knitcole

This Old Married Life: What's for Dinner

Hey party people, it's time for another addition of This Old Married Life! Today's topic that inevitable question that plagues each and every person every night of the week, "What's for Dinner?"

 
As the wife I always feel like it's my responsibility to make sure that Mr. Coleman and I have plenty of food on hand and creative dinners. I thought that this would be pretty easy, when we first got married it seemed like there were a million different things I could make for dinner. I have cookbooks and there are probably millions of recipes on the internet but it didn't take long before I started running out of ideas.

When this first happened I scoured my favorite cookbook and starting making items from it and while they were all delicious some of them aren't practical for the everyday dinner. I will say that the Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes are DELICIOUS!

Pretty soon I felt like I was stuck in a rut again. While Mr. Coleman will eat grilled chicken and broccoli everyday I get bored and I like to change it up a little. I started to realize that we have our regular rotation meals. In my head it looks a little something like this...

• Baked Chicken with Vegetables
• Spaghetti / Pasta
• Tacos
• Enchiladas
• Picadillo
• Sliders / Sloppy Joe's
• Crock Pot BBQ Pork
• Crock Pot Carnitas
• Tri Tip Steaks
• Pizza

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head and I have to add that some of these things don't really end up the way they sound. For instance Sloppy Joe's aren't like the ones I ate as a kid that came from the can, (not that I don't love those!) it's more of a ground turkey with BBQ sauce served on Hawaiian Rolls. We try not to buy anything processed in our house and only eat real food. It's the one way I try to keep us a little healthy.

At first it was fun to make homemade pizza (I buy the dough already made thanks to Trader Joe's,) and to experiment with things like making a whole chicken but now I just get frustrated! After only nine months of marriage it feels like we've tried it all. I know this can't be true but it can be discouraging when you walk into the kitchen every night and always feel like you're making the same old thing.

So, how do I combat this feeling. First, I try to buy different things to liven it up. We bought some Polish sausage to BBQ on the 4th (thanks to Jolene putting the craving into my head,) and we had the other half for dinner. Buying something a little different each week can liven up one meal just enough to feel different.

Secondly, I look for new things to make when I'm at the grocery store. 99% of the time Mr. Coleman and I shop at Trader Joe's and they have a ton of pre-made things to buy. Last week Mr. Coleman saw the pre-made stuffed peppers while we were shopping and instead of buying them I made them myself. It was a pretty big success and I always feel accomplished when I conquer a new item that I can add into the rotation maybe once a month.

Lastly, I try to find new ways to cook the same old thing. We eat a lot of lean meats in our house; chicken, turkey and pork and sometimes I forget to try to find a new way to spice up our meals. Last night it was pork chops and I thought "isn't maple a big thing when it comes to pork?" I found this Maple Glazed Pork Chop recipe online and it turned out amazingly! (See photo above.) I also made some Fried Apples (I didn't exactly follow any recipe,) and they were sweet and delicious! I'm not saying it was the most healthy meal but it definitely felt like a treat and something I can make every now and then.

That's how I conquer the "What's for Dinner" question every night. I can't imagine what I will be doing in five years but hopefully I will keep expanding my repertoire and be able to throw in those fun, just a little fancy meals every now and again.

What are some of your favorite recipes?

Nicole

Journeys with Jeanie. A new blog feature!

After my last feature, This Old Married Life, was received well by all of you (thanks!) I decided that I wanted to add another feature to my blog. Journeys with Jeanie is a tribute to my grandmother and the lessons she taught me.

My grandma Jeanie was my best friend and when she passed away I wasn't quite sure how I was going to go on without her. Turns out she instilled values and lessons in me that I would never forget, she made me a lot of who I am. I remember things she taught me every single day and I want to pay tribute to those things here. First up...gardening!

 
My grandma always kept a garden. As a kid I just thought it was fun to cut string beans down and pick the radishes and tomatoes. She grew beautiful flowers and lettuces and had the most amazing brain bush (hydrangeas,) that you ever saw!

Because of what I thought was normal growing up as a kid, (all people grow tomatoes in their flowerbeds right?) I have a desire to grow my very own garden. I decided that this year we would start small and shoot for growing everything I need for salsa; jalapenos, tomatoes and cilantro plus a couple other herbs and flowers.

My herbs are doing great! First lesson learned, cilantro if given too much sun will bolt and turn into coriander. Those little flowers might be pretty but then the leaves stop growing and it stops being cilantro. This is my second cilantro plant and it stays in the shade.

My veggies have been the most rewarding. To see something you bought when it was just a tiny little plant grow into this amazing vegetable is so wonderful. I can't wait until we can eat them! I'm thinking some of our jalapenos will be ready next week quickly followed by our tomatoes. And that beautiful chocolate beauty bell pepper...I can't wait to see what color that one ends up!

Oh and my snapdragons were the most beautiful bush of flowers until our pup decided that they were also extremely tasty. Sadly, they're not looking so hot anymore. He also managed to eat my zinnias into an early grave.

My grandmother taught me that growing your own food can be not only rewarding but gives you a sense of completion. You learn to understand the whole process and when you know the work it takes to put food on your table you appreciate that food more. It's also cheaper, that jalapeno plant doesn't know that Mr. Coleman and I won't be able to eat the 25 peppers that are about to be ripe all at the same time before they go bad! 

I'm thankful that a bit of her green thumb was passed on to me and that she instilled in me a desire to do for myself. I will definitely think about her when I make some fresh homemade salsa from my garden. I can't wait to grow lettuce when it cools down!

Thank you grandma for always teaching me how to be my very best.

Nicole

Let's tally this up shall we?

Mr. Coleman and I have eaten out a lot in the past week. Here's the final count...

Lunch - 3 
Dinner - 5

We don't really ever eat breakfast out and to be honest, we like to eat at home. Eating out that much in one week is a lot for us and it's left me feeling like this...

My body can't handle the crazy eating out all the time. Which is strange when I think about how I used to eat lunch out everyday when I had a traditional corporate job and half the time I ate dinner out too!

So what does it all mean...it means that I am working on not eating out this week and eating better when we eat in. I'm off to a great start today. Some organic pear, white tea (I'm cutting out coffee simply because I think it does a horrible number on my stomach and my heartburn,) and a egg white and spinach omelette. Even I'm amazed at how well I've eaten today. (I say this as I hear Mr. Coleman dipping into a giant bag of M&Ms courtesy of Torrey's 1st birthday party.)

What's your favorite healthy thing to eat?

Nicole

Oak Glen Apples.

On Saturday Mr. Coleman and I ventured out to Oak Glen farms in Yucaipa, CA for some family time and apple picking.

It was an absolutely perfect day.

The weather was gorgeous, and the apples were delicious.

There are several farms at Oak Glen and you can visit them all. We ended up at Snow Line and Los Rios Ranchos. At the first farm we got delicious Arkansas Black, Fuji and Granny Smith apples. There is the most adorable little old man and his equally adorable old dog who own Snow Line and it was the most homey of all the places we saw at Oak Glen.

After Snow Line we headed over to some of the shops then to Los Rios Ranchos where we picked our own Rome Beauty apples. The sign at the front was really funny.

We had a wonderful time, there are only two weekends left at Oak Glen so if you want to head up there and pick some apples make sure you do it soon!

All photos taken with the iPhone app Instagram.

Until next time!

Nicole

Yep...that's my kitchen.

Not the most exciting picture ever but this is my kitchen. It's really nothing fancy. Actually it's not fancy at all. I do have the most amazing old appliances. Yes, you push buttons to turn on the stove.

Since we have moved in we have been focused on not eating out and finding ways to eat every meal in. We have been pretty successful to date and I actually like looking in the refrigerator and cabinents and figuring out what I can make with what we already have. I have made some pretty awesome things since we have moved in here.

• Banana Pecan Pancakes
• Caramel Honey Popcorn
• Broccoli Soup
• Old Fashioned Stew
• Meatloaf
• Smoothies
• Salsa
• Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
• Pineapple Sorbet

I've been experimenting more than I normally would have. The banana pecan pancakes were actually much easier than I expected. I took the pancake mix I bought, (I bought Bob's Red Mill Buttermilk Pancake Mix,) and added mashed bananas and the nuts! Super simple and very delicious. I think next time I would add some vanilla and cinnamon.

The meatloaf was my mom's recipe. I've never made it on my own and I won't lie, it kind of grossed me out big time to mash up all the ingredients...mainly the ground turkey...but I made it past the mixing and it turned out pretty well. Would have been better if I had a loaf pan.

I bought an awesome cookbook, Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook and from this book I have made stew, apple cinnamon oatmeal and as we speak I have broccoli soup in my crockpot. It's been a lot of fun making new recipes in the crockpot instead of the traditional chicken with onion and cream of celery soup. Not that it's not good, but the variety has been nice.

The caramel honey popcorn was one of my favorite things I've made yet. I got the recipe off the internet here and it turned out just perfectly. Crunchy, sweet a little salty. I would recommend adding nuts (I know the recipe calls for them but I didn't have any,) and making sure you don't have any unpopped kernals left in the popcorn. I pop my own popcorn on the stove and those little unpopped kernals about break your teeth when you aren't expecting them.

As a housewarming present Mr. Coleman's mom bought us a Ninja. I freaking LOVE this thing! She was telling us how awesome it is and everytime I use it I think it's more and more amazing. I have experimented with smoothies; which usually consist of protein powder, almond milk, strawberries or blueberries and yogurt. They blend up in 6 seconds, this thing means business! Today I made homemade salsa for the first time, (thanks Steve for the recipe!) and it was so easy and delicious.

My ice cream maker which was used ALOT before we moved had been sitting in the cabinent and I decided to make pineapple sorbet before the pineapple we had bought went bad. It was perfect. Easy, delicious and almost the perfect consistency. It was a little grainy but I think that I can fix that by diluting the sugar in water before I add it to the pineapple.

It's been great eating at home so much. I feel better when there are good things in my body. It's been great to know that we aren't eating processed food because we don't buy them. Sure, sorbet may not be the best thing for me to eat but with only pineapple, water and raw sugar it's definitely not processed. If it's real food I don't mind as much if it's unhealthy. Sure, we can't make ourselve cheese fries everyday just because we use fresh potatoes and cheese but it still feels good to know we aren't filling our bodies with as much processed food.

I still miss having the Del Taco around the corner though...

Until next time.

Nicole