Time to Make Dinner

I've been enjoying being able to make dinner every night without having a time limit or lack of energy to deal with, both of which I faced when we got home at 5:30p every night. What I enjoy, I take pictures of, so here are a few snapshots of recent meals.

Here's last night's chicken pot pie. No recipe, I just cooked the garlic, onion, potato, turnip, carrot and celery on the stovetop with some thyme, rosemary, tarragon, salt and pepper until everything was tender. I added the peas and boiled chicken last with some white wine and chicken broth and mixed in some cornstarch. After the biscuits got put on top, the whole thing baked in a 450 oven for 15 minutes.

For the falafel, we buy the tzatziki and feta already made. I cooked and mashed the garbanzo beans in the morning and set the pita dough to rise. I pan fried the pitas, so they were really more like chapatis. I'm still working on making them thin enough that they're bendable when they come out but Q said his open faced sandwich was still very good. The falafel just had egg, almond butter, celery, onion powder, cumin, turmeric and salt mixed into the beans. The patties were dredged in bread crumbs, sprayed with oil, and baked for about 25 minutes at 375, turning them halfway through.

When we have tacos, one thing that's made a huge difference in their deliciousness for us is frying our own shells using corn tortillas. It takes almost no time and they taste a lot better, since they're quite a bit fresher. Here's Q's mini-photoessay of the process. :)

Lastly, here's a "pie" for the chickens to enjoy, rather than the humans. A friend gave me some ciabatta that was too tough for the chickens to tear apart on their own. I tore it up and soaked the pieces in water. We also had a few cherries that had gotten past their prime. It accidentally got quite a bit more picturesque than most of the chickens' treats.
We've also got pesto, chicken salad, grilled lamb chops with baked potatoes and broccoli, and saag paneer on this week's menu. I've found that I'm a much happier camper if we plan the week's meals out over the weekend and do the grocery shopping then. Otherwise, morning comes and I draw a total blank on what to have for dinner. Any meals that are favorites for any of you?