Week 12 Summary

Boy oh boy, I am pretty behind with my Week 12 summary (it wrapped up on August 15th, almost two weeks ago!). I kept a copy of our meal-plan on hand so I could remember how we ended up using everything that week! Here's the gist:

Baby Eggplant: gone! We used most of them to make ratatouille (recipe in this cookbook), which was a new dish for us. I had never had ratatouille before, and frankly had no idea what it even was until we made it. But we both really enjoyed it!

Heirloom Tomatoes: they are gone, but I think we used them both in our Week 13 meal plan. They were really good.

Garlic: we still have it, and have used a little bit at a time.

Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers: gone! We picked these and made most of them into the yummy grilled cheese I posted about last week. There were a few leftovers which I munched on and shared with my coworkers. They got a pretty mixed range of reactions, from instant love all the way to smoke coming out of ears - ha!

Mixed Yummy Peppers: these are gone too! The chevre stuffed peppers were such a hit that I made them again this past weekend for my in-laws (luckily they stayed fresh that whole time).

Red Tomatoes: gone! We made bruschetta with one and the other was used in the ratatouille. 

Green Zucchini: not gone. No, it feels like the zucchini will never be gone. We are still working our way through what we've accumulated this summer. But, we made good use of a few in Week 12: the zucchini spaghetti and ratatouille helped with that. We also made up these zucchini fries one night. They were awesome, but we were extra naughty and fried them up in oil instead of baking them. We needed an excuse to try out the new cast iron skillet.

zucchini fries with some honey-ginger wings

Gold Beets: still sitting in the fridge, untouched... I know, I'm getting predictable.

Peaches: gone! We keep getting peaches, but it seems they get tastier each week. Yes!

Cantaloupe: gone! It was perfectly delicious.

Whole Chicken: we haven't used it yet, but made two other meals this week with some previous cuts of chicken that were in the freezer. Some honey-ginger wings (pictured above), and lemon pepper seasoned legs (below, we ate them with the grilled cheese). When it comes to cooking any part of a chicken besides the breast, Steve has been the point guy so far this year. I need to get some serious practice in this category.

Week 12 Links
Chevre Stuffed Sweet Peppers
Zucchini Pasta with Creamy Lemon Chive Dressing 
Grilled Cheese with Pickled Hot Wax Peppers 


Truth be told, I feel like I've been in a bit of a culinary rut for the past couple of weeks. I can't complain because we are still eating good fresh stuff all the time, but I've been less inclined in the past few weeks to branch out and try new recipes. A lot of meals have been on repeat in our kitchen, but so has much of our produce (zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, rinse, repeat). And I'm sure our busyness also contributes to the lack of creativity, since finding and trying new recipes definitely takes more time and focus than returning an old standby.

I'm hopeful that inspiration will strike again soon, and I'm also getting eager for the pending transition into more fall fruits and veggies. Squash! Apples! I think they will bring with them a new wave of excitement. In the meantime, what dishes have been inspiring you these days? Share your thoughts in the comments, because I need a nudge!