Grocery Bag from April Edition of Everyday Food

If you're new to Obsessed with Martha Stewart, you may not have read my previous grocery bag posts in which I make the 5 meals listed in the grocery bag article of Everyday Food. Each month, it tests my abilities as a cook and my picky eater palette. I've tried many foods that I'd never eaten due to these recipes, and I've been pleasantly surprised by how cooking certain ingredients different ways changes their flavors. This month, I found two dishes two add to my regular rotation and a couple others that I'll definitely make again.

Monday: Baked Eggs and Tortillas in Creamy Tomato Sauce

Rating (1-10): 6.5

This was my least favorite meal out of the bunch. I really don't like "mushy" things. Seriously. One example of this is that I eat my cereal in five spoonful servings at a time, because I won't eat it if it gets soggy. The first time I ate cereal in front of my husband, he thought I was a little nuts. My biggest complaint from this meal was the mushy tortillas. The flavors were decent and it was a fun way to cook eggs for dinner, but I'd never make this meal again, even though my husband really enjoyed it. Sorry, hubby - it's not happening.   

Tuesday: Zucchini Pasta with Ricotta

Rating (1-10): 9

I'm a pasta lover, but I mainly like pastas with tomato sauces. I don't sway from those very often. Then I realized the deliciousness and simplicity of this dish. It was freakin awesome. The day after we had this for lunch, I ate lunch at 11:00 a.m., because I couldn't stop thinking about the creamy goodness of this pasta. And you don't have to feel too guilty, because one serving is only 565 calories. Compare that to your favorite dish that you get at your local Italian restaurant.

This pasta dish was a cinch to make with only a handful of ingredients including EVOO, zucchini, salt and pepper, linguine, lemon, and ricotta. That combination was delightful. 

Wednesday: Tangy Chicken With Orzo Pilaf

Rating (1-10): 8.5

Out of all of the dinners from this week, this one was the biggest pain to make, taking about 1 hour and 15 minutes. That's a little tough to swallow for a weekday meal, but when you realize that you're basically making two meals it's more pleasant. You save half of the sauce and the chicken breasts for Friday's dinner. After I finished cooking, my husband and I ate dinner enjoying a glass of wine. Things that shall not be mentioned here {because my family members read this blog} occurred and we were preoccupied. We fell asleep without cleaning up the dishes {which we usually do} and I woke up at 4 in the morning in a complete panic.

We hadn't put away the chicken or the sauce and it was a congealed mess on the counter top. There went Friday's easy dinner, because I'd have to remake the sauce and chicken.  To top it all off, I couldn't fall back to sleep, so I was irritable the next day.

Thursday: Bean and Cheese Burritos

Rating (1-10): 9.5

Oh. My. Holy. Deliciousness. I usually like my burritos with some type of meat, preferably chicken, but this recipe didn't call for meat. I also despise refried beans. Guess what? I loved them in these burritos. If you want your kids to eat some veggies and healthy protein, make these for them. I liked these so much that we're making them again for dinner this week. The only bad part about this dish was I ate DOUBLE what I supposed to eat. Oops. I couldn't resist.

Friday: Roast Chicken with Zucchini, Carrots, and Onions

Rating: (1-10): 8.5

If I hadn't had to remake the chicken and sauce, this meal would have been super simple. Unfortunately, having a little too much fun on Wednesday night caused me to forget that the chicken and sauce were cooling on the counter. Even though, I had to do double the work and spend double the money, I enjoyed this meal. I felt really healthy eating it and the recipe included cooking the veggies my favorite way - roasting them.  

Comments

[Sus]

Enough with the Wed. night shenanigans!! Haha! Sounds like a yummy week of food...even if you don't like soggy tortillas.

p.s. I think you should write a blog entry on care packages. And mail one to your favorite sister-in-law. :)

[erica]

Just found your blog...LOVE MARTHA TOO...i am on this same week's meals right now. Loved the tortilla thing, doing pasta w/ riccotta tonight & pan roasted chick...it sounds like I shall skip the other chick one?