Bikinis in the Snow Week 2 – New Recipes for Dinner
We usually cook at home 5 days out of the week. With a picky husband and kids, we often make the same variation of dinners each week. Plain pasta, grilled chicken, hamburgers, tacos, Sprite chicken, and corned beef are frequent dishes in our house. These recipes are easy to make and everyone in the house will eat them.
Bikinis in the Snow Week 2 Challenge – New Recipes for Dinner
We are ready to spice things up a bit in the kitchen for this bikinis in the snow challenge. Our weeks can be pretty busy between work, household chores, and the kids’ schedules. So, we searched for some new-to-us dinner recipes that would still be somewhat easy to make and not take too much time.
Your week 2 challenge can be to follow our plan or find your own “new” recipes to try for dinner this week.
Here is our plan for this week.
Surf ‘n Turf Paella
Pad Thai
Persian Shish Kabob
Sweet ‘n Spicy Pork Lettuce Wraps
Noodle Wrapped Chicken
If you are following along, here is a list of ingredients we will need for dinner this week.
Chicken breasts
2 pounds beef tenderloin
1 pound ground pork
1 (6-ounce) boneless strip steak
1/2 pound large shrimp shelled and deveined
egg
2 tablespoons 1×1/2×1/8″ slices pressed tofu (bean curd)
1 tablespoon sweet preserved shredded radish
1 cup bean sprouts
Bell Pepper
2 Plum tomatoes
Frozen peas
Romain lettuce head
Carrot
2 Scallions
Olives
Garlic
Onion
Oregano
Ginger
Saffron
Sesame seeds
Hoisin sauce
sriracha
5 tablespoons tamarind water
1 1/2 tablespoons (or more) Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
1 1/2 tablespoons simple syrup, preferably made with palm sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground dried Thai chiles
2 tablespoons crushed roasted, unsalted peanuts
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
Chicken Stock cube
Dried Egg Noodles
5 ounces pad thai rice noodles
Basmati Brown Rice
1/4 cup whole-wheat spaghetti
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Lime Juice
Lime
Cilantro
Skewers
We went to our local grocery store last night and stocked up on everything we will need for this week. Here is a picture of Morry looking at the meats. The kids were not in good moods last night, so I couldn’t get a picture of them.
Day 1: Paella
Yum! The paella was good. We just added a little bit of salt at the end. Even our son had some.
Day 2: Lettuce Wraps
These were very easy and tasted great!
Day 3: Pad Thai
Another good one! We had actually planned on making the kabobs tonight, but realized late this afternoon that the meat needed needed to be marinated. So, Pad Thai it was tonight.
Day 4: Shish Kabobs
Another hit! This time the whole family ate the meal. Both boys asked for seconds and want us to make these kabobs again. Yay!
Day 5: Noodle Wrapped Chicken
This recipe was the most unique. I had never seen noodle wrapped chicken before. It was pretty easy to make. Both kids tried it, but they weren’t as impressed with it as the other meals we had this week. They did not like the crispy noodles. Morry and I thought it was good. The chicken was very tasty, but I’m not sure if we would make this recipe again since the kids didn’t seem to like it.
Q&A
Rachel:
How did I feel before trying this challenge?
I enjoy trying new foods, but often worry about pleasing the rest of my family. Before doing this challenge, I was looking forward to exploring some new recipes and introducing new foods to my family. I was a little overwhelmed at first with all of the different ingredients we would need.
How did I feel during the challenge?
Each day, I found myself looking forward to dinner. I enjoyed working together with Morry to make the recipes and then finally, taste the new meals. I liked that this challenge was something in which the whole family could participate.
How do I feel after the challenge?
I am proud of Morry and the kids for trying some new foods. After this week, we have a few more meals to add to our rotation. Some of them were super easy. I’m glad we did this.
What did I learn?
I learned not to be so quick to decide what other may or may not like. It was pleasantly surprising that one of my sons tried every single meal and that he liked pretty much all of them. I also learned that there are quite a few quick, healthy meals that we can make so that we don’t get tired of our usual meal rotations.
Morry:
How did I feel before trying this challenge?
This is one that I wanted to do. Before kids, we were always looking up new recipes online and not necessarily trying new foods, but eating differently every day and especially week-to-week. But for the last couple years we just repeat the same dinners and meals. Mostly because we chose the things that are easy to cook that all of us like. We don’t necessarily have time to make a big meal. I wanted to get back to at least adding some variety. I had two big concerns – were the recipes we found any good – and really how much time was this going to take?
How did I feel during the challenge?
As the week went on and the meals were good and as we were able to fit them in, I started feeling good. I started thinking, “hey, maybe we found some new ideas”.
How do I feel after the challenge?
I definitely want to continue it. I want to make sure that we continue to add variety. Obviously, it doesn’t have to be every day each week, but it would be nice to throw in a new meal once a week or something like that.
What did I learn?
I think the biggest thing I learned is that it’s really important to a) recognize when you’re in a rut and b) take steps to get out of it. It wasn’t too hard. It took me 30 minutes one evening to search for recipes. A few of the recipes required us to prep the night before, but most could be done easily. I think the pork wraps and Persian shish-kabobs are easy enough to be done more often. The Pad Thai and the Paella was good but we can make those if we have lots of time. The noodle-wrapped chicken was just ok. It was meant for the kids and then only Noah ate it. I think we may be able to take the marinade from it. But in general, I think we really need to make that effort to keep the rotation fresh.
Share your thoughts
If you completed your own challenge this week and would like to share your answers to these questions, please leave your comments below.
Rachel K. Belkin, M.Ed, is a journalist and writer with over 15 years of expertise in travel, business and marketing education, health, and local Austin, Texas events.
With a Master's degree in education from Texas State University and a Business Foundations Certification from The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, Rachel's extensive background is highlighted by her published works and contributions to prestigious publications, including HuffPost, Hometalk, Matador Network, AP News, and MSN.com, as well as on her own platforms, Rachel K. Belkin, Elkin Bay, and Probe the Globe.
Beyond her accomplishments in writing, Rachel is a sought-after educator, teaching businesses effective marketing strategies and content creation techniques. Notably, she successfully built a blog from scratch in 2008, ultimately selling it for six figures in 2021.
Rachel's commitment to advocacy is exemplified by her role on the Breast Cancer Resource Center Advisory Council, particularly contributing to the success of the Young Survivor Project. Rachel is also an experienced public speaker with appearances on TV segments for Fox 7 Austin, KXAN, and CBS Austin and as a speaker at conferences and professional networking meetings for business owners and cancer survivors.
