A few recipes from this week’s meat-heavy menu:

• Sesame-Chile Chicken w/ Gingered Watermelon Salsa
• Peach Pork Tenderloin & Blueberry Brunch Cake
• Gingerbread Pancakes w/ Pears & Yogurt
• Roasted Chicken + Bow Tie Pasta

I rely on the same online recipe sites because you can search by ingredients and then by rating. I also like that Cooking Light offers healthful recipes that still taste good. At the beginning of the week I survey my refrigerator, look at the weekly specials online at my grocery store(s) and type in those ingredients in combination’s that I think will make good meals. This week pears, blueberries & chicken were on sale and we had among other things cilantro, watermelon, ginger, and yogurt in our fridge to use up from the week before. It’s a system that consistently works for us without letting a lot go to waste. It also saves us money on our grocery bill because we don’t have to buy that many things for each meal and the stuff we do buy is usually on sale.

How do you cook and shop?

Look at these beautiful pieces now in the indieNC shop by Mood Swing Studio.

Handsome Cartolina Cards Available here.

I’m loving these pillows made from recycled fabrics. Available at Orangyporangy.

I am happy to announce that The Rock & Shop Market is moving to a bigger venue in downtown Raleigh, The All Saints Chapel. There will still be a bar, live bands & designer shopping but the space is bigger, beautiful, and has it’s own parking lot. AND in addition to that we are bringing a vintage-themed market to Durham’s Cotton Room at the Golden Belt, again, there will still be a bar, live bands, and designers but this event will have a twist, the designers will be selling upcycled, repurposed and vintage fashions and furniture, like a hip indoor flea market. We are now accepting applications for both events. Click here to submit yours!

We base our weekly menus on what we’ve gotten from the garden, our CSA, and what is on sale at the grocery store. We supplement these meals with easy things like homemade pizzas, veggie sandwiches, and spaghetti on days when we are feeling lazy and make the more difficult things on the weekends. Though I haven’t posted in awhile, we are still here, just busy doing summer things: cooking, gardening, living life not in front of a computer.

• Crunchy Shrimp with Toasted Couscous and Ginger-Orange Sauce
• Pork and Pineapple Tacos & Cucumber Salad
• Arugula, Roasted Tomato, and Goat Cheese Salad
• Sicilian-style Strata
• Tandoori-Marinated Red Snapper