Cooking with Rosemary

I love to cook with rosemary! I first tried it when I was given a rosemary plant at a ladies' retreat I attended over a year ago. I loved the way it smelled, but I had no idea what to use it on.

Not long after I got it, I made some delicious roasted rosemary potatoes. I was so excited that I had fresh herbs to cook with because that was something I had been wanting to do for a long time. Then I went away for 10 days. When I returned home, my rosemary was dead.

I never replaced it, but I did buy some rosemary seeds when Caleb was studying plants in science. We planted several things in small cups so we could watch them grow and record their progress in his science notebook: tomatoes, basil, mint, and parsley. (I got the rosemary seeds later and ended up forgetting about them.) Everything sprouted really quickly and started growing well, but we never got around to repotting them into something bigger, so they died.

I had some cuttings of different things that we planted also: aloe vera, jade, bromeliad, and an airplane plant. The jade and the airplane plant are doing well. The new growth on the aloe vera looks healthy, but the old growth looks yellow and sickly. (It still works wonders on burns and small cuts, though!) The bromeliad died. A week ago I finally took its soil-filled pot and planted my rosemary seeds. (I found one sprout when I checked it this morning!)

I didn't want to wait who-knows-how-long until my rosemary plant is big enough to use, so I bought some fresh rosemary sprigs at the grocery store the other day. Last night we had a wonderful meal: Grilled Rosemary Pork Chops, Roasted Sweet Potatoes (seasoned with a mix from Wal-Mart), pineapple chunks, and green salad. Jacob loved the pork "chocks" and kept wanting more; he spit out his sweet potatoes. Caleb loved the sweet potatoes and ate two servings; he ate the few bites of pork chop on his plate and said it was just okay. Billy and I loved all of it, and I decided I need to make sweet potatoes more often. I think next week or the week after, I'll make a mixture of roasted sweet and white potatoes, seasoned with salt and rosemary. I also want to marinate some chicken breasts with rosemary and grill them.

Now I need to branch out and try some other fresh herbs. Basil is next. That will be great in the Greek Pita Pizzas I make!

What Else Is Cooking?

I used to post my weekly menus on my blog, but after I while I got away from it. Since I'm such a foodie and love to share my food (ideas) as much as much as I love to eat it, I thought I'd try to start posting my menus again.

This week:
Monday: Spaghetti Warehouse (We had a surprise coupon to use and it expired Monday. We "won" a free appetizer so we chose the Sicilian Sampler. It had fried mozzarella sticks, Parmesan-crusted chicken strips, and fried ravioli. Caleb said it was as good as mine.)

Tuesday: Chili-Cheese Corn Dogs

Wednesday: leftovers from Spaghetti Warehouse

Thursday: Grilled Rosemary Pork Chops, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Pineapple Chunks, Green Salad

Friday: ??? (I had a show for tonight, but it got cancelled this morning because of the severity of my host's morning sickness.)

Saturday: Spinach Fruit Salad with Grilled Chicken and a specialty bread from Panera Bread (Jay, Allison, and Grant are coming for dinner and they're bringing dessert.)

Sunday: Tuscan Paninis, Fresh Fruit

Next week:
Monday: Homemade Pizzas with Fresh Mozzarella, Black Olives, and Portobello Mushrooms

Tuesday: Green Salad with Crab, Fresh Fruit

Wednesday: Crab Salad Sandwiches, Fresh Fruit

Thursday: Frito Pie, Green Salad (The boys have never had this delicious concoction, but I'm sure they'll love it since they like chili and cheese on their corn dogs and hot dogs!)

Friday: ??? (I have a show scheduled for that night.)

Saturday: ??? (Our small group from church is supposed to meet that night.)

Sunday: Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish Rice, Green Salad

Bon appetite!