June 29 Menu

Last minute plans have us going away this weekend preceding the menu, so I've been forced to resort to a website a friend referred to me some time ago and which I linked to last week. This was going to be a chicken themed week for a good friend of ours that is known to be more than an aficionado of the fine feathered friend - fried, baked, steamed, broiled, etc. But I guess we'll do that next week and that'll be good since they're on vacation themselves and it wouldn't be the same if they didn't come over. So without much ado, this week we'll do pasta!

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/popular-ingredients/20-easy-pasta-recipes-10000001156072/

I'm not a big fan of pasta dishes (especially as stand alone dinner dishes in themselves which my Italian friends would never "sit" for), but it defintely brings simplicity and taste together in every meal. Also, as I experienced when doing a japanese theme week many moons ago, being focused on a particular cuisine makes the most efficient use of resources. And most importantly, our daughter very much enjoyed the fettucine alfredo like we've never witnessed before.

Like rice for asian cuisine, let's make sure there's a simple salad at every meal (or antipasta if you're really up to it).

Monday - Penne, Salmon, Arugula, Chives

• By now, it should be fairly obvious, I like doing fish on Mondays. I know it's supposed to be on Fridays, but who can really store it that long?
• http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/penne-salmon-arugula-chives-10000000663083/

Tuesday - Ravioli with Roasted Zucchini

• Like fish, fresh ravioli from the gourmet store makes all the difference. A gorgonzola filled ravioli sounds like a good accent, no?
• http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/ravioli-roasted-zucchini-10000001038766/

Wednesday - Hot Italian Sausage and Pasta

• Mmmmmm, sausage. Can I suggest a more citrus flavored salad dressing?
• http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/hot-italian-sausage-tomato-pasta-10000001060279/

Thursday - Last Minute Lasagna

• You knew one of these days I was going to resort to the frozen foods section. But does the spinach really have to be frozen? I'll let you know.
• http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/last-minute-lasagna-10000000610496/

Friday - Definitely bon chon chicken.

• Although, my wife is finding more reasons to ban fried foods from the menu. This may be my last bon chon in a good while.
• So long, bon chon. It is so oxymoronic, I can't let it go, can I?

Shopping List for me:

• Pasta - penne, fettucine, fresh ravioli
• Meat, Poultry, Seafood - salmon, hot italian sausage
• Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs - arugula, chives, spinach, basil, mixed-greens, red onion, yellow cherry tomatoes, zucchini, flat leaf parsley, lemon, fresh seasonal fruit
• Dairy, Juice, Eggs - Shredded mozarella, eggs,
• Grains, Breads - pine nuts
• Frozen Foods - cheese ravioli

Shopping List Addtl:

• Dairy, Juice, Eggs - grated parmesan
• Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs - garlic
• Frozen Foods - chopped spinach

Notes of the week:

1. Be gentle when mixing ingredients in a fish dish.

2. For the lasagna dish, we tried a frozen soy filled wheat ravioli which should give me tons of health food cred. The fact that I ate it and really didn't think twice about it is probably due to the amount of real mozarella cheese I used and the somewhat over powering amount of canned pasta sauce.

3. It is very difficult for us to have pasta dishes straight for one week. There are tons of leftovers which I'm afraid will be tossed.