Meal plan for April 21-27th
To my Christian and secular friends – Happy Easter!
To everyone else, happy “Zombie and candy day” as my Jewish friend Elaina calls it. HA!
Spring is here, and it can’t be denied. The peas I planted in February are finally growing (sheesh), the trees are blooming, and the birds are chirping at 5 am every morning.
This time of year is so full of hope and beauty, that some times I feel like my heart can’t handle it all.
Our three year old mini drawf Akane apple tree is blooming right now. I just want to sit next to it and smile all day. Except there is supposed to be a lot of rain this week, so I probably won’t be smiling the whole time. Maybe one smile and then inside to drink some tea?
My seedlings are coming along nicely and need to be up-potted again. I planted my squash and cucumbers way too early, but ain’t no thang like a chicken wing. I don’t even know why I said that. Do you? I think the pollen in the air has inserted itself in to my brain.
The boys were having an epic Nerf war yesterday. Battlefield: livingroom. The couch was pulled away from the wall for Troy’s bunker…
…and the cushions were propped in the hallway for Jack’s bunker.
My purse was in No Man’s land. I shall miss that purse; it’s been foamed darted to death.
I spent last night working on the goodie bags for Jack’s birthday party next weekend. Jack chose a Seahawks theme, and so I’m making cloth ziplocs with Seahawaks fabric. I made a beautiful protype, only to realize that I used two of the same sides of velcro on the same bag…both the soft sides and none of the gripper stuff. So that was absolutely fabulous! I am making 14 bags because I have no idea how many kids are coming to the party since no one in our families actually will RSVP to parties.
Meal plan time! Reminder, I only plan dinners. My breakfast of choice has changed, and I’m now obsessed with homemade Greek yogurt with tons of cut up fresh fruit (or fruit I froze in the summer), and a homemade granola bar crumbled on top. It’s delicious and keeps me completely full and satisfied until lunch. Lunches are always leftovers. We rarely eat dessert during the week, and our dinner drink of choice is water kefir soda.
Monday:: Frittata and fruit. the chickens are cranking out the eggs at the rate of 4-6 per day, and I’m sitting on four dozen in my fridge right now.
Tuesday:: Balls. We’re putting them in our mouths. A few months ago I found a recipe for spicy Asian meatballs and they are a favorite around here. I need to share the recipe soon. Pairing it with grilled asparagus, and sesame noodles.
Wednesday:: Some more of Nom Nom Paleo’s Kaula Pig that was saved in the freezer, artichokes, and fruit.
Thursday:: My in-laws are feeding us. Yay!!
Friday:: Popcorn and movie night. Yay!!
Saturday:: Jack’s 5th birthday party. It’s at 1 pm, but tradition calls for us to go out to dinner afterwards.
Sunday:: Dinner at my parent’s. As always, they provide the main dish, and we all provide the sides and dessert. I’m not going to be creative…I’ll bring whatever is left over from Jack’s birthday.
Getting ready for Jack’s party made me KILL my grocery budget. Oh well, he only has a birthday party once a year, right? I spent a whopping $101 at Costco, $24 at Trader Joes, $37 at Fred Meyer, $16 at our local butcher, and $14.50 at our local farm for raw milk and local honey.
I am soooo freaking excited!! I have been following your blog for over a year now, and have been convinced that hormones and antibiotics in meat is not how I want to eat. The price of meat at my favorite market has just been going up and up, so I went to a local meat market to compare prices. Not only are the prices very close, the meat is hormone and antibiotic free. And tastes amazing!! The chicken I bought made a YELLOW broth that was rich in flavor.
Thank you for teaching me a new way to view food.
Love that! I remember my first trip to the local butcher, and realizing the prices were similar or cheaper than the grocery store, and holy crap the taste was so different.
Now t hat you have found them, ask to see if they offer freezer packs. Our butcher does that, and the price per pound is much better than buying out of the case.
This week for dinner is as follows
Monday- Lemon pepper shrimp scampi with orzo pasta and asparagus. (new recipe)
Tuesday- Rice and black bean burrios with guacamole and the usual toppings (lettuce, tomato, sour cream ect)
Wednesday- Chicken marsala w/ asparagus (we love asparagus!) and mashed potatoes
Thursday- BBQ ribs, mac and cheese and broccoli
Friday- Crab cakes w/ remoulade and spring salad for husband and I (date night at home 🙂 ) and grilled cheeses with roasted brussel sprouts for kidlets.
YUM, do you have room for another at your table this week? I’ll bring dessert!
An easy way to store your extra eggs is to crack one egg into each section of an ice cube tray. Once frozen you can transfer them to a freezer bag or freezer safe Tupperware. These are perfect to use in cooking or baking, but will not make good fluffy scrambled eggs after they are frozen. If the recipe calls for 2 eggs, pull out two frozen cubes, defrost on counter or in microwave. Easy way to store eggs long term!
Love that idea! That being said, we give away (to family) or sell (to a neighbor) most of our extra eggs. The freezing tip is great for end of summer because winter we don’t get many eggs from the ladies.
This is probably a stupid question, but how do you thaw the frozen fruit? Do you just put
it in the fridge for a day?
Also, I’ve made your granola bar recipe twice now (in the past week) and it is so good. My husband and I have been eating them for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks!
This might seem silly, but I put the fruit in the canning jar that I take my yogurt to work in, and then I put it on the heat register in my dining room. By the time I’m ready to go, the fruit is mostly thawed, and will definitely thaw by the time I get to work an hour after I leave the house.
Glad you guys like the bars! We love them around here.
I am so happy that my kiddo wasn’t interested in birthday parties until this past birthday (she turned 8). And now I just let her get most of it planned and figured out :0)
I FINALLY ordered myself a replacement crock-pot lid, so Kalua Pig is so happening this week. We also have two lbs of ground meat for making meatballs (probably a mixture of lamb and pork) and we will be doing burgers as well. Oh, and fish. I love that the fish can go right from the freezer to the oven. Love it.
We do have veggies planned, but it’s mostly different variations of cooked cauliflower, broccoli and carrots. Boring, but gobbled up every single time.
The kid and I were out working in the yard today (so glad for some nice weather) and I was so excited to see that one of the three raspberry (shoots? canes? whatever they are called) that we transplanted from my in-laws in IA to our rental house in MT back in September is green and growing! Woohoo to fresh raspberries! I also noticed that one of the strawberry plants I planted last year looks like it might be regrowing. So, even if I never get my butt in gear and get veggies planted, we will possible have raspberries and strawberries!
Doesn’t seem to care about the details of the party; this isn’t a kid’s party, but rather just one for family. I’ve been told by other parents, that by the time kids are about four/five, they expect some sort of goodie bag. For the last two years, I’ve done something small and edible for the kids to take with them, in the hopes of not spending a ton of money of plastic crap.
Yay for the new crockpot lid!!!! I love raspberries, as they’re basically free weeds.