe was fantastic...and so easy! Look for a post later this week.

My Mom's Chicken Noodle Soup - I love this recipe and I'm absolutely amazed that I've never posted it on the blog. I grew up with this soup and every time one of the family is sick, I try to make it. What really sets this soup apart from other recipes is that my mom always makes her own noodles. A little more work but the rewards are well worth it! Oh, and I'll finally be posting it later this week.

Manicotti - I found a manicotti recipe that was stuffed with the usual ricotta/spinach mixture but the noodles were replaced with crepes. I had high hopes for this recipe, but it was merely okay. And Finley refused to eat a single bite of it. I won't be taking the time to make this one again.

Spring Frittata - I've made this one before so I already know it's good! One of the benefits of a frittata over a quiche is that you save a lot of calories but cutting out the pie crust, which is great after the holidays when everyone is trying to cut back a little.

Beef Taquitos; Mexican Chopped Salad - I didn't end up making the taquitos after all. Off the top of my head, I can't remember what I made in their place...but it will come to me eventually. If it was good, I'll post about it. I did make the Mexican chopped salad and it turned out great. Andrew and I ate every last bite of it! I'll post about it later this week too.

Pork Tenderloin; Cheesy Quinoa & Broccoli Casserole - This meal got put in the freezer for another week when we got a dinner invitation to go out with my parents. Whenever we get around to eating it, I'll let you know.

If you've stuck with me and are still reading this, you may wonder why I didn't post anything other than the meal plan last week and why I'm promising to post everything later this week. Well the reason is twofold. Number 1, Finley was sick last week so she was home with me. Luckily, she's all better now though! Number 2, the hard drive on my laptop went kaput after I accidentally dropped a bottle of vinegar on it. The vinegar didn't spill but it did leave a dent right where the hard drive is stored within the laptop. Luckily, Apple is awesome and is replacing the hard drive (for free!) as I type this. I had to commandeer Andrew's computer just to type this post. Hopefully I'll be up and running in the next day or two!