Over the previous 17 years of motherhood I’ve ready roughly 12,500 meals, so it’s no surprise I burn out on cooking. However for the time being, meal-planning feels downright enjoyable. As a substitute of digging into my recipe field, I’m making an attempt recipes from everywhere in the world. I name it “Theme Week,” and whereas at first my household mocked my enthusiasm, now they’re on board. Nicely, apart from my son. Youngsters; gotta love ‘em.
Right here’s the way it works. Decide a rustic or delicacies after which discover brand-new recipes that suit your theme. You’ll be able to uncover new recipes wherever; your bookshelf, the web, your native library and even social media.
Our first theme was “Mediterranean Delicacies.” I didn’t inform my household what I used to be doing at first, I simply served them dinner as ordinary. However midway by the week, when my children dug their forks right into a scrumptious pasta dish that included sardines, it dawned on them that one thing was completely different.
“What. Is. This?” my daughter requested, spearing a suspicious-looking fish-chunk together with her fork.
“It’s a sardine,” I mentioned, one way or the other managing to not cackle wickedly.
“A WHAT?” my son requested, immediately coming to his sister’s protection.
I took a sip of water and cooly set down my glass. “It’s pasta with sardines. We’re consuming Mediterranean delicacies this week.”
“I believe it’s scrumptious,” mentioned my husband, who at all times backs me up on the dinner desk. Critically, I may serve fried bear poop and he’d ask for second helpings.
Pasta with sardines won’t have been a success with the youngsters, however they beloved the air-fried artichoke hearts I made a pair days later for a day snack. I drained a can of artichoke hearts, sprayed them with olive oil, shook them in a bag of Parmesan cheese, after which cooked them within the air fryer at 375 levels for 8 minutes. It by no means would have occurred to me to attempt that if it hadn’t been for my worldwide culinary experiment.
After Mediterranean week got here French week, after which got here Italian. It’s unclear how completely different the Mediterranean recipes have been from the Italian, however let’s not overanalyze.
Polynesian week was enjoyable too. Sprouts was having a sale on tropical fruit. As a substitute of shopping for my typical inventory of apples and oranges, we indulged in mangos, pineapples and papaya as an alternative. I made popcorn coconut shrimp within the air fryer. That concerned thawing peeled, tail-off shrimp, and shaking them in a bag with breadcrumbs, Previous Bay seasoning and unsweetened coconut flakes. After spraying them with olive oil, I cooked them within the air fryer at 400 levels for 12 minutes.
This previous week has been my favourite. We started spring break with a visit to IKEA the place I cruised the freezer part for smoked salmon and chocolate Daim cake. That’s proper, it’s Scandinavian week. I want you possibly can have seen my child’s expressions after I served them pickled herring.
Jennifer Bardsley publishes books below her personal title and the pseudonym Louise Cypress. Discover her on-line on Instagram @jenniferbardsleyauthor, on Twitter @jennbardsley or on Fb as Jennifer Bardsley Writer. E-mail her at teachingmybabytoread@gmail.com.
