Life (and food) with baby: part III

Hello again! As I mentioned, I'm still cooking up a storm around here, though I do things a little differently now that baby Emmett is around. I caught you up on breakfasts (though I forgot to mention breakfast tacos, which are still a house favorite, but usually only on the weekends).

My kitchen organizational skills kick into high gear in order to make dinner a tasty, timely and non-stressful affair. I take into account our schedule for the day when I'm making meal plans, so that if I'll be out and about, I keep the prep time minimal. Or, if I anticipate Emmett being pretty fussy and hands-on during dinner prep, I'll make sure it's not a super temperamental dinner that requires exact timing or it tastes bad (like a sauce that needs constant stirring, or a high-heat cooking situation that might burn if I have to step away for a moment (or 20).

But before I share a few recent wins, hello from Emmett!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, y'all!

I thought I've be making a lot more pasta these days, but surprisingly I haven't. That said, this Bacon and Shrimp Pasta Toss from Cooking Light came together in seconds (I used greens from the garden, and I added in some sundried tomatoes from the fridge - what is this, 1994??). 

 I want to put this tahini sauce on EVERYTHING. I did a riff on this Cauliflower and Chickpea Quinoa with Tahini Drizzle from Cooking Light adding chicken and subbing in broccoli (it was on sale, otherwise I totally would've used cauliflower, my looooove). I love recipes like this because you can prepare each component separately ahead of time, if needed (i.e. cook the chicken, prepare the quinoa, roast the veggies and whisk the sauce) and then either rewarm and toss together, or even enjoy at room temp.

 We like keeping tamales in the freezer to then build an easy meal around them. One of my go-to's is roasted sweet potato with tamales. This one I also topped with diced avocado and queso fresco. I also love topping baked sweet potatoes with black beans and sauteed greens, or with chili.

This Balsamic Chicken with Walnuts and Olives was a weeknight win for sure. I wisked together the sauce, toasted and chopped the walnuts, and chopped the shallots ahead of time. Then, I went ahead and did a tahini lemon dressing and tossed the kale salad (because bonus! kale tastes better if you like it hang out in dressing for a while!). When I got the call from Luke that he was headed home, I fired up the pan for the chicken and dinner was finishing up when he got home 10 minutes later. BAM.

Another freezer go-to? Delicious ravioli! I never kept it in the freezer before, but I love having it around to toss with whatever veggies I have on hand that I roast. No sauce needed - just a little olive oil, parm and salt and pepper.

That's it for now - more weeknight dinner successes soon!