Monday Meal Planning

It's been a while, friends, and I am eager to get back to blogging about our weekly meals.  This week, I am so excited to have a guest blogger...my incredibly talented and awesome sister is here sharing two of her recent masterpieces.  Even though she is my little sister, I look up to her as a chef and want to be as good a cook as she is when I grow up!  She's one of those people who doesn't need a recipe, and I have always been envious of that!  So, without further ado, here is what's been cookin' in her kitchen lately...

November 10, 2016

My beautiful and awesome sister invited me to guest blog for an upcoming post and asked me to share some recipes I’ve tried lately.  I absolutely love to cook and am always looking for new recipes or new ways to cook some of my favorite foods.  I am lucky that I have a husband who loves food and cooking as much as I do and that we have an adventurous six-year-old who will try almost anything... and like it.

I often have ground beef in my fridge or freezer and tend to make the typical meatloaf, tacos, burgers or chili with it.  Occasionally my husband makes a mean shepherd’s pie, or shall I say cottage pie since it’s made with beef and not lamb.  I started looking for different ways to use ground beef and came across a delicious one for beef stroganoff.  It was definitely yummy, but I still wanted to find more recipes that were simple and comforting.  As usual, I researched my favorite website, skinnytaste, and came across a recipe for Salisbury Steak.  I know what you’re thinking, Salisbury Steak is what you had for TV dinners back in the 80s and you haven’t thought of it since.  Let me tell you, it was a blast from the past delicious.  I did alter the recipe a little as I didn’t have any ground turkey on hand and I ended up serving mine over Cauliflower mash instead of mashed potatoes.  My son scarfed it down and I got a little extra since it was so delicious.  It definitely satisfied our palates and made me fulfilled in my quest of finding another ground beef recipe to add to my recipe box. 

See the recipe here:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/skinny-salisbury-steak-with-mushroom/

Other than looking for new recipes for change, I also enjoy cooking with the seasons.  I love the fall and everything that goes with it – leaves changing color, crispness in the air, soups/stews and fall vegetables.  I was interested in spaghetti squash, having only made it once before, and finding it easier to make than I thought and really yummy.  This time I wanted to add more ingredients and flavor to it.  I came across a recipe that had mushrooms (one of my son’s favorites), garlic and sage.  I love using herbs that I don’t use very often so I settled on trying this recipe.  It turned out delicious and my little boy and husband were very pleased with the results.  The sage was yummy and we even did the truffle oil drizzle before eating it.  I would definitely make this recipe again, but I am sure my curiosity of cooking things different ways will entice me to seek out more recipes for spaghetti squash that I can keep in my repertoire.

See the recipe here:

http://www.feastingathome.com/roasted-spaghetti-squash-with-mushrooms-garlic-sage/

 Big thank you to my sister for asking me to guest blog.  I enjoy cooking so much and am always sharing photos of my meals with my family so I am happy she asked me to share with all of you!

Emily