The Cat's Pajamas: Menu Planning...

Hi All!

OK so I'm about to get really domestic on y'all. Which is good for me, because I'm trying to be better at domestic things. (haha- but actually, I need help)

In an attempt to better myself in the kitchen, I've convinced mis padres to let me cook dinner one night this weekend. Yay! Now, I'm not sure how much time I'll have, or, now that I think of it, how much help either, but I've put some thought into planning the "menu" so to speak. I didn't want to do anything too over-the-top, but I also want something that's interesting and multi-dimensional, with several different flavors that compliment each other. Here's what I came up with:

~Soup~

I want to do some variation on a Carrot Ginger soup. The picture below is from a recipe by Williams Sonoma, but I also like the idea of having a cream based soup, like this one.

Image Via Yummly.com

~Side~

I actually centered the whole meal around this. There is a bowl of mangos on my kitchen counter that will be perfectly ripe by the weekend, so I'm going to make some fresh mango chutney (I honestly love that word, every time I read it, I can't help but say "Chut-en-ney" in an over-exaggerated british accent in my head...) and serve it over white rice. I think I've found a pretty good recipe, too. I got the idea from the mangos (obviously) and tonight, at dinner, when I decided to put honey on my plain rice to make it taste nice, and it was very, very tasty!

Image found here

~Main Course~

I decided that since I already have a lot going on with the soup and the chutney (hehe...) that I would keep it simple with the main course, to anchor everything nicely. So, of course, I went straight to chicken, because it's my favorite and for it's versatility. It's pretty much the superhero of all poultry meats. Not to worry though, I;m still going to throw in some flavor by baking it with citrus and seasoning it well with some fresh herbs from our garden. Hopefully, it will look something like the image below.

Via simplyrecipes.com

And of course, one can't forget the most important part of any meal...

~Dessert~
(!!)

I'm thinking chocolate cupcakes (9 times out of 10 I am thinking chocolate something,) but with a bit of a twist. Instead of your average, run-of-the-mill chocolate cake mix cup cakes, I'm going to use super yummy DARK chocolate cake mix. Oh, and throw in some cinnamon and chipotle powder, for a little "kick." It won't really even be spicy at all, the chipotle powder just brings out and amplifies the already chocolatey goodness...