Menu Monday 2/14/11

It's Valentine's Day!!! XOXO to you and yours!

I'm so excited about our plans this year. We are cooking at home! I can't wait. It's the perfect thing to do on this Monday v-day we have here. Here's what's on our menu for our sweetheart dinner:

I talked to Keith and we mutually agreed on all of these foods. It was a fun little planning session!

Warm Spinach Salad with Honey Pecan Dressing - This is my favorite dressing ever and I normally serve it over a spinach salad with fruit, but this time I want to wilt the spinach and serve with bacon, red onion and toasted pecans. We'll see how it turns out!

Result - Fabulous! I sauteed the red onions in a skillet with a bit of olive oil and poured over the spinach to wilt. It was delicious. 

Bacon-Wrapped Fillet Mignon - This is our main dish, and we love fillets. It's a treat to order at restaurant or make at home, so I'm excited.

Grilled Asparagus - One of our favorite things. We let ours sit in olive oil and kosher salt before grilling. They are divine!

Triple Cheese Macaroni - This is a Food Network recipe that sounds awesome. I can't wait to make it!

Verdict: Very good, but I think I'll use some 'stronger' cheeses next time. The crumb mixture was great.

Chocolate Strawberry Galette - In our brainstorming session, Keith said he wanted me to make one of my fruit galettes, but I wanted chocolate. I decided why not combine the two!? After some searching online, I think I'll follow this recipe pretty closely from Shared Sugar. It looks beautiful and sounds delicious! YUM.

Result: Excellent! I posted the recipe here.

And, we still have the rest of the week to think about! Here's what's on the agenda:

Apricot-Glazed Pork Tenderloin - I actually made this for dinner tonight and it was one of the easiest things I've ever made. It tasted pretty good, too! Recipe is found here from Taste of Home.

Berry Chicken Salad - I'll have extra spinach on hand from Valentine's Day and this salad sounds extra delicious. Recipe also from Taste of Home.

Outcome: Wonderful! Click here to read about how I made it.

Roasted Corn and Goat Cheese Quesadillas (with Chicken) - These 'dillas are amazing, and I'll have goat cheese from the previous night's salad, and will cook some extra chicken to throw in there, too, so the Mr will love them even more. Here is the recipe I posted a while back.

Result: Better than ever! I used a Roasted Corn salsa that had a tangy flavor. I think I'll continue to swap in more exciting salsas than the regular verde.

Creamy Jambalaya Pasta - I can't wait to make this again. The recipe comes from Steph at Plain Chicken. It's so good! Click here to get it.

Whew, sounds like a very busy week in our kitchen!