Category Archives: Eating

Chomp it up.

Nothing like pancakes to kick off the week

Disclaimer: eMeals.com has provided Nichole with a free subscription in exchange for a review. Because of the nature of the product and the fact that Nichole writes/thinks about food a lot, you can expect to read at least a little bit about eMeals every week for the next month or so. Nichole’s opinions remain her own, and she remains very opinionated about food.

On Saturday we got to see Missouri beat Georgia in person, and it was uncomfortably hot and the QB got injured, but it was mostly awesome.

We’re continuing the eMeals.com experiment this week, and once again I only have two of the week’s seven recipes on the roster. My goal for next week is to try three of them!

Monday: Orange Pancakes
This is one of this week’s eMeals picks, and it calls for a side of bacon. Sold.

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie
It’s October. It’s supposed to be pot pie weather, but it’s been pretty warm here lately. Maybe putting pot pie on the menu will bring in a little cool weather.

Wednesday: Tortellini
It’s easy, and the kids love it.

Thursday: Slow Cooker Chinese Barbecue Pork
This is another of the eMeals recipes. It sounds pretty tasty, and I’m always happy to find a reliable CrockPot meal.

Friday: Pizza
Yay pizza!

Last week the only eMeals recipe we ended up trying was the Philly Cheese Steak Stromboli. It was really good, but it called for far more roast beef than I actually ended up using.

Philly Cheese Steak Stromboli
Author: eMeals.com
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 green bell pepper, sliced
  • 2 (11 oz) cans refrigerated thin-crust pizza dough
  • 2 tablespoons stone-ground mustard, divided
  • 2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise, divided
  • 13 oz package deli sliced roast beef
  • 8 oz package sliced provolone cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes or until tender. Unroll dough, and spread each with 1 tablespoon mustard and 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, leaving a 1-inch border. Top evenly with vegetables, beef and cheese.
  3. Roll up dough, jellyroll style, beginning with long side, pinching ends to seal. Place seam side down on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
  4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

 

Nothing like pancakes to kick off the week

Disclaimer: eMeals.com has provided Nichole with a free subscription in exchange for a review. Because of the nature of the product and the fact that Nichole writes/thinks about food a lot, you can expect to read at least a little bit about eMeals every week for the next month or so. Nichole’s opinions remain her own, and she remains very opinionated about food.

On Saturday we got to see Missouri beat Georgia in person, and it was uncomfortably hot and the QB got injured, but it was mostly awesome.

We’re continuing the eMeals.com experiment this week, and once again I only have two of the week’s seven recipes on the roster. My goal for next week is to try three of them!

Monday: Orange Pancakes
This is one of this week’s eMeals picks, and it calls for a side of bacon. Sold.

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie
It’s October. It’s supposed to be pot pie weather, but it’s been pretty warm here lately. Maybe putting pot pie on the menu will bring in a little cool weather.

Wednesday: Tortellini
It’s easy, and the kids love it.

Thursday: Slow Cooker Chinese Barbecue Pork
This is another of the eMeals recipes. It sounds pretty tasty, and I’m always happy to find a reliable CrockPot meal.

Friday: Pizza
Yay pizza!

Last week the only eMeals recipe we ended up trying was the Philly Cheese Steak Stromboli. It was really good, but it called for far more roast beef than I actually ended up using.

Philly Cheese Steak Stromboli
Author: eMeals.com
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 green bell pepper, sliced
  • 2 (11 oz) cans refrigerated thin-crust pizza dough
  • 2 tablespoons stone-ground mustard, divided
  • 2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise, divided
  • 13 oz package deli sliced roast beef
  • 8 oz package sliced provolone cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes or until tender. Unroll dough, and spread each with 1 tablespoon mustard and 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, leaving a 1-inch border. Top evenly with vegetables, beef and cheese.
  3. Roll up dough, jellyroll style, beginning with long side, pinching ends to seal. Place seam side down on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
  4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

 

In which I try to take the “planning” out of the menu-plan equation

Disclaimer: eMeals.com has provided Nichole with a free subscription in exchange for a review. Because of the nature of the product and the fact that Nichole writes/thinks about food a lot, you can expect to read at least a little bit about eMeals every week for the next month or so. Nichole’s opinions remain her own, and she remains very opinionated about food.

My meal-planning routine usually consists of taking a spin through my Menu Plan Monday archives — because I can never seem to remember what we eat from week to week — and then looking through my I’d Eat That board on Pinterest for a few new ideas.

For the next couple of weeks, though, I’m not going to do either or those things.

Instead, I’m going to be downloading a weekly menu plan from eMeals, which will include a grocery list of everything I need for that week’s meals. I usually spend at least 30 minutes of my Friday evening pulling together my menu plan and compiling the grocery list; I’m looking forward to finding out what else I could be doing with that half-hour. (Handicrafts? Learning a new skill? Watching more television? The possibilities are endless, but the probability is sadly the latter!)

I’m not expecting to follow the eMeals plan to the letter every week, because (1) we can be kind of picky and (2) our schedule lately means I haven’t had time to actually prepare a meal every night. This week, for example, we have “Nutcracker” rehearsal, an American Heritage Girls meeting and all sorts of soccer practices, so we’re only going to be having two of the eMeals meals. It’s not that they’re especially complicated or lengthy; I just tend to lean on recipes — and I use that word lightly here — with which I’m already familiar.

Monday: Grilled cheese sandwiches

I used to always serve tomato soup with our grilled cheeses. And then we all admitted that none of us really likes tomato soup, so we don’t bother with that anymore.

Tuesday: Spaghetti

I think might even have some meatballs in the freezer!

Wednesday: Beef Chalupas

This will be the first eMeals recipe we’re trying. It’s supposed to be served with “crispy zucchini and corn.” Side dishes are never my strong suit; I’m hoping having it all planned out for me will help with that!

Thursday: Philly Cheesesteak Stromboli

And this is the second of the eMeals! It uses refrigerated pizza dough and roast beef from the deli, among other things. It’s served with Cajun french fries, which are really what sold me on trying this meal.

Friday: Out

Poppy will be doing her very first tae kwon do testing on Friday, and I’m preemptively planning to go out for a celebratory dinner. Go P!