Weekly Menu

Thanksgiving weekend is officially over.  So is November.  Can't believe it will be December in a few hours... my Facebook newsfeed is filled with pictures of Christmas trees already!

So before we move on to Christmas, just a moment to recap Thanksgiving.  We had several of them, with the last one ending just a few hours ago at our house.  The house is filled with aromas of roasted turkey, butternut squash, and sage!  Mmm  :)  So full though!  We passed on a couple classics, but had a traditional roasted turkey, crispy roast potatoes, butternut leek soup, brussel sprout gratin, and caesar salad.  I couldn't decide on a dessert to make, so I got some cookies from our neighborhood bakery and some Jeni's ice cream... I think everyone was satisfied.  ;)

Now we have tons of leftover turkey to move through and turkey stock simmering on the stovetop.  So this week's menu has a couple leftover recipes and some beef/lamb recipes that rarely make the list just to change things up enough from the back-to-back turkey nights.

turkey, apple, and cheddar paninis
thanksgiving enchiladas
thanksgiving loaded nachos
steak tacos
lamb kabobs

Seems like tex mex has a takeover on the menu this week, but it is just too easy to turn leftovers into non-traditional tacos!  Some kind of soup will make it on to the menu next week to utilize this yummy smelling turkey stock.

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Turkey Tacos - total time 20 minutes

I can't believe it is already the end of June! Where did the month go?!? I need to get out of the office earlier so I can really enjoy the summer. Whether it's late nights at the office or you just want to get dinner on the table quickly, taco night is always a great solution.

What's funny is as often as we have taco night around these parts... I've never made ground beef (or ground turkey) tacos. I have made chicken (of course), fish, veggie, fajita, and shrimp tacos... probably even some more that I can't think of off the top of my head. But the default taco at every Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurant is always ground beef. Likely because it is the less expensive meat (but not always). Maybe it's because the original Mexican taco was made with beef. Who really knows!

So... I thought I would give these tacos a try. The thing about tacos is really getting the spices right. You don't need a prepackaged mix... you don't know what is in that thing and you can't customize it either. I always keep a few spices on hand; chili powder and red pepper flakes. Those two combined give anything the right amount of flavor and spice to make taco night a success! And don't worry, for those of you adverse to spicy foods... regular chili pepper isn't really spicy (though chipotle chili pepper is, I breathed in steamy chipotle air by accident and my lung felt like they were on fire!). The recipe below is spicy enough to keep you reaching for your water but not make you sweat. And of course you can adjust how much you add depending on how you like your tacos (the beauty of not using a mix)!

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More about → Turkey Tacos - total time 20 minutes

Not So Sloppy Joes - total time 40 minutes

Oh boy, I am such a messy eater. My husband can always tell when I've been getting into something sweet because I somehow end up with chocolate on my face. I really have no idea how it happens, but he always notices! I swear it's happened when I haven't had anything with chocolate...

So if it happens with a bit of chocolate, you can imagine what happens with something like wings or... heaven help me... sloppy joes. You don't even want to see the damage afterward.

As a result, I have steered clear of the sloppy joe sandwiches. The occasional exception needs to be open-faced with fork and 10 napkins in hand.

But what if you could make it less messy? Why not make it encompass all of the sloppiness? My husband called these sloppy joe hot pockets... but I would like to think these are of higher quality than a microwaved, processed, pocket of heat. It really is just sloppy joe made from scratch (although I just ran out of my own canned tomatoes) and just like you would eat a normal sloppy joe, just all wrapped up! Perfect for lunches and days your short on napkins. :)

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More about → Not So Sloppy Joes - total time 40 minutes