Don't hate on me, y'all, I told you there would be minimal posts in the summer. This post will cover up until July 4th. Keep in mind, our summer is very busy, so we have been eating at parties and have been out of town. So if you notice there aren't as many meals as normal, spare us the nasty comments!
In addition, we just recently found out we are moving!!! So in perparation for our move, we are trying to not buy as much stuff to keep refrigerated/frozen and in our pantry so we don't have a ton of food to move. Seriously people, moving is bad enough (I've done it four times in four years). Doing it with perishable items is borderline insanity.
The week of May 27-June 2 was dubbed "crock pot week" at the Henesey's. Ryan was off all week, so he was able to check the pot often. And since I started a soccer league, Ryan needed leftovers every Monday, and the massive portions crock pots produce served as a perfect frozen leftover meal.
Monday as crock pot orange chicken, a recipe I found on pinterest. I can't remember exact ingredients, but I do know that there was a half can of frozen orange juice concentrate in it. It was really pretty tasty.
Tuesday was Turkey Quinoa meatballs. Ryan and I both thought these were really tasty. The quinoa acted as the breadcrumbs in regular meatballs, and made for a really good first experience with quinoa with me.
Wednesday our friend from Clemson came in to see us, so we indulged in some Fuju Grill sushi.
Thursday we had rigatoni and sausage. This was not as delicious as it sounded, although it was easy. Ryan and I both noted the noodles had an unusual texture, we presume it was from being cooked too long. They were almost slimy. I still ate it but it was not as carbohydrate-satisfying as the picture looks.
Friday we made pork stew. This stew was good, but it was a little salty, which I like but other people may not.
This is vomit a delicious meal that was prepared in a crock pot for hours. It really is enchillada casserole, but getting it out of the crock pot and looking presentable for a photo was about as easy as petting a wild bear. It wasn't really that good, but it was certainly better tasting than the picture makes it seem.
Sunday was thai pork, which we made using yet another piece of pork from the 20-pounder Ryan bought. Good news; there's only one big ass piece of meat left. Ideas as to how to use it are welcome. And we've already though of dropping it out of a 20 story window, so that doesn't count. This was good also, but the recipe calls for adding the peas at the very end for only a couple minutes, but they were way too crunchy, so I would recommend leaving them in the pot to cook for a bit longer.
All our crock pot recipes with the exception of the above mentioned pinterest recipe, were found in this recipe book, which was a wedding gift from our lovely friends Chris and Erin. There are a ton of recipes in it, and the price right now on Amazon is very good, so I would totally recommend getting your hands on one.
Monday is soccer night for me, and Ryan is supposed to be eating the leftovers, but I can neither confirm nor deny this is indeed what he eats on Monday. On to Tuesday then, where we made our go to favorite pizza supreme.
Wednesday we had barbeque shrimp. Pretty self explanatory here, we did not even use a recipe. This was all Ryan. I have no idea what we ate Thursday. Seriously people. NO. IDEA. There is something crossed off in my day planner, but nothing written in above it. I think we may have gone over to Ryan's parents house? Maybe we have leftover pizza? Let's just call this a wash.
Friday we had turkey meatloaf again, and it was better than I originally remember. We paired it with roasted potatoes. and some corn.
Saturday we did chicken and asparagus, another repeat recipe. And Sunday we went out with my parents and Ryan played golf. We put an offer in on a house today, but there was a great deal of competition and the sellers quickly accepted another offer. However, my Mom and I went to an open house before we knew about our offer situation, and I had a good feeling about this one. Stay tuned for more!
Monday Ryan was on his own once again, so on Tuesday we had salmon and citrus sauce, a recipe we repeated again that was originally from a Wegman's menu magazine.
Wednesday we had no dinner because Ryan and I went to see the house my mom and I saw last Sunday. We saw a couple others too, but it didn't take much convincing on my part to show Ryan this was a good house. We put in an offer that night and we were just too nervous for dinner. We found out a couple days later they countered at just over what we offered, and we accepted. After inspection, appraisal, mortgage approval, and the like, our tentative move in date is August 12. The good news: the house is essentially in move-in condition. The bad news: the kitchen is pretty outdated, lacks counter space and has poor flow. I really want to update the kitchen, so we are trying to save some money away for kitchen improvements so I can continue to cook and post here for y'all to see.
Thursday we had cheddar turkey burgers, but from all the excitement about the house I really can't remember how they tasted, or where the recipe came from. I am pretty sure it was from Real Simple, but I cannot definitively confirm that.
Friday we had chicken, bacon and cheddar salad. Again, I cannot remember where this recipe came from. Face, meet palm.
Saturday we had lemon pepper shrimp, and this was from Wegman's menu magazine. It was good, but messy since the shrimp were cooked in oil. I would also recommend making sure the shrimp are really dry before you coat them with the cornstarch because the breading pulled away from a lot of the shrimp and it took away from the taste. We will try it again and report back with an update on this recipe.
Sunday was Father's Day, and we hosted a small get-together. We made hot dogs, and my mom made BBQ hamburgers. It was essentially a picnic, complete with fruit, corn on the cob, and dessert to celebrate my Dad's Birthday.
Tuesday was baked ziti casserole, which Ryan made all by himself! Please ignore the fact that the pasta is technically not ziti. In our house, any pasta shape suffices. Wednesday we had an awards ceremony that was catered by Ilio DiPalos.
Thursday was another repeat Wegmans recipe, pan seared chicken with gravy. Oh man this is so good. The gravy is to die for. I probably could eat that gravy on anything. Friday I volunteered as a photographer for a local 5K race in Williamsville so we did not cook that night. Saturday was our big 38 mile bike ride. Ryan and I crossed the finish line together, holding hands. We did it in under 2 hours, 1:58 to be exact. I am so proud of myself for finishing, because I don't think there was any way I could have done that in March. Thank you to everyone who donated to the ride. Roswell Park raised almost 2 million dollars for cancer research. My goal is to ride every year until they find a cure for cancer.
That night we participated in "Star Wars Night" at the baseball game, so we did not cook Saturday either. And Sunday was my family reunion, so instead of cooking we brought sushi. Essentially it was a non-cooking weekend. Plus, I felt like some post-apocalyptic survivor, and therefore ate literally anything that was put in front of my face, so I'm glad I was not home sitting around too long to be tempted by food.
The following Tuesday we had chicken and noodles with peanut sauce. Again, I can't remember where this recipe came from, but it was really great, just the right amount of peanut butter, and the broccoli was amazing. Wednesday we used up leftovers and made another small ziti casserole. Thursday we had another party to attend that included dinner. Friday Ryan had a golf tournament, so I finished up the ziti for dinner.
Saturday we had barbeque salmon, which was another one of "Ryan's recipes." In case you haven't already guessed, his secret ingredient is barbeque sauce. Sunday through Wednesday we had an assortment of dinner at parents, leftovers, and takeout. We left for Washington on July 4th, and had a blast. I will cover this trip in another post, but let's suffice to say we ate like total pigs. Here's an example of one of the places we ate.
Ben's Chili Bowl
Apparently it was famously open during the race riots and served a crap load (no pun intended) of chili. Our good ol' President Barry O even ate there. He and Bill Cosby are the only people allowed to leave without paying.
Insider's tip: don't ever go to this neighborhood at night.
Final picture. We went to the zoo in D.C and saw this cute little bugger. For those of you who don't know, we have a patient at work who has been requiring bandage changes weekly or twice weekly for the past 2-3 months, and I have become somewhat of an expert at leg bandaging. This critter was all hangin' out with his bandage on staring down the tourists. Man, I thought it was tough to bandage a dog's leg. Imagine doing it to a wombat!
In the coming posts, I'll cover our Washington trip, Atlanta wedding, and all the food in between. Enjoy this lovely summer weather!
