Menu Monday

      We had a nice weekend with my in-laws at their mountain house (stay tuned for pictures sometime this week.) But because we were on semi-vacation, we didn't eat as well as we probably should have so we are both happy to be back home where we can resume our healthy eating. Tim and I have both felt our bodies negatively reacting the past two weekends while we've been on vacation eating fast food and drinking a lot of soft drinks and things like that. I am making our dinners this week almost entirely from recipes I've found on the blog Skinny Taste. I really love this blog (obviously) because the creator's recipes are healthy and diet-friendly, but they also typically have a lot of flavor so they don't seem like "health" food. So if you're looking to clean up your eating habits, but you don't want to sacrifice flavor, check out Skinny Taste. 
      And here's our menu for this week!

• Monday: Cilantro lime tilapia tacos with black beans and corn. Here's the description: "Flaky white fish, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro and lime topped with avocado. A fresh and flavorful way to spice up fish, quick enough to make for a busy weeknight!" I made this a few weeks ago and we both loved it so much that we're ready to have it again. Even Owen enjoyed them the first time I made them (sans jalapeño for him). We will have them with black beans and corn. 

• Tuesday: Spicy black bean burgers with chipotle mayonnaise and sweet potato fries. Gina from Skinny Taste says, "one bite of this spicy black bean burger with spicy chipotle mayo and creamy avocado and you won't miss the meat!" And she's right! I made this recipe just last week and they were a huge hit here at the Rumely household. Tim has a deep-seated fear of mayonnaise so he really missed out though. The chipotle mayo and avocado really make this a fantastic burger. The recipe only makes four burgers though, so I'm going to double or triple the recipe so that I can freeze some burgers for us to have another time. We will eat these with sweet potato fries. 

• Wednesday: Coconut chicken salad with warm honey mustard vinaigrette. Gina from Skinny Taste describes this recipe as "warm oven-fried coconut chicken over a bed of baby greens, cucumber, tomato, shredded carrots topped with a hot honey mustard vinaigrette. It's the perfect mix of salty and sweet, warm and cold." We've never had this recipe before, but a nice uncomplicated salad seems like a great recipe for the middle of the week. And I bet Owen will love the coconut chicken. 

• Thursday: Island pork tenderloin with sauteed garlic spinach and sweet potato fries. This is our tried-and-true recipe from the P90X diet. I have talked about it several times before. We will be having it for dinner tonight because we are having company. Tim's college roommate Tom and his girlfriend Julie are visiting from Pennsylvania. We haven't seen them in a couple of years since we visited them during our trip to Philadelphia the summer before Owen was born.This recipe is always a crowd-pleaser. Unless you're feeding a vegetarian. Or a Muslim. Or someone who really loves "Charlotte's Web."
• Friday: Cajun chicken pasta lightened up with steamed broccoli. Here is the description of the recipe: "This colorful Cajun spiced pasta is tossed with chicken strips, bell peppers, red onion, mushrooms and scallions in a creamy light sauce. One of the easiest ways to lighten up a pasta dish is to add tons of protein and vegetables to your dish which keeps the portions large and the carbs low and this dish is a perfect example. Be sure to be generous with your Cajun spices, it should have plenty of kick so don't be shy!" I used to make a Cajun chicken pasta recipe from the blog Pioneer Woman Cooks, but it uses tons of heavy cream and has to be packed with calories, so I'm hoping this version will allow me to feel like I'm splurging when I'm really not. We will be having this recipe with steamed broccoli to add another vegetable to the meal. 

• Saturday: Grilled chicken breast marinated in Stubb's chicken marinade with veggies. This is one of our absolute favorite marinades for chicken. It is so wonderful. We used it a lot when we were first married and living in Georgia, but not so much once we moved to Washington because the price was close to $5 for one bottle. Now that we're back in the south, we've been able to find it again for cheap enough that we feel like it's worth buying again. Try it sometime!

• Sunday: Summer vegetables with sausage and potatoes. This recipe pairs "lean Italian chicken sausage with summer bell peppers and zucchini sauteed with baby red potatoes and fresh herbs for a quick one pot meal." I am all about a one-pot meal so as not to dirty up the kitchen too much and I really love turkey sausage and the mixture of it plus a bunch of vegetables seems really appealing. 

• Extra recipe: Cherry custard. Because we've been trying to eat better, we haven't been eating a lot of treats, so to reward us for eating well, I'm going to try this summery recipe. Gina from Skinny Taste explained why she created this recipe on her blog. "Before the summer comes to an end, I am trying to enjoy all my favorite summer fruits, especially cherries, watermelon and peaches. This cherry custard is a must, I just love the flavor and you'll be surprised how easy it is to make," she said. I love cherries and I'm excited to eat this recipe. I've been craving cherry pie or something similar, so this recipe is a way to indulge without making (and eating!) an entire pie.

      So that's it for us. What are you eating this week?