Menu for March 17, 2013 through March 23, 2013

The last few days it has started to feel like spring.  While I really enjoyed winter, it's exciting to be moving into a new season!  I've been listening to the birds chirping and the water in the river across the street is super high!

Last weekend I did end up making the life changing loaf of bread.  I was impressed!  Lots of crunch and flavors and really good with almond butter and sliced banana.  It's definitely great for part of a lunch.  Try it!

There were three recipes I noticed this week that I was intrigued by:

1. Peanut Butter Filled Pretzel Bites.  I really really like soft pretzels and soft pretzel bites. I've had hard pretzels filled with peanut butter, but not soft.  I definitely want to make something like these at some point.  Maybe I can make them semi-healthy!
2. Blueberry Muffin Bread Pudding Bake.  While it hasn't shown on the blog (yet) because most of the recipes here are for dinner, I LOVE blueberries.  A ridiculous but true fact is that Mark and I picked and ate 25 pounds of blueberries within a couple of weeks last summer.  Also, we may or may not have joined Sam's Club almost exclusively for a better deal on frozen blueberries.  So, this bread pudding bake looks good to me!  I'll have to come up with an excuse to make it.  Also, I can't wait for berry season!
3. Crispy Quinoa Granola.  I never thought of using uncooked quinoa in this way.   Pretty cool!  Just might have to experiment with this idea soon...

On the menu for you this week is three new recipes to try-- all vegetarian.  Two Mexican-ish meals and some Italian.  Tempeh tacos can be adapted in a bunch of ways depending on how you are feeling.  Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas have some of my favorite ingredients and let you feel like you're eating a lot of cheese when you're actually not.  And Spicy Kale Lasagna, because apparently a meal isn't complete if it doesn't include kale!  Each of those meals you will have twice.  For the seventh meal you could have more quesadillas (you probably won't eat them all over two days), or any veggie burgers (or anything else) you have in the freezer.

My mom and I are in charge of desserts for my cousin's wedding in June, so this weekend I'll be doing some dessert recipe testing!  Though those desserts will not be healthy, I'll be sure to share the recipes that we decide on.  Any dinner recipe requests?

Dinners for the Week

Sunday:  Spicy Kale Lasagna with a salad or vegetable of choice on the side.  The kale is GREEN in honor of St. Patrick's Day!

•  Make the full recipe and eat half tonight, have the leftovers on Wednesday

Monday: Tempeh Tacos with toppings of choice.

• Make the full recipe and eat half tonight, have leftovers on Thursday

Tuesday: Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas with kale chips (or other vegetable) on the side.

• Make the full recipe and eat half tonight, have leftovers on Friday

Wednesday: Leftover Spicy Kale Lasagna

Thursday: Leftover Tempeh Tacos (try them a different way!)

Friday:  Leftover Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas

Saturday: More leftover quesadillas, or veggie burgers from the freezer!

Have a great week and enjoy the first official days of spring!  Eat something green (kale?) for St. Patrick's Day!