FF Cooking Club…What’s On The Menu This Week!

Hi everyone! If you are new to this blog, and haven’t read what FF Cooking Club is all about, please refer back to my prior post, FF Cooking Club.  I am excited to have my sister in law, Jamie Decter, guest blog for the cooking club this week.  She is an amazing home cook, hosts awesome parties, and is the best sis-in-law.  She always texts me delicious meals to make and I am excited for her to tell everyone what she cooks for her family!  Take it away Jamie!

I am not freckled and I am not an expert in pets, children or fashion, but I’m a sister-in-law so I guess that makes me Forever Freckled too! When Alison first put out her cooking club, I was so excited to have someone else tell me what to make for dinner. I am already addicted to her Pepper Plate suggestions and we love to share dishes with each other.

I often find myself asking my friends, “what are you making for dinner?” I am always trying to discover a new and easy recipe that will make my family of 5 happy, while trying to avoid spending the entire afternoon in the kitchen.  Homework, soccer and gymnastics all happening at once tends to make dinner a challenge in my house.

I love to cook and even more so, I love to sit with my family and recap our day. My husband and I find dinner to be a very important time for all of us to regroup and talk. We do our best to have all five of us around the table at least 3 nights a week.

The task of finding a meal that makes everyone happy is certainly a struggle. One of our children could eat plain pasta every night, one would like sushi all the time, and thankfully, the 3 year old will eat whatever I put in front of him (our own human garbage disposal)!

Alison’s first week was such a success in my house, I thought I would see how my own recipes fair in the FF Cooking Club. The four meals that I picked for this week please my crew and are easy enough that I can cook ahead of time without rushing.

What’s On The Menu This Week?

 Buffalo Turkey Burgers with Blue Cheese Broccoli Slaw

• This recipe is from one of my most favorite cooking websites, Skinnytaste. I do my best to eat and cook healthy and like to encourage my children to do the same. A friend introduced this recipe to me and my husband gave it thumbs up!
• For the three kids, I make half of the mixture without the hot sauce.
• I suggest buying a pre-made low fat blue cheese dressing, a huge time saver if you aren’t in the mood to go to the distance.
• I serve with a tomato, mozeralla, and onion salad on the side.
• I have somewhat of an addiction to these burgers. I usually eat a leftover burger on top of a salad the next day and freeze any extras for a quick meal when we need it.

 Baked Tilapia Scampi

• I am always trying to find a way to get my kids to eat fish. This recipe is a perfect combination of healthy and kid friendly.  It says it’s a scampi recipe but it’s more like oreganata.
• You can prep everything ahead of time and just throw the fish in the oven for 20 minutes before you are ready to eat.
• I make it with a side of pasta for the children, and a vegetable, which is a must with every meal we have.
• I haven’t tried it yet but this would probably be great with shrimp as a substitute if you don’t love tilapia. Although my final dish below is our family’s favorite shrimp dish.

 Roast Chicken and Artichokes with Cilantro-Caper Sauce

• My favorite magazine where I always find one or two great suggestions for recipes is Real Simple. In the back of the magazine there are always weeknight meal suggestions. Usually very “simple” and yummy.
• Since we don’t have too many cilantro lovers in the house, I make this dish with basil. I feel its a much better combination.

 Shrimp Scampi Zoodles

• Another recipe from my favorite site, Skinnytaste.
• I know it’s another “scampi” recipe but it’s very different then the other.
• This recipe is for two people so it needs to be doubled.
• I have a strange obsession with my Veggetti. Introduced to me by my cousin, I will make anything I can with this. I know there are lot more high-tech products on the market but I find this so simple and easy to use.
• For the kids, I make a side of angel hair pasta but they seem to love the zucchini noodles anyway.
• You can omit the red pepper flakes if you would like, but we find the spicier, the better.

Here’s your shopping list for the week!

My crew, the Decter 5, has a tradition around the table that you may want to try out with your family. My three year old is usually the one to remind us when he says, “favorite part of the day?” Each one of us shares our favorite thing that happened that day, big or small. It always turns into longer conversations and is typically a highlight of our dinner! Hope you all like the food.  I would love some feedback and can’t wait to get more recipes!

Photo Credit- skinnytaste.com, Realsimple.com