A Week in the Life – Dinners Edition

Sure it was for Christina’s birthday…but on Sunday, after witnessing the amazing spread of food Christina, M and Julianne were getting to partake in, I figured I could show off some of the things I eat in a normal week. Unfortunately, I don’t think Jules will find these recipes appetizing because they are not paleo or gluten-free…but I have hope to make Christina and/or M a little jealous.

Sunday: BBQ Chicken Pizza

For me, this was a great meal to end the weekend. Dan and I had a busy Sunday, which involved finishing the truck camper and lots of spring cleaning (:

I made this baby from scratch because store bought dough is usually a disappointment or overpriced!

Dough Ingredients:

·      3 ½ cups of all-purpose flour (nonbleached)

·      2 teaspoons of salt

·      1 teaspoon of sugar

·      1 packet of active dry yeast

·      1 ½ cups of warm water

·      2 tablespoons olive oil

And this time around I added garlic powder and Italian seasoning into the dough. So it is something you can spruce up and make your own! (Especially when you have your oven Christina!)

So I combine the flour (3 ½ cups), sugar (2 tsp), salt (1tsp), and yeast packet in a big bowl. I then heat of some water in my tea kettle. You only need the water to be warm ~110 degrees – if it’s too hot you’ll kill the yeast and the dough won’t rise – which is a horrible sense of defeat that has happened to me once. And instead of starting over I used it…it was atrocious. 100% do not recommend.

After I heat up the water, I add it into the dry ingredients ½ cup at a time. This distributes it better. After you get you 1 ½ cups of water in it is time to add some olive oil (2 tbs but sometimes I only use a tbs). Then its kneading tiiiiime. Flour the surface and go to town. I learned from a British baking show that you cannot over knead pizza dough unlike some breads, so you will not mess it up. You want to get it into a smooth consistency that has a little stretch.

At this point I also clean the bowl I mixed in because I use it as the rising bowl. Make sure you dry it too.

Once you knead out all of your built up frustrations, throw some olive oil into the bowl (2 tps), put the dough in, and cover that sucker with saran wrap. Finally, find a relatively warm place for it to rise for an hour. Once it doubles in size it is ready to use! The nice thing about this recipe is it yeilds enough for two pizzas. I usually divide it into two and throw the second half in the freezer to use on another week.

Uhg I didn’t even do the toppings yet. Recipes are nuts.

Pizza Toppings Ingredients:

·      Pizza sauce (I always go for a marinara)

·      Mozzarella cheese

·      Ricotta

·      Bbq/siracha chicken (chicken breast marinated and cooked in 400 degree oven for 20/25 mins until 165 internal temp)

·      Cherry tomatoes

·      Scallions

·      Red Pepper

·      And the iconic bbq drizzle

Everything besides the chicken goes on raw onto the also raw pizza dough. I cook this puppy for 20-25 minutes in a 425 degree oven. Just on my largest cookie sheet pan using olive oil to prevent stickage. 

Monday/Tuesday: TACO NIGHTS 

So even though Dan and I wanted to eat less meat this year – we still are chicken lovers. I have gotten away from pork and red meat at home but chicken is just so tasty and easy it’s hard to let go. Anyways, these chicken tacos are bomb and I literally make them every week. Usually, I don’t make them twice in a row…but we were feeling it. Side note - on Monday Dan said these were the best batch yet. Good to know I’m always improving.

Bomb Taco Ingredients:

Corn tortillas

Sour cream

Mexican blend cheese

A ‘lil salsa

Chicken the same way as pizza (I’m a simple person who knows what they like)

Avocado Mix

·      Avocado (I use half)

·      Cherry tomatoes

·      Scallions

·      Frozen corn

·      Pinch of Garlic powder and Salt

·      Splash or two of Lime juice and Red wine vinegar

I heat up tortillas and pile on the toppings…in a very specific way. First sour cream, then cheese and chicken. Next, I divvy up the avocado/corn deliciousness between all of our tacos and finalize with a dash of salsa. This meal makes me beyond happy and is soooooo easy. 

Wednesday: Mediterranean Farro Salad

No need for me to explain. https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/mediterranean-farro-salad-recipe/ here is the wonderful link of a far better blogger than I.

This meal does involve a lot of chopping…but it’s so delicious and HEALTHY (right Julianne?).

Thursday: Ordered out!

Falafel plate from a local gyro place. We miscalculated our shopping list on Sunday and ran out of food. Real smaht. This place just opened near our house and it did not disappoint.

Friday: Turkey Burgers with Sweet Potato 

Dan’s other favorite dinner meal!

Turkey Burger Ingredients:

·      Ground plain turkey

·      Parsley

·      Garlic powder

·      Pepper/salt

·      Paprika

·      Cumin

·      Buns

I just mix this all together and form patties. This recipe is constantly changing depending on what I have on hand and I don't really take measurements of what I'm adding. Once I am building the burgers I add some sour cream, salsa, lettuce, and avocado.

I cooked the patties on my trusty cast iron skillet on medium heat until they were cooked through. I recently bought a meat thermometer and it has ended all guessing games when it comes to cooking poultry. As long as it hits an internal temp of 165 – it is good to gooooo.

Sweet Potato and Onion Roast – Only ingredients are in the title! With some olive oil, salt, garlic powder, pepper, and paprika to elevate the flavors. I cooked everything on a sheet pan at 400 degrees for 20/25 minutes.

THAT IS ALL! Wow, it’s interesting taking such an in-depth look at my dinners. There is definitely room for improvement, especially because I want to cut down more on our meat consumption. For now, eliminating pork and red meat from our home cooking has been easy but getting rid of poultry will take some creativity. Also, so sorry these picture look kind of gross haha - these meals are so much better in person!!!

Lerve you guys!