On the Menu

I am officially taking a break from cooking this week. I actually don't really like cooking very much. I would be perfectly happy eating things like beans and rice, macaroni and cheese (homemade), and pasta with pesto most of the time. Also grilled cheese and tomato soup. And a big fat steak twice each year.

I really like baking. I'd be perfectly happy to bake cookies, cakes, and breads every day. The problem is that, although they'd be happy eating cookies, cake, and pumpkin muffins every day, my people really need to eat good, healthy food. And they don't want to eat beans and rice every day (or in some cases, ever). Also, I'm strongly in favor of eating meals together, at the table, most nights of the week. So, cook I must.

Last week's Cuban Pork Roast with applesauce was absolutely delicious. It made enough for six adults and two kids with leftovers for a couple more lunches. I also made lasagna one night when my brother from New York made an unexpected-type visit. Thursday and Friday were out-of-house dinner nights, and Randy grilled out last night.

But this week I'm not really planning to cook much. Tonight, Valentine's Day, we'll have our traditional spaghetti meal. It's the first meal that Randy and I ever cooked together, 24 years ago on Valentine's Day when we'd just started dating. We've kept up the tradition ever since. And then we head into…

Birthday Week! Yep, my birthday week. I've requested dinner out one night (I'm still contemplating where) and Randy's Chicken Piccata another night. I suppose I'll end up cooking on the other nights, but food may magically fall upon my table. One never knows. But in case it doesn't, I'll be making:
Marci's Tortellini Chowder and Pioneer Woman's Pasta with Artichokes, which keeps getting put off until the next week.

That's all for this week. All the recipes above are delicious, trust me. Even if you don't really like to cook. And many more ideas can be found at Menu Plan Monday and at Tasty Tuesday.