April Meals Roundup

I have a bunch of errands to run later this afternoon, one of which is tackling grocery shopping for the next few weeks. As I mentioned the other day, I wanted to come up with some fun dinners to have at home so we wouldn't feel the urge to go out midweek quite so often, so I spent some time this morning making out a meals and grocery list.

Call me crazy, but sipping on my coffee while coming up with meals for the week is one of my favorite things to do. For some reason it's so relaxing. A lot of times I'll also watch Food Network or Cooking Channel while doing this since it gives me inspiration. And also because I'm addicted to cooking shows.

I actually learned how to cook by watching Molto Mario and Essence of Emeril on Food Network after school way back when. True story! I'd watch what they were making, then try to recreate my own versions at home using whatever ingredients we had in our pantry - which were usually pretty different from what Mario and Emeril were cooking with.  My family had to taste a lot of interesting concoctions, but most of the time things turned out pretty well, and I learned early on not to be afraid of getting creative in the kitchen. Thanks, Food Network!

We're doing some traveling in the next few weeks, so I wanted to keep this month's menu short and sweet. Here are some of the fun things I'm planning for April:

April Meals

1. Asian Salmon over Kale Salad
2. Stuffed Artichokes
3. Tofu with Peanut Sauce, Veggies and Rice Noodles
4. Vegetarian Tamales
5. Coconut Shrimp (baked) with Mango Rice

The one item I'm really excited about is the tamales. It was Matt's idea to try these, and it'll be our first time ever making them. Be on the lookout for the recipe in the next week or so!