what we're eating

This week's menu:
Sunday-Green Chile Enchiladas with Vegetables and Black Beans
Monday-Orzo Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Feta
Tuesday-Broccoli Soup and Sausages
Wednesday-Carne Asade or Vegetarian Tacos

We ate the enchiladas last night and they were the best I've ever made. I think Cristina's stock was the key. To make your own sauce, you'll need:
3 anaheim or poblano chilies
1 green bell pepper
1 jalapeno
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1c stock
small handful cilantro

Roast the peppers over the flame on your stove or in the oven. When they are good and charred, put them in a paper bag to sit for a few minutes, then peel. Chop roughly.
Heat a teaspoon of oil in a saucepan over medium heat, saute the onion until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 30 sec. Add all the peppers and the stock. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and throw in the cilantro. To blend, use a food processor, blender or emulsion mixer.

I always put vegetables in my enchiladas, but you can make them all cheese or chicken if you prefer.

sunday's dinner is good for lunch

I almost always cook with leftovers in mind. Last night's fajitas and cabbage salad were terrific for lunch. I just threw the last of the pinto beans and sauteed vegetables onto the cabbage and brought along a little container of dressing.

what we're eating

A few years ago, we decided to take a good hard look at our spending to figure out how we were ever going to start a savings account. Something that we realized is that we spend a lot of money on food. We wanted to spend less but we did not really want to change what we were eating. At the time, I walked past the grocery store on my way home everyday so it was very easy to pick up whatever we needed for dinner and any other odds and ends I was in the mood for. As an experiment, we decided to cut down the number of times I went into the grocery store which also meant we'd need to plan our meals ahead. Lo and behold, it makes a difference! Each Sunday, I spend a little time sitting on the floor of the kitchen flipping through cookbooks and planning out at least 4 meals for the week. It takes stress off of trying to figure out what to make while I'm at the grocery store and I find I am smarter about using ingredients in more than a single meal which seems to save money and create less food waste. Double bonus!
So the point of this long winded story is that I had this idea to blog our weekly menu so that all of you could benefit from my planning. It's a new idea and I'm not exactly sure how it's going to work, but I'm thinking I'll post at least the menu on Sundays and hopefully include some recipes and pictures throughout the week. Do you want a grocery list too? Let me know if you think that would be helpful. You may not know that I am a vegetarian so most of the recipes will be too. My wife eats meat though so I'll let you know if she's going to be eating some variation.

Sunday: Pepper Onion and Zucchini Fajitas and Cabbage Salad with Mango, Avocado, Radishes and Homemade Buttermilk Dressing

Monday: Baked Eggplant with Tomato Sauce and Mozzarella and Roasted Cauliflower with Mustard and Caper Sauce

Tuesday: Grilled Marinated Tofu or Chicken and Napa Cabbage Slaw with Sesame Lime Dressing

Wednesday: Chickpea Fritters and Tabouleh