Buffalo chicken orzo

My daughter and I went on a six mile bike  today. Man, I am out of shape. But I never was an athlete!

When we got home, the family whipped up a hot lunch of leftover orzo with chopped chicken.

My husband and daughter had theirs with sugar snap peas, lima beans, and brussel sprouts drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and topped with herbs and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

I had no lima beans and used Archer Farns buffalo sauce on mine.

The Ultimate After Work Sandwich

I got home from work at 10 pm today and I didn't think I was hungry (having not eaten dinner) but at 10:30 it became clear that I was.

One thing led to another and before you know it I had made this truly, truly beautiful sandwich.

INGREDIENTS (per sandwich):

- one Morningstar chickpea pattie

- chopped raw kale (a double to triple layer) 

- a hot dog bun

- a couple tablespoons of grated Parmesan

- a couple heaping tablespoons Archer Farms fire roasted habanero salsa

I toasted the hot dog bun under a high broiler, added the cheese to both sides and returned it to the oven.

Then I heated the chick pea pattie in the microwave.

I took the hot dog bun out of the oven. Cutting the chick pea pattie into strips, I arranged them on one side of the bun and the kale layered on the other. On top of the kale I plopped the salsa and then I plopped the two halves together.

This will be repeated for dinner for the family sometime soon.

Heaven.

Fat Tuesday

I had no idea what to make for dinner so I swung through Target after a long shift...

I grabbed steaks, vegetables, strawberries and creme brûlée for my Fat Tuesday celebration.

My total bill came to $25.92.

- 4 small Angus steaks, $10, regularly $15.98
- fresh express iceberg garden salad, $1.47
- Green Giant fresh asparagus $2.49, regularly $3.49 (and was not in as good of condition as I thought when I bought it... Sad face)
- fresh strawberries, 1 quart, on sale for $2.49
- archer farm steam-in-bag broccoli, on sale for $1.89
- 2 boxes of Archer Farm creme brûlée (each with two servings), $5.99 each

Subtotal: $30.32
Team member discount: - 3.04
REDcard savings: - 1.36

What did I do with it?

When I got home, I touched off my enormous pépé mug with chai, and washed the asparagus. While my husband cooked the steaks with just a little garlic pepper and Italian seasoning, I cut some slits into the asparagus and spread some extra virgin olive oil and garlic pepper on them on the cookie sheet. I preheated the oven to 450 and really roasted that asparagus to a golden brown.

Then I split two raspberry Chobani "bites" with dark chocolate into three bowls and garnished with fresh strawberry slices.

That was the first course. The second course was a big old plate of salad. Third course was the asparagus.

Husband prepared the fourth course, the steam-in-bag broccoli drizzled with sesame oil and the steaks.

Dessert is the creme brûlée prepared by the child.

The wine is local apple wine from Stroudsburg.

Cheater dinner of scallops

Tonight is my last psych lab. Last night of a quick dinner before running out the door to attend a three-hour night class.

So, over the weekend I used some coupons at Target. $1 off an Archer Farms purchase of three dollars or more... I got the bacon wrapped scallops, regularly priced $6.99.

In the frozen veggie aisle, many varieties of Green Giant Steam-in-bag vegetables are on sale this month for 5/$5. I can't use any of them with butter or cheese sauce so I decided to try the plain asparagus tips.

Add that to the brown rice my husband made for dinner last night and voilà!

Flounder with homemade tartar sauce

Today for Sunday dinner I made white rice, green beans almandine and Archer Farm lemon-chive flounder with homemade tartar sauce.

I got the fish on clearance, $2.48 for three servings. I made the tartar sauce on the back of the box, with modifications based on my family's preferences.

The original recipe:
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 2 tablespoons chopped pickle, relish or capers
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix and refrigerate

My version:
- 1/4 cup mayo
- 1 teaspoon fresh chives (chopped) from my garden
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon thyme from my garden
- 1/2 dill pickle spear, chopped
- 2 teaspoons honey mustard (no other varieties in the house)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice

I loved this sauce, so did my husband. That's amazing since I hate mayo and he hates mustard, citrus and pickles.

Avoiding failure

Today started strong. It's December first so I have to forgive myself for blowing November's food budget in a flurry of ear tube surgery, report card rewards, stress eating and Thanksgiving.

Breakfast was vegan pumpkin waffles with maple syrup from the freezer.

Lunch was hurried after an eye doctor appointment so it was a bowl of Boo Berry with unsweetened soy milk.

So I had to make myself something hearty for 4 o'clock snack (before work.)

I opted for two scrambled eggs in small tortilla shells, Archer Farms summer fruit salsa and a touch of pepper jack cheese.