Weekly Eats: Routine Shake-ups and Project Food Budget

While I love trying new recipes, I tend to get stuck in a routine when it comes to the types of recipes I make. Therefore you see a lot of Asian stir-fries, burrito bowls, and other similar dishes in my weekly roundup. However, this week I decided to shake things up just a little with a few twists on our usual fare. I swapped out rice for quinoa in a burrito bowl, baked rather than stir-fried an Asian peanut chicken, and swapped out fish for ground beef tacos (a dinnertime staple that rarely makes the blog).

How do you change up your usual dinner routine? 

Clockwise from top right: 

{one} chicken quinoa burrito bowls from Gimme Some Oven. (And I totally, yet unintentionally, tried to style my burrito bowl just like Ali's. #foodbloggerwannabe) So, so good. I didn't miss the rice at all.

{two} fish tacos with cabbage and lime from Martha Stewart. If you want a quick dinner, these fish tacos deliver. Thin tilapia fillets really cook up in no time flat. Ground beef tacos are usually what I think of when I want a quick and easy taco night, but these were a surprisingly easy (and healthy!) substitute.

{three} thai peanut chicken from Budget Bytes. You tell me Thai peanut anything and I'm there, fork in hand. This chicken had great flavor, but I found it a little difficult to eat. We used wings and drumsticks, which to me are really hard to eat with a knife and fork. Yet a peanut sauce doesn't make for the best finger food. I'd make this again, but maybe with boneless skinless (or larger bone-in, skin-on) chicken breasts.

Like I mentioned Tuesday, I'm joining in Project Food Budget at Emily Levenson to help keep me accountable and on-track.

• My weekly budget: $75
• This week's total: $74
• Goal for next week: keep total around $60 (this is remaining budget due to previous weeks' over-spending)
• Indulgence of the week: a tub of Blue Bunny "Bunny Tracks" ice cream. 

Other PFB bloggers:

• McGinnis and Bean
• Red Pen Mama
• Seeking White Space
• facepalmmama
• Gardening in High Heels
• Melissa Firman
• Copy & Post
• Rachel Olive Miller

From the archives: 

• 5 years ago: styling a vintage dress for summer. 
• 3 years ago: making spicy sate noodles.