What’s for Dinner: Week of February 16

Is anyone else completely over winter?  We had a Nor’easter blow through Wednesday and Thursday and it was just awful.  I refused to drive in to work so I had to take a long walk to the train station, a very long ride on the train, and then have a coworker pick me up. Then another coworker was kind enough to drive me home.

Walking  to work in 6 inches of snow at 5:30 am

In any event, it’s Sunday, and it’s time to share what I’m eating for dinner this week as part of the Meal Planning Sunday link up!

Last Week Recap:

When it came to meals, everything went as planned, so this was SUCH a relief in comparison to the disaster I had the week before.

Porkchops

On Sunday I made porkchops.  I love making porkchops because I always come up with a unique glaze using random ingredients in the kitchen.  This time, I took some cinnamon applesauce, a little bit of BBQ sauce, and a little bit of lemon juice and placed them in the oven.  They turned out great!

Porkchop, green beans, and mashed sweet potatoes

Almond Crusted Tilapia

On Tuesday night I made that special dinner for Bret celebrating the 2nd anniversary of our first date.  So what did we have?  Almond crusted tilapia, roasted asparagus with Parmesan, and the leftover mashed sweet potatoes that I made the week before.

Almond Crusted Tilapia, Roasted Asparagus, and Mashed Sweet Potatoes

So I didn’t actually make the almond crusted tilapia.  I bought them at Tela Market, a new neighborhood spot with fresh produce and meats. I was SO nervous because I’ve never cooked fish in my life (that wasn’t fish sticks!).  So I used an online recipe to give me a guideline.  I also made the asparagus with a recipe because I wanted to to take it up a notch. Everything turned out delicious and Bret-approved, so I was really happy!

Black Bean Nacho Pizza

I also made the Black Bean Nacho Pizza as planned.  My food processor took quite the beating with getting everything done, but I did it!  I used a pre-made whole wheat dough from Wegmans, so it was a bit of a cheat, but I was proud to make my own pizza!

Black Bean Nacho Pizza

I used one clove of garlic as instructed in the recipe, but it was WAY too much!  It really overpowered everything, so I would not use nearly as much next time.  I also think I needed more cheese.  I didn’t have Monterey jack so I used shredded mild cheese.  I was trying to be conservative to keep it healthy, but I think I needed more to enhance the flavor.

Valentine’s Day weekend was a whole lot of fun!  My boyfriend and I took a trip to New York City! I’m going to write about what I ate on Wednesday, but I will definitely say that I spoiled myself as promised!  We had an upscale Mexican dinner on Friday and southern BBQ on Saturday, not to mention some delicious meals in between.  Definitely a success!

Dinners for the Week:

Sunday 2/16:  Barbecue ribs, leftover mashed sweet potatoes, veggies.

Monday 2/17:  Barbecue chicken with a spinach salad.

Tuesday 2/18:  Triple Bean Veggie Burgers, with a recipe from Peas and Crayons.  I’m so excited!

Wednesday 2/19:  Pork Dumplings and rice.

Thursday 2/20:  I’ll be participating in an Engineers’ Week event with the National Society of Black Engineers, so I’ll be eating the food they provide, which I think will include baked chicken and some sides.  I’ll be focusing on small portions and loading up on veggies!

Friday 2/21:  While I was at Tela Market, I also bought pork tenderloin!  So I will be making that for the first time, most likely with this recipe.  I love challenging myself!

Saturday 2/22:  Whole wheat gnocchi with spinach.  I will use this recipe as a guide.

What do you plan to make for dinner this week?  How was your Valentine’s Day weekend?