MPM--Back to the Future

Phew! My head is still spinning after the last week, which saw two proms, two graduations, two graduation parties, two trips to three states away, and my husband off to his reunion on his own. Add to this the car repair, the allergies, did I mention we're eliminating naps? and I do mean "we"? and oh, I am just glad the week is done, for as wonderful and as lovely as it all was.

Now things re-settle a little...my youngest is back in a nursery school program, we're all home, and things should settle back in to a routine. Just in time for Eating Down the Fridge Summer Edition, which for us, will include many vegetables from the CSA box. We have been overrun with lettuce...I'm eating salads two meals a day, every day, and wondering if spring mix can go in to an omelet. So I'm looking forward to that.

So, this week:

Monday: I'm going out with friends. It's a tough re-entry for my husband but I'm sure he'll deal.

Tuesday: I'm like an addict, aren't I? One last crockpot recipe--this one, for the faux P.F. Chang's/Pei Wei chicken lettuce wraps--before I put it away in the "stuff I rarely use" area of the laundry/kitchen storage area. Since we have so many lettuces in which to wrap it!

Wednesday: I'm going out again. Paybacks are a bummer. (Kidding. It just happened this way, but it is probably good timing. And honestly, the kids like what he comes up with better than what I come up with anyway.)

Thursday: And did I mention that it's a big chicken week here? Trying the Brown Sugar Chicken recipe too, plus rice and a veggie from the box. And salad.

Friday: Freezer meal, just to mentally prep for next week.

(for more actually planned menus, try I'm an Organizing Junkie!)

Last week actually went pretty well, considering the pace. The big hit of the week was John McCain's ribs, which my husband ate (by choice) three nights in a row. I enjoyed them too, and so did one child. Oh, and I ran out of time to bake the potatoes (pathetic, I know) so I tried this cheesy potato bake from the same woman with the day-ahead mashed potatoes. Folks, this woman knows her way around spuds. They were good and quick and went great with the ribs.

Also, instead of regular-spaghetti Wednesday, I finally tried the Smitten Kitchen asparagus lemon goat cheese rotini. They were a pretty big hit, at least with the grownups. Unlike me, astute readers will see how close this is to this recipe, which I made last year, except easier (and ergo better) since the roasting is replaced by tossing asparagus in with the cooking pasta, and butter is replaced by pasta water. But in the realm of similar recipes, the best still goes to this one from Epicurious for gnocchi with spinach and peas.

So next week should be interesting...depending what comes in the CSA box, I may not need to shop for anything other than milk and maybe lunchmeat for the week. That would be nice. Stay tuned and we'll see what evolves!