#EatMooreDinner, Vol. 6

If you are in Charlotte, HOW GORGEOUS IS THIS WEATHER!? I left for the gym early this morning and it totally felt like FALL! It's a beautiful Monday.

It's been awhile since I shared our weekly menu, so here I am. For a long time now, I have done my meal planning and grocery shopping at the beginning of the week but I think I am switching my grocery day back to Thursday or Friday. I did this a lot when we were first married and loved it. We are trying to undo the habit of always eat out on Friday and/or Saturday, so I'm thinking grocery shopping closer to the weekend will make our weekend cooking stay exciting. I always end up making the best things on our menu towards the beginning of the week and by the end of the week, I'm honestly over it. This week's menu is planned up until the weekend. I'll do another round of meal planning/shopping before the weekend which will take us through the following week! 

Here's what we're eating:

Summer Chicken Parmesan, inspired by this recipe from Cooking Light

Curried Chicken Salad + Roasted Asparagus

Asian Turkey Meatballs + Cold Cucumber Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing (from the Skinnytaste cookbook)

Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Sausage + Roasted Veggie Kale Bowls

SlimeTime

We are a few weeks into Summer here and our days have been carefree and easy. Will's favorite thing to ask me when I tuck him in at night is "what are we doing tomorrow", and it's been fun planning our days together. He gets so excited about the little things and is always up for an adventure, whatever it may be. I have a huge list of indoor activities I want to do with Will and Kate this Summer and the first on our list!? SLIME TIME!

WE HAVE ARRIVED and we are becoming slime making experts around here. Perhaps we have a future selling this stuff on YouTube like the cool kids!? We made our first batches last week and Will is loving this stuff. I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous about the mess but we have had zero slime hair disasters so far so I'm calling it a success.

Mixing it up has been the most fun for Will. He likes to pour the glue, add his coloring and dump in the baking soda. When that's all mixed up, I add the contact solution a little at a time. This is a great rainy day activity for your little ones. We've had our slime in ziploc freezer bags for a week now and it's still just as good as the day we made it! This is the recipe from Elmer's Glue and I followed it exactly the first time. It came out a little too hard so I added less contact lens solution- the most random ingredient of all- and the result was much better. 

Elmer's Glue Slime

12 oz. Elmer's glue

1.5 Tbsp. baking soda

food coloring

3 Tbsp. contact lens solution

In a large plastic bowl, dump glue. Stir in baking soda and food coloring until combined.

Add contact solution, one Tablespoon at a time, making sure to mix quickly. The mixture will become hard to stir and this is when the slime forms. I have found that about 2.5 tablespoons of contact solution is just the right amount. Slime will form into a ball- remove from the bowl and knead a few minutes to get it to the right consistency. Store in an airtight container or ziploc bag. 

For more recipes, it's Slime Central over on the Elmer's website! 

Cherry Tomato + Hearts of Palm Salad

I'm allllllll about Summer salads. When everything is so fresh and colorful, they really are hard to beat. All you need is some ripe produce, good olive oil and vinegar with a little salt and pepper and everything kind of just falls into place. Grill some chicken or fish and serve a little Summer salad on the side- this is my kind of eating right here.  

Hearts of Palm are one of my favorite salad ingredients. They add an interesting texture and take on the flavor of a simple vinaigrette beautifully. We grew up eating these with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. So simple and so good. This is the perfect little Summer side. Cherry tomatoes are my favorite and I love adding both the red and the yellow for that bright Summer color. I'll be making this one again and again!

Cherry Tomato + Hearts of Palm Salad

1/2 pint red cherry tomatoes
1/2 pint yellow cherry tomatoes
1 can hearts of palm, drained and sliced 
1 handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 red onion, sliced thin
olive oil
red wine vinegar

In a small/medium bowl, combine cherry tomatoes, hearts of palm, parsley and red onion. Drizzle with a little olive oil and vinegar, and toss. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature or cold.