"Julie and Julia" inspired

You can just title this Robin and Rani (what...it's my name with and "R"....I needed it to work!!)  Anyway, I picked up a Robin Miller book before the holidays called Robin Recues Dinner.  Robin Miller has a show on the Food Network called "Quick Fix Meals" which is basically all about making certain things ahead so that when it comes time to assemble the meal, it comes together in a snap!  An example would be roasting extra chicken one night to use in, say, chicken salad sandwiches or chicken quesadillas another night.  She, of course, uses it in a much fancier way....but that's just an example.

So this book, Robin Rescues Dinner, has such a cool setup that I got inspired to do a "Julie and Julia" type thing.  Robin sets up the book by weeks of the year, so she has 52 weeks total in the book.  Then she has 3 recipes for each week, along with a "prep day" page to show you what you can prepare ahead....like chopping the vegetables, marinating meat, or whatever.  The recipes look great, and she even has footnotes on the bottom of the recipes for quick sides or quick desserts.  Another bonus is the pages in their for pantry pastas, what to do with a storebought rotisserie chicken, and other quick dishes.  There are about 20 quick recipes in this section, and it's great because she totally digs the asian flavors.  Woot!  Plus, she has a couple recipes in the book that involve curry, but Sonny HATES curry,  So these quick recipes are a way to fill in for the missing night, or fill in for the other 3 nights of the week. 

I am so excited to start this!!  Robin also has a great figure, so her food has to be healthy too, right?  Just like Giada?  HA!  I have done the first week already and it went great!  I prepared plum marinated chicken with balsamic roasted carrots the first night, while roasting chicken for the next night.  It was supposed to also have chipotle butter baked potatoes, but Hunter had a fit at the grocery store after his Cheerios ran out so I came home completely forgetting the potatoes.  Anyway, I have no pics to post of this, but I should as I find recipes that I really like.  I feel like this book and this method will really help save time, and money, because I'll be able to easily throw together at least 5 weeknight meals!  Wahoo!!!

I'll keep y'all informed about how these recipes turn out, but I'm just thrilled to have a new desire to cook again!  My tuna casserole, turkey meatloaf, and chicken tortilla soup were getting a bit mundane....