Sunday:	Roasted Pork Loin with Stuffed Squash Blossoms and Dandelion Greens
Monday:	Grilled Halibut with quinoa and asparagus
Tuesday:	Lemony Chicken Orzo Soup with Spring Peas & Spring Onions
Wednesday:	Leftovers: Pork Loin with Roasted Purple Cauliflower & Salad
Thursday:	Leftovers: Chicken & Orzo Soup
Friday:	In San Diego!
Saturday:	In San Diego!

The bounty of soon-to-be Summer appears to have arrived early in the Bay Area!  The Farmer's Market was exploding with colors and scents this morning so while parts of my menu were already set I've managed to work in as much of that fresh, local produce as possible.  Starting with tonight...to go along with our traditional Sunday dinner of a roasted pork loin we were inspired by the beautiful squash blossoms at the farmer's market.  So we'll serve those stuffed and baked alongside some fresh dandelion greens sauteed in a bit of olive oil, salt and red pepper flakes. .  Monday we'll continue with some of our amazingly delicious local  asparagus...the spring season is almost over here, so we have to eat it up while we can.  Tuesday we're making a soup that we made about a month ago that we both just loved...Lemony Chicken Orzo Soup, but in the spirit of Spring I'm adding in some fresh spring peas and onions (the tops...similar to scallions).  This soup is so easy to make and so surprisingly fabulous...that zing of freshly squeezed lemon really wakes up your taste buds and turns a normally comforting dish into something light yet still soul satisfying.

The rest of the week and early next week we'll be in San Diego to hang out with good friends for Memorial Day Weekend...probably lots of grilling and beer!  If you need some additional recipes to get you through check out my recipe archives and menu archives.

Sunday:	Italian Vegetable Stew
Monday:	Leftovers: Papaya Salad with Grilled Shrimp
Tuesday:	Leftovers: Italian Vegetable Stew
Wednesday:	Leftovers: Italian Vegetable Stew
Thursday:	Mexican Style Tofu Scramble with tortillas and fruit
Friday:	Leftovers: Mexican Tofu Scramble
Saturday:	Eat Out

We're continuing our simple and healthy trend this week with a mostly vegetarian menu…summer's right around the corner you know! So first up is a new recipe from Bon Appétit for an Italian Vegetable Stew. It's a little wintery since it has collard greens and kale in it, but it looked so rustic and yummy I just couldn't resist…served alongside some hearty whole grain bread and you have yourself the perfect Sunday meal.

Then we'll have some of our yummy Papaya Salad leftovers from late last week with grilled shrimp and then since I'm at a local conference this week Christian will have the Italian stew leftovers for a couple of nights.  We'll finish the week out with a spin on our typical egg tacos, but this time substituting tofu for the eggs.  It's another new Bon Appétit recipe and since I pretty much love anything Mexican I'm sure I'll love it and I hope you do too!

Sunday:	Indian-Spiced Chicken with Chickpeas & Spinach
Monday:	Flounder Poached in Fennel Tomato Sauce with Quinoa
Tuesday:	Leftovers: Indian Spiced Chicken and Rice
Wednesday:	Asparagus & Leek Frittata with Sweet Potato Home-fries
Thursday:	Leftovers: Frittata & Home-fries
Friday:	Eat Out
Saturday:	Spicy Thai Green Papaya Salad with Grilled Shrimp

After almost a week of eating fabulously decadent and delicious food in New Orleans I'm ready to get back in the swing of healthy, homemade cooking!  So I'm being a bit ambitious this week, leaning on leftovers less and planning to make four dishes...two new and two old stand-bys.

We're starting off the week with the new recipes...both from past issues of Bon Appétit that I finally had time to catch up on during my plane rides.  The chicken dish is pretty straightforward although it does have quite a long ingredient list, most of which you'll have if you have a well stocked pantry. The flounder is a nice easy weeknight dish, but instead of using jarred marinara as the suggested base I'll likely use canned San Marzano whole tomatoes and crush them up with my hands. A bit fresher and more authentically Italian.

We end the week with a seasonal frittata and then a culinary journey back to our Thailand vacation where we learned how to make traditional Som Tam while in Chaing Mai.  Som Tam is a spicy thai green papaya salad...not like the sweet stuff you get in the Thai restaurants here in the States. Nothing like a yummy trip down memory lane for a fun Saturday night.  We'll get some Thai beer and maybe even make mangoes with sticky rice for dessert...hope you join us!

Sunday:	In New Orleans - Dinner at Commander's Palace
Monday:	In New Orleans - Dinner at Le Foret
Tuesday:	In New Orleans - Conference Finale Dinner
Wednesday:	Returning from New Orleans
Thursday:	Tortellini Soup
Friday:	Breakfast for Dinner
Saturday:	Leftovers: Tortellini Soup

Well, I'm sorry to say that I'm not going to be much help for your home cooking this week.  I'm in New Orleans for a conference until late Wednesday night and then we're keeping it simple for the rest of the week while I get back into the swing of things. By keeping dinner simple hopefully I can get a few workouts in so I can start exercising off all of those beignets and fried oyster po'boys.  Man I love New Orleans!  If you're heading there yourself anytime soon make sure to check out my Foodie Itinerary and Nightlife & Cocktails Itinerary to plan your culinary journey!

In the meanwhile, please feel free to check out my past menus or recipes to fill your week with delicious home cooking.  I'll be back to my normal menus next week.

Sunday:	Eva Longoria’s Chicken Tortilla Soup
Monday:	Grilled Tilapia with Ginger Chile Salsa & Grilled Asparagus
Tuesday:	Leftovers: Tortilla Soup
Wednesday:	Leftovers: Fish Tacos with Black Beans & Swiss Chard
Thursday:	Leftovers: Tortilla Soup
Friday:	In New Orleans for Jazz Fest!
Saturday:	In New Orleans!

We're heading back to my most popular post ever this week...Eva Longoria's Chicken Tortilla Soup.  I have to say, it's slightly depressing and a bit embarrassing to me that week after week for the past year plus that a T.V. celebrity's  recipe remains my most popular post, but what can I say?  People either really like Eva Longoria or they really like Tortilla Soup!  From what I recall, the soup totally lived up to the hype so I'm looking forward to making it again.

Then we'll pull out some leftover Ginger Chile Salsa from the freezer that we made a few weeks ago to dress up a grilled fish and asparagus dinner.  The rest of the week we'll be keeping it simple and rely on leftovers as we get ready to head out to New Orleans for Jazz Fest! If you're heading to Jazz Fest as well, make sure to check out my Foodie and Nightlife posts on NOLA before you go.

As always...if you need suggestions to fill in the gaps while I'm out of town visit my menu archives or recipes page.

Sunday:	White Chicken Chili with Corn Tortillas
Monday:	Quinoa and Sweet Potato Stuffed Mushrooms with Roasted Red Pepper Salad
Tuesday:	Leftovers: White Chicken Chili
Wednesday:	Leftovers: Stuffed Mushrooms with grilled Asparagus
Thursday:	Leftovers: Baked White Chicken Chili Enchiladas
Friday:	DIY Pizza Night
Saturday:	Eat Out

We're keeping it pretty simple this week with two new recipes with leftovers that will stretch and keep our bellies happy throughout the week. The first is a spicy white chicken chili from my favorite Slow Cooker cookbook, so the recipe that I linked to above isn't the exact recipe I'll be using but it's pretty close. To make sure we don't get too bored with the leftovers one night we'll turn the chili into baked chili enchiladas. Fill some large corn tortillas with leftover chili, roll them up, nestle them in a greased caserole dish, top them with some shredded cheese, cover with foil and bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes or until heated through and the cheese is melted. Yum!

Our second new recipe of the week is one I stumbled on when I was searching for gluten free snack ideas online...somehow I landed on this Quinoa & Sweet Potato Stuffed Mushroom recipe and it looked so simple and delish.  For a side we'll just make a simple spinach and roasted red pepper salad with a bit of shaved Parmesan and walnuts and then grill up some asparagus when we have leftovers.

Leftovers keep a busy week simple for us Tuesday through Thursday and then Friday we have a little fun with a good 'ole homemade Pizza night.  Hope you all have a good and delicious week

Sunday:	Pork Stir-Fry with Tangerine Chili Sauce
Monday:	Rosemary Grilled Salmon with Ratatouille covered Grits
Tuesday:	Leftovers: Pork Stir Fry
Wednesday:	Leftovers: Black Bean Salmon Tostadas & Grilled Asparagus
Thursday:	Breakfast for Dinner
Friday:	Friends Visiting!
Saturday:	Friends Visiting!

I was doing a bit of Spring cleaning and stumbled across this Pork Stir-Fry with Tangerines and Chili Sauce recipe that I had ripped out of a Bon Appétit a few years ago.  While I was on a bit of a cleaning binge and really wanted to just throw everything in the trash this one looked too yummy to pass up, so we're making it for our Sunday dinner.

Monday we're taking a salmon skewer recipe and making it a bit simpler and more in-season by serving it alongside grits covered with ratatouille instead of skewering the salmon with tomatoes.  Grilled skewer season is right around the corner...but it's not here quite yet!  For the ratatouille I'll simply sauté up some chopped onions, mushrooms, and eggplant in olive oil until they soften and begin to brown a bit.  Then I'll add a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, some capers and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cook a bit longer until the sauce thickens and there you have it...easy ratatouille!

Sunday:	Whole Roasted Chicken, Parmesan Bread Pudding with Broccoli Rabe & Pancetta and Asparagus Shiitake Sauté
Monday:	Brown Rice & Beans with Ginger Chile Salsa
Tuesday:	Leftovers: Lemony Chicken & Orzo Soup
Wednesday:	White Fish with leftover Parmesan Bread Pudding & Grilled Asparagus
Thursday:	Leftovers: Brown Rice & Beans with Ginger Chile
Friday:	Leftovers: Fish Tacos with Sauteed Brussel Sprouts
Saturday:	Eat Out

We're not big Easter people, but since this Sunday is Easter and we do like a reason to celebrate and cook good food we're amping up our typical Sunday dinner and making it a bit more indulgent than usual.  Mostly in terms of this delicious Bon Appétit recipe I just found for Parmesan Bread Pudding with Broccoli Rabe & Pancetta...gluten free it is not, but like I said we're splurging a bit.  Served alongside a nice whole roasted chicken and a seasonal sauté of asparagus and shiitakes...sounds like the perfect Easter dinner to me!

Monday we'll get back to our more traditionally healthy routine with another new recipe from Bon Appétit that is a simple yet yummy sounding twist on beans and rice.  We'll then turn our roast chicken from Sunday into a lemony orzo soup and finish off the week with some white fish served alongside leftover parmesan bread pudding and more of that delicious spring asparagus that we can't get enough of these days.

Happy Easter everyone...hope you have a wonderful, delicious day with family and friends.

Sunday:	Chicken & Chickpea Stew
Monday:	Shrimp & Artichokes with Grits & Asparagus Salad
Tuesday:	Lentil Country Supper
Wednesday:	Leftovers: Chicken & Chickpea Stew
Thursday:	Leftovers: Shrimp & Artichokes with Grits
Friday:	Leftovers: Lentil Country Supper
Saturday:	Kristen’s Birthday Dinner!

This is a week of oldie-but-goodie SavoryGirl favorites.  All of these recipes are nice and easy, healthy and delicious...starting off with Chicken & Chickpea Stew. Hearty, rustic and soul satisfying for a cool almost Spring Sunday dinner. On Monday we'll make one of my very first "gourmet" meals.  Doesn't feel quite so gourmet to me anymore, but it still holds a special place in my heart...creamy Parmesan Grits topped with a flavorful Shrimp & Artichoke mixture.  In a nod to Spring, we'll serve this alongside a fabulous, easy asparagus salad.  Our local asparagus has just started appearing in our farmer's market last weekend so I'm just dying to start eating it up!

Last, but not least we'll make one of our favorite easy dinners, Lentil Country Supper.  When looking at the recipe it sounds as though it may be a bit boring, but trust me, there's just something about the flavor combination here that elevates the simplicity of this dish and makes it divine. This dish always makes me fantasize about being a farmer and living the simple life...sometimes simple really is best.  The rest of the week we'll rely on leftovers and finish off the week with a fun birthday celebration for a good friend.

Sunday:	Chicken Dijonaise with crispy roasted potatoes
Monday:	Orange Fennel Salmon with quinoa & swiss chard
Tuesday:	Red Lentil & Sweet Potato Stew
Wednesday:	Leftovers: Chicken Dijonaise
Thursday:	Leftovers: Red Lentil & Sweet Potato Stew
Friday:	Eat Out with the In-Laws
Saturday:	Tomales Bay Late Lunch with In-Laws

It's been a while since I've pulled out the slow cooker so we're starting this week with a new recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, "Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever". Nice, simple dijon chicken and crispy roasted potatoes with rosemary...perfect Sunday dinner. Monday we're pulling out an old SavoryGirl original, Salmon steamed with orange slices and fennel...bright, healthy and delicious.

On Tuesday we're going back to a detox recipe.  That's right, we've only been off it one week and we're already going back for more...I told you the recipes we're good!  This red lentil & sweet potato stew is hearty and beautifully spiced with cumin, curry and ginger. The rest of the week we're either eating leftovers or eating out. Christian's parents are in town so we'll go out to dinner one night and then on Saturday we're heading up to Tomales Bay for some oysters, Cowgirl Creamery cheese and some fresh bread from Bovine Bakery.  One of our all-time favorite things to do in the Bay Area.