A Week of Meals

When I got towards the end of my pregnancy I started to really worry about how I would get everything done at home with a new baby. I knew that a lot of things would fall by the wayside, or get put off until I had reinforcements (primarily weekends when Dave is around to help out). The thing I worried the most about was how I was going to cook. Not only do I really love cooking, but we just bought a house and need to watch every penny we spend. Nothing wastes money like eating out every night. Cooking is not only a passion, but it became a necessity.

I have managed to cook dinner almost every night since Elliott was born. The only times I haven't are when we were taken out to dinner (thank you, parents), or when I was just burned out. I thought I would document a week or so worth of dinner cooking. I have sort of changed my cooking a little - quickness has become a necessity. I use as much fresh produce as possible (way cheaper than processed foods), and I try to make 3 servings. I always try to make sure we have enough left over for Dave to take to work the next day.

The week I documented is kind of funny because we had rice with almost every meal (we really like rice in my family), which isn't really the norm. At least we had a variety of rices!

So, here is Monday:

Zucchini Stuffed with Tomatoes and Gardein Chick'n Breast

with Reduced Tomatoes and Brown Rice

To make the "chicken" I used the Gardein Chick'n Scallopini. I put it in a pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil. I let them thaw a little, and then add in about half a pint of cherry tomatoes, halved, and 2 tomatoes, cored and cut in quarters. As the tomatoes cook they will release a lot of liquid, reduce and will thicken. I deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine. Season with salt and pepper - voila, delicious faux chicken breast with tomato sauce.

For the zucchini dish I used a recipe from the July/August issue of Everyday Food (#84). I just substituted shredded Follow Your Heart Mozzarella for the cheese, and it worked great!

So there you have it - meal numero uno.