I’m back from an unintended hiatus! Life has been pretty busy lately and I’ve been travelling a lot - every Monday has been sneaking up on me! I missed sending this one out two weeks ago, so here’s a retrospective on the first two weeks of July. Next week I’ll recap 2 weeks again.
Cooking
Zucchini Chicken Burgers: these are my fav chicken burger - the zucchini keeps them moist and the Worcestershire sauce gives them the almost “smash burger” like flavour. They are quite sticky so try oiling your hands before forming and if grilling, grill on high heat on the first side so a crust forms.
Other things I cooked:
Alison Roman Cold Noodles with Chile Oil and Citrusy Cabbage: I loved this recipe for hot summer day lunches. It is a lot of prep/components, so I recommend prepping on an evening when you have some extra time, then it’s ready in the fridge for the week. Cool, spicy, crunchy and refreshing!
Bachelorette Cottage Weekend Menu: I managed the menu for my (soon-to-be) sister-in-law’s bachelorette two weeks ago. There were 12 people at the cottage so I planned meals that were easy to prep ahead of time and definitely… carb-heavy:
Friday night:
Grossy Pelosi Vodka Sauce: this is one of my fav easy pasta sauces - I tripled the recipe and the leftovers were great in the fridge throughout the weekend if anyone got peckish.
Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Meatballs: I follow the ratios of my Glazed Chicken Meatballs but use Italian flavours instead (Italian seasoning, dried basil, dried garlic). When I form the meatballs I put a small cube of fresh mozzarella inside. Since I was making so many (I tripled the recipe) I baked them on a sheet pan at 425F for about 25 mins until the internal temp was 165F. I made these the night before and reheated them in store-bought pesto sauce in the oven in a covered pan.
Caesar Salad and Garlic Bread: used Hope Blooms Smokey Caesar dressing and store-bought garlic bread #efficiency
Saturday brunch:
Half Baked Harvest’s Overnight Brioche Cinnamon Rolls: these are my absolute favourite cottage trick - you make these up until step 5 at home, bring them to the cottage and put them in the fridge until the morning, then bake and have fresh cinnamon rolls without the mess. I did regular milk instead of egg nog for these.
Potato Bake, breakfast sausages and scrambled eggs: I also prepped a big sheet pan of roasted potatoes seasoned with paprika, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper, with diced red onion and red pepper at home. I put this in a casserole pan to take to the cottage, then reheated it in the morning with grated cheddar cheese and sliced green onion on top. Served with scrambled eggs and breakfast sausages.
Saturday supper:
Rick Martinez’s Sloppy joes: our Saturday theme was “Camplorette” so I wanted to make something that fit this - inspired by “It Takes Two” I decided to make sloppy joes. I prepped the filling at home the day before and then reheated it on the stove before serving. These got rave reviews so the recipe comes highly recommended! The adjustments I made were: I added finely diced carrot and red pepper instead of green pepper, and I added 1 tbsp of tomato paste in addition to the crushed tomatoes (I used passata).
Greek Chicken: in case anyone wasn’t a red meat person I also made some greek marinated chicken thighs that I seared in a pan and then finished in the oven. Ideally, these would be grilled but the BBQ at the Airbnb didn’t look great. I made a marinade of minced garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper at home, put the chicken thighs in a baggy with the marinade and brought that to the cottage.
Green apple coleslaw: I made my fav mustardy coleslaw (recipe on my Instagram feed) as a bright, crunchy side. I made the dressing at home and brought it in a mason jar, then used bagged coleslaw mix to save time so it was just the green onion and apple I needed to prep at the cottage.
Grossy Pelosi’s Chocolate Chip cookies: my fav chocolate chip cookies! I made the dough and froze them at home, brought them frozen to the cottage so I could bake the cookies fresh after dinner. A big hit!
Sunday morning:
Bagel bar: to keep things simple for the day we had to leave I did a “make-your-own bagel bar” with a few types of bagels, cream cheese, butter, peanut butter, jam, and some fresh fruit and sliced veggies.
Drinking
Virga Crancherry Voda Soda. My family and I went to Authentic Seacoast Distillery when we were in Larry’s River for the long weekend. This vodka soda beverage tastes just like cherry with a bit of tang and is so refreshing!
Eating
The Narrows Deviled Eggs. When I was home in Halifax we went to The Narrows Public House in the North End - might be my new favourite pub! It’s in an old Halifax house (giving Henry House vibes), and the atmosphere is great. We ordered these as an app and I loved them. The eggs are slightly pickled so there’s some bite to them, and they are topped with crispy leeks. So good!
Listening
Using
Hope Blooms Smokey Caesar Dressing. I’ve linked this before, it’s truly my favourite premade dressing. I always add a touch of fresh lemon juice, pepper and grated parm - makes for the perfect caesar salad.
Thinking
About cold food on these hot days. With the heat waves lately, I’ve been craving a lot of salads, cold sandwiches and cold noodles.
Laughing
Have a great week,
Kaleigh