What we ate last week

When I write, I want to move people.

(Speaking of which, I wrote an essay for DesignMom’s blog about my high-risk pregnancy and subsequent premature delivery of my 27-weeker, if you’re interested, read it here.)

At the very least, I hope to help people. So sometimes I feel silly writing about something as banal as food.

And yet.

We all eat.

And truly, I love food. I like cooking it, reading about it, writing about it, and most of all eating it.

I’ve tried various “menu plan” posts over the years with varying levels of commitment (perhaps not surprisingly, these were popular posts!).

This time, I’m taking a cue from The Frugal Girl and posting what we actually ate the week previous.

I always felt odd posting a menu plan because inevitably I end up changing it last minute at least a couple of nights a week for various reasons: a crucial ingredient gets eaten up (or I forgot to buy it or the store was out!), someone protests the menu, etc.

Hey, I can take a hint.

So here goes. A weekly post about food, and I don’t have to feel disingenuous.

Recent breakfast obsession:

Overnight oats.

I’ve discovered that my empty Bonne Maman jars are perfect for this. I put 1/4 cup steel-cut oats in a jar, cover with water, a dash salt, ground flax seed, a scoop of collagen peptides (for the protein, and because I loooove what it does for my skin and hair), a spoonful of butter, and whatever else suits my fancy: berries typically, with a little stevia and cinnamon, maybe a bit of chopped nuts, 1/4 of a sliced banana. In the morning I warm it up (I just can’t do cold oats in the winter!)

I also love oats with a teaspoon or two cocoa powder. Chocolate in the AM? Yes, ma’am.

So here’s what we actually ate last week, no foolin’.

Monday

Spinach lasagne | green salad – I used to make lasagne gluten-free by substituting zucchini for noodles, but the last couple of times I’ve used spinach instead, and I love it.

Tuesday

Swai fillets with a garlic-parsley-butter sauce | green salad | roasted fingerling potatoes | braised cabbage cooked in cream (Oh.Mah.Gawd. This was so good. I got the recipe from the author of the blog Orangette, whose memoir I read recently. The recipe is here. And it will be appearing on my table very regularly, since it turns this humble, inexpensive vegetable into a real delicacy. A delicacy, I tell you!)

Wednesday

Sauteed chicken with an onion and white wine sauce | fennel, parmesan and pear salad (pictured) | baked sweet potatoes | green peas

Thursday

Shepherd’s pie (instead of mashed potatoes, I used a mashed cauliflower topping. I don’t think anyone but my very picky child noticed, but even she didn’t turn up her nose.) | parmesan-topped broccoli

Friday

Frittata with pancetta, mozzarella, spinach and onion | sauteed buttered carrots | radish “hash” (which I’ve never cooked before, but was surprisingly good and a nice substitute for potatoes)

Cookbooks that inspired my menu this week:

The Bonne Femme Cookbook: Simple, Splendid Food That French Women Cook Every Day

Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook: Eat Up and Slim Down with More Than 350 Healthy Recipes

My very own Gluten-Free and Family Friendly