Meal Plan into the New Year! Blue Apron away in Seattle!

Ok! Now that we aren't displaced and living with family, I'm ready to start cooking healthy again! I do have to start rebuilding my pantry from the ground up - so I'm afraid I'll be over budget for a while. But the goal stands - 6 meals for 2 people. This week the groceries added up to $60 ($10 over ideal budget, and I didn't buy the fontina cheese.

Protein
Firm Tofu (I bought mine pre-fried at the Asian market)
4 Catfish Fillets
4 Skinless Salmon Fillets
Chicken

Carbs
½ Pound Rice Flake Noodles(I bought large rice noodles)
1 Cup Fregola Sarda Pasta(I bought Orzo)
10 Ounces Fresh Linguine Pasta
10 Ounces Campanelle Pasta (I bought Casarecce style since I couldn't find campanella)
¼ Cup Breadcrumbs
1½ Pounds Plain Pizza Dough (I bought Pita bread)
Torta Rolls

Veggies
2 Scallions
4 Ounces Cherry Tomato (I might have forgotten these and made the recipe without! Doh!!)
1 tomato
2 Red Onion
1 Yellow Onion
1 Shallot
1 Red Bell pepper
½ Bunch Rainbow Chard
1 Fennel Bulb
4 Ounces Arugula
Pound Sweet Potatoes
celeriac root(I couldn't find this all week. left it out of the recipe, only to find it at the farmers market!)
¾ Pound Broccoli
1 Romaine Heart
1 Avocado

Spices
1 Bunch Thai Basil
1 Large Bunch Parsley
1 Bunch Mint
1 bunch cilantro

Fruit
2 Tablespoons Golden Raisins
3 Lemon
2 limes
1 Apple

Dairy
⅓ Cup Part-Skim Ricotta Cheese
6 Ounces Fontina Cheese (Couldn't fit in budget, will use mozzarella/queso fresco)
1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (I goofed and got mozzarella, boo)
3 Ounces Queso Fresco

Extra Flavor:
2 Tablespoons Sliced Almonds
3 Tablespoons Pepitas (didn't find : p)
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 Tablespoons Golden Mountain Sauce (Had to rebuy because of move)
2 Teaspoons Sambal Oelek (Had to rebuy because of move!)
1 Tbl Spoon Soy Glaze (I make mine with soy sauce, sugar and water thickened up on the stove.)
2 Tablespoons Verjus Rouge (I never found this!)
Ground Turmeric, Sweet Paprika, Italian Seasoning & Garlic Powder
Ancho Chile Powder, Mexican Oregano, Smoked Sweet Paprika, Garlic Powder & Ground Cumin

Crispy Tofu Drunken Noodles with Bell Pepper Thai Basil

So Blue Apron has started wine suggestions with select meals. I'm going to try to follow along in an attempt to expand my ability to pair alcohol with meals. It suggested for the Drunken Noodles a French Viognier, which the wikipedia page boast "The highly aromatic and fruit forward nature of the grape allows Viognier to pair well with spicy foods such as Thai cuisine." So I am more excited for my spicy dinner then wine. (I'm drinking a glass now and it taste like a typical white.) After eating this meal, I think a better pairing is a Sapporo Japanese beer. My boyfriend drank one with it and I thought it was more delicious then the wine I picked up. Just a thought.

Chicken Tortas with Romaine Salad Queso Fresco Cilantro

I really enjoyed this meal. We skipped breakfast and cooked it as a brunch. Two people sharing a head of romaine is a lot of salad. So I took the remaining bit on my half to work for dinner. I also cut a chicken breast in half,instead of the chicken thighs this recipe recommends. I also had left over tomato, which I threw some onto the salad and saved the rest for omelets in the morning. I have tons of queso fresco cheese left over, so it'll go toward the pizza meal later in the week, since I ran over budget and didn't buy fontina.

Seared Salmon Campanelle Pasta with Roasted Broccoli Lemon Herb Butter

This was the favorite of the week. We love salmon and broccoli, the pasta was a nice change from the usual type we buy, and lemon and mint butter sauce is always a win. It was easy to make and roasted broccoli beats steamed in flavor any day.

Sweet Potato Pizza with Apple Celeriac Arugula Salad

So, I combined the salad on top of the pizza for ease of eating. I also could not find the celeriac root anywhere (although I did find it for this coming menu, my local farmers market sells is wahoo!) I think I added almonds too and that wasn't in the recipe but tasted really yummy. I switched our pita instead of pizza crust because we don't currently have a pizza pan, and that worked just fine. I also added grilled chicken for more protein. The apple and sweet potato were really yummy and the white sauce wasn't too challenging to make. I felt like we have an impromptu fondue snack of the left over sweet potato, apple and chicken that couldn't squeeze on our pita pizzas!

Later in the week, I used the left over pitas to make a veggie/egg breakfast pita pocket that was also very delicious!

Seared Catfish Fregola Sarda with Salsa Rossa

In theory this is great, but me and the boy are picky about fish, especially white fish. I thought the flavor was good, but the texture wasn't great (that's my fault not the recipes!). We had left over veggie pasta sides so we actually cooked up a Italian sausage that was on sale and had it as a second meal.

Roasted Fennel over Linguini with Lemon Ricotta 

So I added chicken to this recipe because I worried the fennel wouldn't be enough - but I was so wrong! The fennel and noodles and ricotta and sauce was so great together, I found myself avoiding the chicken. The breadcrumb topping was nice and I left the olives out because C doesn't like them. A+ recipe for sure!!

Next weeks shopping list and recipe links!