A Sleeper Hit. Chicken Posole. Who knew?

Be honest, do you know what chicken polsole is? My guess was some kind of Mexican soup, and apparently there's many versions of this chicken/hominy broth. Perhaps I'm just the last to know.

Anyway, color me popular, because the crew over here actually liked it. (Dramatic pause while I fall off my chair). "It's really good," said Alex. Not so sure, Max eyed his little dish very suspiciously. "What are you afraid?" taunted Alex. And that was it, Max tried it too. Note to self, why not try some fourth-grade playground tactics at dinner? I kid, I kid. Not.

The recipe from Real Simple is here, but I googled around a bit, and found some great suggestions from the chat boards at epicurious. The bon app recipe calls for Monterey Jack cheese, but one commenter recommends chopped avocado and cilantro on top which I think would be fabulous. I also used some of the chili-garlic sauce from week one instead of an ancho chili. I bought my roasted chicken from the butcher rather than Stop & Shop, and it was perfect.

Turns out even the folks at Real Simple can make this one complicated, here's their longer version. I would not go through all that trouble with an unknown for kids, but it might be fun to try.

We did have one kitchen disaster tonight though, just to keep things interesting. I opened the refrigerator, only to have the word "balmy" come to mind. Yes, it was 70 degrees in there. As Miss Clavel would say, "Something is not right."

Sears guy coming tomorrow. Wish the trash guy was too, because we have a frig full of disposables. Needless to say, I'm baking a big batch of artisan bread tonight to use up that dough. My grocery store procrastination did pay off though. Ha.

Day 2: It's Friday, it must be Tilapia

I'm starting to think perhaps I should have read these menus before I began. I didn't -- I wanted it to be stress free and feel like someone else was answering the question, "what's for dinner?" The meals are far enough from my usual fare to get me out of my shrinking repetoire rut, but kid-friendly they are not.

Day 2: Tilapia with Peppers and Olives

Overall: Mark & I loved it. Will be a keeper for us, but have a hard time envisioning the kids who would happily dig into this one. If you have these kids, send them over, I will cook for them. It's a simple recipe -- saute the tilapia, then in separate pan (or, put it on a plate and use the same pan, like I did) saute peppers & onions and, here's where it gets interesting, at the end, add parsely, green olives and lime juice. Sounds a little funky yes, but it's just that twist that takes it from ordinary to "hey now."

On the plus side, all ingredients were cheap, fresh and seasonally right on track. Quick and lovely presentation. Just delicious mix of flavors and a new way to serve fish. I would serve this dish to friends.

On the what-was-I-thinking side: Kids would not touch this dish with a ten foot fishing pole. For them, I made Friday's dinner: Spaghetti with Sweet Potatoes & Ricotta. More about that one tomorrow. Also, it's not really a full meal, you need to throw together a salad or Friday's dinner (as I did) if your husband wonders where the rest of the meal is.