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Monday, January 30, 2012

A Week of Dinners

Good Monday morning everyone! I hope everyone had a pleasant weekend and are having a good day as well. As I've mentioned before, one of the many benefits of having an Italian boyfriend is that he is a phenomenal cook. Not only is he good at cooking, but he actually enjoys cooking and trying new things. Being a bit of a picky eater, I may stiffle his creativity just a tad, but I've been making some changes recently and find I'm actually learning to love trying new things. Though we eat out quite a bit with family and friends, E and I almost never go out because we actually prefer to stay in and cook a nice meal just the two of us. I was never much of a cook myself, but I am actually proud of myself and how good my cooking skills are getting. This past week I actually tried, for the first time, to make lasagna completely from scratch. Though it didn't turn out perfect, E ate his whole piece and promised that it was delicious. Coming from him, this is a true complement because, from what I hear, his sister makes the best lasagna he has ever tasted. Talk about setting the bar high :) One of my New Year's Resolutions was to try new foods as well as eat healthier and fresher dinners... so here's a week in our apartment seen through dinners.


Cabbage rolls stuffed with ground beef and sauteed vegetables. You could replace the beef with any meat of your choice or, for a vegetarian option, just fill it with the grilled vegetables. I have to say, I was a little hesitant to try them at first... but they were actually amazing. After they are made, you then let them simmer in a tomato and vegetable sauce. E made the entire thing from scratch and since the recipe yielded enough for 5 people, we froze some of them for future lunches or dinners.


The prep work for my lasagna. I found there were too many steps in the preparation for a dinner on a work night, but would love to try it again on a weekend when I am not as rushed. I made everything, including the white sauce (beshamel) from scratch. Even the tomato sauce. It was worth it.



The nights when I go to Yoga, or the gym after work tend to be more hectic. By the time I get home, I'm starving and hardly have time to heat something up (we don't own a microwave, so everything gets heated up in the oven or on the stove), so I was happy last week to come home to E cooking away. He made an amazing chicken dinner, complete with sauteed mushrooms, steamed Edamame, and roasted potatoes. It was delicious, and exactly what I wanted after a long day.


We always go out for family dinner on Friday nights, so on Thursday, we opted for a lighter meal consisting mainly of different salads. To make things more colorful, I made a few different salads instead of one large one. It was a nice change, and a good option since I don't like to eat meat every night.


Preparing the 'Caprese Salad' with nice, big, ripe tomatoes and a delicious fresh Buffalo Mozarella.


To complement the other salad, I made a Green Salad with iceburg lettuce, cucumbers and Edamame. It was nice, light, fresh and delicious.

 
The colors of Italy :)

All this talk of food is making me hungry, so I'm off to heat up my homemade chicken soup left over from yesterday.

Buon Appetito!
With Love,
S

7 comments:

  1. Sara, impressive... looks yummy!!! may try a few of ur ideas :)

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  2. Now, anyone who has made lasagne knows that it can be prepared ahead of time. The cheese and the sauce can be prepared on the weekend and put in the fridge. No need to sweat the details when you get home from a stressful day at work. The night before the whole thing can be assembled if you use Catelli express(R) red box lasagne which can be put together and then cooked in the sauce just before dinner (while you sip wine and eat munchies),.. I know- Catelli isn't the favourite of pure Italians but it works...I was there when it was developed and had more test lasagne than I care to mention!

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  3. Hahaha thanks for the advice.. I did use the Catelli in the red box actually, but the rest took time. Next time I'll try and prepare more ahead of time :) S

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  4. Excellent blog Sara!! Lots of good info,and the food looks terrific! Imay have to come for dinner!!

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  5. Thank you! Anytime :) S

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