Summer Dishes

It looks like I just don't have time for typing up recipes these days. :( However, I AM sticking with the summer challenge and aiming for dishes that don't use the oven.

Here are a few things Andrei and I have added to our rotation...

Savory Dishes:

-Chicken Spaghetti Alfredo

-Tex-Mex (most recent was pork fajitas in enchilada sauce, rolled up and crisped in a saucepan)

-Stove-top Potatoes au Gratin (potatoes are boiled ahead of time, then browned in a saucepan and simmered in a creamy cheese sauce, with or without meat added)

Andrei's panna cotta with mint leaves and fresh strawberries

Desserts:

-Panna Cotta (Andrei made it; main ingredients are heavy cream, non-flavored gelatin, sugar, and vanilla)

-Fresh Fruit Trifle (A good way to use fruit in season, layered with cake and custard cream)

Salads:

-Fresh Broccoli Salad (with cheese, bacon, onion, and a mayonnaise sauce, doesn't sound too healthy-I think this was the Paula Deen version!)

Summer No-Bake Challenge

My favorite cooking methods by far involve the oven. I find it to be more forgiving, and I also like popping a dish in the oven and doing clean-up while it cooks. Then I get a ready meal and a clean kitchen (almost) at the same time.

But now that it's hot, I'm trying to avoid the oven, and that leaves me strapped for dinner ideas. I have to say goodbye to lasagna, pizza, and other favorite dishes until fall comes around. I might make an exception for desserts.

Here are the conditions:

-no soups or stews* (my husband likes soup for lunch only and doesn't like stew)
-must be doable without the help of the oven
-limited to chicken/pork dishes
-sandwiches don't count either, must be hot meals

I guess that leaves me with dishes like:

-spaghetti bolognese/spaghetti and meatballs
-pan-fried pork or chicken pieces
-stir-fries
-taco-type dishes
-....?

*stewed meat can be used later in other dishes, though

Help me out here! 

Meals we had, May 13-19

Getting behind on blogging. Looks like it's time to start keeping my camera in the kitchen again!

Meals from the week BEFORE last (when we had pork almost every night, yikes!):

Monday: Cheesy pork cubes, sauteed eggplant with garlic, angel hair pasta
Tuesday: Sausage and veggie skillet, pasta
Wednesday: Leftover stewed pork, boiled buckwheat
Thursday: Hot dogs, buckwheat, fresh salad
Friday: Cold sliced pork sandwiches (we had a chicken lunch)
Saturday: Roasted chicken, sauteed squash, boiled buckwheat*
Sunday: Pork/Veggie/Buckwheat skillet (Southwestern style with sour cream, cheese, and green onion

One question I explored was whether or not buckwheat could be substituted in "Mexican" dishes. It has a stronger flavor than rice but it can serve the same purpose. And the Tex-Mex condiments help dress up the buckwheat a little bit.

*This was the weekend that my mother-in-law boiled us a HUGE post of buckwheat and we were eating it for the next 3-4 days. :)

Meals we had, May 6-12

Not the most successful week culinarily (apparently that's not a word but I'm using it anyway). There were some interesting ideas with so-so results. I've had texture issues with chicken breasts lately. Sometimes I think it's my cooking skills that are the problem, but then again I've made decent chicken dinners before. So I'm thinking it might just be the "quality" (freshness?) of the meat itself, and I'm not sure I want to actually speculate as to why, but one thing is that a lot of water comes out of them when they start cooking. Does that mean I should cook them more? Less? Use a different technique?

Meanwhile, I had a big chunk of pork in the freezer but I didn't really know what cut or the best way of cooking. So I cut it into chunks and tried to have it turn into a sort of goulash. It never really got tender, though. When meat is tough I'm never sure if it's over or under-cooked. I think I probably should have given it some more time.

Monday: Chicken breasts stuffed with bacon and feta, potatoes, brussels sprouts

Tuesday: Pizza from scratch

Wednesday: Chicken-veggie-rice mix tossed with cheese and "southwestern" spices

Thursday: Same thing but with buckwheat this time!

Friday: Didn't write anything down for some reason

Saturday: Pizza (made by friends)

Sunday: Pork stewed in the oven, buckwheat

Meals we had, April 29-May 5

Once again we had mainly chicken and pork dishes. I've been noticing a lack of vegetables, so I'll work on adding some in this week. Andrei doesn't like cooked vegetables that much, so sometimes it's just a matter of steaming or sauteeing some frozen vegetables and having them on the side. We also had pelmeni twice, but at least we had substantial lunches those days.

The details on what we ate last week:

-Monday dinner: Pork roast, rice with mushrooms
-Tuesday dinner: Chicken in mushroom cream sauce with angel hair pasta
-Wednesday dinner: Boiled buckwheat stir-fried with pork, bell peppers, and fresh herbs
-Thursday dinner: Pelmeni (we had a chicken lunch with my in-laws and were at a meeting in the evening)
-Friday dinner: Pork roast under a shredded potato/cheese crust
-Saturday dinner: Pork Roast Mexico City (family recipe)
-Sunday dinner: Boiled pelmeni, with Brussels sprouts on the side (again we had a chicken lunch)

Baked desserts/snacks: Pumpkin muffins, Cheesecake brownies, Cheddar drop biscuits, Cheesecake jam tarts

Meals we had, April 22-28

New series! I don’t always have time to edit and post recipes, but I’m going to do a little retroactive menu “planning” and just type up what we ate all week, to use for meal ideas in the future.

Note: My in-laws generally deliver groceries and some cooked meals to us regularly. I organize the week’s meals around those ingredients, along with using up leftovers. If we are having a repeat combination then I try to change the presentation. If I want to use a particular recipe then I start with something we already have and buy the rest of the needed ingredients. But I try not to buy a lot of additional groceries if we already have something in the refrigerator that needs to be used.

Breakfasts: Eggs
Lunches: Homemade soups with sour cream and fresh herbs; bread with cheese or a slice of meat

-Monday dinner: Fried potatoes (Russian-style) with sliced pork and steamed broccoli
-Tuesday dinner: Scalloped potatoes with cubes of pork
-Wednesday dinner: Boiled pelmeni with sauteed green beans
-Thursday dinner: Eggless meatballs (we ran out of eggs) and boiled potatoes
-Friday dinner: Homemade popcorn chicken with angel hair pasta (we just make plain and garnish with cheese/butter)
-Saturday dinner: Pizza made with this crust and using leftover meatballs/popcorn chicken as toppings
-Sunday dinner: Chicken-bacon-cheese bake with boiled buckwheat and sauteed bell pepper

Looks like we need to add more veggies to the menu. Got any recipes to recommend?