Meal Plan Sunday

Before we become an even more crazy sports family, thought I'd attempt a few weeks of meal planning (hint, will not be making what's in the photo). It seems to be tryout and futsal season, so we'll see how it works out. Food on the Table is a cool app, introduced to me by Keegan actually, where you can pick out recipes and it gives you a grocery list and even sale items at neighborhood groceries, although of course the Milk Pail is not on there.

I'm going to have to make some sort of souffle this week. On Friday I was asked to find a photo of a risen, then fallen souffle for some corporate powerpoint presentation, then I came home and Keegan out of the blue asked if we could make a cheese souffle. He probably won't appreciate me cramming it full of broccoli.

Monday, the day both of use work and the the kids have the day off: flavorful flounder, brown rice and carrots, followed by futsal at 8:30pm!

Tuesday: souffle, depending on whether I make it home in time

Wednesday: soccer tryouts - meatloaf, bacon covered, from Pioneer Woman, made the night before

Thursday: school orientation night, probably go out?

Friday: Thai Peanut Chicken Tenders

Saturday: cold cereal and leftovers most likely, but let's say Ground Beef A'La King for kicks and grins (I think I actually have leftover puff pastry shells in the freezer)

This is provided my family still refuses to live on green smoothies.

Meal Planning Monday - the Lame Version

Taking another page from the cooking mama CityMama, here's my farmer's market haul for the week and some plans for dinner.

• Keegan got $5 and bought and apple and a bunch of tangerines, for a net profit of $2. He thought he really scored there, I educated him on the correct way to earn money.
• Chicken Apple sausages and breakfast smoked bacon and maple flavored sausages - yum
• Several kinds of lettuce
• Radishes and baby carrots
• WW and Popeye bread
• Dried apricots
• Strawberries
• Still have a cauliflower from last week

Now I'm going to try to branch out beyond the nuggets, mac & cheese, burritos, pizza and stir-frys that make up our normal dinners. Lately, I've been serving customized meals - string cheese or shrimp as the "main course," depending on the kid, with frozen peas and snap peas.


Sunday - Burritos with the radishes and lettuce
Monday - Fresh Choice for school fundraiser (but I we did eat the bread and strawberries for breakfast and lunch)
Tuesday - Cauliflower soup and sausages
Wednesday - who knows, daddy gets home late, so likely salad for me, mac n cheese for them
Thursday - Crab melts and salad and green beans
Friday - marinating chicken, rice, green beans

The more messier it is, the gooder it is

That's how my son described his burrito last night, which consisted of:

ww tortilla
yogurt
shredded cheese
cucumbers
ketchup ("mommy, try the cucumbers dipped in ketchup" - "uh, no thank you")
refried beans
lettuce

then he asked he if we had any croutons.

Try not to be too jealous of our dinners.

How to Make a Pizza

Step 1) Get adorable baking kits (half off at BB&B) for the kids. Key step includes hiding kits for them to find AFTER they at least help clear off the table, and that doesn't mean just stacking everything precariously on the kitchen counters. But I digress. This step is not completely necessary, and we have successfully skipped this step until mom decided to eliminate the rolling pin fights. Are the aprons not the cutest? Can you guess which kid has the touch of OCD?

Step 2) When your husband says he just wants to "sit down for a minute" and watch the 2nd half of the game (instead of helping), pour yourself a glass of wine.


Step 3) Cut up toppings while fielding requests for help with the Scooby Doo puzzle and chocolate milk. Available for your eating pleasure: pepperoni and pineapple (hubs favorite pizza), Canadian bacon (lower fat than pepperoni for mommy), mushrooms, peppers and lots and lots of cheesy goodness.

Step 4) Let the rolling begin. In the interest of full disclosure, pizza dough, sauce and pre-grated cheese was bought at Trader Joes. In I got fact pretty much all the food there, even the wine.


Step 5) Add sauce, and whatever the heck toppings your little heart desires. Added bonus, snacking on toppings makes a fairly healthy dinner. If they fill up on toppings, pizza is great for leftovers. Explain benefits of putting cheese over toppings (my favorite) if they forget the cheese.


Step 5) Cook the pizza. Doesn't it look yummy? Okay, not really, but it tastes good, I swear. I am still working on the secret to a thin crust. It only took me about 5 times and careful planning, but if you make the pizza for the adults while the kids is cooking, by the time yours is ready theirs will be cool enough to eat.

Brought to you by the Let them make their own damn dinner corporation.

An Eggcellent Birthday Dinner

Did the "formal" celebratory dinner last night. I wanted to check out my new downtown and found what seems to be the only Indonesian restaurant in the bay area. My mom went a little crazy looking for kid-friendly food and ordered these deep friend hard-boiled eggs, which are exactly what they sound like. We asked for them without the spicy chili sauce, but of course none of the kids would actually eat them. D as usual ate nothing, barring a taste of Thai Ice Tea which resulted in the "eeww" face. My nephew down about 1 1/2 orders of steamed rice and they did love the shrimp chips. K did eat the "chicken nuggets" (there were like three different versions of "Indonesian friend chicken" and true to form the high recommended fish steamed in a banana leaf was excellent - super spicy as well. I got a $39 gift certificate from Starbucks, a new travel coffee mug that says "Listen to the Woman" recommended by a soccer mom (it's her motto) my husband knows (he trains her highly talented son) and about a month ago I got my big gift. We came home and had ice cream cake, nummy. Below is grandpa and two of his grandsons, in their latest favorite pose.