A Year of Good Eats

Nothing like have a baby to make you think about your diet! Making good meals hasn't been a strong suit for either Niels or I. Before we got married, Niels usually had a whole Stoeffers meal-in-a-bag for dinner (The caloric count is shocking!) Since my head injury, I've been more of a grazer as my body re-learned that food is a friend.

After we got engaged, we started planning and making more meals together. Then after we got married, food took a back seat to survival with the miscarriages and hard pregnancy. For most of 2008, dinner was anything that seemed like it could stay down! Niels fended for himself.

So, in 2009, after Daniel's safe arrival, we make a goal of trying a few new recipes a week. We didn't try as many as we had hoped, but partly, that's because we've found a few favorites we like to repeat. Our grocery bill is a lot better too, because (most weeks) I plan out our meals and we only buy what we need.

This weekend, Niels and I watched the movie Julie & Julia, which inspired me to list all the recipes we tried this year, at least, the ones I can remember!

• Oriental Beef & Broccoli
• Easy, Cheesy Tortellini Bake
• Ginger Chocolate Chip Bars
• Bubble & Squeak (one of our favorites, it's made of cabbage, carrots and hamburger and gets its name from the sound it makes while cooking)
• Pumpkin Penne Pasta
• Pumpkin Roll
• Sausage, Spinach and Provolone Pizza
• Sweet and Spicy Chicken (now known as de Jong chicken...mmm!)
• Oatmeal Raspberry Bars
• Basic Quiche (and many variations...our favorite has pesto, spinach, broccoli, and cauliflower)
• Lactation Cookies (made with extras to help milk production. I stopped pumping in October so this one is out of the rotation now)
• Ginger-Stuffed Chicken with Sesame Spinach
• Skirt Steak with Lemon and Chili-Roasted Potatoes
• Crock Pot Beef Sandwiches
• Sloppy Joes (another regular because it's so easy)
• Lamb Meatball Gyros with Yogurt and Mint
• Homemade Granola Bars
• Tortellini with Bacon, Greens and Brown Butter
• Last Minute Lasagna
• Rasta Pasta (actually, this was part of our regular rotations, but we like to switch it up a little from time to time)
• Blondies
• Three Cheese Calzones
• Banana Bread (several recipes)
• Ravioli with Roasted Zucchini (also with Sauteed Zucchini)
• Teriyaki-Glazed Burgers
• Chinese-Five Spice Pork Chops with Grilled Plums (we dropped the plums, but love the pork chops!)
• Cauliflower and Ham Gratin
• Spinach Pesto and Pasta (made the pesto from scratch!)
• Broccoli Salad
• Steak with Cauliflower and Crispy Bread Crumbs (I learned how to make croutons from scratch)
• Spinach Cheese Manicotti
• Honey Chicken Skewers with Grilled Corn Salad
• Bitterballan (a Dutch meatball-like dish)
• Grilled Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas
• Rice Pizza
• Asian Chicken Salad
• Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli
• Melt-in-Your-Mouth Meat Loaf (it was okay)
• Cloggers' Delight Salad (a cabbage salad. My Dutch husband loves cabbage).
• Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
• Pot Roast (several recipes)
• Broccoli Cheese Soup
• Slow Cooker Beef Stew
• Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I still have a big stack of recipes to try, so we'll see what we discover in 2010.