Meals - Week 25 - and some recipes

This was a great meal week – lots of variety. And these meals were all quick and easy to make, which makes it an even better meal week! J

Sunday: Balsamic-Marinated Pork Chops & Grilled Peaches – we didn’t make the grilled peaches, but  this is a fantastic meal. The pork chops are tender and have a great flavour. 

Recipe and picture from Clean  Eating

Monday: BBQ Sausages and Baked Potato – a standard around here (as I’ve said before, we like to BBQ in the summer J)

                      

Tuesday: Chicken Skewers with Apricot Glaze – we had no idea for dinner and I’d seen this in a recipe book on the weekend. The chicken was tender and the glaze was a really good addition. 

Recipe and picture from Fine Cooking

Wednesday: Salmon pasta with peas and dill sauce – I made this entire meal up. I didn’t use a recipe because I couldn’t find one. It turned out really well, if I do say so myself J

Recipe and picture from - Me!

Thursday: Black Bean Cheddar burrito – I added ground beef to this (I should read the recipe first – oops), but I don’t know how this recipe would feed four people otherwise. This was a HUGE hit with the boys, which surprised me. It could be their love of eating without a knife and fork J

Recipe and picture from Fine Cooking

Friday: Pork tenderloin with baked potatoes – the BBQ to the rescue again!

My Mom is here next week, so the food will be even better (and not only because I won’t have to make dinner every night J)

Cheers!

Kim

Meals – Week 24 – and two recipes – soup and shepherds pie

Life sure is crazy busy for us these days – busier than usual. Menu planning (or sort-of meal planning) has kept us eating healthy, balanced meals, and mealtimes have been enjoyable around the table.

The boys spent hours at the edge of the water, trying to catch dinner. Even though that didn’t work and they had to eat steak, they loved every minute of it.  

 Boys - doing what boys love best - fishing

Have a great week!

Cheers! Kim

Sunday: Chicken Stir Fry – a home made concoction with teriyaki sauce and lots of veggies

Monday: Garlicky Tortellini, Spinach and Tomato Soup. I love this soup and have made it many times before. The boys liked it and enjoyed the spinach J (that’s what they said, anyway)

Recipe and picture from Fine Cooking

Tuesday: Swiss Chalet – the boys finished writing their Provincial Acheivement Tests (PAT’s), so it was their choice for dinner

Wednesday: Shepherd’s Pie with Buttermilk-Chive Mashed Potato Crust. This is a great, healthy version of shepherds pie that I've made before. And I made two, so one went in the freezer for another day.

Recipe and picture from Clean Eating

Thursday: Spaghetti and meatballs – quick and easy, but a family favourite.

Friday/Saturday: We went camping for the weekend, and our gracious hosts prepared everything and made sure each of us were completely full all weekend J

Meals - Week Ten

I'm not as disciplined as I have been in planning my meals - but we have a few meals that we haven't had before each week. Some are hits, and some aren't but we're trying, learning and experimenting. That's what this is all about, so life is good. J

Here's what we ate last week - we're already in week ten of our meal planning.

Monday: Steak and Potatoes – yum! My favourite meal.

All of the recipes, other than Monday, were from the Clean Eating January-February 2012 issue. You can order that issue here:

Monday: I forgot to take meat out of the freezer in the morning, so we had frozen pizza. Oops - I guess it wasn't horrible because it wasn’t take out.

Tuesday: Beef and Broccoli Penne – the meat was marniated in orange juice, and that really made this meal. It was healthy chinese. The boys weren’t a big fan though.

Wednesday: I must be going senile because I don’t remember what we had for dinner tonight. Seriously, how can I forget what we ate four days ago?

Thursday:  Thai Chicken Tacos – this was a crock pot meal - messy but really good. To make true Thai food, you use a lot of peanut sauce and peanut butter, but Zach is allergic to peanuts – so almond butter was our replacement. It was fantastic.

Friday: Taco Bowls – this was a taco salad without the fried tortilla shell. It was delicious.

Saturday: Chicken Pasta – this was a made up meal by me. We chopped chicken into small chunks, cooked it with onion and red peppers and a can of diced tomatoes, mixed it with cooked pasta and cheese and baked it for 20 minutes in the oven.

We're doing really well with trying new meals every week. There are some favourites that we repeat, but not many. I'm happy that my family is open to me trying new recipes most days - cooking is much more fun that way.

Cheers! Kim

Meals - Week Nine and two recipes - Beef Wraps and French Onion Soup

This wasn't the best week for eating healthy, or for being creative. I was out of town overnight on business, so that meant two nights needed to be super quick and easy so Mr. E could get the boys to their activities. It would be easy to give in and order take out, so not doing that deserves a high five!

Sunday: Home made nachos - these are always a big hit (maybe because we eat them while we watch TV!)

Monday: I was out of town, so Mr. E made the boys tortellini with spaghetti sauce. They used my home made sauce, so that counts as a healthy meal, right?

Tuesday: I was home in time for dinner, but not by much. Mr. E barbecued pork chops and we had mashed potatoes - what a great comfort meal to come home to.

Wednesday:  Sirloin Beef Wraps - These were quick and easy to prepare, and tasted really good. Fresh veggies made this light and refreshing, and who doesn't like to eat with their hands?

Thursday:  I had chicken planned for the crock pot, but I forgot to prep it the night before, so we had a frozen pizza. Not healthy, I know, but with swimming at 6:30, it had to be quick.

Friday:  Both Mr. E and I had lots for lunch (I met a girlfriend who lives out of town), so we only had a quick snack. There was a karate open house tonight, so Mr. E took #3 to that so he could check it out - that meant take out for the kids. And you know what? They didn't really enjoy it. Honest. So we'll try to limit that as much as possible.

Saturday:  Mr. E and I were on our own and thought about going to the local pub for a glass of wine and some appetizers. I made french onion soup instead - that was a much better idea! This recipe is amazing and we love it - I make it a lot.

I love this picture - it's from the Fine Cooking website but it looks just like my soup - because we have almost the same bowls! My Mom gave them to me a few years ago - she got them as a wedding gift more than 40 years ago.

So another week of meal planning came and went - this wasn't as successful as usual, but I think we managed to balance things fairly well. Schedules are a challenge  in our house, so as long as we eat healthy 80% of the time, we should be good.

Cheers! Kim

Meals - Week Eight and a Spanish Pork recipe

Wow! Eight weeks of meal planning and trying new meals almost every night. That must be a record for me. I'm happy with how this is working out. My binder full of recipes is getting used, and so are my cookbooks (I have lots of those). Nearly all recipes are good, so we haven't had to resort to take out yet. And keeping a record of what we've had makes the organizing junkie side of me happy too!

So, here's week eight's meal plan for the week, and a recipe from Clean Eating magazine that was really good.

Monday: Home made Macaroni and Cheese. While I couldn't find this recipe online, here's where it came from:

The mac and cheese was creamy and rich and definitely didn't taste like it was good for you!

Tuesday: Spanish Pork with Potatoes - this was good and didn't take too long to make. The goat cheese was a bit strong for the boys, but they said it was really good.

Wednesday: Subs - Mr. E was out of town and I decided that being lazy was okay for a Wednesday. So, the boys had subs (and I had leftover mac and cheese from Monday!). I didn't realize how expensive subs were - aren't they just sandwiches? All in, it was nearly $20 for the two of them (of course they got the combo which came with pop, that they never get during the week). Yikes - we won't be doing that very often.

Thursday: Crockpot BBQ Chicken - the boys helped me put this together in the morning before we headed out. An easy sauce and a bit of stirring made this come together really fast. It was okay - the sauce didn't absorb into the chicken very well, so it got average reviews.
This was the first meal that didn't make it back into the recipe book - not bad after eight weeks of meals!

Friday:  the unseasonably warm weather must be leaving the viruses and germs around, because I was not up for cooking anything. Mr. E whipped up burgers and hot dogs with a side of 'home fries' which went over really well. The home fries are fabulous and the kids ask for them all the time - I'll have to show you our tips and tricks.

So, onward and upward - here's to week nine of menu planning and healthy eating.

Cheers! Kim

Meals - Week Six

Some weeks are definitely more challenging with meal prep than others. While the meals aren’t challenging or time consuming, a long demanding work day means I have less patience when things don’t work out quite the way I envisioned. Oh well, nobody went hungry and nothing ended up in the garbage J

Sunday: Steak and Potatoes – since it was just Mr. E and I for dinner, we had one of our favourites. Mr. E is a great BBQ-er and it’s so nice not to have to cook once in a while.

Monday: White fish fillets with warm corn relish. This was fairly quick and easy – using cornmeal for the breading made it nice and crunchy. Next time I’ll bake it in the oven – that might make the breading stay on the fish instead of ending up on the bottom of the frying pan. Grrrrrr.

Tuesday: BBQ Pork Chops with edamame beans. Mr. E came to the rescue again by taking the cooking off my plate. He’s the best J

Wednesday: Ginger Chicken – this was a delicious combo of soya sauce, grated ginger and garlic on oven baked chicken. It was quick too, so we could get to activities with lots of time to spare.

Thursday: Slow Cooker Spanish Rice – have I mentioned how much I love my crock pot? It makes Thursday night dinners a breeze. And this recipe made enough for leftover lunches for Mr. E and I for two days, which is an added bonus.

Friday: Swiss Chalet – the boys turned 12 today (where does the time go?) so they got to pick dinner Friday and Saturday (they each have different favourites). Aidan, as the oldest, picked first and chose Swiss Chalet, so I took the easy way out and had it delivered.

And every birthday needs a cake, right? I didn’t have time to make one (I made 40 cupcakes on Wednesday for them to take to school on Friday, so I was ‘baked’ out this week), so I picked up cupcakes from Bliss, which is close to work. They have amazing cupcakes and it gave the kids the option for different flavours.

Bliss Cupcakes - yum!

Saturday: Subway – tonight was Zachary’s turn to pick dinner, so Subway it was. And since there’s one in the neighbourhood, dinner took about 10 minutes. And the best part was no dishes to wash after!

So, no recipes to share this week – I’m only linking to ones that are online. The cupcake picture makes up for that, right? They are delicious J

Cheers! Kim

Meals - Week Five, Pasta e Fagioli and Spinach/Artichoke Dip recipes

I think we're settling into the groove of menu planning - it seems easier as we go.
Here's what we had for Week Five:

Sunday: Pasta e Fagioli soup - I love Fine Cooking and have a lot of their special focus publications. So, when Mr. E and I were looking for a bit of a treat, where else would I look?

It was fantastic - and we had leftovers for Wednedsay dinner, and Thursday lunch. What a bonus!

Monday: Mediterranean Chicken Casserole - this was made on Sunday night and just needed to be baked for half an hour. Which is exactly what we need on an activity night - something fast.

Tuesday: Spiced Pork Tenderloin - with pear and cranberry relish. This was tasty

Wednesday: We had enough soup from Sunday left over that we had it again for dinner tonight.

Thursday: Homemade Egg McMuffins - Mr. E made these as I laid low wits the flu. Good times - but the boys love these so it all worked out.

Friday: Mr. E and I went out for lunch today, and we had leftovers. So, the kids had take-out pizza and we had leftover lunch. It was quick and easy after a long week of work.

Saturday: With no kids, it was a relaxed evening. We decided to have appetizers and French Onion soup. Except we had enough appies that we didn't need the soup.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

and

home-made Guacamole (avacdo, red onion and lemon juice - a healthy, but rich and yummy dip)

This was another successful week of meals - here's hoping that the winning streak continues!
Cheers! Kim

Meals - Week Four, and a few great recipes

It's hard to believe it's been four weeks of prepping and planning our meals in advance. I've tried this before and I’ve given up long before this.

I would try to plan for dinner, but typically I would end up with me making the same meals over and over, or having rushed meals because I'd stand in front of the pantry, waiting for the meal fairy to show up (she never did - if she's at your house, can you please send her my way for a while?)

In the absence of a meal fairy, planning meals seems to be working pretty well. Every Sunday, I go through my torn out recipes or my cookbooks and pick our meals. I try to make sure we use different protein, so there's variety in our menu. This makes grocery shopping easier too - we have a plan of what to pick up for the week, not just random items.

So, here's our menu for week four:

Sunday: Portabello Mushroom Stroganoff - the boys won't eat mushrooms, so this was a perfect meal for a night they weren't home. And it was absolutely delicious. No leftovers delicious. We ate the entire thing - and I added extra mushrooms just for fun.

Monday: Steak and Farfalle Pasta – I’ve had this on my list for a few weeks but it seemed to get pushed out of the way. It was really good with a nice creamy sauce.

Tuesday: Teriyaki-Mango Pork – this one is far out of our normal comfort zone. Mango, bok choy and water chestnuts aren’t in our regular menu. I used soba noodles which looked strange but were delicious - as was the rest of dinner.

Wednesday: Orange Salmon - this was quick and easy. Orange juice and soya sauce over the salmon, which was baked in parchment paper and served with a side of quinoa. It was quick, easy and good.


Thursday: Slow cooker ‘Chicken in a Pot’ – I don't think it gets much easier than this. Carrots, celery and chicken in the crock pot with a bit of chicken stock. Next time I'll add potatoes to the crock pot - I made those as a side dish, and thickened up the sauce for gravy. Yum - gravy on a weeknight.


Friday: Shepherd’s Pie, clean eating style –

We ended up eating this on Saturday instead, but it was totally worth the wait. This was one of the first Clean Eating recipes I tried, and it definitely set the standard. There were no leftovers - two kids had thirds!

A great week for recipes overall - stay tuned for week five!

Cheers!
Kim

Meals - Week Three

Here’s a recap of our meals last week, and a great recipe J This one is online so I can link to it instead of typing it out – score!

• Sunday: Chicken Salad – This was a duplicate of what we had last Monday, so my goal of a new meal every night is done. Over. It lasted for two weeks. But, Zach requested it – so how could I say no? J If your son asks for salad for dinner, don't ask why – just make it and be happy.
• Monday: Cheese Stuffed Shells (as roll-ups) – I prepped this the night before, so all I had to do was put it in the oven for 30 minutes. But I didn't have 30 minutes. Seriously. Traffic was horrible and it took 1 ½ hours to get home (usually its 45 min). So, the boys had subs. These will be Wednesday’s dinner instead. J
• Tuesday: Baked Barley Casserole – This was delish. Fantastic. Everyone loved it and said it was a definite make again.  

• Wednesday: Steak and Farfalle Pasta – this was replaced by Cheese Stuffed Shells (that we were going to have on Monday). So, I’ve moved this to next week instead.
• Thursday: Sweet and Sour Pork – I picked up a new slow cooker magazine from BHG last weekend, and hopefully it will help with some of the dinner madness. The recipes look good and having dinner ready when we walk in the door should help with the stress.
• Friday: Turkey Pasta Casserole – again, this was replaced. This time with pizza. I’ll keep trying to make dinner on Friday night, but I don’t seem to be doing very well.

Having kids activities three nights a week makes meal planning a real challenge. We need 30 minute meals – and I want them to be healthy too. I'm re-thinking my plan – having to spend time the night before to prep meals makes for a long night. And it takes time away from my family – and I get precious little time with them.

Mr. E and I have the upcoming meals planned – and the ingredients prepped. So let’s see how week four goes!

Cheers!

Kim

Meals, Week Two - and Sauteed Fish Sticks recipe

Happy Thursday! The weather here is frightful – we have had absolutely frigid weather this week. The number on the thermometer was the same if you were using °C or °F. All week. Winter finally decided to show up and I guess it made up for all the warm weather we've had until now. We're all bundled up in our parkas, staying inside as much as possible.

Anyway . . . as I mentioned here, I'm trying to prepare healthy meals for our family and make a new dinner every night for three months!

Here's a recap of our meals from last week. I've decided that I'll only add in the amazing recipes - nobody wants to make a recipe that's 'okay.' And maybe one of these days, some of the recipes I pick will be online somewhere so I can link to them instead of re-typing them!

Last week:

• Sunday: Steak and Baked Potato with stir-fried veggies – This is a standing favourite in our house and, as usual, was delicious. Mr. E has this BBQ thing down J
• Monday: Salad with Chicken – We cooked the chicken the day before so this was a quick and easy dinner before a night of activities. Salt and pepper chicken is a staple in our house – quick and easy. We make a few breasts on Sundays, so we have a quick and easy dinner or lunch. (Roast the chicken breasts on a foil lined baking sheet for about 20 – 25 minutes at 350°). We made a quick balsamic vinaigrette and called it dinner.
• Tuesday: Pork Tenderloin with Succotash – Mr. E to the BBQ rescue again J And who can resist a dinner that has succotash in it? Doesn't it remind you of Sylvester in Looney Tunes (please tell me that someone else remembers that he used to say "sufferin' succotash")?

•  Wednesday: Cheese Stuffed Shells – This didn't happen due to timing. I had plans to prep this on Tuesday night and pop it in the oven when we got home, but that didn't happen. So, the boys had tortellini (their all-time favourite pasta) and I had leftovers.
• Thursday: Turkey Pasta Casserole – I originally thought this would work, but we decided to switch this meal to Friday (it took a while to cook). And then I was too tired to cook on Friday, so we ordered pizza. This is real life for us – very little goes according to plan.
• Friday: Sauteed Fish Sticks – So we made these on Thursday night instead. After pulverizing the fish in the food processor, they turned out pretty well. They didn't stick together as well as the picture in the magazine, but everyone said they were a keeper!
• Saturday: Spaghetti and Meatballs – a family favourite J You can't go wrong with spaghetti and meatballs around here. And with home-made sauce and whole wheat pasta, it's really healthy.

Here's the recipe I'm going to share this week:

Sauteed Fish Sticks
*recipe originally published in Clean Eating magazine, April/May 2011.

A few slices of whole-grain bread (to make into bread crumbs)

1 egg

¾ lb boneless, skinless tilapia fillet

Crack egg into a medium bowl. Chop tilapia as finely as possible (I discovered the food processor worked best) and add to egg. Add ¼ cup bread crumbs to tilapia mixture, then use hands to thoroughly combine.

Divide fish mixture into 8 equal portions, 2 ½ inches long. Pour another ¼ cup bread crumbs into a large or flat-bottomed bowl. Dredge each stick in bread crumbs, pressing lightly to coat both sides.

Heat 1 ½ tsp oil in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add fish sticks to pan and cook, covered for 4 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown. Use heatproof tongs to gently flip sticks over and cook for another 3 minutes or until both sides are golden brown.

I also made oven french fries to go with these - fish and chips!J

So far, so good on this goal of mine - let's see how long I can keep it going.

Cheers,
Kim

A Healthy New Year

After the holidays (with it's seemingly never ending supply of sweets, drinks and large meals), most people naturally make a resolution to eat healthier and exercise more.

I'm no different.

I've been a subscriber to Clean Eating magazine for a few years now, and they have some AMAZING recipes in each issue. So, as part of our goal to eat healthier, I made a wild and crazy promise to the family:

'I won't cook the same meal for dinner for three months!'

Yup - I made this wild and crazy promise to the family. They don't usually believe me when I say things like that, but after I thought about it, it still made sense to me. I had two years worth of Clean Eating magazines, so why not start with those first?

So, I did.

I spent a few afternoons during my vacation going through those magazines, tearing out recipes that appealed to me. It was a pretty impressive pile:

(Don't you just love the 'sign here' tabs that I got from work? Mr. E uses those to show me which recipes he thinks look good - a lot of tabs get used - the recipes look that good :))

Using a menu planner form I found online (the one I found came from Menu For Moms, but I've seen others), I planned out my week:

There were three recipes that came from Clean Eating magazines last week: Cashew Chicken with Vegetables, Mushroom and Beef Stew, and Spinach, Chicken and Mushroom Dinner Crepes. And of course, none of them are on the Clean Eating website. Trust me when I tell you they were delicious :)

One week down, eleven to go!

Cheers!
Kim