My New Project

I am going to try to post my weeknight meals here each week, as much to keep myself accountable on cooking regularly as anything else.  But hey, this way I can also share things that are good (and things that aren't) with all of you!  Here are my self-imposed rules. 

• I will allow myself one weeknight a week for takeout or pre-prepared.  That is not to say I won't be using pre-prepped ingredients to make my life easier (think chopped garlic in the jar); just one time each week I will allow myself to do no cooking of any kind and not feel bad about it. 
• And, since I'm making these rules, I also reserve the right to use leftovers for a meal now and then. 
• Weekends will be "free", but if I cook anything particularly good I'll certainly share it.

This week's meals (by no means impressive, but we've both been sick so soup has sounded really good to both of us a lot this week):
Sunday: tortellini soup for me; chili and a turkey sandwich for John (we came back with lots of food from my parents' house, and I had a cold so didn't feel like eating or cooking)
Monday: turkey melts and soup (canned)
Tuesday: Papa John's Pizza (John's request, when he has a cold he is the opposite of me and has a huge appetite; he ordered a large pizza and breadsticks and polished off a good portion of it)
Wednesday: arugula & romaine salad with marinated white beans, roasted red bells, sauteed portabellas, caesar croutons, and homemade roasted tomato vinagrette; small antipasto platter with sliced chorizo and salame picante, two cheeses and olives

•  portabellas: we both love sauteed mushrooms and I use portabellas to make heartier salads many a night when we both want somehting 'light' but you need to still feel full.  My mushroom technique is simple - lots of butter in the pan, medium heat, put 'em in, and leave 'em alone.  I wait to salt and pepper them until much later in the cooking process - as Rachel Ray says, if you salt them too early, they don't get brown.  Sometimes I will add chopped garlic, sometimes just garlic powder.  Sometimes I will add red wine at the end to deglaze as well; they are divine this way and seem especially decadent.  We like ours to get a little crust on them but if you don't like things really done you can take them off the heat when they have softened through.
• roasted tomato vinagrette: I halved two handfuls of grape tomatoes and tossed them with olive oil, kosher salt & black pepper.  Put in a hot oven (400) until the tomatoes start sizzling and have started to "wilt" a bit.  Take out of the oven and pour all (including oil) into a small bowl.  I whisked this with some balsamic vinagrette for the dressing.  It might have been easier to remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon and then whisk, adding the tomatoes back in at the end, but I just kind of stirred fast with the tomatoes still in there.  I tossed my lettuces with the dressing and then added all the other ingredients.

Thursday: roasted pork tenderloin (marinated in Dales) with cheese grits.  Shamefully no vegetable with this dinner.  I always like to make my cheese grits with stock rather than water and then usually use a little milk with them when I add the cheese.  Last night I used a cheddar/monterrey jack blend, paprika, salt and black pepper, but I've doctored them up every way under the sun.  Far and away John's favorite side.
Friday:  I plan to make this 44 clove garlic soup.  Yum.  It is much milder than it sounds like it might be.  I figure if I start after work it we'll probably be able to eat after Mitchell goes to bed!  Served with a baguette and perhaps a little green salad tossed with some lemon juice and olive oil, shaved parm on top.  Can't wait to eat!
Saturday: no specific meals planned but we have the fixings for sausage dip in the fridge so I'm thinking that will be the perfect snack for SEC Championship game-watching and Christmas tree trimming!

As a side note on Thursday, let me give you a new suggestion for using leftover pork tenderloin that I'm copying from this menu.  We ate there when we went to see The Boss a few weeks ago and both of us had the Pork Loin Melt on Texas Toast.  Yum.  I made one for lunch today with our leftovers from last night. 

I didn't have the texas toast (or the delicious onion rings that accompanied ours at the restaurant, but I digress) so I used my favorite marble rye from Publix.  Butter one side of your bread and put face down in the skillet on medium.  While the skillet is heating up, thinly slice your pork and toss in your favorite barbecue sauce.  Barbecue sauce is probably my favorite condiment, and for this one I think you need something with a kick (and by all means, please be generous with it, because this is the type of sammich that calls for something to drip out from between your bread).  I used Rudy's "Sause" but if you don't have access to this heavenly stuff, then I suggest a sauce with a good bit of black pepper and vinegar in it.  Of course, use what you like.  Today I used a slice of provolone cheese on each side of the bread to glue everything together; the restaurant used cheddar but we didn't have any sliced.  It is so good.  I think you'll thank me.

Next week I might not have to cook much myself.  My mom is coming to stay with me and Mitchell Sun-Wed since John will be out of town (we'll miss him, but I'm so excited that she'll be here).  I'm sure one or the other of us (ok, let's be honest, it will probably be her) will cook each night, so I'll still report.  Since John doesn't like it, I'm going to request Chinese/stir fry one night.  My mom's is as good, if not better, than what you can get in a restaurant, and it's much healthier. 

I've got some homemade Christmas treats in mind for gifts, so I'll share what I'm planning one of these days.  For now, I think this post is plenty long!