This Week's Eats: Week 8 | Kitchen Fails and Delicious Celebrations
/There was very little planning that went into this week. Not because we were busy, but because Brandon was traveling and because our schedule was filled with celebrating friends, family, and life. The little planning was a good thing because we managed to screw up the only two meals that were planned. Oops.
Monday
Breakfast: Bagel with cream cheese.
Lunch: family lunch at Panera Bread.
Dinner: Orange Glazed Meatballs with bok choy and Jasmine rice. This was our second time making the Blue Apron meal and it was a bit of a fail. I read a few comments and decided to use egg to hold the meatballs together and to also pre-bake them prior to frying. Don't do that. I also didn't realize that we were out of oranges, that we didn't have enough sweet chili sauce, and I accidentally over-corrected by using too much ponzu. We ate the meal but it wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been.
Tuesday
Breakfast: Eggo waffles with Nutella and a banana.
Lunch: Russian dumplings.
Dinner: "Damsel Pasta." This was almost another fail because the sausage that we were going to use was expired. Thank goodness for a Harris Teeter less than a mile away from the house. The other fail? Zoodles that were very bitter and waterlogged because the zucchini wasn't very fresh.
Damsel in Dior Pasta over Zoodles
Wednesday
Breakfast: bagel with cream cheese.
Lunch: grain salad bowl with tofu.
Charlotte's Lunch: Justin's vanilla almond butter on wheat bread, cheese, pepperoni, strawberries, and fruit gummies.
Dinner: leftover pasta.
Thursday
Breakfast: Eggo waffles with Nutella and a banana.
Lunch: smoked salmon with boiled baby potatoes.
Dinner: pizza, pasta, and cocktails at WP Kitchen + Bar to celebrate my friend Erin, who was recently named the editor of Carolina Bride.
Calling Dr. Love | A mildly tart and refreshing mix of fresh raspberries, Ban Vodka, St. Germaine and prosecco.
Once Bitten...Twice Shy | A smooth mixture of Maker's Mark, Amareno cherry juice and sweet Vermouth
Spaghetti | tomato-basil-garlic sauce, parmesan
Friday
Breakfast: chocolate yogurt bar. All the Russians in Charlotte (including me) are going nuts over these because they remind us of our childhood snack that is a much sweeter version of what these are.
Brunch: Haberdish to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday. It will required a separate post to talk about all the things we ate, but here's a photo I took of our table while standing on a chair to give you a glimpse of the feast.
Charlotte's Lunch: Justin's vanilla almond butter on wheat bread, cheese, pepperoni, broccoli, and fruit gummies.
Dinner: all you can eat sushi at Mr. Tokyo. I think this makes it three weeks in a row that we've been there...
Saturday
Breakfast: Eggo waffles with Nutella
Lunch: grain bowl salad and leftovers
Dinner: pork chops with sweet potatoes and slaw. We eat very little pork (outside of BBQ) because I had a very bad experience when I was pregnant. I'll spare you the details but it was enough for me to swear off (non-BBQ) pork for eternity. But my husband asked for pork, and I couldn't think of anything better for dinner, so we had pork.
I did a quick marinade using brown sugar and soy sauce before Brandon threw the chops on the grill. For sides I made roasted sweet potato spirals and a red cabbage slaw with daikon radish, peach, orange slices, and juice of one lemon.
Sunday
Breakfast: smoked salmon with boiled baby potatoes.
Lunch: snacks after a 90 minute flow at NoDa Yoga. (More on that in another post!)
Dinner: pre-made pho from Aldi. I wasn't a fan, mainly because it tasted too much like onion.
I enjoyed having to plan a few meals but with plenty of leftovers and will try to do the same for next week.
What's on your menu next week?
