What's Cookin'

Food is my number one expense in life. I love food. Love to cook and love to share meals with loved ones. I have been trying really hard to do a good job meal planning each weekend so that I only have to shop once and can keep our food costs down. This is a challenge considering I live with somewhat of a human garbage disposal who appreciates good flavor. I just can never count on any left-overs. This week was the first week that I did it! Shopped once cooked 5 nights and the only thing we had to pick up from the store was some milk. Here is the menu for the next week. I have added quite a few new dishes but kept some old favorites in the mix.

Here she is...Aarti winner of The Next Food Network Star!

Sloppy Bombay Joes with Massaged Kale Salad  - Not sure if you have seen The Next Food Network Star on the Food Network but I loved Aarti from the start and am super excited to try this recipe. I've never tried to cook with Kale before but it is jam packed with nutrients.

Aarti's Roast Chicken with a simple arugula salad. I make this dressing all the time and it always gets rave reviews! So easy and the ingredients keep really well so I usually have them on hand.

Burger night - using the extra buns from the sloppy joes. I'll keep it simple with some baked beans and a quick salad. I always use the extra lean ground beef, grass fed of course.

Roast Chicken with Polenta - this is from the same Bon Appetit menu that we made at my friend Liz's dinner party. I am going to make the bruschetta again too!

Pizza - My mother gave me a pizza stone a few years ago and it is used on a weekly basis. Nothing makes for a more satisfying or quick meal than a fresh, homemade pizza. We've tried all of the prepared dough and Whole Foods has our favorite, Trader Joe's is good too but the Whole Foods dough puffs up more. This is a great way to use up extra veggies to make a loaded pizza. Plus we always top with some fresh basil from our urban garden.

Fish Tacos - I love to make home made guacamole. It's super easy and is all veggies. I usually use the following: 2 Avocados, 1/4 chopped onion, 2 cloves of garlic, juice of 1 lemon, 1 jalapeno chopped and seeded, good bunch of cilantro, 2 small tomatoes diced