Robin's Nest: {Monday Meal Plan} Edition our new favorite meal and some other food

Apparently Tuesday is the new Monday...

My friend, Heather, is the local community garden guru and is always out tirelessly tending the garden at our flat complex. I love going in there while Seth is running around outside because she explains which vegetable is where and gives me fresh peas to snack on.

Y'all. I don't like peas.

At least I thought I didn't because I grew up thinking they came frozen in a bag from the grocery store (thawed and cooked of course, but it's not the same!) and not from an actual garden. When the peas come out is about the time Seth wanders over - I can't get him to eat sugar snap peas from the grocery store, but he'll eat them out in the garden by the handfuls which emphasizes my earlier point. Home grown vegetables are the best. And I know I sound like I immediately signed up for a plot of our own in our little community garden, but then you remembered I have a 27 month old and 6 month old (and that I don't care much for dirt) and realized of course that didn't happen. So we resorted to the next best thing. Heather recently let me in on a local organic farm that delivers boxes of veggies to your door if you make an order online. I was excited to try it out and support a local farm, and they did not disappoint. Baffle, yes. Disappoint, no. Here is our box:

Since we're pretending it's still Monday, we can also pretend that I took a photo, right? (Please refer back to the part where I said I have a 27 month old and a 6 month old not to mention I had another baking session with my Chilean girlfriends and hosted tea in my flat for my N. American girlfriends. And Avery just started eating solids, and Seth just started potty training. It's a revolving door over here at the Inces - glorious pandemonium.)

(Taylor says I am queen of disclaimers. I have no idea what he's talking about.)

I really wish I had remembered to take a photo though because it was so colorful with the apples, pears, lettuce, broccoli, kale and green beans. (Now you may be thinking to yourself that sounds like a little bit of red (apples) and a lot of green (everything else) which really isn't that colorful, but you'd be wrong. The kale and green beans were purple. I was intrigued by the purple kale which I had not seen before, but the purple green beans really stuck out because, you know, they're called green beans. Both were excellent and the green beans actually turned green when I cooked them. I will post Taylor's recipe for green beans next week - they are amazing!

Enough rambling; here's the plan:

Monday: Shredded Chicken Chalupas - this was definitely our favorite meal of the week (possibly our favorite meal of the past few months).

It is easy and delicious. Seth inhaled his. Taylor asked me to make it once a week. (This has become my new goal, to make meals that Taylor requests for me to make weekly though I guess that would put an end to my {Monday Meal Plan} (maybe not a bad idea??)).

The recipe comes from Susannah:

1. Place boneless chicken breasts in the bottom of your crock pot (mine holds about 5)
2. Sprinkle a packet of taco seasoning all over them (I used my homemade taco seasoning and probably used more that typical taco seasoning packet - use to your taste.)
3. Dump a can of diced tomatoes on top.
4. Cook on low 4-6 hours or till chicken is cooked through.
5. Shred chicken with forks and serve on whatever you want!

I fried tortillas to make chalupas and we ate the shredded chicken in the chalupa with guacamole, shredded cheddar, sour cream, salsa, and pickled jalapenos. You could also use hard taco shells, or eat it on a salad - versatile for leftovers which is a plus for crock pot meals since they typically make a lot.

I paired this with roasted bell pepper as our veg (Taylor put his on his chalupa), and also made Cilantro Lime Rice which I've been chomping at the bit to try. I am in love with cilantro, lime, and rice, so I knew I would like it - the only problem was I am unable to cooke brown rice correctly. It is one of my Achilles Heels in the kitchen. So it was a bit chewy, but the flavor was great. Next time I will try it with white rice.

Tuesday: Tilapia (sprinkled herbs on top and put a dollop of herb (pronounced with the "h" in the UK) butter on each fillet (pronounced fill-et in the UK - I am still trying to get used to these things...), quinoa with lemon juice, and purple kale - wash and dry, cut leafy part from stalk, put on rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle olive oil and sea salt, roast on 375 for 10 minutes or till it looks crispy and eat dipped in balsamic vinegar - yum! This was a delicious and fairly healthy meal, but Taylor was still hungry after we finished...

Friday: Made the most decadent dessert from Elizabeth's website for a women's tea I attended.

Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bite

They may be the best thing I've ever put in my mouth (dessert-wise - if you know me well, you know I'd pick a steak over dessert any day). I made my into bites instead of bars because they are so rich (and to make them stretch for the tea). They were pretty easy to make. Scotland dwellers sub plain digestives for the graham crackers. Crushing the digestives was the most labor intensive part. My friend Doreen is a genius and reminded me I could use a food processor instead of my hand.

I'm looking for some more easy crock pot recipes to try - send some my way if you have any you love!

Have a great week!