Menu of the Week

photo by Alaina Kaczmarski

Every now and then I like to mix things up and try new things for our weekly meals.  I especially like finding new recipes that are easy enough to make on a weeknight.  The new site The Everygirl featured a weekly menu that contained some great, easy, and inexpensive recipes, and I decided to give some of them a try.  Here's a look at what we ate last week:

Black Bean, Corn, and Zucchini Enchiladas, Yellow Rice - This is an alternate veggie enchilada recipe that I keep.  It uses zucchini instead of spinach, which makes it a tad more kid-friendly.  At least that's what I thought.  The boys still weren't really huge fans, although they did okay.  I love that it makes enough to freeze half, so I have another dinner ready to go.

Lettuce Wraps, Peanut Noodles - This meal is awesome.  I didn't even care that the boys hated it, because I loved it.  Makes great leftovers too - an easy lunch to pack and bring to work.  Seriously....yum!

Maple-Mustard Salmon, Brown Rice, Roasted Asparagus - I mixed in an old standby so the boys wouldn't revolt.  I also discovered that Nathan will eat asparagus, as long as it's left whole and he can use his hands. Fine by me.

Feta Meatballs, Orzo - These are great too.  The orzo was okay, but I really liked the meatballs.  Note:  If you make them small as directed, they don't need 20 minutes in the oven.  I baked mine for 10 and they were done.  Also take care not to overdo the onions.

Roasted Vegetable and Goat Cheese Pasta - As expected, the boys picked out the tomatoes, but they ate and enjoyed the pasta and zucchini.  I liked it, and it was a super easy dish, but I think I prefer asparagus and peas and other veggies over roasted tomatoes with a goat cheese sauce.

And for a weekend snack, I finally tried these homemade granola bars.  Like the original recipe, I added shredded coconut, but I liked cutting them into bars.  These are ridiculously easy and really good.  They remind me of these peanut-butter/coconut balls my mom used to make when I was little.  Everybody liked them, but I'm not sure they'll get made much.  The schools are all peanut-free these days; and I'm sorry for all those out there who suffer from nut allergies, but soy or sun butter is just so not the same.  I am now on the hunt for a granola bar recipe without peanut butter.  I'll keep you posted.

photo via farmhouse