One of the best things about meal planning is that we are all spending so much time together and eating and talking in the evenings. I really enjoy our dinnertimes!
Monday, we ate Spaghetti and Meatballs…
I actually kinda winged this meal. I am getting slightly more adventurous dabbling here and there. I looked up a few different meatball recipes and once I figured out the gist, I did it myself. I used the bread crumbs we had from this recipe with finely chopped garlic, onions, and parsley, along with one egg and about a quarter cup of parmesan, and mixed it together with a fork. Then, rolled them up into balls and lightly pan fried them and they came out really yum! I don’t typically like meatballs, but these ones I liked. And topped on whole wheat spaghetti is just perfect.
Soul and Brave pretty much gobbled this up really fast. I put the soup on top of brown rice and white beans and it was a good combo. Plus, add that dollop of coconut milk (I used reduce fat) and the flavors were really good. My change in the recipe is to use half the olive oil and reduce fat coconut milk and it feels much better to eat. The spinach dish was loved so much that I made it twice this week.
This was my favorite dish of the week. I used this focaccia bread recipe for the dough and I didn’t use heavy cream, but non-fat milk mixed with two tbsp of flour to thicken it up. I think the cream came out pretty good despite the omission of fat. Also, we couldn’t find nettles, so we used arugula, which is the suggested substitute. We have enough leftover, so just thinking about it is making me excited about eating it for lunch tomorrow.
Another winning week for family meals. Ben loves it, the girls love it, then that’s good enough for me.
I love our family meals. It takes work to plan, but the result is great. We really do enjoy eating together more.
Monday, Ben worked late, so we had leftovers, but Tuesday I made Crunchy Turkey Tacos…
It’s one of the few things I make from memory. When Ben and I started dating, he would make me a lot of tacos when we were just hanging out at his house. I expected them to be the crunchy shell kind because that’s what I had growing up, but they were always just corn tortilla warmed up with fillings. I learned to love tacos in warmed up corn tortillas, but I am partial to the crunchy shell kind when it comes to ground turkey tacos. According to Ben, those crunchy shells aren’t authentic Mexican food.
Another yummy tofu dish. My changes to the recipe was to add cayenne pepper to the breading that went on the tofu for Ben and me. Told you we like that spice. I wasn’t generous with the oil like the recipe says because we were try to practice moderation. And I didn’t use garlic powder, but instead sauteed the spinach in minced garlic. This is another definitely making again soon dish. We all loved it.
The dishes I choose and make have all been pretty easy and have not taken more than 30-40 minutes of active prep time. Trust me, I am a busy mama and I don’t have all day to be in the kitchen.
We have enough leftovers to last the rest of the week and actually I won’t be here for dinner tomorrow because I will be at the Daily Buzz Style event at the Madewell in Century City tomorrow. If anyone local bloggers want to attend, send your RSVP to [email protected]. The event is a private party from 7-9pm Thursday night! If you go, let me know as it would be fun to meet you!!!
This week has been busy, busy. I have a friend’s wedding that I have been prepping for this weekend and a few other busying things. Despite the frenzy I feel, I have still been trying to keep up the cooking for my family. They deserve good meals after all…
True still hasn’t taken to tofu, but Brave and Soul loved this. Ben and I did too, but I knew we would instantly. I have made spring rolls before and forget how easy it is to make. It looks like a fancier dish, but really the wrap is so simple. I am thinking a version of this using shrimp must be made very soon. The recipe didn’t come with a sauce recipe, so I kind of winged it. It turned out alright. I made the girls one using sunflower butter because True is allergic to nuts.
Tuesday I made Oven Fried Chicken and Mashed Sweet Potatoes since it was True’s request…
I have cooked that chicken dish before (see here) and oh gosh, it is still so yummy! We were all devouring it pretty quickly. The mashed sweet potatoes were similar to this, but I winged it a little more. I am really slowly getting more comfortable to trying things out not exactly like a recipe. Maybe one day I will be almost as good as Ben because that guy is just good at putting things together to make something yummy without following a recipe. I just feel more comfortable following things exactly, but hopefully I will keep learning how to break away from it.
I haven’t decided on vegetable dishes yet, but you can be sure they will be there next week! How do you do your weekly dinners? Any tips or guidelines you use for family dinners?
Totally getting into this cooking thing! I have been doing well with pairing with veggies. I think it helped that last weekend I was able to go the market and pick up some vegetables that I thought my pair well with my menu. The girls all have been pretty good eaters, but they have been especially devouring our meals of late.
We started off the week with Spinach & Chickpeas, which Ben made over the weekend.
This particular dish is a favorite of ours and gets made often. Ben added some tofu in it this time around and it was good, but a little more watery. If you do add tofu, make sure to let it sit on a paper towel for about 10 minutes before adding with the rest of the ingredients. Brave loves the garbanzo beans, True loves the spinach, and Soul kinda loves mixing it together. There is something for everyone!
And indeed it was! I doubled the recipe because I had a feeling it would be a hit. You must make these meatballs! We used lean ground turkey and it was seriously yum. That sauce is amazing. Just make sure you let it sit on the stove for a long time (45 minutes) simmering so that you can get that nice thick glaze. We paired ours with some brown rice and we were all about this meal.
I did the Spiced Coconut Spinach without the coconut because 1) Ben couldn’t find unsweetened coconut and 2) turns out Ben doesn’t like coconut filled food, so I just did without it. It tasted really good to me and frankly, I think I could do without the coconut too. Instead of the ghee or clarified butter, I used canola oil. I liked how simple this vegetable dish was.
Loved them both, but I accidentally put fresh rosemary in the noodles instead of tarragon. I am not sure how that change affected the flavor, but I will try making this dish again to see how it tastes with tarragon and pumpkin seeds instead of rosemary and sesame seeds. Also, I used much less than the 1/3 of oil it calls for at the end. True hasn’t found her love for tofu just yet, but Brave and Soul have, so I think it is just a matter of time for True and the right recipe.
The bok choy was yummy, though I did also saute it with some shallots. We had some left over from the day before, so I threw it in there. This veggie dish was another hit!
Thursday, we had plenty of leftovers to cover our dinner. They all tasted just as yummy a day or so later. Since I started meal planning, we have also started to revise our lunches and have been eating fresher meals. Honestly, with all the kids, I was just happy that Trader Joe’s had healthy ready prepared meals that was quick to pop in the oven or make, but with all our dinners, sometimes we have that for lunch or I am able to whip up something else for the girls. This meal planning has helped make me more motivated to spend time in the kitchen cooking for my family. I am kinda loving the challenge!
I want to note that none of these recipes take very long to do. At most, maybe 40 minutes of active time from start to finish for both vegetable and main dish. I don’t have all day to be in the kitchen, so I need recipes that will let me get in and food out on the table fast. Another thing, sometimes I might not have all the ingredients, so I use the site Food Subs to help me find appropriate substitute for that particular ingredient. Nine times out of ten, I have something that will suffice. This saves us money and time… love Food Subs!
Tuesday: Oven Fried Chicken (made this in week 1, but True is asking for it) and Mashed Sweet Potato
Wednesday: Turkey Tacos (something I already know how to make)
Thursday: Leftovers, but will probably be at my mom’s.
Friday: Rehearsal dinner
On the weekends Ben usually cooks, but I have found myself whipping up something for the family too. This cooking thing is getting kind of fun! What’s an easy go-to meal for you?
After breakfast, we spent some baking. It is a good way to teach the girls sequential order and reinforcing following directions. I pretty much measure it all out for them and separate it in bowls and they just put it all together and mix. Brave did the flour mixture and True was in charge of the liquids. Lots of good things always come out of baking.
This is a cake first introduced to me from my BFF when she made it. I always like Asian desserts cause they are mildly sweet. Though, I really do love all desserts mildly sweet or super sweet… they all taste good to me.
Mochi Cake |from Week of Menus, originally from Gourmet Magazine 2005|
* I changed the ingredients up a bit, but pretty much followed the directions.
The recipe said to put in the oven for an hour and a half, but ours only needed to be in the oven for 50 minutes and it was ready, so I would watch closely to determine its readiness. Also, I wanted less sugar in ours and I used low fat coconut milk. I think it came out fine and the girls seem to like it, but if I trying this type of cake for the first time, I would say follow the original recipe exactly. It isn’t as sweet as I have had it in the past, but it is still sweet enough. Our favorite part of the cake were the edges. The edges are tasty! I think next time when I make this, I might do it in a cupcake pan sans liner, so there will be a whole lot of edges!
We made it after breakfast, but the girls waited until snack time (4 pm) in the afternoon to eat it. Judging from how fast it went, I think they would say it was worth the wait! This recipe might be next on the list.
Have you tried it? Oh it is so good. By far my favorite way to drink hot coco and it was perfect for today’s rainy day. The girls gulped it up during snack time and I still have a little bit left in the fridge. It is even good to sip on cold and the tablet is really yummy to nibble on.
I have a large growing pile of fabric scraps. I refuse to throw them away because I am sure they can be used for something. I have been seeing different types of interesting necklaces made of buttons, beads, and fabric. Then, I figured why not make one out of my scraps...
I think it made my white shirt a little less boring. This was so quick and easy to make.
How to make a recycled scraps necklace (which is very similar to the straps on my braided tablecloth bag):
1. Take your scrap fabric, I cut a .5''-1'' snip and tear the rest of the fabric down for a nice frayed edge. Used 3 different fabrics for each strand.
2. Take 3 of the torn pieces and tie the ends together with a rubber band.
3. Braid the 3 pieces together and tie ends together with rubber band when done.
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 for more strands. Remember you can make the strands any length you want, if run out of fabric, just weave more into the braid.
5. Once all the strands you want are braided, gather one end of each strand together and straight stitch together with sewing machine. Repeat for the other ends of the strands. Snip off any excess.
6. Gather ends of the necklace and sew together (snip excess) or a ribbon can be sewn at the ends to be able to tie the necklace closed, but I just sewed both ends together.
7. Voila! A nice way to make use of all your lovely scraps.
Sorry if the directions get you a little lost, but it really is easy. I promise. Maybe I should put some in the shop. Please share any other good ideas you may have of things that can be made with scraps. I would love to hear (read) them!
