Our Everyday Food Journey

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🥗 The Great Cilantro Lime Recovery Mission

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by

Carol
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2025 Summer 5 – Wednesday

July 16, 2025 – by Carol in 2025, Summer 5, Wednesday, Weekly Meals

🍽️ The Menu

  • Main Dish:
    Kevin’s Cilantro Lime Chicken, pan-heated with chimichurri sauce
  • Side Dish:
    Vigo Cilantro Lime Rice + Del Monte Mexican-Style Corn with cotija and a drizzle of lime butter

📸 Final Plate

Final plate of Kevin’s Cilantro Lime Chicken served with Vigo Cilantro Lime Rice and Del Monte Mexican-Style Corn, topped with cotija cheese
Southwest Crunch with a Kick — Our Weeknight Salad Just Got a Glow-Up.

🔍 About the Meal

I had updated this to Southwest Chicken Crunch Salad, but wasn’t sure when Stephen was arriving home this evening. So tonight’s dinner took a hard left from “salad vibes” and landed squarely in “warm, weeknight comfort food that still felt like summer.”

This was basically a pantry-meets-freezer miracle: I pulled Kevin’s Cilantro Lime Chicken out of the freezer and tried to thaw it in the fridge. But at 4:45pm, it was still doing its best iceberg impression. Cue the cold water bath and a little prayer. Meanwhile, the Vigo rice cooked with a spoonful of Kerrygold and the Del Monte corn got a quick microwave warm-up before being dressed up with cotija and a bit of that lime juice I squeezed last week. Plating was done at 5:57 — boom.

📷 Photo Journal

Sizzling start – cilantro lime chicken heating through in its zesty chimichurri sauce.
Cilantro lime rice in a stainless steel pan.
Rice, but make it snazzy – cooked Vigo Cilantro Lime Rice, fluffed and ready.
Summer sweetness – Mexican-style corn adds vibrant color to the plate.
Dinner shortcut – Kevin’s Cilantro Lime Chicken, straight from the fridge to fabulous.

📝 Wednesday Notes

  • Chicken still partially frozen at 4:45 — cold water thawing saved the day
  • Vigo rice + Kerrygold = instant upgrade
  • Kept Steve’s plate warm in the oven like a pro
  • MyFitnessPal entry was shockingly accurate this time. Growth!
  • Cotija on corn might be a new house rule

🎬 Behind the Scenes

  • I almost gave up and served cereal.
  • There was a moment when the rice boiled over. I pretended it didn’t happen.
  • Talia supervised the plating. She approved.
  • I thought about adding a salad, then didn’t. No regrets.

📷 #OurEverydayFoodJourney

Tried this combo?
Toss cotija like confetti and tag us!
Let’s show the internet what a “back-up dinner” can really look like.

#weeknightdinner #seasonalmeals #ourdailyplate #oureverydayfoodjourney #cotijaforever #kevinrescuedme