The Adventures of Dwarf and Gnome

With the rensovations nearing completion things are busy and the house is even more of a disater than usual so meal planning and posting has taken a back burner for a little while becasue the house is even more cluttered as more thign get assembled and delivered for the basement. 

I promise as soon as I get my new desk and get settled in the basement office area updates will become more regular. I will make note of any tasty recipes we try and share them when things settle down.

until then get out and experience your local farmers market and local vendors... the St. Mary's market has started up for the season and I have been enjoying fresh local grown lettuce and veggies :)

This week we revisit Great Easy Meals from Food Network for inspiration. I tried to gather light fresh meals that screamed spring, plus with the BBQ back out its time to grill everything :)

Sunday
Homemade Mac & Cheese with Asparagus

Monday
Spring chicken salad

Tuesday
Sausage & Pepper skewers with couscous

Wednesday
Steak with Avocado Sauce and Tomato Salad

Thursday
Moroccan grilled salmon with asparagus

Friday
Fontina risotto with chicken

Saturday
TBD depending on how much running around we do this day - it might be dinner out

Lunches for few days will be a BLT Pasta Salad

While we were on our adventure from Florida to Nassau to castaway Cay and eventually back to Florida we not only experienced the wonderful views, the tropical breezes and the semi-warm ocean we also ate a lot of new and exciting things. I have often said I need a certain number of days at Disney World just so I can eat everywhere I want to, well the Disney cruise is no different. 

Disney Cruises use what they refer to as Rotational Dining, this allows you to experience all 3 dining rooms the ship has to offer. When you arrive in your stateroom there is a small card that gives you your dining locations and time for dinner each night of your cruise. In our Case we dined during the 2nd seating (8:15pm) in the following order Animators Pallette, Enchanted Garden, Royal Palace, Royal Palace and back to Animator Pallette. At first glace I am sure many of you will say well you went to 2 restuarants twice and while that is true we had 5 completely different menus because one night at the Royal Palace was Pirate Party Night and therefore a special menu was enjoyed and the final night at Animators we enjoyed a special See You Real Soon menu. The slideshow of pictures at the top of this post shows everything we ate, drank and enjoyed along with a few pictures of what happens if you are too full to have dessert, some pictures os the resturants themselves and even the menus from each night. As for the specifics of what we enjoyed, I have compiled everything into a handy table below. 

The one other thing that I found awesome on the Disney Cruise for a foodie was the Anyone Can Cook series. during our sea day the Chef from Remi (the fancy formal dining room you pay extra for) gave some cooking lessons in the mornign he made Apple Strudle with the families and in the afternoon he showed the adults now to make Lobster Ravioli and then we got to enjoy a sample. I brought my recipe card home and I can't wait to give it a try with my pasta making equipment and my ravioli maker.

It is worth noting that rotational dining is only in play for dinner, breakfast and lunch there are a veriety of options which include a la carte breakfast in the restuarants or a buffet breakfast at Cabana's where you can sit out on the deck and enjoy the sun and breeze while you eat. this was generally our preference however we did try all options. For lunch there is quick food at the Radiator Springs service windows which includes burgers, pizza, chicken fingers, salads and sandwiches and then there is a buffet at Cabana's, this was our preference when we were on the ship for lunch because the selection was amazing. While on Castaway Cay (the Disney owned island) lunch is a BBQ buffet at Cookies featuring corn, ribs, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, fish and a wide veriety of salads and a few desserts. The beautiful thing about this BBQ is that it is included with your cruise because you are on the Disney Island, so not only do you get amazing quick beach food you don't have any extra expense.

In short the cruise was amazing, not only did I get to relax and recharge I also got to indulge my inner food geek. If you ask Paul, his favorite part was the ice cream machines that opened at 10am and didn't close until 11pm so he could have ice cream (a choice of 6 flavorsd or swirl at all times) anytime he wanted. And yes before you ask they do bring the ice cream machines out at Cookies as well so you can enjoy ice cream on the beach.

I know there are many missing weeks here and that will be explained shortly, I will soon be putting up a post about our vacation from the foodie's perspective so that you can enjoy the culinary journey we took while away.

In other news we have signed up for the CSA with Ann Slater Organic Farms again this year so there will be more adventures in working with new ingreadients in the future. The CSA should start weekly deliveries about the end of May so we still have some time to go but I thought it was worth mentioning here since I am sure most farmers that run these programs are doing enrollment now. I loved having farm fresh vegetables delivered to my house once a week for a flat rate, then I only had to stop by the farmers market for the meat to go with the veggies and maybe a few other veggies for a recipe but for the most part it was only fruit, cheese, occasionally bread and meat at the market on the weekend.

For now here is the menu for this week.

Sunday

Keema Fusion (This recipe came from a free calendar I got from Arkona Applicances while helping the In-laws shop) - this is Hamburgers sauteed with Indian spices served with Rice and Naan, it sounds really tasty.

Monday

Grilled Caesar Salad (Chef Mickey: Treasures From the Vault & Delicious New Favorites) and Grilled Chicken

Tuesday

Eanie Meanie Fettucine (Looneyspoon Collection) - the only modification I will be making is swapping a piece of grilled mahi mahi flaked into it instead of a can of tuna

Wednesday

Parrot Cay Salad (Chef Mickey: Treasures From the Vault & Delicious New Favorites) - A spinach Salad with a warm bacon dressing

Thursday

Not Humdrumsticks (Looneysppons Collection), Baked Asparagus with Parmesan, & Mashed Potatoes - This will be made with boneless skinles chicken thighs instead of drumsticks

This became friday's dinner and thursday we had a Potato, Bacon and Mushroom Frittata to use up leftover odds and ends. The Kababs will happen soon :)

Friday

DisKABABulated Beef Skewers with Rice (Looneyspoons Collection) - I am adding portabella mushrooms to this so the shewers will have steak, mushroom and onion marinated on the skewer and then grilled on the BBQ

This dinner got bumped to use up leftovers, we will have it soon though as the BBQ is out of the shed. As soon as it is all cleaned up for the season these will be on the menu :) We had the meal from Thursday for dinner friday, picute is with that description :)

Saturday

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Garlic and Goat Cheese Polenta (Chef Mickey: Treasures From the Vault & Delicious New Favorites) with a tossed salad - We will be helping finish off the In-laws moving so I thought I would make this for all of us when the last load arrives at the new house, its the first time I am making it for them to try but its a favorite of ours so I am sure they will enjoy.

Work got busy and basement renovations have begun so life is a little upside down right now so I that is why I have missed a couple weeks... but have no fear we have been eating well and I will try and get some pictures posted as well as a small write up on the dinner experience we had at The Stratford Chef shool/The Prune Resturant with Celebrity Chef Connie Desousa from Alberta soon.

But until then... this weeks menu

Monday

Lunch: Egg Salad Wrap (Nancy), Chicken Salad Wrap (Paul), Veggies & Dip, Grapes, Apple, Yogurt

Dinner: Bacon & Egg Brunch Burgers with Salad

Tuesday

Lunch: Egg Salad Wrap (Nancy), Chicken Salad Wrap (Paul), Veggies & Dip, Grapes, Apple, Yogurt

Dinner: Grilled Chicken with Sundried Tomato and Goat Cheese Polenta (Chef Mickey: Treasures From the Vault & Delicious New Favorites, Pg. 102)

Wednesday

Lunch: Mixed Green Salad with Chicken, Veggies & Dip, Grapes, Apple, Yogurt

Dinner: Pork Stir Fry with Sweet & Sour Sauce

Thursday

Lunch: Strawberry & Goat Cheese Spinach Salad with Grilled Chicken, Veggies & Dip, Grapes, Apple, Yogurt

Dinner: Chicken Asiago Pasta (Chef Mickey: Treasures From the Vault & Delicious New Favorites, Pg. 124)

Friday

Lunch: Out

Dinner: London Broil, Mashed Cauliflower & Veggies TBD

Saturday

Dinner with the D&D Crew

Sunday

Braised Short Ribs, Yukon Potatoe Stack (Chef Mickey: Treasures From the Vault & Delicious New Favorites, Pg. 144), and Brussel Sprouts