Meg's Meal Planning

Father's day

Father’s Day Lunch

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What a beautiful day it ended up being for Father’s Day! Just like Mother’s Day Brunch, my husband and I hosted our families to celebrate our dads! This time we had 9 guests: my parents, two brothers, grandparents, uncle, and my mother and father in-law! Unfortunately, the early afternoon was super humid, so we all stayed inside, but it ended up working out nicely. We fit some extra chairs around our kitchen table and set the food up like a buffet.  Everyone served themselves! Here’s the menu.

Appetizers

  • Greek dip – This was a big hit!
  • Pineapple salsa
  • Pepperoni and broccoli bread- My Nannie makes the best stuffed bread! I’ve never attempted to make broccoli bread before, but I can make pepperoni bread. Of course, it never comes out as good as hers!

Pepperoni Bread

Ingredients 

  • Store-prepared pizza dough
  • 1 package of thinly sliced pepperoni
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Steps

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  2. Roll out dough on a sprayed cookie sheet
  3. When preparing, deal with the dough in thirds. Lay sliced pepperoni and cheese down on the top 1/3 of the dough, leaving enough dough to fold over the pepperoni and cheese
  4. Roll dough over the pepperoni and cheese and top with another layer. Now fold over the remaining dough on top of the second layer. Tuck excess dough in to seal pepperoni and cheese inside
  5. Bake for 30 minutes

 

 

Main dish

  • Pulled pork – My amazing hubby got up at 5:30 a.m. to put this in the crock pot! What a keeper!
  • Cornbread
  • Baked beans
  • Coleslaw – I was going to make the McCarrick Family Coleslaw (It’s amazing, my family loves it!), but my mom offered to buy coleslaw from a local restaurant-Shady Glen. When someone offers to bring you coleslaw from there, you don’t say no!
  • Baked squash and zucchini – We originally planned to grill them, but since it was supposed to rain, we decided to cook them in the oven.
    • For the veggies, we sliced them about an inch thick, layed them on a baking dish, drizzeled them with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and baked at 350 degrees for 40 minutes

 

Dessert

 

  
I love when our families get together. We had a great day and some delicious food!

Summer pasta salad with asparagus, roasted peppers, and fresh mozzarella

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I made this pasta salad for a work cook out, but it’d also be perfect for a Father’s Day BBQ. I was able to use some of the fresh asparagus from my CSA farm box! This recipe was inspired by apples and sparkle . 

Asparagus ends snapped off and cut into 1 inch pieces

 

 

Roasted red peppers, stemed 10 minutes in bowl

 
 

Pasta cooling

 
Ingredients

  • 2 red peppers
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 teaspon red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 bundle of asparagus, tough ends snapped off, cut diagonally into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 lb penne pasta (I used veggie penne)
  •  8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Steps

  1. Roast the red peppers – Turn oven to broil and let it heat up for 5 minutes. Wash the peppers, cut the top and ends off, then slice open and remove the seeds and stems. Lay down flat, skin side up on a foil lined cookie sheet. Broil 7-9 minutes, turning pan halfway through cooking time.Peppers are done once they start to turn black and blister. Remove from oven and place into bowl. Cover tighly with plastic wrap and let peppers steam for around 10 minutes. Scrape away skin and cut peppers into 1/2 inch pieces. Set aside
  2. In a large bowl combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil, garlic, red pepper flakes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix together and remove 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette and place into a medium sized bowl.
  3. In large dutch oven, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the asparagus. Cook until just barley tender (about 3 mintues). Use slotted spoon to remove asparagus pieces, place in colander, and rinse under cold water until cool.
  4. Add pasta to boiling water and cook until done. Drain pasta and add the hot pasta to the large bowl and toss to coat in the dressing.
  5. Add the roasted red peppers and mozzarella to the bowl with the asparagus and mix in the vinaigrette.
  6. Once the pasta has cooled, add the asparagus mix to the bowl of pasta.
  7. Enjoy!