Weekly Menu Round-Up: April 19-23

It’s crazy to think that I have one month left until graduation! I will also have about one month left in my sweet little apartment here in Raleigh. Keeping all of this in mind, I want to go out with a bang in my kitchen and make as many memories as I can before moving up to Washington, DC. So, here we go with this week’s menu.

Monday

Growing up, my mother made these amazing roasted potato wedges. Luckily for my childhood craving’s satisfaction, I found a similar recipe from I am Baker and will be trying it. To go with it, I will be whipping up some air fryer cod filets – courtesy of my Papa’s classic staple in his own kitchen!

Tuesday

Recently, I have been OBSESSED with my Ninja air fryer. Seafood has, indeed, been a favorite of mine to make in it, too. So, I will be making some air fryer salmon and serving it with some cheesy scalloped potatoes that I adored enjoying at my friend’s house for Easter using a recipe also from I am Baker. Additionally, I will be whipping up some good olde roasted asparagus.

Wednesday

Just like Tuesday, I will also be making some salmon *yet again* in the air fryer. This time, however, I will be serving my salmon with some roasted sweet peppers and some couscous.

Thursday & Friday

This Thursday, I will be getting my second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine *cue the confetti!!!!*. In order to give myself some grace and recovery time, I made the decision to stock up on some soups – most notably, chicken noodle soup and clam chowder. That way, I can remain strong and protected against this virus.

While my time at Meredith is coming to an end, I still want to enjoy some great pleasures and memories in my kitchen. That way, I can look back at this time and these years with a great big smile.

XOXO – Katie <3

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Weekly Menu Round-Up: April 12-16

My final weeks of my undergraduate journey are coming to an end, so I need to stay fueled and care for myself to the best of my ability. So, my weekly menus have been filled with foods that I enjoy to keep me going! So, here we go with this week’s menu.

Monday

Living in New Jersey for sometime, I have become a major fan of Wegman’s prepared foods. So, I will be kicking off my week by enjoying the mega grocery store favorite of mine’s Sesame Chicken & Lo Mein along with some Spicy Tuna Rolls.

Tuesday

My air fryer has become my newest favorite cooking appliance. I have made practically everything in there and have discovered new treats, too. So, I will be trying Air Fryer Salmon and serving it with broccoli on the side.

Thursday

This Thursday, I will be enjoying another seafood favorite of mine – scallops! I will be making Dinner Then Dessert’s Crispy Baked Scallops recipe and serving it with some roasted Brussels sprouts and air fryer French fries.

I’m looking forward to staying fueled and enjoying my last weeks of college deliciously.

XOXO – Katie <3

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Weekly Menu Round-Up: March 22-26

As I reach the home stretch of my college years, I am striving to stay healthy and fueled with my weekly menus. My final weeks of college will be filled with planning events, wrapping up research projects, and closing out my time at Meredith. So, I want to ensure that my body is fed well and remains healthy and fueled through it all, like with this week’s menu.

Fuel the Day Treat

To fuel my days, I will be enjoying brunch/lunch with avocado toast topped with sliced tomatoes and mozzarella or a fried egg.

Monday

To kick off the week, I am so excited to *FINALLY* be trying out air fryer salmon in my own kitchen! I plan to simply season it with some Himalayan salt and serve it with roasted broccoli and my favorite side dish – green bean casserole.

Tuesday

I have always been a lover of pizza!!! So, I will be putting my favorite dish to the test with a twist by serving a salami and pepperoni pizza on garlic naan. Garlic naan has become a favorite of mine, since I have fallen in love with the Indian food here in Raleigh! I will be serving my garlic naan pizza’s with my sautéed kale.

Wednesday

Being the seafood lover that I am, I am also super excited to try out a new tilapia recipe from Taste of Home – Red Pepper & Parmesan Tilapia. I will be serving this tilapia with some roasted sweet peppers.

Thursday

Ever since I was a little girl, like pizza, I have also had an obsession with pesto pasta. So, I will be enjoying this pasta favorite of mine in the form of gnocchi and adding some cherry tomatoes along with chopped mozzarella into the mix. On the side, I am going enjoy my Kale Caesar salad.

With my weeks getting busier than ever before during my Senior year of college, taking care of myself is more important than ever before.

XOXO – Katie <3

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Weekly Menu Round-Up: March 1-5

As someone who loves a good menu, I am very excited about this week’s eats. This week’s menu consists of some recipes that have been family favorites in my Mom’s kitchen while growing up and also some that I have grown to love over the years. Everything for this week’s menu has been purchased from Aldi, and I have had such a fun time crafting it all!

Monday

So, tonight, I will be making my Mom’s Lemon Caper Salmon recipe with salmon filets and serving it with my favorite side dish of green bean casserole and roasted Brussels sprouts. To use the leftovers, I will be making a Lemon Caper Salmon Linguine Pasta and serving it with my new vegetable favorite of Sautéed Kale.

Tuesday

Another favorite of mine growing up has been crab cakes, so I will be enjoying some crab cakes with a side of roasted broccoli and a biscuit (and maybe a drizzle of Old Bay seasoning!).

Wednesday

Who doesn’t LOVE breakfast for dinner?! For Wednesday night, I will be making a fried egg over corned beef hash – a favorite of mine from my Papa’s and Grandma’s kitchen! In addition to my favorite breakfast recipe, I will also be having a good olde biscuit.

Thursday

Aldi has a wide variety of different raviolis, so I will be trying their spinach ravioli and having it with a buttery garlic parmesan sauce that I love to make (and is so so so easy to do!). On the side, I will be enjoying my favorite new Caesar salad twist – a kale Caesar salad!

Weekend

If you know me, then you know that I am a sucker for a delicious one pot recipe, so I will be making my Mom’s Dutch Oven Tuna Casserole recipe in my own kitchen. I could not be more excited to enjoy this few days-lasting casserole in my own apartment!!!

I am oh so excited to enjoy the many delicious kitchen favorites of mine in my own kitchen this week. A taste of home is always a great way to kick off the month of March!

XOXO – Katie <3

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Weekly Menu Round-Up: October 25-30

Life has definitely been crazy recently. After talking to a friend, I realized that making a good dinner can be a great way to get through the week. If you know me, you know that I love a good weekly menu. This week, I am cooking some recipes that are close to my heart from my childhood years and spicing them up to be an adulting edition. I am most definitely excited to enjoy some great recipes to keep me going throughout the week!

Sunday: Oven Baked Ziti

Every Christmas Eve, my Aunt Amy bakes a homemade oven baked ziti. Since I love my Aunt Amy’s recipe so much, I decided to find a variation of an oven baked ziti recipe to try myself. Aunt Amy’s recipe *HAS* to be saved solely for Christmas Eve!!! I found this dutch oven recipe from The Cookie Rookie, and it has been super popular recipe for a crowd (the pre-pandemic life). To go with it, I will be having a Caesar salad with a Vegan Salad Dressing from Trader Joe’s. I have yet to make it since the pandemic has taken over most of our lives, but I cannot wait to this week!

Monday: Honey Mustard Roasted Salmon

Love me some salmon!!! I have always been a sucker for salmon AND a Delish recipe. Experimenting with different salmon recipes has always been a favorite thing of mine to do. Monday, I will be trying a Honey Mustard Roasted Salmon from Delish and serving it with my favorite vegeatable dish: roasted Brussels sprouts. Definitely a great way to kick off the week.

Tuesday: BBQ Shrimp

I am obsessed with all things barbecue. At the same time, I am very weird about the meats that I eat, especially when cooking at home. So, when I found this BBQ Shrimp Recipe from $5 Dinners, I knew that I had to try! I made this recipe back in January for a few friends and in April for my family during quarantine, and am making it again and serving it with some Kraft Mac & Cheese and Roasted Broccoli. Definitely excited to have it again!

Wednesday: Breakfast

Confessions: I NEVER eat breakfast on a good day, so why not enjoy it for dinner?! Growing up, my Papa and Grandma made Corned Beef Hash, so I can going to make that along with an egg and probably some bacon. It will be an easy yet delicious dinner!!

Thursday: Pesto Pasta

Pesto pasta has been a childhood favorite of mine. My mother probably cooked it for me and my brother at least once a week! That being said, I will be enjoying my childhood favorite dish with some amazing roasted cherry tomatoes on the side. Like breakfast for dinner, it is an easy yet delicious recipe to make!

With the end of the Fall semester approaching, my life is about to get extremely crazy. I am glad that I have some super good recipes to look forward to all week.

XOXO – Katie <3

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Weekly Menu Round Up: October 5-9

I am very excited because this week is the week that I *FINALLY* get a break!!! Due to the coronavirus, my school has eliminated all breaks throughout the semester up until Thanksgiving when we end classes right before the holiday, in order to limit travel and activities off campus. However, this Tuesday, we finally have our one break of the semester with a day off of classes!!! While it has been super overwhelming just going without any break, I am most definitely grateful that my school is working to keep us all safe and contain the novel coronavirus on our campus. That being said, this week’s menu will be reflecting my one day off of classes this week.

Monday: Pesto Salmon

My mother makes the most amazing roasted pesto salmon. So, I decided that I wanted to try it out myself! I found this recipe from Food.com that tops it with cherry tomatoes and I will be serving it with roasted sheet pan broccoli and sweet peppers. Definitely cannot wait to kick off my week in a delicious way!!!

Wednesday: Roasted Garlic Pork Tenderloin

Now that it’s Fall y’all, I have been wanting to try out some new Fall recipes. I love myself some pork and I wanted to be adventurous in the kitchen. That being said, I will be finally trying another meat in my kitchen that is not bacon. I will be using this recipe from Sweet C’s. I am going to serve it with roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts which are two of my favorite vegetables.

Thursday: Pork But Add Butternut Squash

For Thursday night, I will be enjoying my leftover pork from the night before, but serving it with roasted Butternut Squash this time. If you saw my photo of myself failing at cutting up a Butternut squash last week, do not fret, as I will be purchasing my Butternut Squash pre-cut this time. That being said, I will have an easy to make yet delicious dinner Thursday night!

Friday: Picnic!

I am getting together with some friends this Friday for dinner and a picnic. As I love hosting, I wanted to do something safe that also allows for social distancing. I will be making pesto pasta and serving it a cheese-meat platter and some apples. For the cheese-meat platter, I will be having Swiss and Gouda (my favorite cheese) cheeses and prosciutto and salami. That way, we can have a classic picnic with a nice Fall twist!!!

Dessert: Pumpkin Cookies

For about a year now, I have had some of Betty Crocker’s Limited Edition Pumpkin Cookie Mix sitting in my pantry. So, I will finally be popping it open this week to make something sweet for the Fall season, especially with my picnic and Fall Break coming up.

XOXO – Katie <3

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Weekly Menu Round Up: September 28-October 2

To be blatantly honest, I did not make ANY of the recipes that I had on this week’s menu. Reason being, I went to Trader Joe’s on Monday and totally got sidetracked from my list and decided to cook what looked amazing on the shelves, especially all of the Fall stuff. At the same time, I was craving Shrimp n’ Grits Wednesday evening, so I somehow managed to whip up a bunch of cheesy grits, which was an unexpected plus to this week’s menu! That being said, I do plan to make each of the items on last week’s menu again, plus a few more special dishes!

Monday: Pepperoni Pizza

Homemade pizza is a favorite of mine, especially in my kitchen! Last Monday, I picked up some pizza dough from Trader Joe’s, so I will be trying that. I will also be topping it off with some pepperoni, which is a childhood pizza topping favorite of mine! Fun fact: my mother used to have us make homemade pizza’s and I ALWAYS topped mine off with pepperoni. It’s most definitely a tradition in the kitchen that I want to pass onto my future children as well!

Tuesday: Pasta with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce

Since Fall is *finally* here y’all (!!!), I will be making pasta with noodles in the shape of pumpkins brought to you by Trader Joe’s with a homemade Pumpkin Alfredo sauce from Delish, as listed in last week’s menu. Funny enough, I got SO sidetracked from my menu planning that I never picked up some pumpkin puree which is required for this recipe, so this week I promise I will! I will be serving my pasta with a Caesar salad, as I will be trying a new Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing from Trader Joe’s and a baguette with olive oil!

Wednesday: Butternut Squash Soup

Just like the Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce, I will also be making my Butternut Squash soup from Allrecipes this week. I am SO excited for this soup, as it is a favorite of mine! At the same time, I will be serving it with roasted carrots and my favorite side dish green bean casserole. To allow for some dipping in the soup and as an appetizer, I will also be serving my baguette toasted and with olive oil and rosemary as well!

Thursday: Leftover Butternut Squash Soup

I plan to cook a lot on Wednesday, which will minimize my cooking come Thursday. Also, Butternut Squash soup is a favorite of mine, so I am looking forward to having it a lot towards the end of this coming week!

Dessert: Pumpkin Cookies

Who doesn’t love the Pillsbury Pumpkin cookies?! I have a BUNCH in my fridge and I cannot wait to bake them! Fun fact: I suck at baking cookies, so Pillsbury will have to do!

I am SO looking forward to this week’s menu. Luckily, I have been able to keep it simple yet practical and delicious. Here’s to our first full week of Fall y’all!!!

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