I read so many of your blogs and you have a very concise meal plan for the week and some of you even have one for the month. This morning I sat down and listed meals for the week including my personal breakfasts and lunches.
It began like this:
breakfast egg muffin, fruit, celery sticks
lunch slice of turkey, cabbage soup
dinner meatloaf, mashed potatoes (him) cauliflower mash (me), brussels sprouts, pineapple chunks
And this is what really happened:
breakfast 2 turkey sausage patties
lunch 2 cuties (mandarins) 5 pecan halves
dinner Thai lime chicken thighs, brown rice (him), cauliflower rice (me) green beans, salad greens with vinaigrette dressing
I am a fickle human and was lured by 2 variations of Thai Chicken. My theory is use what you have and change to fit your tastes, which is exactly what I did. This is how I actually made it. I am not sure what I use a recipe for except for inspiration. Anyway if you are looking for some new way to serve chicken, I highly recommend this. The amount of marinade worked for 6 thighs but would require doubling for additional pieces.
Thai Lime Chicken
6 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on (it is all I had thawed)
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 inch slice of ginger, peeled and minced
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon grass paste (I find it in the produce section of my market and keep it in the freezer)
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon coconut aminos (use soy sauce if not doing paleo)
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
Mix all the marinade ingredients in a large zip lock bag. Add the chicken thighs, seal, and kind of mush the marinade around the thighs. Stick it in the fridge and walk away for several hours. Preheat the oven to 375. Cover a raised side sheet pan with foil (Or you will be soaking and scrubbing for a while.)
Place the chicken on the foil, skin side down. Bake for 20 minutes, flip and bake until the skin crisps and the chicken reaches an internal temp of 165. Serve immediately.
Oh wow, this was so good. I wish I had made several more to have for a few days of lunch. Son2 ate with us tonight and there was not a bite left, but we all agreed it was something I need to add to the chicken rotation. The skin looked nice and crispy, but we all remove it before eating, so next time I will probably make this with boneless, skinless breasts and reduce the heat to 350. The chicken itself was juicy, tender and screaming with flavor.
Other than changing to boneless skinless thighs the only thing I would do differently is to make at least twice as much. Yes, it was that good.
It began like this:
breakfast egg muffin, fruit, celery sticks
lunch slice of turkey, cabbage soup
dinner meatloaf, mashed potatoes (him) cauliflower mash (me), brussels sprouts, pineapple chunks
And this is what really happened:
breakfast 2 turkey sausage patties
lunch 2 cuties (mandarins) 5 pecan halves
dinner Thai lime chicken thighs, brown rice (him), cauliflower rice (me) green beans, salad greens with vinaigrette dressing
I am a fickle human and was lured by 2 variations of Thai Chicken. My theory is use what you have and change to fit your tastes, which is exactly what I did. This is how I actually made it. I am not sure what I use a recipe for except for inspiration. Anyway if you are looking for some new way to serve chicken, I highly recommend this. The amount of marinade worked for 6 thighs but would require doubling for additional pieces.
Thai Lime Chicken
6 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on (it is all I had thawed)
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 inch slice of ginger, peeled and minced
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon grass paste (I find it in the produce section of my market and keep it in the freezer)
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon coconut aminos (use soy sauce if not doing paleo)
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
Mix all the marinade ingredients in a large zip lock bag. Add the chicken thighs, seal, and kind of mush the marinade around the thighs. Stick it in the fridge and walk away for several hours. Preheat the oven to 375. Cover a raised side sheet pan with foil (Or you will be soaking and scrubbing for a while.)
Place the chicken on the foil, skin side down. Bake for 20 minutes, flip and bake until the skin crisps and the chicken reaches an internal temp of 165. Serve immediately.
Oh wow, this was so good. I wish I had made several more to have for a few days of lunch. Son2 ate with us tonight and there was not a bite left, but we all agreed it was something I need to add to the chicken rotation. The skin looked nice and crispy, but we all remove it before eating, so next time I will probably make this with boneless, skinless breasts and reduce the heat to 350. The chicken itself was juicy, tender and screaming with flavor.
Other than changing to boneless skinless thighs the only thing I would do differently is to make at least twice as much. Yes, it was that good.
I laughed at your plan and how it happened. That is how it would happen to me. Either something else would show up that looked better, or I would somehow lose my focus. I have food in the house, so I eat. Meal planning is fluid from morning to dinner. I know I am having chicken, cole slaw, carrots tomorrow night. All three things need to be prepared and exbf will be here. I think I can manage those three things! But, other than looking and seeing what is in the refrigerator that is ready to prepare, I just cannot plan and follow through. This sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteI just seriously suck at follow through when I meal plan. This is going to be a test to see how closely I stick to it or how far left I veer. I went to the freezer to grab ground beef, but a pack of chicken thighs fell on my foot, so I let them thaw instead. And that is how fickle I truly am.
DeleteI am with you 100 percent. After reading about folks and their meal plans for years I finally started one. It took about 3 months before it got through my thick head. Why am I planning to cook every night? We always had leftovers. Even now with it just the two of us and cutting recipes in half there are still leftovers. So I just plan on cooking 2-3 meals per week for dinner based on our moods and what is in the pantry/fridge . Breakfast is oatmeal and fruit for the hubs and sweet potato for me. Lunch is leftovers or a large salad and maybe soup. After 30 years plus of cooking for family, meals are finally simple.
Deleteblessings, jilly
I am definitely not a planner. I might pan a particular dish, but I just do not follow menus well. Simple is always easiest.
DeleteI am unable to meal plan the way some people do. I'm terrible at grocery shopping also because I loathe it. I go around the store looking for what's on sale and go from there. Somehow I manage to whip up dinner each night, but I'm so bored with it because I make the same things over and over. I look at your recipe and see two ingredients that look foreign to me, so chances are high that I'd probably never make it even though it looks and sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteI am guessing the fish sauce and lemongrass are the odd ingredients. I keep my little squirt tube of lemon grass puree in the freezer all the time and fish sauce is always in the refrigerator too. I used to have a neighbor who would call me and ask to borrow ingredients just to see if I had them. I don't think she ever asked for something I did not have here.
DeleteI had a neighbor in KY that borrowed continually, but just vinegar and bread. She was so funny. I laughed and asked her why she did not just buy some vinegar. She said, "why should I when you buy it?" When we moved away, we made a formal presentation of the bottle of vinegar.
DeleteThat's funny.
DeleteCoconut aminos??? No clue!
DeleteCoconut aminos are fermented coconut "juice". Whole 30 has no soy, so it takes the place of soy sauce.
DeleteI am with you when it comes to meal planning! I just can't do it, or rather, can't follow through with it! Some people do well when they know they are going to cook X on Monday, Y on Tuesday, and so forth. I do better with knowing I have X and Y I can cook if I want to, but can make Z, too, should I prefer!
ReplyDeleteYour chicken dish sounds wonderful. I think I will try it, the next time I buy some chicken.
I am like you! I try to make a plan but I don't follow through, or if I do follow it I feel like I am bound and gagged and in kitchen prison.
DeleteI try to think at least a day or two ahead, but don't do very well planning much further out. I don't plan for three meals, though... just one main meal.
ReplyDeleteI have a hugely stocked freezer and I really do intend to plan but when I take something out to thaw something entirely different screams at me.
DeleteIf you have a large amount of food and condiments on hand and you don't have to watch your budget to the penny, there's no need for meal planning. Also, if you don't mind spending time in the kitchen, it's not necessary. I think all of those things apply to you. You have a decently stocked freezer and pantry, you have a little wiggle room in your budget, and you like being creative in the kitchen. The only reason I can see for you to meal plan is if it helps you stay on your diet plan better. I say cook on however the mood strikes you.
ReplyDeleteI do have a ridiculously stocked freezer and I do have some out of the ordinary condiments. I am not even sure if it is kitchen creativity or boredom that makes me try different things all the time. TheHub is one of those people who will declare X sounds bad because he ate something similar 2 weeks ago, so partially this is to appease his need for constant change.
DeleteI agree. I keep things well stocked. I'm trying meal planning just to force me to use up some things LOL However, I think this month will be pretty much shot for two of the four weeks. (spring break for one and a visit from my grandson for a second.)
DeleteI guess I need the flexibility not knowing gives me since I change my mind at the drop of a hat.
DeleteThat chicken is a far cry from meat loaf, too funny! It proves you're human and flexible! I try to follow a menu plan but it usually ends up like yours. Whatever floats your boat, I say!
ReplyDeleteIt is a bit removed from meat loaf! I am not sure my boat floats or just rocks as I aimlessly sit in the middle with no paddle or purpose.
DeleteI have a really hard time sticking to any kind of a menu plan also. But that chicken looks so good!
ReplyDeleteIt was packed with flavor. It even made the cauliflower rice taste better.
DeleteThe chicken looks delicious but don't ask me to put it in a meal plan or it will never get made!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that seems to be the way I roll too!
DeleteI plan options-anything to stretch the time between shopping. Yeah, another recipe to try.
ReplyDeleteI understand the options. I don't hate shopping but I like to do it as seldom as possible and refuse to run in to buy just one thing for a meal.
DeleteOh chicken and Thai flavours - my favourites. Will definitely give that a try. Even when we were five at home I never had a meal plan however. I had a "vague idea". I would get something out of the freezer in the evening and think about how to serve it during the day so I always knew what we were having that evening and like you there probably aren't too many condiments that I'm missing (although I bet some of them have been around since the Titanic sunk). Anna
ReplyDeleteDid I say my condiments and spices were fresh?
Delete