SUNDAY MEAL PREP

 

Every week, I do meal prep. I plan all our dinners for the week, write out a detailed grocery list, do all the shopping, and then spend a couple hours on Sunday preparing things for the week. Doing all of this is a LIFESAVER during the week. Having a plan for dinner every night means I'm not stressing out after work about what to make and if we have everything. It allows us to sit down together for dinner nearly every night, and it makes packing lunches (and all four of us take packed lunches most days) so much easier.

 

I start on Friday morning by making a dinner plan for the week, and then writing a detailed grocery list. I have a large chalkboard in our kitchen that I write things we're out of throughout the week, so I make sure to add those items to the list as well. When I make dinner plans, I ask everyone in the house if they have any requests (spaghetti is asked for every single week). Then I go through my cookbooks and Pinterest to see if there are any recipes that I want to use for the week.

 



 

I do all my grocery shopping after I pick up the kids on Friday from school. On Sunday morning, I do my meal prep!

 

 

I like lists.

 

Any cookbooks I'm using throughout the week go on the kitchen counter with the pages I need marked. Otherwise, I'm likely to forget which of my many books has the recipe I'm looking for.

This week I'm using recipes from:

 

 

 

Things change from week to week. This week for meal prep I made:

 

-Against All Grain chicken satay with almond dipping sauce

-roasted spaghetti squash

-roasted potatoes

-cut up carrots, bell peppers, and radishes

-roasted pecans and almonds

-a jug of lemon water

 

There was lots of roasting.

 

 

All of this was done in under 3 hours! I make sure to clean up as I go along so I don't end up with a sink full of dirty dishes at the end.

 

Then I  put everything into bags and containers and label everything. Because that's the type of person I am. Sorry/Not Sorry.

 

 

 

 

Here are some great sites for more meal planning inspiration!

 

 Shutterbean

 (Is there such thing as Meal Prep Goals? There is now and her skills are my goals.)

 

Skinnytaste

 

Runaway Apricot

(The dirty rice recipe is awesome)

 

Back to Her Roots

 

 





HOW TO START MEAL PLANNING

Thinking about what you are going to have for dinner shouldn't start at 7 PM. That's the kind of thinking that usually ends up with ordering pizza. Again.

Meal planning is one the simplest and best ways you can eat healthy and save money. But, despite it being simple and straight forward, it can feel daunting to start if you've never done it before. But here's the thing: you can totally make meal planning fit to YOUR life and once you start, you can't really mess it up. Promise.

I'm going to walk you through simple ways to get started meal planning. It's going to be fun! Really.

Step One: Assessment

Think about these things before you get started:

-What do you and your family like to eat? A key to my meal planning is I have a list of food I know everyone likes and will eat. I change this list seasonally-for example, right now in the summer we eat a lot of big salads, grill regularly, and eat tons of squash and tomatoes. In contrast, during the fall and winter, I use my slow cooker twice a week to make soups and chili. Make a list of the things you like and take from that every week.

Not sure about what to add to your list? Or maybe you're trying to change your eating habits? Look through cookbooks, websites and blogs, and Pinterest for inspiration and ideas

-Who are you cooking for? Every week is different. You might have family visiting. You might have a kid away at camp. You might be going away for a weekend. Plan for this! 

-What kind of time do you have and what is your budget? There are times and seasons where things are hectic. If you have a a crazy busy week ahead, plan accordingly. (I use my slow cooker religiously during the months of April, May, and June when we have baseball three nights a week.) Try to keep meals simple most nights, especially during the week. On the weekends, I'll try new recipes and make a big meal that requires more time.

Also, consider your budget and be realistic. Make your mantra "eat healthy for less."

Step Two: Make Your Plan

It's time, Take a deep breath, You can do this!

-Check your pantry and fridge. See what you already have on hand. Go from there.

-Things You Need: Pen. Paper. Write down what you want to make each night. A good starting point:  Aim to cook 4-5 meals, add in a day or two of leftovers, and a night to eat out. As you write out your meals, think about what ingredients you'll need. Make your grocery list concurrently as you make your plan. 

So if you're planning grilled chicken seasoned with salt, pepper, and paprika, green beans with walnuts, and a nice loaf of bread for Monday's dinner, write down all your ingredients on your grocery list: chicken, green beans, walnuts, bread, butter. Wait, do you already have butter in your fridge? Don't put it on the list! Are you running low on salt? Write that down!

And then move on to the next meal!

I write my meal plans in my bullet journal. I find it very effective to be able to go back and see what we've been eating over the past few weeks. A notebook is certainly not necessary to meal plan, but I think it's helpful.

Step Three: Shop

-There is truly only one "rule" for this part: Take your list. Shop from your list. Ignore the candy aisle (unless candy is on your list).

Step Four: Cook and Enjoy!

A Couple Tips:

-Keep your meals simple. I can't stress this enough. Keeping things simple, but delicious, is the way to make your meal planning successful. 

-Meal Prep. I've talked about how much meal prep is essential to my week. If there are things you can do to help make your week easier-cut up veggies, wash fruit, marinate meat-it is super helpful to take an hour on Sunday and get it done.

There! Four steps to an easier week, healthier eating, and money saving. 

Look for more posts about meal planning and food prep soon!

WHOLE 30 Compliant MEATBALLS

Ignore this not beautiful photo. These meatball are delicious, easy to make, family friendly, AND Whole30. Win/win/win/WIN. You will make these. You will eat them. Your family will eat them and not complain. If you double it, you can eat them for the lunch the next day because they reheat wonderfully.

Simple ingredients: ground beef (or turkey or chicken or bison, whatever your meat choice is!), eggs, onion, garlic, almond flour, parsley, spices.

 We mix.

 We roll.

 We brown.

We bake.

I made these during my meal prep this week. We ate them for dinner on Tuesday and had them for lunch on Wednesday. Tuesdays we have baseball practice for 98720 hours, so I always like to have a quick meal ready to go when we get home. Not to mention that everyone, especially my son who has been the one practicing for those 98738689 hours and is growing like a weed, is starving by the time we get home. By doing my meal plans and meal prep on Sundays, I'm sure to have a nice meal planned for these crazy busy evenings.

Whole 30 Compliant Meatballs

Ingredients:

2lbs. ground beef (or chicken or turkey or bison or a combination)

1 yellow onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup Italian parsley, roughly chopped 

1/4 almond flour (optional)

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/4-1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes

2 tablespoons cooking fat ( I used ghee)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix until evenly combined, but do not over mix.

Roll mixture into 2 inch balls. (Or larger! Or smaller! Your meatballs, your choice.)

Melt the cooking fat in a heavy bottom pan over medium high heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides, in batches so they are not touching. Remove meatballs to prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until cooked through.

WHOLE30: WEEK 3

 I just finished Week 3 of my Whole30 (Week 1, Week 2) ! And honestly, this week was the toughest. Monday through about Thursday-both the husband and I were not super excited. This weekend though, things turned around and I'm starting to feel good. Like, really good.

The main reason last week was hard was because I didn't do my food prep for the week. Most weeks, on Fridays, I meal plan, do all the grocery shopping, and then do food prep for the week-make salads, cut up veggies, make any dressings/condiments we're low on. It's a bit of work, but makes a HUGE difference in our week. The Friday leading up to last week, we had a company function for my husband's battalion, which threw off all the meal prep. I had a plan, but was scrambling everyday to get it done. This past Friday, I got all the groceries, did the prep and it's already made a huge difference. Meal planning is your friend, especially on a Whole30!

This week while prepping, I tried a recipe for Whipped Coconut Cream. People. This is the stuff of legends. It is creamy and delicious and tastes like whipped cream, except that it's dairy free and full of vitamins and antioxidants. Umm...winner.

I couldn't find a recipe any where that didn't call for some sort of sugar to sweeten it. I was concerned that maybe not adding sugar or agave might mess with the consistency, but I decided to try it anyway. I used a little bit of coconut/pineapple water as a sweetener and it came out perfect.  This tastes SO GOOD on fruit, and I don't think I'll ever go back to dairy whipped cream again.

 

 

Whipped Coconut Cream

1 can of Coconut Milk (not cream), cold (refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight-this is essential)

1 tsp. Coconut Pineapple water  (I use this brand. Make sure to read your labels for no sugar added.)

 

Open the can of Coconut Milk, from the bottom. Pour out the water that has formed there, set aside and save. Pour cream into a bowl, add coconut pineapple water. Mix in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer until soft peaks form, about 10-15 minutes. Serve over fruit. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week. When you pull it out of the fridge after a couple days, it might appear a bit foam like. Just stir it up and the whipped consistency will return!

Enjoy!

 



WEEKLY MEAL PLAN // WEEK 25

*This is obviously not the the 25th time I've posted my weekly plan, since this is a new series I'm starting here, It is however, the 25th week of the year, and the 25th week of meal planning in general for me this year :). 

Every week in my bullet journal, I write out my weekly meal plan, my grocery list, and a list of things I want to prep for the week. And I'm letting you guys have a sneak peek at it, cross-outs and all! Plus links to some of the recipes I'm using this week.  For me, meal prep is essential to a smooth running week. It makes a difference in my entire mood and only takes a couple hours. And it allows us to sit down as a family almost every night for dinner.

This week I'm making these recipes:

Chicken Gyro Salad from Smitten Kitchen  I've been using a lot of SK recipes lately, mostly from her cookbook. It's a great book if you're looking for one to pick up!

Chicken Lettuce Cups from Shutterbean This are a HUGE hit with my family.

My own Whole 30 compliant meatballs

Paleo Tzatziki from Jay's Baking Me Crazy

When the weather is nice, we basically barbecue/salad it up all weekend and Monday through Thursday I try to focus on simple, healthy meals. This summer, I'm having the kiddos cook on Thursdays, to the best of their ability. The idea is that they chose what to make and then, with minimal assistance, make dinner themselves. Last week was our first week trying this out, and they loved it! We'll see how they feel come the last week of August.

Come back next week for another installment of weekly meal plans!*

*Hopefully I can manage to do this weekly!!

SCENES FROM A WEEKEND

We had a great weekend-up until yesterday afternoon where I was reminded of a Jen Hatmaker post, in which she prays to God that He protect her children from dying at her hands for their attitudes. It was a...challenging...Sunday. But! It's a new day and a new week. Things can only go up.

I started off my weekend with a much needed, long overdue. girl's night. We went to a comedy club, something I had never done. I had low expectations-I'm not one for jokey humor. But it was actually so much fun and one of the comics was truly funny. Plus I got to make a new friend and hang out with two of my favorite people ever. We have plans to make this a regular thing, trying out new places and things one a month or so. I'm excited to plan our next mini adventure!

Despite the fact that it was about 100 degree and 100 percent humidity, we took the kids to an outdoor expo Saturday. It was super fun-lots of crafts and displays. Also a blood hound puppy and a a falcon. I obviously need both of these animals as pets.

I finally got a run in. Two of the slowest miles ever.

 Meal prep like a boss. Or a Queen, to be more precise:

Still trying to understand Snapchat. It's more than just the filters, right? Maybe? I'm not sure at this point.

Sunday breakfast, Whole 30 style.

Sunday supper. We always have a nice, sit down dinner on Sunday evenings. I made salmon cakes (recipe here) and they were super good. The kids liked them which surprised me. Plus steamed green beans with ghee and garlic, and red skinned mashed potatoes, with ghee, coconut milk, and my homemade version of seasoned salt. A simple, delicious meal. Those salmon cakes are going into the fall meal rotation! Even in the midst of Meltdown Central that was our Sunday, everyone managed to pull it together and enjoy our dinner.
And then bedtime happened. But let's not think about that.

Happy Monday! Hope you have a great week.

POWER BREAKFAST: GROUND BEEF, SNAP PEAS & EGGS (IRI IRI PAN PAN)

Earlier this summer, I read the book Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Toyko Kitchen by Naomi Moriyama, which, despite the ridiculous title, was a very interesting look at the day to day cooking in a Japanese home kitchen. The diet "secrets" are the usual-eat smaller portions, walk more, eat at home- but I found this book to be a very good introduction to Japanese home cooking, and it included several recipes plus lists of ingredients and cookware essentials for a Tokyo kitchen.

The Japanese diet in this book focuses on small portions, light cooking, beautiful presentation, "power breakfasts" and is based around eating fish, vegetables, soy, noodles, rice, tea, and fruit. I can get behind fish, veggies, tea and fruit-those are staples in my kitchen-but soy, rice, and noodles are not often in my pantry, since I try to maintain a mostly Whole 30ish way of eating. So I thought I'd try to convert some of the recipes in this book to Whole 30 complaint versions. 

This Japanese power breakfast is a combination of ground beef, snap peas and scrambled eggs called Iri Iri Pan Pan. By making just a couple changes (no soy sauce, no rice, no sugar) I made a version that is Whole 30 compliant AND delicious! Guys, Japanese food for breakfast is a thing and you should try it.

Iri Iri Pan Pan Power Breakfast

recipe adapted from Japanese Woman Don't Get Old or Fat

A (very) generous single serving or two small servings  

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp seasme oil, divided

1/2 lb. of ground beef (see note below)

1/2 an onion, diced

2 Tbsp coconut aminos (or tamari or soy sauce if you eat soy)

12 snap peas, string removed and split (if desired)

1 Tbsp ghee (or butter)

2 eggs

Salt and pepper, to taste

In a bowl, whisk eggs with salt and pepper, set aside

Heat 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a large skillet pan over medium heat. Add the ground beef, season with salt and pepper and cook until brown. Add the onion and the coconut aminos. Cook until onion is soft, about 3 minutes. Remove meat and onions from pan. Wipe out pan and return to burner.

Add the rest of the sesame oil to pan. When the oil is hot, add the snap peas to the pan and flash cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove the peas from the pan. Return pan to the stove, add the ghee and reduce the heat to low. Add the eggs to the pan. Let eggs sit for 30 seconds, then gently stir. Repeat this process until eggs are fully cooked, about 2-3 minutes. The eggs should look like small curds. 

Place the beef, snap peas, and eggs on a plate to serve. Enjoy!

Note: I make a big batch (like, 2 lbs) of this ground beef on my meal prep Sundays and then just reheat it in the pan for this meal. A pre-made hamburger patty would also work well for a single serving of this meal.

ALMOND & APPLE CHICKEN SALAD

Sometimes, life gets crazy. Sometimes, you and your hubs get home from work and have homework to help with, plus both baseball and Girl Scouts on the same night (WHY WHY WHY), plus dogs to feed...oh and yourself and all the people who live in your house who expect to eat every single day. And that's when you need to have a ton of this chicken salad in your fridge so you have something to scarf down before you run out the door. (Again.) It's great on it's own, with crackers, on bread, or on top of greens!

Also, it's, like, the easiest thing ever to make.

These measurements are good for two very large servings, so feel free to double or triple it for mega food prep. (Make during your weekly meal prep and you're golden!) Most weeks, I throw a couple pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in my slow cooker for 4 hours and then shred it all to have on hand during the week, and that works perfectly here. I also make my own mayo, because...I'm crazy (Just in case you would like to try this, I double the Whole 30 recipe) but you can use regular mayonnaise, of course (I suggest Hellmann's for traditional mayo or Primal Kitchen Avocado mayo if you're paleo/Whole 30). I also sometimes top it with Danielle Walker's Against All Grain Thai Almond Dressing and it is DIVINE.

Alright, let's make chicken salad!

Almond & Apple Chicken Salad

2 cups of cooked, shredded chicken 

4-6 Tbsp of mayonnaise of your choice

1 small apple, cored and chopped 

1 stalk of celery, chopped

2 Tbsp of roasted or raw almonds

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: Against All Grain Almond Dressing

Mix all ingredients together and salt and pepper to taste. Top with almond dressing, if desired. Can be stored in fridge up to three days.

Enjoy!

HOW TO BUILD A WORK SALAD

I take a lunch to work every single day, and a great salad is ALWAYS part of my weekly rotation, no matter what the season. There's lots of advice out there on how to build a brown bag lunch salad salad, but I always follow these three rules:

1. Dressing on the bottom of the container (day of ONLY). 

2. Tons of greens

3. Three toppings, including at least one protein

Let's build a  lunch!

Step 1:

I've made my own salad dressing for the past few years. This is a Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette from the Whole 30 book, but most of the time I just use olive oil, a big squeeze of lemon, and salt and pepper.

Step 2:

For lunch salads, I buy the containers of pre-washed mixed greens to make it quick and easy in the mornings.

Step 3:

Topping 1: Grilled chicken from my meal prep.

Step 4:

Topping 2: Walnuts. I love using nuts in place of croutons.

Step 5: 

Topping 3: Avocado. I keep the peel on and dice right inside. Then I place it face down on top of the salad, and it stays nice and green until lunch time. I just squeeze it out and toss it together!

I started cutting back on salad toppings after reading one of my all time favorite books: An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler. She actually thinks you should use only one, maybe two other ingredients when making a lettuce salad, so I'm cheating a bit here with all that protein.

Happy, healthy work lunch.

Happy salad making!

PLANS FOR A SLOW SUMMER

 

 

Next week, summer vacation will finally begin for Dylan. We had possibly the most hectic, jammed pack month ever in the history of our family last month and we are so ready for summer break to start. SO READY.

After the insanity of last month, my husband and I decided that this summer is going to be a slow summer. And the truth is, we almost always decide this. Summer, especially for school age children, is such a fleeting few years, that we try to just let it be a true break for our kiddos.

For our family though, because I work from home and my husband works long hours outside of the home, we still need some sort of routine in place. So I've put together a list of our Slow Summer Plans.

 

1. We aren't signing up for anything. There are so many amazing options for camps and activities during the summer that it's hard not to want to sign up your kid for them all. But we aren't signing up for anything officially: no Boy Scout camps, no summer dance class, no vacation bible school or science day camp, I'm not even signing up for the summer reading program at the library. Because I don't want to be tied to a schedule that I will come to resent. So we'll go camping as a family, we'll dance in the kitchen, we'll do science projects at home, and go to the library when it works for our schedule.

(My only exception to this will be swimming lessons.)

 

2. Get up early. I like the idea of sleeping in, but when it comes down to it, I'm a morning person. I can get a lot of crap done before 10am. So my goal is to get up early M-F and get some work done in the quiet, and then go for a run before my husband has to leave for work.

 

3. And speaking of quiet, we will have quiet time everyday. Ava still naps everyday, and I'm going to take her nap time and have both kids have quiet time everyday. Dylan will be allowed to stay up later this summer, but he's not one for sleeping in, so a rest period will be essential for everyone. Plus then, I can have two quiet hours everyday to work in the afternoon. Or even nap too.

 

4. Fridays will be my prep day. I try to do this now, most weeks, but have really been hit or miss lately. I like to take Friday and do all the grocery shopping, cleaning, and laundry, plus food prep and meal planning for the week. This makes everything SO MUCH easier and the weeks I don't do this and do it thoroughly, are always tougher. I like to start the weekend with a clean house, food in our fridge, and clean clothes in our closets.

 

5. Disconnect for part of everyday. I have gotten into a bad habit of checking my phone all the time. I check on orders, I check on emails, and I check on social media. And I need to stop checking so much. Yes, all this connection is helpful and everyone does it, but there had to be a limit. And  I need to check myself. So, no phone or computer from 6-9 everyday for me. I got this idea from Teaching Sam and Scout (where she also has a summer list like this; which I just realized that my list here is nearly identical too. I LOVE that blog. She's a smart lady :).).

 

And finally...6. We are going to embrace the ice cream truck. I have always been a big downer about the ice cream truck. I'm the first to say no, to roll my eyes at the music. I think it comes from growing up in the country where such things just didn't happen. It always feel like a waste of time and money. But you know what? My kids eyes light up when we buy them ice cream from the ice cream truck. They always appreciate it. Plus, a  Mr. Softee truck drives right through my neighborhood. We are going to enjoy that and not feel bad about it.

 

I hope you have the summer that is best for you, whether that means a slow summer like us or one packed full of fun activities!

SCENES FROM A WEEKEND

 

We had another busy, fun weekend! Here's a few highlights:

 

 

I was honored to be asked to make flag for a Gold Star Mothers Memorial Ruck. Gold Star Mothers are mothers who have lost a son or daughter in combat. This ruck (a 10K with a loaded backpack) was made up of 21 teams, each who carried one of these flags with the name of a service person who gave their life. I hand cut each of the Gold Star and thought of each of those Mothers as I made them.

My Saturday mornings are devoted to meal planning, grocery shopping, and food prep for the week. I'll be writing a more indepth post about my process soon.

 

 

The kids went to a birthday party at Sky Zone. We'd never been there, but will defiantly be going back, especially with the cold winter days that are coming! So fun.

On Sunday we headed to Philadelphia for Boo at the Zoo! We're members of the Philadelphia Zoo, and I highly recommend that if you're ever in Philadelphia that you check it out. It's the oldest zoo in America and the setting for The Trumpet of the Swan.

 

 Love these three.

 The leaves were on point this weekend! We've at the peak for fall foliage.

 

My baby girl got her first haircut this weekend. I wanted to take her to my salon, but the husband pointed out that $50 for a trim wasn't a smart financial decision. So she went with daddy to his place.

 She looks so big now. And extra sassy.

 

 An outtake from some family photos I took this weekend. This one pretty much sums up our kids.

 

 

 

We had oven baked ribs for dinner on Sunday. SO yummy! I served them with dairy free mashed potatoes, a big salad with a Dijon vingarette, and kamala olives.

 

Hope you had a great weekend! Grab a cup a coffee and get after this Monday.