Meal Planning Monday

Is there anything better than a long weekend?  Maybe one when it’s snowing and blowing so hard that you can be thankful no one has to leave the house.  I’m writing this from our dining room table as Amelia finishes up her pancake, and Jason has left to start plowing out the yard.  My coffee’s still hot, and it’s nice to have a few moments to reflect on what we’re going to be cooking up this week.  Best part?  We’re on February Break, so I actually have time to do some cooking and freezing during the week, in preparation for our next long haul at work.

Yesterday, I made a big pot of beef stew, heavy on the veggies and barley.  The new trick I’ve been using has been to buy and chop up a pot roast, which makes for much more tender stew meat and a dish Amelia loves eating.  I had enough leftovers for a meal later this week, as well as a few lunches for my favorite girl since Mama’s going back to salads at lunch in an effort to tone up a bit more before spring.

Today, I have two of our organic, free range chickens in water on the stove, simmering down into stock.  Half will become Chicken Vegetable Soup, while the other becomes a large pot of Italian Wedding Soup (another of Amelia’s favorites).

Monday:
Italian Wedding Soup, Leftover Homemade Ciabatta Bread, Parmesan Cheese

Tuesday:
Homemade Chicken Stew with Bread or Dumplings

Wednesday:
Eating Well’s Picnic Chicken, Green Beans*, Mashed Potatoes

Thursday:
Leftover Beef Stew, Fresh Homemade Bread

Friday:
Homemade Pesto Pizza with Pesto fresh from our AeroGarden (Grilled Cheese, Fruits & Veggies for Ama)

So yes, it’s definitely a little heavy on the soups and stews, but when your daily high hasn’t cracked above zero in two weeks, a bowl of something warm and delicious is just what you need at the end of a long day.

In other news, I’m looking forward to starting a new series called Felting Fridays to follow my adventures building Ama’s Toddler Kitchen (we have a design we’re going to work on this spring).  Meanwhile, I spent my weekend buying more than 8 yards of craft felt, so I can start experimenting and sharing my successes (and failures) with you.

Hope you have a great week!  Try anything great in the kitchen recently?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Meal Planning Monday & The Daycare Lunchbox

It feels strange to be reemerging from the last few weeks.  Work has been busy, the weather has been terrible, and life has been hectic.  We’re in the process of trying to conceive #2, and I think we can finally throw in the towel on the first month.  This is, I will admit, a disappointment after getting pregnant with Amelia so quickly and so easily, but it does mean that we’re almost ready to start trying again, and, hopefully, with more luck this time.

Only one thing has really been saving our evening dinner ritual lately, and that’s been the fact that I cook on the weekends and either freeze or refrigerate an extra portion or two for evening meals.  We’ve also all started to move towards packing lunches rather than buying or taking advantage of those provided for us, which makes for a slightly crazier morning for this Mom.

So what’s on the menu for this week?  I made  Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls yesterday afternoon, and I think the extra 1/2 t. of cayenne pepper I added this time really gave them the kick they need to serve well later in the week, too.  I also tried to focus our grocery shopping a bit more on a few healthier options, as I try to tweak our diets towards a few more fruits & veggies.

Monday:
Frozen Spaghetti and Meatballs (homemade) with Orzo
Green Beans*
Salad

Tuesday:
Leftover Chicken Burrito Bowls with Veggie Chunks & Cabot Cheddar

Wednesday:
Beef or Chicken Stir Fry

Thursday:
Homemade, Frozen Lasagna; Salad; Garlic Toast

Friday:
Homemade Pizza

At this point, Amelia is eating all of her meals with us.  What’s going in the daycare lunchbox this week?

Leftover Burrito Bowls (her favorite meal right now)
Leftover Lasagna
Makings for a Grilled Cheese (HFCSF bread), Organic Cheddar
Organic Yogurt & Milk
Avocados & Bananas

Meal Planning Monday & Packing the Daycare Lunchbox

Back to work this morning, which means a return to much more careful meal planning.  For the next two weeks, my schedule’s a little crazy, which has us arriving at home at dinner time.  To prepare for this, I made big batches of Veggie Chili, Lasagna, Chicken Soup and Spaghetti and Meatballs last week, filling our freezer with easy and delicious homemade “freezer” meals that can be popped out in the morning for easy dinners with side salads or veggies I froze from the garden over the summer (we’re now out of carrots and almost out of onions, but we still have a lot of peas and green beans).

Amelia is almost fifteen months, so I thought it might be nice to add a few lines each week on what we send to daycare for lunches.  Though we still nurse at home, she’s made the transition to whole, organic milk during the day.  Beyond that, though, even though our daycare provides lunches, we do still pack the majority of her lunches to keep her on a healthy, almost 100% organic diet (though she LOVES Pepperidge Farm Baby Goldfish).  At daycare, she gets a morning snack, lunch, and an afternoon snack, and I typically pack enough food for lunches and light snacks, and our provider fills in with some of the snack foods the other children get that are age appropriate.  For us, it’s a nice balance between guiding her diet and letting her feel like a regular kid.

Meal Planning:
Unless otherwise stated, she’s eating exactly what we’re eating, only in smaller bites.
*From Our Garden/Chickens

Monday:
Homemade Lasagna, Salad, Green Beans* (Ama will eat everything but the salad and get a side of banana).

Tuesday:
Veggie Chili, Chopped Vegetables (Peppers & Cukes), Cabot Cheddar Cheese, Homemade Maple Cornbread (leftover from Sunday)

Wednesday:
Oven BBQ Chicken*, Orzo, Green Beans* or Organic Maple Braised Carrots (we’ll see how pressed for time we are)

Thursday:
Chicken Soup with Dumplings (Amelia will get a slice of bread instead of the dumplings)

Friday: Date Night at Home (our new attempt at getting some time together)
Ama Eats: Grilled Cheese, Chopped Veggies, Apple Slices
Mom & Date Eat Later: Grilled Organic Rib-Eye, Garlic Roasted Potatoes*, Green Beans*, Nice Bottle of Wine

And in the Daycare Lunchbox:
1/2 Gallon Organic Whole Milk, 2 Avocados, 2 Bananas, 1 Apple,  2 Servings of Veggie Chili (Monday & Tuesday), 2 Servings of Lasagna (Wednesday & Thursday), Grilled Cheese Ingredients for Friday (cheddar cheese & bread without HFCS), Organic Yogurt