Still Going Strong

Menu:

Sausage and Veggie One pot (from the freezer)

Rotisserie chicken with broccoli and roasted potatoes 

Panini a la Meridian Cafe  (with leftover chicken)

BLT &A with cheesy quinoa cake

Ate out on Friday

Enchiladas

Chicken Bacon Cabbage

My mother in law was here for most of this week to help out as I got ready to go back to school. Thank goodness!!! I don't know what I would have done without her! She is SO SO helpful! We drove back from Murray on Monday and I had already thawed dinner before we went out of town. I knew she would love the sausage and veggie and I have enough to feed an army.Tuesday I put her in charge. She literally said she had never cooked frozen broccoli before. Seriously?!?! She has a tendency compulsion to over exaggerate to make a point, but this was NOTone of those instances! We then had my favorite panini on Wednesday. It's my copycat of the Chicken Gordonia from Meridian Cafe. I just make it using the ingredients listed on the menu and serve with veggie chips. Thursday warren and I were on our own, which was a bummer because I really wanted to get Ronan's take on the quinoa cake. We had meet the teacher night at his school and kiddos were NOT welcome. Ronan's teacher seems ok. She's no Martha, but that's ok. He's older now, he can deal with it. On Saturday I made enchiladas. This is by far my best Pinterest recipe. They are AMAZING! Warren cooked Sunday. I ADORE the chicken bacon cabbage and seriously shoveled the food into my mouth while hovering about three inches above my plate. It's just one of those meals that takes too long for a weeknight. As for my goal of feeding Roman earlier, I couldn't tell you what time we ate. I am just thankful anyone ate around here this week!

Sorry for the dullness of this post. I am back in school mode and I consider it a miracle I posted at all.

Lessons learned this week:

Bread must be thawed gradually, not in warm water. (Please do a visual on me trying to dehydrate soggy bread for dinner on Monday night.)

Grocery shopping must happen on the weekend. Not matter how tired I am.

Do not freeze shredded cabbage. 

This past weekend I was so exhausted from camping that I could not get it together to shop on Sunday. Apparently, the sleeping conditions that one finds acceptable when one is 23 is NOT the same sleeping conditions that are acceptable at almost 30. Essentially an Aerobed is now on the camping pack list. So on Sunday I napped rather than grocery shopped. I worked on Monday and Roman had a mental breakdown about going to the store that night. Tuesday morning I got up and raced around like a manic (Do you see a theme of mental instability in our house?) to get to the grocery at 9. R was a precious good boy and I was home and cooking by 10:30. No joke I didn't stop until 6:00 that night. 

Here is my list:

I cooked during the week because we are headed to Murray for the weekend to visit my in-laws. Remember, the inspiration for this project? 

My payout:

Sausage and Veggie-4 meals

Breakfast Casserole-4 meals

Stuffed Peppers-3 meals

Pad Thai- 2 meals

Italian Layer Bake- 4 meals

Quiche-4 meals

Perfect for school to start!!!

Here is some of the crazy going on:

This was when I was prepping the pad Thai. Please look away from the laundry in the middle of the living room.

This is the Italian Layer Bake/Cheesy Meaty Thing/Mighty Good. My friend Jenny brought this to a party once. It's awesome. I attempted to request it for another party by asking for her to please make the "cheesy meaty thing". She had no idea what I was talking about at first and then was like, "oh, the Mighty Good". Huh? So apparently as a child Jenny named her mom's delicious dish the Might Good. Jenny has told me multiple times how to make it. This is usually at a party.So I forgot. I later found a recipe on Pinterest for Italian Layer Bake. I think it's the same. However, when R asks his usual "Mama, whasat?" (adult translation-What's that?I will be telling Roman that this is the Mighty Good. 

As a result of Tuesday's freezer fest, I am officially addicted. 

This past week's menu:

Due to my inability to get off the couch grocery shop, this menu happened, but totally out of order. I moved chicken pita pockets to Monday because it was the only thing I had all the ingredients for. This last minute decision resulted in Lesson Learned number one, see above.

We once again changed Sunday's dinner (are you seeing a pattern here), but we had steak on Tuesday because Warren was home to make it. As you can see, it was very late. Wednesday we had the avocado pasta. I have been habitually forgetting the green salads to go with these dishes. I mean it says it right there. I'm going to try and get that together. The peppers were DELISH, I set them out to thaw on Thursday morning and just stuck them in the oven on 350 for 10-15 minutes. I had sadly canceled my enchiladas on Friday because I thought we would be gone. We weren't, but Warren had the peanut chicken and cabbage (see Lesson Learned number three) solo because R and I ate out with my mom. And now we're off to Murray for calzones tonight (calzones that are so good I refuse to eat them anywhere else) and I swear I thought I overheard my MIL tell my FIL to thaw the fish (this usually means salmon) for tomorrow. True story: My brother in law's best friend went to eat at The Oakroom at The Seelbach as a child. He ordered salmon. When they finished eating, I bathe presence of the waiter, his parents asked him what he thought. He replied, "It was good, but not as good as Fred Thomas'." Fingers crossed.

My Grown Up Fridge

I am in love with my fridge looking all organized and mom-ish! I fully expect this to fall apart when I go back to work, but I am going to try very hard to make this work! Here are a few pics of my big girl fridge and freezer:

The top part of the freezer is storing R's yogurt pops, frozen bread, frozen mixed berries for my green smoothies, those frozen mac&cheeses I just made, and a few other random veggies.

The bottom part of the freezer is holding my frozen meals and veggies on the left, and meats on the right. I can't wait to chow down on that salmon!!! Oh and I have a great recipe for that Kielbasa sausage that I am making next week. If you are wondering why ziploc bags are labeled "steak" and "burger" that is because it is venison. Warren hunts, so we have lean and organic red meat year round. We have not purchased red meat for two years. If you are wondering, it's broccoli in the ceral tupperware. You gotta do what you gotta do.

 

 

In the bottom there are yummy and easy lunch portions of blueberries, apples, and hummus. Thank you Costco! Then all the produce and hot dog buns thawing for the camp out. Lots of yogurt, tortillas, organic eggs, berries, almond butter, almond milk, R's applesauce and some other random stuff. Behind the almond milk is NOT a two liter. Well it is, but it is tonic water for Warren's summer love of gin and tonic. We might have a gin and tonic, but never a coke. (Yes I use the word coke interchangeably for all soft drinks. Get over it.) I am the only one that drinks the almond milk. I drink a LOT of coffee so I made the switch. If I have a sweet, I drink the real stuff. I love it in my coffee, but I think it is gross to just have a glass.

 

There is a peek at our fridge and staples!!!

I <3 Freezing!!!

This week's menu:

M-cilantro chicken (that didn't get eaten on the day before)

T-burritos

W-veggie pasta

Th-Greek chicken pita pockets

F-fish cakes

S-hot dogs

S-steak, spinach, cauliflower latkes

Above is the REVISED menu- I didn't post a pic of the original because I don't know how to spell cauliflower and that's embarrassing :) 

The meat and beans for the burritos were supposed to make 2 dinners on M & T, but since we had the cilantro chicken, hubster just took the leftovers for lunch. 

So this week I really got in the swing of using my frozen meals. On Wednesday the veggies in the pasta were frozen from the farmers market!

 

They definitely did not LOOK as pretty as fresh, but tasted great! The frozen veggies were squash, zucchini, and mushrooms. I also added a full bag of spinach, a jar of roasted peppers, and a jar of artichokes. Plus garlic (from the store) and basil and parsley from my garden. Yummy! I just sautéed the veggies while I boiled noodles...

  And it made a fab dinner! Complete with a full dish of baked pasta and two Mac and cheeses all for the freezer!

It looks like a TON of cheese, but it works out to about an eighth of a cup per serving. 

We had from the freezer dinners on Thursday and Friday. The Greek chicken patties are an Emeril recipe that I found probably five years ago. I love it! The meal was perhaps even better from the freezer than fresh. Friday I thought we were going to have date night, but Warren ended up having to work, so I made the fish cakes from the freezer, which we had with veggie chips and beer/milk depending on your age category :)

So far this week, we ate at 5:30 twice, 6:00 twice, and 7:30 last (Friday) night! I have been STARVING in the late afternoon/early evening so rather than snack, I have just made dinner! Roman has eaten like a champ this week too, so these meals are definite winners! Well, except the cilantro chicken-it got that gross treatment kids give meat where they chew it kind of hidden in there cheek for about an hour. It eventually disappeared, but I'm not sure in whose belly- Roman or Zeus.

Tonight, weather permitting, we are taking the little man camping for the first time! On the menu is (all beef, nitrate free) hot dogs and of course S'MORES!!!! Tomorrow the plan is to have steak with spinach and cauliflower latkes that are from the freezer! Two dinners left this week, but I'm calling it early-success!! 

Dinner: A Slightly More Tolerable Story

The plan for Week Two:

Monday: one pot pasta

Tuesday: Thai chicken wraps

Wednesday: fish cakes w/ cucumber salad

Thursday: Whole Foods

Friday and Saturday: not my problem :) (girls lake trip!)

Sunday: cilantro quinoa and blackened chicken

For real we had the previous Sunday's sweet potato hash on Thursday and then the Thai chicken wraps on Thursday instead of Whole Foods. Inconsequential changes. Buuuttt, on Sunday we ate out with my dad instead of having the cilantro chicken. We ate by 6:30 three out of the five nights I was home, so that is an improvement!

 

On Thursday we had our first frozen meal-the Thai chicken wraps. I had NO idea how it would turn out, but it was GREAT!!! It tasted basically the same as it does when it is made fresh. I also made and froze the peanut sauce. This did not work as well. The evoo in the sauce separated and did not fully incorporate in reheating. When I made the sauce, I cooked it a little too long. This might be why it didn't work, or maybe it is just bad frozen. I am going to give this another chance to see.

The fish cakes on Tuesday were a BIG hit. Roman ate two! (I am fairly certain it is because it is named something-CAKE!) I doubled the recipe and froze half.

I am currently in week three and I can say that this week is going very well so far. It IS only Wednesday morning though!!!!

Dinner: A Disaster Under Construction

I am embarking on a new project that I thought I would share. Dinner. Since I am totally obsessive about like lists, I will share my thoughts in list form.

Our Current Habits

1. DH are major foodies. We will not sacrifice taste.
2. We eat very few processed foods.
3. We eat late. We have not fully adjusted our old lives to our new lives with a hungry, cranky toddler.

My Goals
1. Eat by 6:30 at the latest. (See above about hungry, cranky toddler.)
2. Eat a meal that is enjoyable for all members of the family.
3. Make sure this enjoyable meal will not cause me to be a cow.

All this came about because of a book, a conversation with my MIL, and a change in schedule.  I read the book Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach, also of blog fame Dinner: A Love Story. I didn't finish it, so this is not a review of the book :) However, in the beginning of the book she waxes poetic about the joys and importance of family dinner. Which I am totally on board with. It made me reflective about our own family dinners and want to improve. DH is working a second job until 7:30 at night or later. This means when school starts I have to leave my new job (which is further away from home), to pick up Roman (at his new inconveniently located preschool), get home, make dinner, feed us by my new goal time of 6:30, and I have to do all this by myself. I was complaining about this to my MIL, who I adore, and who chewed me out about needing a new plan. So here we are.  I am in the beginning of week three of my new plan. I have been talking with friends about how things are going and thought I would share with anyone else interested.

Notice! These meals are NOT going to get you "bikini ready". I am the last person you want to listen to in that regard. But when I see others' pantries, grocery carts, and dinners, I realize, we DO eat a lot healthier than average. And I truly believe that given my complete and utter lack of excercise in the 2 1/2 years since Roman was born, that our fairly nutritious, fairly processed free lifestyle is the only thing that keeps my pants size from being on an upward curve. Cause I know it's not that run I didn't go on :) I am just trying to figure out how to quickly and easily feed my family a nutritious meal that a husband who insists on a meat, a toddler who just acts insane, and myself, who is just trying to keep my BMI in check, will all eat. And if that is you, maybe you will find this interesting.

Ok, so what have I been doing? We have all fell prey to the Pinterest "Cook one day for the whole month!" post. Unfortunatly, many of those are cheesy casseroles or LOTS of soup. I like soup, but I can't handle a mostly soup diet. I began by planning out meals that are already in our family repetoire. I did give some consideration to my toddler's tastebuds. For example, I mentioned above about how we haven't really adjusted our dinners to him. So I did disregard a few things that are just not kid-friendly. I also knew of a few meals that were kid friendly and favorites of ours, but just take to darn long to cook on a weeknight. Those got put on Sundays. Fridays and Saturdays are more up in the air, maybe pizza, maybe datenight, and for sure the least healthy. Thursdays we typically eat at Whole Foods for their "family night". It's cheap and easy. So anyways, that is how I began.

Next I planned what might be ok frozen. I am doing two things. Cooking a lot on one day a month (more about this in a minute) and doubling other meals to freeze. At the beginning of week three, I already realize I need a seperate freezer.

I opened up a notepad and started writing this down. It looked a little something like this...

and this...

To clarify my crazy, the weekly meals are planned on my first page.

Week 1:
M: baked chicken w/ baked potato and green beans
T: Italian beef w/ asparagus
W: black bean, avacado, and broccoli wraps
Th: Whole Foods
F: pizza and wings
S: out of town-eating out
S: sweet potato hash

I am also trying to note what time we ate and any changes. For exampe, that Tuesday I forgot that the asparagus was supposed to go with the Italian beef. And as you can see, Wednesday's meal was a total Pinterest failure that I will never eat again. Sunday, after driving home from visiting friends we only see once a year, we were too hungover tired to cook, so sushi it was! That Sunday was supposed to be the first big cooking day, but I moved it to Monday. I have this luxury now, but I won't when school starts.

That Monday I cooked quinoa, made 2 freezer meals, cut and froze veggies from the farmers market, made a froze a side dish, and made cucumber salad for the following week.

On week one, I managed to get Roman fed before 6:30 once and had an easy AND healtly dinner once (Italian beef). The others were either too much for a school night (yes, none of this matters now, but I am testing for the school year) or unhealthy. Oh and Roman liked basically nothing we had that week.  So... this was a failure. But week two got a lot better!!!!

Friday Night Flights

We have been Whole Foods junkies lately. Right before the holidays, Warren and I were busy getting ready for our Christmas party, had both worked late, etc. I picked Roman up and decided to get takeout. However, I have giant child that refuses to be held and is a pretty big turd about holding hands when he walks on his own.
Oh and by the way we don't eat fast food. Ever. (Exceptions: Qdoba and Panera, if you consider that fast food.)

I really wanted Qdoba, but I knew little man couldn't (wouldn't) stand in line with me. Aha! Whole Foods! The hot bar! I pulled in, restrained put Roman in a cart, and when I got inside it was even better.
I discovered "Family Night". You get an adult meal for $5.99 and with one adult purchase, a kids meal is free! So this is our new staple. We've had Mexican, Stir Fry, and Pasta so far. It's fab!

After discovering our newfound love, we decided to try Friday Night Flights. $5 for 5 beer and app pairings.

It was a very fun family date night! Going back next week with Team Lant.