Update our Meals Challenge, Week 3

While we had a plan this week it wasn't all smooth sailing. I had a back injury and we went  into a holiday weekend with no plan...well except to go off the plan, ribs,brats, burgers....yeah we're a bit all American here. We still did pretty good!

Grilled Chicken Cutlets with Squash and Tomatoes

This is the dinner that almost wasn't because PBDad couldn't find the book (totally my fault it was on my nightstand). So he marinated breasts (not cutlets) in apple cider vinegar (okay so actually he brined them) instead of the lemons. Our other mistake was we over cooked the tomatoes and let the salad sit too long so it was a little mushy, but we just scooped them up on rustic bread and it was like bruscetta!

Overall we were, once again thrilled with the recipe. Neither of the kids ate the salad but they both tried it and PBboy ate two helpings of chicken. Although we were going to get ice-cream afterwards so I am sure that offered some incentive!

Two and half thumbs up!

Salmon with Scallion relish served with Mashed green peas

Challenge 1: Salmon is my least favorite fish. Challenge 2: PBDad and PBboy declared the mashed peas baby food, therefore PBgirl would not try them because she is a "big girl". Convenient that PBboy had a stomach virus or I would have made him eat a whole bowl!

So the verdict? The adults LOVED it. I actual took seconds of the fish. The scallion relish on top of the salmon added a crunchy, freshness to it that took away it's "fishy" flavor and just made it taste good. The concept (we think) of mashing the peas is to make it a more hearty side without adding a lot of fat or carbs, such as rice of potatoes, and it worked! They didn't taste like baby food at all (which is partially thanks to Trader Joe's who makes the best tasting frozen peas in the world).

Picky eater rating? She will eat salmon because it's pink. She doesn't like it, but she eats it. She would not touch the peas. 2 (parental) thumbs  up!

Macaroni and Cheese served with Ham Steak
Oh the drama! Oh the tears! "Mommy this is not macaroni and cheese from the blue box!" Sob, cry, yell!

Yep, that's how it went. See PBDad and I were going to skip this. Our goal with the challenge is to try new things and get PBgirl out of her I only eat macaroni and cheese phase. However when we were making the menu she begged to make this. The original plan was to have her help make it so she would hopefully eat it. It didn't work out that way and she wouldn't eat it. PBboy of course loved it.PBDad and I well we thought it was lacking something and just eh? okay. Because of the tantrum it caused, I kind of wish we had skipped it!

Next week's plan:
Monday: Burgers
Tuesday: Bacon egg casserole
Wednesday: modified turkey sandwich with apple and havarti
Thursday: egg toasts
Friday: barbecued pork and glazed carrots
Saturday: chicken parmigiana

dessert: buttermilk custards with raspberry sauce

If you're on Pinterest all these recipes are collected on the board YUM (if you're not on Pinterest and want an invite leave your email in the comments!)

What's on your menu this week?