The New Kid on the Block

I apologize in advance if you now have a NKOTB ballad stuck in your head.  I couldn't resist.  You may or may not find it interesting to know that I was never a New Kids fan.  Yes, though I was a product of the 80s and early 90s music era, I did not "hang tough".  The only NKOTB swag that I owned was a pair of slippers that my Memere and I bought when she took me shopping as my birthday present one year.  I am pretty sure that my lack of interest in them had something to do with the fact that I was too busy listening to the Pointer Sisters and Michael Jackson albums.  Now do you have "Jump for my Love" or "Man in the Mirror" in your head instead?  How about now?

Back to being the new kid on the block.  I started a new job this week.  After having been with my previous company for just over 6 years, I landed a new gig with a biotech company here in Boulder.  The first day I was excited at the prospect of a fresh start but had that nervous "first day of school" feeling.  I think it is a good thing - as my late father-in-law used to say: "If you're green, you're growing, if you're not, you rot".  My goal in life is to always be some shade of green; staleness does not sit well with me.

Where does this all tie into a weekly meal plan you ask?  It is so easy to fall into a pattern of making the same few dishes over, and over.  Before you know it, you are burnt out on your usual rotation and you would rather scrape gum off the driveway than have to eat the same old dinner for the 5th (or maybe 10th) time in a month.  Writing this blog has really helped me to expand our repertoire of meals.  Of course we have our favorites that we go back to when we are looking for something delicious and reliable, but putting a new dish on the table for dinner can be oddly satisfying (well, not so odd if you are anything like me).  Not every new dish will fall into the "keeper" category but you never know until you try.

I made these recipes a little while back, just before I made the decision to halt new endeavors until after my recipes were fully converted to the new site.  They were all "never-evers" and luckily, we hit it out of the park with all of them.

Black Bean, Corn and Zucchini Enchiladas was our vegetarian dish.  These were so yummy.  I find the wheat tortillas to be great for enchiladas because they are really soft.  Throw in some black beans, veggies, a delicious red sauce, and of course...some cheese, and you have yourself a healthy and satisfying dinner option.  Note that the enchilada sauce takes about 30 minutes to cook - I made it the day before so that all we had to do was put everything together and bake it when we got home from work.

We are not fortunate enough to have In-N-Out Burger here in Colorado, however, I had my first In-N-Out experience this past summer when we took a family trip to Lake Tahoe.  Flick ALWAYS stops to get a burger on his way up to the mountains so I felt like I really needed to see what all the hoopla was about.  YUM.  These Out-N-In California Burgers are a healthy, home-made alternative and were quite tasty.  I would have liked to be in the test kitchen when they were devising the recipe for these little guys.

Chicken and Herb White Pizza was a nice, light take on our semi-weekly pizza foray.  The fresh herbs really stand out and you don't end up missing the marinara one bit.

Tilapia tostadas were a take on a chicken tostada recipe that we have.  We try really hard to have fish at least one day a week.  It is all too easy to fall into the fish filet + rice + veggie meal plan.  There are plenty of ways to eat fish so don't be afraid to experiment.  I like the texture that the tostadas add to the fish/tomato/guacamole since they all tend to be on the softer side. 

Finally we have Fresh Tomato, Sausage, and Pecorino Pasta.  Doesn't it just look divine?  It is such a basic recipe that really plays to all of the comfort food qualities.  The pasta brings in the carbohydrates, cheese needs no further introduction, sausage and tomatoes belong together, and some fresh basil..."I'm so excited".

Gimme a break

Flick is on break from school right now.  After each quarter, he gets about 3 weeks off before the next round of classes ensue.  This period of down time is really great on a number of levels.  First of all, I love that he has the freedom to spend his nights doing what he wants (for the most part, dishes probably wouldn't fall into that category), second - I like to pretend that I am also on break (well, actually I guess I am) and can therefore slow my roll from Mach 3 down to the speed of sound.  

In my mind, 'our' breaks are my chance to get caught up on all of the things that have been put to the back burner while Flick is in class and studying every night.  I like to disillusion myself into thinking that I am going to weed the entire front lawn, iron all 54 shirts in the ironing pile, clean things that have been gathering dust, hang some photos on the walls, and have dinner ready at a reasonable hour (all on the first day).   The problem with this line of thinking is that it makes my 'break' anything but a chance to reset and gear up for the next quarter.  So, this time around I am testing out this whole, enjoy-a-break-for-what-it-is thing.  It's hard!  As someone who relishes in getting things done, going to bed without feeling as though I have made a major dent in my to-do list stresses me out.  Something I clearly need to work on because that list is not going anywhere.  

Along these same lines, I think it is important to take a break from cooking every now and again.  I know that I lay the whole 'home cooked meal' thing on pretty thick but we like going out to eat or ordering a pizza just as much as the next busy family.  For me, it is so much more enjoyable when it is a treat rather than the norm.  Flick and I had an AMAZING dinner last night out on the town in Boulder (thank you SO much to the VR crew for all your love and support and especially to Charles for babysitting Ellie!).  We went all out and felt great about it because it is something that we really never do.  It is important to take care of yourself, whether it be a random day off from work or a much needed date night with your partner.  Burnout and staleness can happen in any aspect of your life and it is up to you to be self-aware enough to know when it is coming.  Spice it up to keep it fresh.

Starting next week we will be back to working in the new recipes.  I am FINALLY at the end of my conversion over to the new site (woohooo).  There are a few loose ends (mostly in the dessert category) to tie up but the major players are all prettied up and ready to go.  Thanks for hanging in there through the whole process...

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Thai Chicken with Sugar Snap Peas

Tuna Noodle Casserole (camera shy :) )


Turkey Meatball Reuben Subs

Vegetable Burritos with Cheese

Idn't it great?

I am taking a two week hiatus from any food related posts in order to spend some time back east with Flick and his family.  In fact, I am writing this as we put together picture boards for my father-in-law's memorial service tomorrow.  I can't believe it.

I have been blessed with an amazing family that only grew infinitely larger when Flick and I got married.  I could not ask for better in-laws.  Bob and Caryl treated me like a daughter from the get go and it means the world to me.  I can't fully wrap my head around the fact that Bob has been taken from us, not this soon.  I am glad to have gotten to know him and learn from him over the past 8 years but wish that we had many more ahead of us.  When I sent out the email to let everyone know that I had enabled the 'follow by email' functionality, he wrote me back to let me know that he was a closet follower who always got a good chuckle out of my posts.  I hope he is reading this now and knows how much I love and admire him and all that he has done.

Bob genuinely appreciated everything and everyone in his life and I think that was one of his most special qualities.  His catch phrase for living was 'Idn't it great?'.  I am so grateful to have had him in my life.

Sameness

I don't know if it is a human nature thing or if it is just me, but I go through "kicks" where I will read/eat/listen to/watch/wear something that I like, and then proceed to re-create the experience for some undetermined amount of time.  Does this sound familiar at all?  Reading is where it started.

I really love to read.  When I was younger, I spent a fair amount of my spare time with a pile of books by my side.  My mom would schlep us out to the library during the summer and I would come home with what seemed to be no fewer than 17 books...all of which were Nancy Drew novels.

I would breeze through one book every day or so until they were done and we would start the process over.  Imagine my disappointment when I exhausted the Canterbury Library's collection.  I then moved on to the American Girl stories.  When I decided I wanted to be a veterinarian, I read all of James Herriot's books.  As I got older I devoured Mary Higgins Clark, then Ken Follett, Marian Keyes, and Bill Bryson.  Of course there were one-off books in between that I thoroughly enjoyed, but to this day, I am always looking for an author who either writes a series or has a few books under their belt so that if I like one, I can keep moving through their novels until my appetite for their work is quenched (or I run out of material).

I have to be very mindful of my tendency for "sameness" when I am cooking.  Fortunately, Flick helps me stay on track, otherwise our menus would be surprisingly homogeneous.  Last winter I was on a real risotto kick.  We were trying to eat less meat and risottos happen to be a very satisfying way to incorporate a meatless meal into your week.  After 3 or so weeks in a row of 2+ risottos per week, I was thanked for the delicious meals that were being lovingly prepared every night...and gently reminded that maybe there was more than one way to make a meatless meal :).  If it weren't for Flick, I would need to buy grain bags full of Arborio rice.

That isn't good for anyone (except the farmers I suppose).  So you will have to forgive me if I turn out a few menus here and there that seem to have a common theme...I am probably just on some sort of kick and it will soon pass.  Off to research how I can get my hands on some of those old Nancy Drew books...enjoy the meals!    

Monte Cristo Sandwiches

Monterey Jack, Corn, and Roasted Red Pepper Risotto

Pecan Crusted Tilapia

Parmesan Polenta and Spicy Sausage

Parmesan Sage Crusted Pork Chops

Family Style

Well - I got distracted by an amazing trip up to Breckenridge for the weekend (congrats Sarah and Luke!!) so I am a little behind on getting this out.  Keep your eyes peeled for another post later this week...then I should be right back on track.

I took a vacation day today and it felt great (it is Wednesday...it takes a few nights in a row to get these posts completely pulled together). I am not sure how most people spend their vacation days but mine included getting up at 5:15 for a little yoga, washing the floor, having a lunch date with my leading lady, Ellie, at Mod Market in Boulder, going shoe shopping for said leading lady, and washing Dozer.  Good stuff all around.  Doesn't sound like much of a vacation day you say?  Well, the fact that I don't have to stress about doing all of those things after working and putting Ellie to bed is enough of a relief for me to call this vacation day a success.

Ellie's new shoes :)

With all that in mind, I have to say that the best part of my day came at around 6:10pm when for the first time, Flick, Ellie, and myself sat down and had dinner together.  We have had plenty of meals where Ellie has been at the table with us, banging around a toy or sleeping in her bouncer, but this was the first dinner where she sat in her high chair at the table and had a mini version of our meal.  It was SO great.  It is hard to beat an awesome meal with your family, out on the back deck on a summer evening.  For me, this meal was the perfect cap to a productive vacation day and gave me a taste of a tradition that I can't wait to get going in the Colorado Flickinger household.  Enjoy the meals this week - we are making some serious headway in getting all those recipes onto the new site!

Grilled Zucchini Caprese Sandwiches

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi

Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs

Honey Mustard Chicken with Roasted New Potatoes

Meatloaf...remember this guy?

Email notifications have arrived!

It is an exciting day in the Flickinger household as I *think* I have figured out how to add email notifications to my blog so that you can sign up to receive an email when new content is posted.  Who's excited?  I am giving it a test run and we'll see how it goes!  If you want to be part of the guinea pig group, go ahead and enter your email address in the "Follow by email" box appearing in the right hand column of the blog.  I promise not to inundate your mailboxes!

Changing of the seasons

After what feels like 5 years of oppressive heat, it is finally "cooling down" a bit in Boulder.  Yesterday I wore a SWEATSHIRT while eating dinner outside and had to close the windows a bit at night...big doings!  I couldn't be happier about it.  Understand that we are still hitting the 90s on a regular basis, but with these cooler nights, I know sweet relief is just around the corner.  In honor of this realization, I bought a down jacket on Steep and Cheap (love it when Patagonia pops up on there) and  started looking at skis for this season.  That's right, mama's gettin' some new fat skis this year, look out.  Of course, this pretty much guarantees a repeat of last years snow (or lack-there-of) for Colorado (sorry everyone), but I am due.

With cooler weather comes a whole new arsenal of recipes for me to work into the dinner rotation: Chili, beef stew, pot pie, roasts, and dishes involving winter squashes and apples (pies and cobblers anyone?).  Don't get me wrong, I love the rush of inexpensive, fresh produce that fills the supermarket shelves in the summer, but by the time September rolls around, I am ready to change gears.  This is what I love about the seasons.

Seriously, what is better than this?

Once I am through moving my recipes to the new site, get ready for some of our favorite comfort foods and fall dishes to start making an appearance.  Anyone have some good Halloween costume ideas?

 
 Enjoy the meals this week!

Curry Spiced Noodles (apparently I have some work to do with my photos)

Filets and Spinach with Balsamic Vinaigrette

 Heavenly Honey Chicken

Italian Meatball Sliders













Fall Veggie Curry over Cashew Coconut Rice