Kitchen Goings-On

While we had a bit of a lull last week, we've been having some pretty yummy from-scratch (or close) meals recently. Saturday, we made Low Country Boil because shrimp and sausage were on sale, and oh, it was so, so good. It's super easy: all you have to do beforehand is boil a BIG pot of water (we had to use two pots because I couldn't find our one enormous pot) and put in some Old Bay seasoning, salt, and vinegar, and then chop up a bunch of corn, sausage, and potatoes, and finally throw in some shrimp. Doesn't even take that long, either. As Brandon says, though, it's a bit of a labor-intensive meal to eat, what with the peeling of the shrimp and the corn on the cob. But it's worth it.

Tonight, we're having pizza on dough made in our bread machine (do you have a bread machine? If you love homemade bread/pizza dough/rolls, it makes them so much easier!). Since we don't agree on pizza toppings, we're gonna do what we always do and have a half-and-halfer: pineapple and sausage on Brandon's side, and tonight, a concoction of all sorts of wonderful things on my side: sauteed chopped garlic, sauteed chopped shallots, diced tomato, a little bit of pepperoni, a little bit of canadian bacon. YUM. Plus sauce and cheese of course.

Then tomorrow and Thursday (depending on how much effort I'm wanting to put in each of those days) we'll have chicken Caesar salad, with pre-cooked chicken from Trader Joe's, and chicken stir-fry with snow peas, broccoli, and red pepper (cut in big chunks for easy removal 'cause one of us - ahem - doesn't like red peppers). I realize with the pre-cooked chicken it's not exactly "from scratch," but it's more from scratch than heating up frozen green chili enchiladas (a TJ's favorite) or going to Wendy's.

This weekend - and here's where I'm getting excited - we're going to have grilled chicken and pineapple quesadillas. Oh my word, those look so good. We'll probably make bacon-wrapped, cream-cheese-stuffed jalapenos (I know!) too. And I believe there will be a brunch of the waffles/sausage/eggs variety as well. We're going to Charleston with our dear friends Alan and Megan, and since we're staying in a fully-furnished condo, we're looking forward to having time to cook together (well, Megan and I are - it is a pretty small kitchen, I don't know if we could get all four of us in there!).

I really like planning meals for the week, even if it's only a few different things. It's nice to have a lot of fresh ingredients in the fridge, so that if, for example, I decide I want an omelette for lunch, I don't have to improvise and use...um...pepperoni instead of delicious grilled chicken. (The pepperoni omelette was not a success, for the record.)

Hopefully there will be photos of our food-palooza this weekend! Or at very least, updates and plans for next week's meals.