What We Ate - May 3

It's been a bit of a crazy eating week. I considered not even posting about our meals this week because it was a cooking at home fail. On the other hand, we had a great time connecting with family and friends at several fun events this week. So, I figured, why not share what we were up to this week. Plus we had one of my all time family favorite comfort foods, Chaulpa, and knew I wanted to share the recipe.

Monday - Leftover Pasta + Salad

My sister had made a huge pan on pasta on Sunday and she kindly shared a bunch of the leftovers with us. So I heated up with pasta, made a salad and dinner was ready.

Tuesday - Chalupa

My sister Kristen returned home from an 18 month church mission to Virginia on Tuesday. It was fantastic to see her and get to actually talk to her. She was allowed a phone call on Christmas and Mother's Day plus a weekly letter, so communication was pretty limited with those of us at home. Here's our group at the airport welcoming her home.

My mom fixed Chalupa for dinner which is a combination of pork roast and pinto beans that cook together for hours. Then you layer chips, chalupa and all of your favorite taco toppings on your plate. Delicious!

Chalupa Recipe:

3 - 4 lb. pork roast
3 garlic cloves, diced
1 tsp. organo
1 tsp. salt
water to cover the roast
2 cups of dry pinto beans
2 Tbls. Chili Powder
1 Tbls. Cumin
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies

Cook everything on low in a crockpot for 8 hours until beans are tender. During the last hour, shred the meat and allow it to continue cooking in the sauce.

Our favorite toppings: lettuce, diced tomatoes, green onions, olives, guacamole, sour cream and salsa.

Here's the recipes for my favorite salsa that I made for dinner on Tuesday: Homemade Salsa

Wednesday - Liberty Market

After going to Audrey's last lacrosse game which ended near 7 pm, we decided to head to one of our nearby favorite places for dinner, Liberty Market.

If you are ever in GIlbert, AZ, I highly recommend a stop here. My favorites are the white pizza, picnic salad and capresse salad. If you have room for dessert (we didn't), you should give the Salt River Bar a try.

Thursday - KEZ Woman of the Year Dinner

One of my close friends was nominated at one of a Phoenix radio station's Woman of the Year and she invited Ward and I as her guests at a banquet honoring all of the nominees. It was such a cool experience to get to learn about women making a big difference in our community. Plus, they served us an amazing dinner that stated off with this salad.

Dinner was a mini filet mignon, fish, potatoes and veggies. The evening was topped off with an amazing chocolate tart. We felt pretty spoiled and indulgent. 

Friday Night - Chelsea's Kitchen

Our boys were away on a church Father's and Son's campout, so it was girls night out with my girls and some friends. We were up in Phoenix for a choir festival and after looking at Yelp to see what was nearby, we noticed that we could walk to Chelsea's Kitchen. I ate one of the most delicious burgers ever. If you are even in Phoenix - go here! They also have a restaurant in the Phoenix Airport (terminal 4) so if you are ever flying through, grab some food here.

Well, you can see it was quite the week for delicious food with no cooking on my part. It was almost like a vacation! I'm sure it will be back to reality next week.