Well worth the wait

These days, the week prior to leaving on a trip is somewhere between circus and total chaos in our house.  Hence - the blog post just did not happen last week.  With a baby in tow it takes a minimum of 3 days to prepare for a vacation and when you throw in that baby being sick, work, school, mani/pedi (we were in a wedding - gotta have nice nails!)...time just really gets away from you!  Congrats to Mark and Tara on their beautiful wedding weekend and I hope that they are both relaxing on a peaceful beach in Hawaii....ahhhh.

When can we go?

I assure you that these meals were worth waiting for and you won't be disappointed if any end up on your table this week!

Let's start off with Italian Meatball Sliders.  We really loved these - this was a new recipe to us and it made enough for lunches during the week.  I couldn't find slider buns at the store so we just used smaller hamburger buns and they turned out just fine (we made the patties a little bigger as well).

Our meatless meal was Vegetable and Rice Burritos with Cheese.  These were nice and hearty for a veggie only burrito and we both agreed that this was a "keeper".  I was very careful not to over-stuff mine (for the sake of taking a picture) but Flick got a little aggressive with the fillings on his:

I'm way to full...

His required a fork and knife - mine came out well but doesn't stand out much against our burrito-wrap colored plates...a better photographer would have anticipated this and had an array of beautiful bright colored plates to display these tasty morsels on...we are a one-type-of-plate family:

Camouflaged

Antipasto Style Penne made for some delicious leftovers at lunch one day during the week.  I have made this both with the prosciutto crisped up and with it plain.  Both are fine but I definitely prefer it to be broiled a bit.  It is less stringy...I am a person who loves my bacon just to the edible side of "burnt to a crisp".  Limp bacon doesn't do it for me and I think prosciutto falls into that same category.

We tried Coconut Curried Pork, Snow Pea, and Mango Stir Fry this week.  This was a big hit with both of us - it is becoming apparent that we both really love curry dishes with a coconut milk base.  Mangoes are in season now so it is the perfect time to try this meal (so get after it!).  We have had this recipe in our book for ages and for whatever reason,  I have always passed over it.  I am so glad it is part of the rotation because it made for a delicious meal!  We served this over a sticky, long grain rice (I made a big batch and we used the leftovers in the aforementioned burritos later in the week).

Onto our fish meal: Cornmeal Crusted Catfish.  I never really had catfish until living out in Colorado but have come to include it as a regular player in our fish dinner category.  We design this meal to fully embrace the southern-style preparation for this fish (served with baked beans, slaw, and corn on the cob).  On a night with more time, we have cornbread too and it is just divine.  If you are a little unsure of catfish - use another mild, white fish (orange roughy would work really well too).

Hopefully you find these meals to be well worth the week delay in posting them!  It was great to catch up with everyone at the wedding and thanks to all who are following the blog.  I loved hearing from you about it and it means a lot to me to know that you are enjoying the posts.  Can't wait to see you all again soon!  Enjoy!