Week of September 9, 2018

Sunday
Work Party

Chips and Salsa
Veggie Tray
Cheese and crackers
Hot Dogs and Hamburgers
Black Bean Salsa


Monday
LO Chili Dogs


Tuesday
Pork Tenderloin
Veggies

Wednesday
Pork Fried Rice

Thursday
California Chicken Burgers

Friday
Take Out

Tomato Pie

We went to a baby shower a long time ago, and one of the featured food items was Tomato Pie. I am under the impression that it's a Philadelphia thing. My daughter (who was about 14 at the time) came home, found a recipe, and made it all by herself (SO PROUD). Then we never made it again.

I love the blog Simply Recipes as a resource for recipes -- and they had tomato pie featured recently. I made it last night, and it was a hit again. Using store bought crust was a huge time saver -- and while it takes a bit of investment to pre-bake the pie shell and get the pie done, it is certainly worth the effort and a great summer Sunday meal!

Tomato Pie
INGREDIENTS
1 9-inch pie shell
1 small onion chopped
3-4 tomatoes, cut in half horizontally, squeezed to remove excess juice, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup sliced basil
2 cups  grated cheese (combination of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack, or Gruyere or Mozzarella) I used Gruyere and Mozarella -- yum!
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon (or more to taste) of Frank's Hot Sauce (or Tabasco)
Freshly ground black pepper

Pre-bake pie shell to a light brown
Put the chopped tomatoes in a colander with salt while shell bakes, when you are ready to use them, blot with a paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible
Layer onions, then tomatoes, then basil in the pie shell
Combine cheese, mayo, and hot sauce in a medium bowl -- mix thoroughly. Add enough mayo to make the combination somewhat spreadable.
Spread cheese combo over pie contents
Bake 350 degrees until lightly brown and bubbly (I started the timer at 25 minutes, then checked every 5 or so until it looked done -- I think it took about 40 minutes total)

Couscous Side Salad

My co-worked Amy told me she made this salad over the weekend, and it sounded great. Its the only thing I managed to make this week, but it was super well received (and I had enough leftover that I'll eat it for lunch a few times this week)








Ingredients
Cooked Couscous
Spinach, roughly chopped
1 cucumber diced
tomatoes diced
2 avocados diced
red onion diced
1 lemon, juiced
4 T. olive oil

Cook the couscous and place in the fridge to cool
Chop and combine veggies
In a bowl, combine lemon and olive oil
Toss everything together

Back to School -- Back to Reality

Week of September 5
Back to school week! Activities every night! Here's what we have planned

Monday (Labor Day)
Sheet Pan Chicken and Veggies

Tuesday (Nats Game)
Zach makes frozen Toquitos

Wednesday (Book Club)
Cincinnati Chili

Thursday (Back to School Night)
Dad's Taco Casserole

Friday
Fancy Gourmet Hamburgers
French Fries
Baby Carrots