Showing posts with label date night. Show all posts
Showing posts with label date night. Show all posts

December 23, 2010

Cook It Up Quick!

There are some nights where I don't mind taking an hour to cook a delicious meal. But then there are the rest of the nights when I want it over and done in 30 minutes! This recipe seems like it would take a while too cook, it has 13 ingredients after all! But it cooks up in no time and is very tasty. Would be good over pasta with more of a sauce, or cold as a quick salad. 

Seared Shrimp with White Beans
Serves 2

Ingredients
8-10 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 can canellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 sprig of fresh rosemary 
Olive oil
1 small yellow onion, small dice
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of fresh diced grape tomato
2 handfuls baby spinach, rough chop
1/2 tsp dried basil or 4 fresh leaves chopped
1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch red pepper flakes

Cook beans and chicken stock in a skillet over low heat with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Keep the bean mixture over low heat, it will thicken up a bit. Don't forget to stir and add more chicken stock if needed.

In a separate pan heat one tablespoon of oil over medium high heat. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. When pan is hot add shrimp all at once, cooking about 1 minute on each side. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside. 

In the same pan as the shrimp, heat another tablespoon of olive oil. Add onion and saute until softened. Add garlic, basil, and red pepper flake, let cook until softened, then add tomatoes. When the tomatoes have let out most of their juice add the contents of this pan to the bean mixture. Add shrimp and spinach and cook until heated through, add a squeeze of lemon juice and season to taste. Serve in bowls with a piece of crusty bread.

I made this dinner into a date night with the help of candles and sparkle!









November 14, 2010

Date Night Friday!

Well, date night did not go exactly as planned this week. I bought all the ingredients to make Ina's Grown Up Mac and Cheese, a nice flank steak from Whole Foods, and arugula for a salad. Unfortunately the roux for the mac and cheese didn't come together as planned and it was ruined. Thinking quickly I decided to use the leftover cheese and make a big salad topped with steak.


I had the butcher at Whole Foods cut me a night piece of flank steak, about 3/4Lb. Rubbed with olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flake, and Worcestershire sauce. Tossed arugula, red peppers, Craisins, and walnuts with homemade honey mustard dressing. Thinly sliced the steak and arranged on top. This was so filling I almost didn't miss the mac and cheese!

Homemade Honey Mustard Dressing
Ingredients:
 2 Tbsp each Honey, Dijon Mustard, Apple Cider Vinegar
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
salt, pepper, cayenne pepper

Whisk together everything except oil. Once combined continue whisking while slowly adding the oilve oil in a stream. Season to taste.

This dressing has been a huge crowd pleaser and is not full of sugar and who knows what from the bottled kind!

November 7, 2010

Weekly Budget Update!

This weekend I spent $63 at Stop & Shop. We are still going to eat from the freezer, that lentil soup was great this weekend and we still have 2 more servings!




Major Purchases: package sweet sausage, chicken thighs, and chicken tenders.

Good Deals: 1L Flavored Seltzer water for $0.75 each! 

Meal Planning:
Chicken Cacciatore
Chicken Thighs with Stuffing (so what if we are preparing for Thanksgiving!)
White Bean and Sausage "Cassoulet"
Shrimp Stirfry
Pizza and Soup
Steak with Sweet Potato Fries and Arugula Salad (Date Night!!)
????

As much as I try and plan out my weeks, there is almost always a night that I can not pin down. This week we will have had red meat, chicken, seafood and vegetarian meals. Who has a suggestion for night 7?

October 31, 2010

Weekly Budget update!

This weekend I spent $13 at Trader Joe's and $66 at Stop & Shop. Because I cooked so much last week I was able to spend less this week!

 Major Purchases: 2 lbs ground beef, package of fresh thyme, 2 filets frozen tilapia, lots of produce!

Good Deals: None this week unless you count all the free candy we keep getting for Halloween!

Meal Planning:
Lentil Soup
Eggplant Parmesan
Meatloaf
some sort of chicken with rice??
Leftover Beef Stew
Tilapia (date night!)

Every week I try and make a special "date night" meal to replace going out for dinner. I set the table, light some candles and spend a little more time cooking to make it special. This week I am shooting for sauteed tilapia in a white wine sauce with roasted potatoes and carrots. Wish me luck!!