One of my goals since I was laid off is to spend more time meal planning. I was introduced to Caroline Chambers a while back from one of my other favorite food bloggers, Dan Pelosi. It was an instant girl crush! She is just so lovely, stylish and we're in similar life stages with 3 little boys at home!
So I decided to base our meal plan for one week on recipes from her new cookbook What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking. Not only did we have delicious meals, it made cooking so fun! Each recipe was such a hit. I could eat her dilly chopped salad every single day. It reminded me of my favorite chopped salad from Perry's in San Francisco. The meatballs might have been my favorite dinner, but it's a toss up. I really loved everything. The boys especially liked the sliders with chips, they couldn't believe there were chips ON the burger. It was fun to have them help in the kitchen and be interested in the new meals we were making.
The five recipes I made are below, I don't want to share the full recipe since I'd rather people buy her book and support her. But she has tons of recipes on her blog and social media too.
Peanutty Pork & Brussels
This was the first dish I made. I actually hadn't cooked from the book yet, but my sister was over and flipped through it and saved a few recipes. After she made this and shared how good it was, I knew I had to try it too. It was so easy to throw together on a weeknight. The kids ate it, but weren't huge fans. Andrew and I on the other hand loved it. I also used the leftovers for breakfast the next day with a fried egg on top and it was delicious!
Saucy Sesame Beef Noodles
This one was a hit for the whole family! I served ours with broccoli on the side for extra veggies, and crushed some peanuts on top for a little crunch. I omitted the hot sauce for the kids when making the dish, and Andrew and I just added it on top when we plated ours. I think next time I made this, I may grill the steak first for a bit more flavor instead of all in one pan. Although it does come together so easily the way she has it written.
Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs & Veggies
I think this was my favorite dish! The meatballs were delish but she also suggests a swap for busy evenings to use frozen Italian meatballs instead. So I may try that next time to make things simple. I added mushrooms and kale to ours for more veggies and we also had green beans and our favorite coconut lime rice on the side. The kids loved the meatballs!
Crunchy Sheet Pan Sliders
No surprisingly, this was the biggest hit with the kids. They loved the sliders, especially that I served chips with dinner. Caroline has two other recipes using Hawaiian rolls like this in the cookbook, so I'm excited to try those too. It's an easy, kid approved meal for sure! I was surprised how much I liked this dinner too, the chips really do add a lot. And I knew my Grandpa Charlie would be proud. He taught me as a girl to add chips to my sandwiches and I've never looked back.
Dilly Chop Salad with Salt & Vinegar Chippies
My new favorite salad! It was so so good! I loved the dill and salt and vinegar chips. I modified it a little by omitting the mayo from the dressing and adding garbanzo beans for more protein. It was so delicious, I had it for lunch every day of the week! It reminded me of my favorite chopped salad from our brunch spot in San Francisco, Perry's. But even better!
I highly recommend you get this cookbook for yourself, or it would make a great gift. The recipes are all fairly simple and easy to make, but pack in a ton of flavor. They're also easily modified and she provides tips on how to swap things to make it even faster.
I loved planning our meals for the week out of just one cookbook and I might try it again soon! Stay tuned!
Thank you so much for reading, see you back here tomorrow for Day 16 of the challenge!
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