April meal plan #5

Smoky pasta alla vodka, tangy basil sauce, and breakfasts in the morning sun

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Hi, it’s Meredith! We are spending the weekend in Portugal with friends—someone I haven’t seen since the two of us gave birth at the end of last summer. The house we rented has plenty of outdoor space, so I’m enjoying watching my preschooler run around and explore while I sip my coffee. We’re planning to visit Cacela Velha, one of my favorite stops from a trip we took last summer. It’s a big, beautiful beach that requires a short hike during low tide. The town at the top of the hill is adorable, and I plan to finish the day here with some fresh seafood and a cold glass of white wine. I’m also hoping I can sink my teeth into some delicious pasteis de nata, the perfect treat for a birthday weekend! (Katie: Happy birthday, friend!) -Meredith

Some food from last week: Korean beef & rice bowl, breakfast on Meredith’s sunny terrace, roasted red bell peppers peppers, quinoa and chickpea bowl, fish smothered in cilantro and onion for tacos, and homemade pizza.

This is our honest feedback on what worked (or more likely, didn’t) from last week’s meal plan.

Little victories

• Meredith: I took a note from our interview with Maggie Hoffman and decided to freeze a few servings of the lentils I made on Monday. Already looking forward to pulling one out for lunch on a busy day!

• Katie: At the beach last weekend, my oldest tried (and enjoyed!) steamed broccoli, green beans that were tucked inside a big Spanish rice, mango, and a handful of other bites. Nothing groundbreaking, and nothing I haven’t served before, but I do think there’s something to be said about repeatedly putting these things on the table with absolutely zero pressure attached.

• Meredith: Apparently Fernandito loves quinoa (who knew?!). I made some in homemade broth and threw together a salad similar to this one (which was delicious!) and he had an entire plate of it.

• Katie: Homemade pizza. I’ve been making pizza at home since about 2011, and I have tried ALL the recipes. Nothing—and I don’t mean to be dramatic, but NOTHING—compares to Ali Stafford’s recipe for Neapolitan-ish pizza dough. It’s almost completely hands off—you just let it rise at room temperature on the counter all day. The finished product is light and bubbly, and it comes out perfectly golden in my very standard Spanish oven. This week, we had a classic margherita pizza (because my husband is a pizza purist), and the other I topped with mozzerella, broccoli, and nduja. It was out of this world.

Humbling moments

• Katie: On the way home from our weekend away, we stopped at a roadside restaurant/gas station combo situation. These are either incredible or awful, and ours was the latter. Very bad food, an almost 2-year-old who left covered in soup because she refused to let us help her eat, and just general grumpy vibes on the way home made for a less-than-ideal lunch pitstop.

• Meredith: I made these muffins and they were disappointing. I know, I know, it’s a low-sugar recipe because it’s for kids, but my kids don’t want them and neither do I. I usually really enjoy Amy’s recipes, but this one wasn’t it for me.

This week’s game plan: I’m going to soak some garbanzo beans this evening, and cook them on the stovetop (pretty much completely unattended) Sunday morning. I’m going to transform those beans into two easy, relatively affordable meals this week! This is your sign from the universe to soak some chickpeas with me today and join me this week!

Monday: Grilled chicken sandwiches on leftover (frozen) sourdough buns
Tuesday: Hummus dinner bowls with spiced ground beef and tomatoes (via Epicurious)
Wednesday: Smoky pasta alla vodka (via Food52) to make a dent in that jar of nduja I opened for pizza
Thursday: Falafel-spiced tomatoes and chickpeas on flatbread (via Bon Appetit)
Friday: Leftovers!
Other: I’m making my daughter’s birthday cake this evening when she goes to bed (a Spanish classic—tarta de la abuela—which is basically just layer upon layer of cookies dipped in milk, pastry cream, and chocolate), and then at some point this week, I must make blueberry muffins. I can’t stop thinking about them! (Meredith: I should’ve made these ones this week.)

This week’s game plan: I really enjoyed having grain bowls for lunch last week. I felt lighter and more energized in the afternoons, so this week I’m going to prep things that will work well as leftovers over grain bowls and salads. (Katie: I’m obsessed with this and will be copying soon!)

Monday: Sheet-pan roasted chicken, cauliflower, and potatoes with a yummy basil sauce (via What to Cook). All of these ingredients are great as leftovers, but especially the sauce, so I’m going to double it.
Tuesday: Slow-roasted pork shoulder with rosemary, mustard, and garlic (via the Mom 100)
Wednesday: Leftover chicken or pork with couscous and roasted broccoli and carrots
Thursday: One-pot tortellini with prosciuitto and peas (via NYT Cooking)
Friday: Eating out to celebrate our friend’s new son’s baptism
Other: I came across this mango strawberry salad with burrata, and it looks so delicious. I think I’ll make it for lunch one day.

• Meredith: I started eating my breakfast on our terrace this week, and it’s lovely. I love soaking up the warm sun before my workday begins.

• Katie: I have a horrible habit of doom scrolling before bed. This week, Meredith inspired me to reach for my book rather than my phone in bed, and man, it makes ALL the difference at the end of the day. (Meredith: YAY! So glad to hear it.)

• Meredith: This cream is saving my little Lola’s irritated skin. I use it on my face at night and on my hands in the winter and can’t recommend it enough. (Katie: Yes, we’ve used this with both girls, and it’s the BEST!)

• Katie: I recently started rewatching New Girl, and wow, it’s aged so well. It’s still laugh-out-loud funny, heartwarming, and goofy all at in once. Isn’t it curious how rewatching something takes you back to where you were when you first saw it? For me it’s my second year in Córdoba teaching English—still a bit unsure where life is going to take me—sharing an apartment with my lovely friend Avra, having dinner in our horrible student-furnished living room, each of us in our own atrocious armchairs!