In Like a Lamb

March has always been a great month for us, and I love the new feelings that it brings, with hopes of warmer weather, and the anticipation of spring growth that is just around the corner.

Today I started looking back to see what we were up to in March of previous years ...

In 2013 we were in Mexico for our friends' wedding, and then took off to New Orleans for the first time, about a week later.  A fun memory from March of 2014 was a snacky evening we had.  The next year Christopher's parents were treating the family to a lovely dinner to celebrate our marriage.  The next March brought a trip back to NOLA, where we had one of the most interesting tasting menus we've ever had.  Last year we were cooking up food with a theme; we had an Irish weekend, as well as an Indian-themed weekend.

I am excited to see what this March has in store for us; it's already looking like it will shape up to be fun-filled and fantastic.  I just heard on the radio this morning that this February was the coldest we've had in 18 years.  Fortunately today was beautiful, and March officially came in like a lamb.

Speaking of lamb ...

Last night we made lamb meatballs, with an eggplant mash.

This meal was so good, and I was happy that there were leftovers for lunch today.  It's one we'll be repeating for sure!  You can find the recipe here.

We couldn't find a pomegranate in the store, so we had to omit that garnish, as well as the pine nuts, as I am allergic to them.  Although this dish isn't too visually appealing, the taste made up for that.

If you are unsure about lamb, or haven't cooked it before, I'd suggest starting with ground lamb.  These meatballs have an excellent flavour, and are really easy.  They call for a bunch of herbs, and if you're going to make them, I'd definitely use mint as one of the herbs.  We also used cilantro and basil (all fresh).  Everything paired together beautifully.

Another Food Network recipe we tried this week was shrimp pad Thai:

We've made pad Thai before, and it has been more labour intensive than this recipe is, yet this recipe was really good - another that we will make again #score!  It was perfect for a week night, because it took no time at all.

How is your week going?  What are you looking forward to this month?  Did March come in like a lion or lamb where you live? 

A Weekend of Southern Comfort Food

We spent the entire weekend at home, and ate nothing but Southern comfort food.  When we were planning our weekend menu, our wheels would not stop turning.  We ended up making a bunch of delicious dishes we'd never made before, and a some old standbys.  We got started on Friday evening after hitting the grocery store.

First up was chicken-fried steak, with mashed potatoes and red-eye gravy.  We had roasted okra on the side.

This was our first time cooking both chicken-fried steak and okra, and both turned out really well.  Okra is delicious!

On Saturday morning we were up bright and early.  We made buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast.

Our friends Jessie and Chris gave us a bunch of tomatoes recently, and we used some of the green ones to make an afternoon snack of fried green tomatoes.

They were tasty dipped in the Cajun sauce that Christopher threw together.

Dinner on Saturday evening was chili with toppings, and some cornbread that we had made earlier in the day.

We froze the leftover chili and half of the cornbread to have for our lunches later this week.

This morning's breakfast was shrimp with cheesy grits.

That hearty breakfast kept us full for the whole day.  This evening we made big dinner so we'd have a meal for tonight and lunches for Monday/ Tuesday.  We had fried chicken, mac and cheese, baked beans, bacon-bourbon coleslaw, and cornbread.

#mealprepsunday Hahaha!

And if that wasn't enough food and cooking for one weekend, we also made bananas foster for dessert.

Believe it or not, we didn't just get fat cook and eat all weekend.  We also managed to sneak in three or four movies, hours of reading, and a whole lot of relaxing. 

How was your weekend?  What did you do?  

Did you have any comfort food this weekend?

Farmers' Market Frittata

When I was at the farmers' market yesterday, I picked up some edible flowers.  I was surprised by how good they taste; they're very similar to a radish in flavour, with the nice kick of heat.

I grabbed a few other things from the market to make a lovely one-pan, farmers' market frittata.

Christopher usually makes the breakfast around here, and he's been raving about the Circulon pan that I reviewed back in December.  When the company sent me this pan to try out we liked it right away, but now that we use it all the time, we have come to love it even more.  In fact, Christopher cannot make breakfast without going on and on about how much he loves it, and I agree. 

I've never used it to make a frittata before, and I realize now, that was a mistake.  It is way better than the pan I usually use to make my frittata.

Farmers' Market Frittata

1 T butter
1 cup farmers' market fresh veggies, diced
5 eggs
1/4 cup milk (or cream or whatever you have)
1-2 T fresh herbs
1/4-1/2 cheese, shredded or broken up (I used some goat cheese from the farmers market)
salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.  Heat a non-stick, oven-safe skillet on the stove on medium (I used a 10" Circulon Prime Skillet).  Add 1 T butter.  Once heated, add the veggies, and saute a few minutes until softened.  Meanwhile beat the eggs in a bowl with a fork, add the milk, herbs, cheese, salt and pepper.  Pour this mixture into the pan on the stove, and let the eggs set slightly on the stove for about 3 minutes.  Transfer to the oven and cook about 8-10 minutes, until firmed up.  Broil the top if it's still a bit jiggly. 

I garnished the frittata with the beautiful, edible flowers.

I hate cutting into food in my good pans, so I loved how this just slid right out of the skillet, and I could cut it on a cutting board. 

No sticking!  No fuss!

And this my friends is a delicious, farmers' market fresh, one-pan lunch, ready in no time.

Do you have a favourite pan?  

Have you visited your local farmers' market yet this summer?