Meals for a Stay at Home Order: Volume 8

This week, Minnesota downgrades from a Stay at Home order to a Stay Safe order, with plans for Restaurants and Salons to open at partial capacity as soon as June 1.

I just drove to pick up a latte and see the gorgeous trees blooming on the Minnehaha Parkway. There were tones of people out and I literally saw two masks.

We don’t plan to change much about our behavior even as things open up a bit. We will stay home, mainly socializing (at a distance) with neighbors, and wearing masks when we do go in public. I think this next few weeks of perceived freedom will be hardest.

Saturday: Chickpeas with broccoli rabe and bacon

I’m cheating already. After mother’s day brunch no one felt like cooking and we actually had frozen pizza. (Even Eleri has declared we are reaching our limit on frozen pizza.) But this chickpea dish is an old favorite that we would make a lot more if broccoi rabe wasn’t so difficult to come by!

Sunday: lemon-dill shrimp and orzo salad

New recipe, universal keeper. This is such a light and fresh dish, and easy to make. We like to pick up frozen shrimp when it is on sale and always have a pound or two in the freezer.

Monday: Whole-30 burgers, sweet potatoes, and roasted asparagus

Fun fact: we have two asparagus stalks in our garden! Did you know they grow straight up out of the ground? I learned that at my in-laws a couple of years ago and it always delights me.

Tuesday: Chili-rubbed chicken with coconut rice and mango salsa

Another new recipe, another keeper. The coconut mile gives the rice a creamier, stickier texture (at first I thought it was actually sticky rice), which I thought was a nice change but the kids were less convinced on that front.

Wednesday: Sushi and frozen pizza

This has become our favorite non-take out take out. Wednesday is the sushi special at lunds grocery store, and the frozen pizza is to supplement. (Clio wants ALL the sushi, Eleri treats it as an appetizer.)

Thursday: Green beans and Tofu with crunchy thai peanut sauce

My mother-in-law shared this recipe years ago. It is in regular rotation as everyone likes it and me like to keep tofu recipes on hand.

Friday: Pork chops, rice, roasted broccoli with chili and garlic

I love this roasted broccoli when I am sick of steamed. In my oven it takes more like 10 minutes and then 8, rather than the 15/8 called out, so just keep an eye on it in the first part. For the pork chops we just use a rub of some kind and pan sautee.

In other news, our dishwasher broke and Home Service Plus can come take a look at it…..on July 18th.

So look for a bunch of one-pot meals and other recipes with a low dish count!