WFD? 12/14

Campbell's soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Which in this house is one step above "find yourself something to eat".

WFD? 12/13

I had a super long and busy day today, so we needed something quick and easy.

Spaghetti!

My current favorite sauce is Ragu Sweet Tomato Basil. I add 1 lb. ground beef, well browned and seasoned with salt and pepper, and 1/4 of a large yellow onion, diced smallish.

WFD? 12/12

Last night when we got home from Austin and Avery D's fab birthday party we sort of grazed for dinner. There wasn't any cooking except for Jake's scrambled egg and pancakes.

Today was cold and dry. Which always does a number on my skin - I'm dry and flaky, and there are spots on my hands, elbows, and feet that feel like they might crack open. They say a little oil in your diet will help condition your skin, so dinner tonight was all about fried.

Tilapia fillets pan-fried in olive oil, and red-skinned potatoes, green beans, and carrots sauteed in sage and parsley-infused canola oil.

Tasty.

WFD? 12/10

For me it was Tacos a la Cucos. At my favorite Mexican restaurant. No cooking for me today.

Instead I did some shopping and made a super cute pillowcase for my niece C for Christmas. It's been a busy day. Some days the phone rings about 30 times.

Tomorrow is Buttercup's birthday party! That tiny and oh-so-sweet little girl will be ONE in a just a few days. Can you believe it?

WFD? 12/9 - recycling

Or, leftovers.

I reheated the pot roast in a saucepan with some of the gravy - it helped the meat stay moist and tender while reheating. For the leftover carrot, sliced onions, and potatoes I put them in a baking dish, smashed them just a little bit with a fork, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. I baked it at 450 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Oh. My. Goodness. I saw this trick on Jamie Oliver's show the other day. He parboiled his potatoes and then roasted them in the oven.

My veggies were already cooked the other day in the crockpot, so of course they didn't need parboiling. The edges of the carrot and potatoes became crusty and crunchy, and the sliced onion bits turned crispy. From now on I will always add lots of extra veg to the crockpot specifically to make this later.

Add some green beans, and dinner is served:

WFD? 12/8

Turtle Rice and Beef Enchilada Casserole.

This morning I:

• cooked the rice
• chopped all the veggies/herbs for the rice
• cooked the ground beef with chopped onion and garlic
• chopped the tomatoes
• softened the corn tortillas
• assembled the beef enchilada casserole
• put everything in the refrigerator

Tonight I:

• put the casserole in the oven to bake
• sauteed the veggies for the rice
• added the cold rice
• added the dried herbs, salt, pepper, and fresh cilantro to the rice/veggie mixture
• shredded some lettuce
• ate.

I like having lettuce, tomatoes, and light sour cream on top of my enchiladas. The cool vegetables and sour cream sort of cut the heaviness and richness of the enchiladas.

I had a long, busy day today at the quilt shop learning a new needle-turn applique technique. It was fun. I'm enjoying the process.

I loved knowing that the majority of the cooking and cleaning up was already over and done with! I'm not really a morning person and getting dinner made before breakfast will probably take some getting used to, but it sure was nice to come home to a dinner that was mostly made.

The big, scary WFD? 12/7

I hope to start a new series on the blog for the next month - What's for dinner? I've realized over the last several days that I would probably feel more energetic and positive, and less allergic if I had a regular diet of decent food.

Have you ever felt this way? When I graze around for food because I'm hungry, and afterward, even though I probably consumed enough calories to call it dinner, I don't really feel "fed". Do you know what I mean?

By dinnertime I'm usually rushing around in traffic to or from somewhere, and I'm tired and my stress level is at the max, and so I turn too often to quick, junky food for dinner. I think we eat too much highly-processed food and not enough whole foods. So I am going to (at least, I intend to) keep a record here on my blog about what I made for dinner so that I know exactly what we had and also in an effort to make myself more accountable in thinking about and planning our dinner menus better.

I hope to get in a better routine about doing some of the prep work in the morning in the little window of time that I have every day after James leaves for school and before Jake gets up. That way at night most of the work is already done and I'm not feeling so rushed and irritable, but I still have a good, healthful meal to put on the table. Right?

Early this morning I put a beef roast in the crockpot with yukon gold potatoes, carrots, onions, and a box of beef stock. (That's not a pic of my roast - I borrowed it from the Pioneer Woman. Maybe I should start taking pics of WFD? every night? We'll see.) Eleven hours later - perfection! Moist, tender, high-quality meat and fresh vegetables. I made some gravy out of the meat juices and added a little squirt of ketchup to give it some color and sweetness. It was a good idea.

I feel fed. Day one = success!