Weekend Meals: Days 131, 132, 133

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Here's a recap of our weekend in meals.

Friday night Randy and I had a house showing which started out promising and after crunching some numbers and finalizing an offer on Saturday, we found out this morning (Sunday) that the sellers went with a different offer.  So it goes.  :)

So Friday night, Randy and I ordered from the Unos.  With Bank of America, you get "cashback" deals with your debit card.  Currently, we get 20% back at Unos Bar & Grill.  That's a pretty cool program--pretty cool savings!  We split 1 entree and an appetizer and it was plenty for us.

Saturday was quite a day!  The kids and I got locked out of the house for about 3 hours right around lunch time.  In order to try to keep Abby calm while I was frustrated on the inside, we walked to the pizza place down the street and ate there.  If it wasn't pouring out and I wasn't so upset, it would've been pretty fun!  Then the kids got to play in the mud for a couple hours while I called people and Randy finally came home and let us inside and then left again to referee more soccer.  After late afternoon naps (for all 3 of us), we hit the grocery store.  At this point, I knew I wouldn't have dinner ready in time for all 4 of us to eat and give the kids the baths they so desperately needed.  They had mac & cheese, and Randy and I had a date-night dinner later.  (Complete with appetizers, drinks, and salads as starter-courses.)

Summer Citrus Shrimp Scampi
I love that I get to try new dishes at restaurants for the sake of "research."  Here is my recreation of a fun summertime shrimp scampi I had at Applebee's several weeks ago.

1/2 lb linguine
1/2 lb shrimp
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 small summer squash, sliced
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
juice from 3-4 lemons
1/2 cup white wine
4 TB butter
red pepper flakes
salt, pepper (to taste)
fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Set a pot of water on the stove to boil.  Once boiling, salt liberally and drop the pasta.  In a large skillet, melt 2 TB of butter over medium heat.  Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute.  Add the red pepper flakes.  Deglaze the pan by adding the white wine and lemon juice.  (For more of a citrus flavor, add in 3-4 lemon halves to cook with the sauce and you can remove them later.)  Turn the heat up to medium-high to help reduce the sauce in the pan.  Add the zucchini and summer squash and cook in the sauce until soft.  (If you are using raw shrimp, make sure it is deveined and peeled and you may add it now.  If you are using pre-cooked frozen shrimp, just make sure it is thawed and add it in with the tomatoes, so it doesn't overcook.)  Once the vegetables have softened, add the tomatoes.  Season the sauce with salt and pepper.  Finish off by adding the remaining 2 TB of butter and removing the lemon halves.  Drain the linguine and add it to the sauce.  Toss to combine.  Garnish with fresh parsley.

We started Sunday morning with chocolate chip pancakes!  (Always a crowd-pleaser.)  I felt like I hadn't made a whole roasted chicken in a while, so that's what we had for Sunday dinner (lunch).  Randy practically begged for gravy, so I indulged him. ;)  We had rice and salad on the side.  Something about the warmer weather makes me not want to have mashed potatoes and hot vegetables with my roasted chicken in summer--it just feels wrong.  I will also be able to make my chicken stock and chicken salad with the leftovers from today.  I have so missed the days when I get to cook just for us! ;)

Randy was gone for most of the afternoon and has a "guys' night" tonight, so the kids and I are on our own again.  Ladies that deal with busy husbands/dads, I know you feel me!  Our men do so much for us that it's hard to complain about them being gone a lot, but let me just admit it--it SUCKS.  I love my husband, and my kids love their dad and we love him being around!  This is the only and last Sunday that Randy will ref soccer because we have agreed that it needs to be our family day.  I was able to take the kids to the park next to the field he was reffing at, and when he came over to us and told me that I made his day, my day got a little brighter, too.  :)

The kids and I then had a "picnic" supper of hot dogs, pretzels, and fruit in our backyard, and then I took them out for ice cream.  Abby had her FIRST ice cream CONE by herself.  My little girl is growing up so fast!  (And no, she didn't finish it, and yes, we lost some to the ground, but she's so "big" that there weren't any real tears!)

The week ahead should bring some repeater recipes, a couple new ones, and with the 80-degree weather we're supposedly going to have, I'm thinking I'll introduce my homemade strawberry lemonade.  Stay tuned, should be a good week!