Week in Pictures: April 4, 2011

It's been a bit of a crazy week. We've had construction guys in my kitchen almost every day, which has made cooking a challenge at times. The good news is...my new hood is in!

Here's what I made this week:

Sunday:

We had a lazy day on Sunday and the boys slept most of the afternoon. So, I didn't make anything fancy for dinner. I did make Crockpot Apple Coffee Cake for our small group, although I forgot to add the sugar. It was that kind of day. There's no picture of that mistake!

We did snack on these yummy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles that I made last week instead.

Monday:

Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken. After a busy weekend with guests for dinner on Friday and Saturday, and company on Sunday, plus all the running around and staging, I knew I needed to keep it simple. Love this meal. It's something I've made many times, so...no picture again.

Tuesday:

Ovenschotel met gehaktballetjes en winterpeen. This is officially my new favorite Dutch recipe. WOW!!! So SO good. It translates to Casserole with Meatballs and Carrots, and the secret ingredient is Ketjap Manis, which is a sweet Indonesian soy sauce. You should be able to find it in an Asian or Dutch store. You can also make it yourself. YUM!

Wednesday:

Such a fun night! My Valentines Day gift from The Hubs was a knife skills class with a friend. We had a blast, and totally rocked our Greek Panzanella Salad. There was lots of cutting and lots of learning.

Thursday: I was wiped. We had leftovers.

Friday:

Crockpot Coconut Beef. This one was a total experiment, and The Hubs actually liked it more than I did. I forgot to start the rice, so I made couscous instead and added a big handful of flaked coconut (unsweetened). I thought it had a bite, but The Hubs thought it was just right.

Saturday:

BBQ Chicken Pizza. I was a little afraid, but I made my first homemade pizza dough to go with this recipe. It took a little time, because the dough needed to rise, but WOW, so, so good. I'll definitely make this again. Maybe next week because my dough recipe made enough for two pizzas.

I'll have to make a separate post about the dough because I found the recipe in a book, but here's a sneak peak: 4.5 cups flour (I used 1 c. whole wheat, the rest AP), 2 t. yeast, 2 t. salt, 2 T. sugar, 2 T olive oil and 1 3/4 cup COLD water (I thought it was odd that it wasn't warm, but it worked). Combine all dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Stir together until mixture becomes dough. Knead 10 minutes (a great workout if you don't have a mixer!). Form into 2 balls, place in lightly oiled bowls. Cover and let rise for 1-2 hours. When doubled in size, punch down. Let rest 20 min. Roll or pull dough to size of your pizza pan. Add toppings and bake. (Dough lasts in frig for 6 days).

Eet Smakelijk!

The Week In Pictures

I'm going to try something new: a weekly review of the recipes I made each week, possibly with commentary.

Sunday:

Frittata. I didn't actually take a photo of my frittata this time since I've made it before, although I did take some cute pictures with boys during dinner. Like this one.

I think this recipe will become one of those great catch-all recipes. Got some eggs, some greens, some cheese, some veggies? How about a frittata!? As a bonus, frittata is really fun to say. Frittata, frittata, frittatata...

Monday:

Chicken Stew with Dumplings. This was really, REALLY good. I have been looking for a good crockpot-chicken-and-dumplings recipe and found this one for the stove. But it has the perfect comfort food flavor and texture so I forgive it. Only think I'll change is to add a little extra broth, because the leftovers were a little low on liquid. Actually, next time I'll double the recipe so I have more leftovers.

Paasbrood. I'm quite proud of my first attempt at making this Dutch Easter bread. It's very similar to the cinnamon raisin bread I've been making every week, but it has almond paste and orange peel instead.

Rolling up the paasbrood.

Tuesday:

Indian Spiced Oats with Coconut Milk. I have steel cut oats most every morning. Usually I make a big batch early in the week and then portion it out. I had a little extra coconut milk so I made this version. It was quite good, so I'll definitely keep it in the rotation.

Indonesian Pilaf. Big Day! We signed the contract for our new house. While our builders were here, I was able to introduce them to one of my favorite new meals.

Mint Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies. I was intrigued by the oat flour in this recipe. I have some in my pantry from something I made before, so I'm always looking for other oat flour recipes. I also had some leftover cream cheese so this seemed like a good use-thing-up recipe. I didn't have mint chips so I added about 1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract instead. I thought the cookies turned out well, but I still like this recipe for mint chocolate chip cookies better.

Wednesday:

The first shuffle of the week came on Wednesday. I forgot we had a play date/pizza party with our small group. I scrapped the Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups.

Thursday:

Broccoli Brunch Braid. This recipe has been in the binder for awhile and never disappoints. Best of all, even though it looks complicated, it's quite easy and very tasty.

Chocolate Cookie Dough Truffles. There's a local coffee shop that makes these amazing healthy-ish cookie dough things called Morsi. I was trying to find the recipe (still am) when I found these not-at-all healthy cookie concoctions. There were really fun to make--although I really need to get a candy fork to make my life easier--and even more fun to eat!

Friday:

Greek Chicken Pasta. I switched this meal around too because we had some new friends in town over for dinner, and this looked like it made the most of anything I was making. It was a new recipe to me, which made me a little nervous, but either they liked it or are very polite! I used regular cubed chicken, which I seasoned with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper before cooking separately. Other than that, the only other change I would make is too cook the pasta a little less.

Saturday:

Pasties. This classic UP recipe was a big hit last time I made them. I had some leftover veggies all cubed and ready to go, so this will be an easy meal. I put a little garlic salt in the dough for a bit of a bunch. I consulted the FB universe to learn what I should serve with them, and based on the collective wisdom I gleaned, offered them up with dill sauce, ketchup, BBQ sauce, gravy and mashed potatoes.

No picture this time since it was leftovers.

Eet Smakelijk!