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 love all the recipes I picked for this week.  They are all delicious and so easy to make.  One thing I like to do when I am cooking is change up the recipes a bit and add ingredients I like better or other ingredients I have in the house that need to be used.  For instance, in the chicken chili, I am not a huge fan of swiss chard, so I changed it out for arugula.  The dirty rice and shrimp is so delicious and I make it all the time, but sometimes I leave out the ground beef and just make it with shrimp.  Once you get comfortable cooking, it’s easy to change things around so make the dish a little more personal to your taste.

So what’s on the menu this week:

 Asian Steak- Watercress and Spinach Salad with Hoisin Vinaigrette

• Easy healthy recipe.
• I loved the vinaigrette and make enough to use it for salads later in the week.
• I am not a huge fan of watercress so I switch it out for arugula.
• Delicious, light, and healthy.

Dirty Brown Rice With Shrimp

• My husband and I love this recipe and make it at least 2 times per month.
• Sometimes I will leave out the ground beef and it is just as good.
• I always have a bag or 2 of the peeled, deveined, tail off frozen shrimp in my freezer.  Just make small slits in the bag with a knife and run it under warm water to defrost the shrimp.
• So flavorful and a great and interesting twist on your typical shrimp recipe.

White Bean and Chicken Chili

• This is super yummy and easy to make- a spin on the traditional chili recipes.
• It takes an hour to simmer (as do most chili recipes) so give yourself enough time to prepare it.  The more it simmers, the more flavorful!
• Although it takes a bit longer than my typical weeknight meals, the prep is just as easy and then you just let it sit on the stove and cook.
• I switch out the swiss chard for arugula and add the arugula in the last 10 minutes of simmering (arugula cannot cook for an hour like swiss chard).
• I like to serve this with crusty bread.

Sesame Noodles With Chicken

• Loved this recipe and definitely will be adding it to my repeat dinners.
• Anything with peanut butter in it is always a winner in my book.
• This recipe calls for a food processor which is not as intimidating of a kitchen tool as you think.  Its quite the opposite and saves you from having to chop.
• No need for a side, its got it all.

Here’s your SHOPPING LIST for the week!

Hope you like these recipes and enjoy making them at home.  Remember, when you start getting good and efficient in the kitchen, it really only takes about 20 to 30 minutes to make most of these meals. An added bonus to cooking at home is that you save a ton of money and most likely you are getting a much healthier meal than if you were to order in.  Happy cooking everyone!