meal plan monday: april 23 - may 7.

i had every intention of photographing every single thing that i ate while i was in Europe. a collection of delicious European food pictures would be good memories, and good inspiration for future meals at home. it was a good plan. honest. i even took this picture of the airplane food we were served on our first flight, just to be thorough.

this was the best airplane food ive ever eaten.

and then when we actually got to Europe, i forgot to take any more food pictures. at every dinner, by the time i remembered that i had been planning to photo-document my culinary experience, i was already stuffing my face full of deliciousness and the time for picture taking had passed.

lucky for you though, i did manage to keep a written account of what i ate, so i can still tell you, even though you'll have to suffer through without the mouthwatering visuals. although, maybe that will work in your favor, since  you wont have to be even MORE jealous of my vacation than you already are. (i'm just assuming you're jealous, because if i were in your shoes i would be all "ok enough already ya snot! stop yammering on about your fancy European vacation and get back to whining about your messy house like the rest of us normal people!" which is to say that if i werent me i would be jealous of me.) (gosh, that sounds really snotty when i say it that way. how about we just get on with the food and forget this self-indulgent conversation ever happened, kk?)

Monday: Lunch: Chipotle burrito at the airport.
     Dinner: salad, tortellinis, and cheesecake on the plane.
Tuesday: Lunch: chicken sandwich from a rest stop gas station.
     Dinner: salad with bread, cheese, and apples, chicken with apples, rice,
        green beans, sweet potatoes, baked apple with ice cream.
Wednesday: Lunch: chicken wrap at a rest stop.
     Dinner: couscous with vegetables, ground beef and mashed potato pie,
        chocolate crepe and espresso.
Thursday: Lunch: salad, salmon, rice, and fruit tart at the Louvre.
     Dinner: onion quiche and salad, best steak ever, mashed potatoes,
        ratatouille, ice cream.
Friday: Breakfast: croissants, yogurt, granola, fruit.
     Early Dinner: cheese tart and salad, meat and potatoes, creme brulee.
Saturday: Lunch: huge eggplant parmesan pizza.
     Dinner: big flat pasta with pesto, fried pork and potatoes, tiramisu.
Sunday: Lunch: raviolis in a white sauce, fruit pie.
     Dinner: lasagna, chicken saltimboca, tiramisu again.

not mentioned: mid-day snacks of lots and lots of gelato!

Monday: Lunch: margherita (cheese) pizza, gelato, and cappuccino.
     Dinner: penne pasta in spicy tomato sauce, meatballs and roasted
        potatoes, baked cream.
Tuesday: Lunch: margherita pizza, canneloni in tomato sauce.
     Dinner: spiral pasta in pesto sauce, lemon rosemary chicken with
        salad, chocolate mousse.
Wednesday: Lunch: airplane pasta with salad and weird lemon dessert.
     Dinner: airplane chicken sandwich. (not eaten due to motion-sickness)
Thursday: frozen raviolis with jar sauce. (back home, in case you couldnt tell)
Friday: soup from a can.
Saturday: pan-fried tilapia, corn-on-the-cob.
Sunday: salad, chicken, rice, and corn at the in-laws.

cappuccino just outside the Vatican.

for this week, just for the sake of getting back into the swing of things, i have a feeling its going to be another week full of mostly-quick-and-easy meals. (as if the meals i plan are ever long-and-complicated... ha!) also, i dont really have a good idea of what all food we have at the house right now since Mark made a list when we got home on Thursday and did the grocery shopping for me since i had to go to work and he got to stay home. he's awesome like that. so assuming that he pretty much stuck to the basics, here's my best guess at the week:

Monday: grilled chicken salad with fries.
Tuesday: frozen tortellinis and jar sauce.
Wednesday: grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.
Thursday: soup from a can.
Friday: dinner at the O's game.
Saturday: fish and rice with salad.
Sunday: hopefully grilling outside for Mother's Day.

but if i could figure out a way to get my hands on all the fresh bread we ate with every meal and some more gelato, trust me, i would be happy to just eat that all week.

raspberry, hazelnut, and chocolate truffle... mmm...