Menu Plan – Week of 7/20 and an Ethiopian Feast

Today has been so relaxing. I had NO PLANS other than a yoga and baking. Ahh…so needed after traveling the last three weekends. One of the benefits of having no plans was being able to menu plan this afternoon! Here’s what this week is looking like!

Monday

• Tomato Tarts with Goat Cheese and Basil
• Salad
• Grilled or baked fish (grouper or salmon – whatever looks good at the store)

Tuesday

• Artichoke Stuffed Turkey Burgers
• Grilled zucchini
• Roasted potatoes

Wednesday

• Leftovers/on your own

Thursday

• Grilled Jerk Chicken
• Black beans and rice
• Grilled okra

Friday

• Grilled pizzas (hopefully I can get fresh figs and make this one!)
• Salad

I’m pretty excited about this week’s dinners!

Now…about the Ethiopian feast. Brandon told me Saturday morning that he had a surprise dinner destination for us. I was so excited – I knew it would be something good and probably ethnic. I was happy to discover that he selected Meskerem Ethiopian Cuisine. We have been talking about wanting to try this place for years!

We’ve never tried Ethiopian food but were extremely pleased with our experience at Meskerem. The service was gracious and helpful and the food was full of flavor.

Brandon started out with an Ethiopian beer (it wasn’t on the menu – he saw some men at the bar drinking it and asked to try it!).

We started out with an order of Sambusa.

Chopped prime beef mixed with hot green pepper, onions and garlic are stuffed in homemade thin flat bread. Served hot in triangular shape.

The agreement was that we would order the meat sambosas and then split the vegetarian sampler for our entree. Somehow there was a miscommunication and we ended up with a sampler with meat. We just couldn’t send it back though because our sever was so sweet and kind.

We both agreed that the vegetarian lentil selections were our favorite on the plate!

One fun thing about Ethiopian food is that you eat everything with your hands using injera as the utensil to pick everything up!

It took a bite or two to get used to the spongy, semi-sour bread but we loved it by the end! We will most definitely be going back to Meskerem very soon – and trying the vegetarian combo!

After dinner we went to see Eclipse. I love the Twilight books and haven’t been impressed with the movies but I will say that this one was the best yet. And totally confused me – I used to be Team Edward but this movie made me feel a little  Team Jacob! 😉

Like I mentioned at the top of the post, I had no plans today and it was glorious. Brandon went to the lake with his brother but I declined in favor of relaxation at home. I stayed in my pajamas until 1 p.m. eating oatmeal, drinking coffee, catching up on blogs and adding music to my iPod (something I haven’t done in years – literally!).

Oatmeal combo today was banana oats topped with almond butter, Crofter’s and a fresh, sweet South Carolina peach.

I headed over to Y2 for a hot yoga class this afternoon. It was a 90 minute class and exactly what I needed after yesterday’s BodyPump launch and long run. I will admit thought that my legs were shaking in chair pose and crescent lunge! I was feeling so good and relaxed at the end of class that I decided to stay for another class. I made it through about an hour of a power mixed class before it was time to call it a day. It was so nice to have the time to spend in the studio!

Dinner tonight was simple – I was famished after yoga after only having oatmeal this morning. (I skipped lunch because I don’t like to eat before I practice.)

Leftover couscous with a salad.

Calling it a night soon – teaching BodyPump at 6 a.m. tomorrow!