Most of us are home for the holidays, and that means that we are at home cooking.
If you are looking for some new recipes to tempt your taste buds, here are a few of our family’s favorite holiday recipes:
cookies
11/22/2020 Weekly Meal Plan!
I did not go grocery shopping for this week over the weekend. The craziness of Thanksgiving shoppers and increased traffic to stores has made me back off a bit. I made a quick trip for bread on Friday night, but that’s it. The store was packed and everyone was too close for my comfort. I grabbed my bread and booked it.
This week focuses a lot on what we already have. I may run to the store to fill in some blanks. We are running low on eggs, coffee creamer, and salad fixings. If we could make it a whole week without a trip to the store, I’d be amazed!
For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.
I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and the fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for a kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.
I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.
Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.
This week is Thanksgiving break- the kids are home all week. Since we are in the Purple Tier as far as the county’s Covid Cases, a lot of the fun things we usually do are off the table. We will probably skip the zoo this week, even though it is open. It’s a holiday week for most of the county’s school districts, and there will be a lot more people out and about. We’ll be doing outdoor stuff where we can socially distance ourselves from others. We’ll be having a lot of leftovers from Thursday onward. Lunches will probably be protein shakes, pasta and veggies, Peanut butter sandwiches, and beans and rice.
Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.
- Sunday: Veggie Soup & Garlic Toast
- Monday: Baked Sweet Potatoes, Veggies, Grilled Cheese
- Tuesday: Nuggets and Fruit
- Wednesday: Mac n’ Cheese and Salad
- Thursday: Thanksgiving dinner with my parents
- Friday: Pizza Night!
- Saturday: Leftover Shenanigans
Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.
Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?
11/16/2020 Weekly Meal Plan
I wrote up the meal plan for this week last night and posted it on Instagram, but I was too pooped to sit down last night and write this post.
This weekend was busy (like all weekends):
- Playmobil adventures
- Lego Building
- Barbie shenanigans
- Drawing
- Writing Practice
- Shopping for new clothes because a little girl grew overnight
The past few weeks I’ve been cooking larger batches of recipes, and we’ve been relying a lot on them. This week will be a “refill” week for that. A big batch of meaty red sauce, a few batches of soup made directly to go in the freezer, and I’ll be making some mire poix bags up as well. I’ll be posting on Instagram for sure.
If you have kids between 2-18, check with your local school to see if they are offering free lunches and/or breakfasts. You can also check the USDA Website– but it might be a little out of date.
For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.
I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.
I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.
Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.
Lunches will be whatever the kids want for the time being. The big kid has lunch at school, so it’s whatever he chooses from the lunch box in the cupboard, plus some fruit and juice or milk. Since the little girl is in the morning cohort at school, she has lunch at home. Buttered noodles, yogurt, apple slices, and a popsicle are her go-to lunch.
Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.
- Sunday: Leftovers/Fend for yo’ self
- Monday: Shakshuka, Salad, and Salad
- Tuesday: Pasta with Meat Sauce, Salad, Garlic Bread
- Wednesday: Veggie Nuggets, Fish Sticks, Veggie Fries, and Salad
- Thursday: Breakfast (Most likely Pancakes, Eggs, and Fruit)
- Friday: Pizza Night!
- Saturday: Leftover Shenanigans
Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.
Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?
Baking for the Holidays with Truly Grass Fed (Tryazon Party Opportunity)
Truly Grass Fed is back for the holidays with a new Tryazon Featured Party opportunity, featuring their distinctively creamy and uniquely delicious cheese and butter. No matter what kind of holiday baking you plan to do, Truly Grass Fed is the perfect addition. Because Truly Grass Fed doesn’t just pair with food, it #PairsWithYou.
They have 300 hosting spots open for this opportunity! Those chosen will receive a party pack with a variety of Truly Grass Fed products to showcase and sample with friends and family at an in-person or virtual party! Truly Grass Fed will be holding a competition for the best Holiday Baker too! Learn more and apply here: https://www.tryazon.com/baking-for-the-holidays-with-truly-grass-fed-party/
If you haven’t heard of Tryazon, it’s a Word of Mouth Marketing company that partners with brands and individuals. I’ve hosted a few events with Tryazon before- it’s always a fun time!
I applied, and fingers crossed that I get this one! My family and friends love to cook and it would be a fun way to spend some time (even if we are socially distanced). Plus- Who doesn’t love cheese?
|
7/20/2020 Weekly Meal Plan!
I’ve started doing weekly meal planning on Sundays. It’s easier to do it while I’m writing up the weekly calendar/schedule and prepping the snack box for the week.
I’ve been buying snacks in bulk and only putting weeks worth out in the snack box. It keeps us out of the stores, and its healthier. I’ve been doing this for about a month, and I’ve gotten really good at hiding the extra snacks.
I Haven’t gone to the grocery store for this week. I’m trying to use up a lot of what we have on hand. With California re-tightening it’s ruling on what kinds of businesses can be open, the grocery shelves are starting to look sparse again.
I plan on doing some baking this week if it stays cool. Probably cookies, a couple pizzas, and buttermilk biscuits.
For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.
I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.
I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day: Right now our local school district is serving lunch for a drive-through service for kids 18 and under M-F. It’s great because it helps stretch our budget and it gets the kids out of the house for a few minutes. They also include a cold lunch (usually cereal and milk and a piece of fruit) for the next morning. Often times, the cereal ends up being a snack for late afternoon. I’ll be posting more info about summer lunches this afternoon or tomorrow.
Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix). I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.
Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.
School has wrapped up, but we are starting distance learning summer school. It’s a lot less, but it will still keep the kiddos brains sharp. And we’ve recently started playing Pokemon Go to help get our bodies active. We go out for walks each day to try and get some monsters and steps. I love that the big kid has a pokemon Buddy in the game and as part of taking care of his buddy, he has to “walk” the buddy daily. It encourages him to get exercise and it teaches him empathy- something that can be hard for kids on the spectrum.
- Sunday: Leftovers and Birthday Cake
- Monday Breakfast Burritos and fruit salad
- Tuesday: Tortellini Casserole (I’ll post a recipe this week)
- Wednesday: Orange Chicken and veggie stir fry
- Thursday: Pizza Night (pizza and salad or fruit)
- Friday: Veggie Burgers or chick’n nuggets, salad or fruit
- Saturday: leftover fiesta
Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.
Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?
6/22/2020 Weekly Meal Plan
I’ve started doing weekly meal planning on Sundays. It’s easier to do it while I’m writing up the weekly calendar/schedule and prepping the snack box for the week.
I’ve been buying snacks in bulk and only putting weeks worth out in the snack box. It keeps us out of the stores, and its healthier. I’ve been doing this for about a month, and I’ve gotten really good at hiding the extra snacks.
I went to the store last night and spent a little more than I usually do- We were out of a lot of staples. I try to keep the weekly grocery budget to around $100, last night I spent $150.
I was looking over everything last night and I realized that I shouldn’t be so hard on myself- we are all home all the time, which means that we are all eating (and drinking) at home, and that means an increase in both food budget and cooking.
4 people eating 3 meals a day, 7 days a week is 84 meals per week, plus snacks and drinks. That’s approximately $1.78 per meal, per person. And I cook a lot from scratch- which saves us even more than buying convenience foods or eating out. As you can see from our meal plan below, I’m not making Haute cuisine- It’s healthy, wholesome food that the kids enjoy.
For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.
I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.
I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day: Right now our local school district is serving lunch for a drive-through service for kids 18 and under M-F. It’s great because it helps stretch our budget and it gets the kids out of the house for a few minutes. They also include a cold lunch (usually cereal and milk and a piece of fruit) for the next morning. Often times, the cereal ends up being a snack for late afternoon. I’ll be posting more info about summer lunches this afternoon or tomorrow.
Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix). I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.
Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.
School has wrapped up, but we are starting distance learning summer school. It’s a lot less, but it will still keep the kiddos brains sharp. And we’ve recently started playing Pokemon Go to help get our bodies active. We go out for walks each day to try and get some monsters and steps. I love that the big kid has a pokemon Buddy in the game and as part of taking care of his buddy, he has to “walk” the buddy daily. It encourages him to get exercise and it teaches him empathy- something that can be hard for kids on the spectrum.
- Sunday: Customized mini pizzas for Father’s Day (We cooked them on our new Pizza Stone)
- Monday Chicken Enchiladas, Beans, Rice, and Salad
- Tuesday: Breakfast night (Pancakes, Eggs, bacon, fruit salad)
- Wednesday:BBQ chicken and salad
- Thursday: Pizza Night (pizza and salad or fruit)
- Friday: Veggie Burgers or chick’n nuggets, salad or fruit
- Saturday: leftover fiesta
Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.
Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?
5/10/2020 Weekly Meal Plan!
I’ve started doing weekly meal planning on Sundays. It’s easier to do it while I’m writing up the kids at home learning schedules, and prepping the snack box for the week.
I’ve been buying snacks in bulk and only putting weeks worth out in the snack box. It keeps us out of the stores, and its healthier.
And I’ve been trying to visit the store once a week or less. I stocked up yesterday on stuff the kids love (and eat a lot of), so we should be good for the week.
For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.
I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.
I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day: Right now our local school district is serving lunch for a drive-through service for kids 18 and under M-F. It’s great because it helps stretch our budget and it gets the kids out of the house for a few minutes. They also include a cold lunch (usually cereal and milk and a piece of fruit) for the next morning. Often times, the cereal ends up being a snack for late afternoon.
Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix). I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.
Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.
We’re on week 4 of distance learning. It’s finally become a habit, and there are plenty of chances to play and get our wiggles out. I bought the kids a kiddie pool for the patio and that is totally helping them get out the pent up energy.
- Sunday: Cheeseburger Salad (It’s a cheeseburger served sans bun on a bed of greens). The kids will have chick’n nuggets as Big dude is a vegetarian, and Bitty doesn’t like red meat.
- Monday: Cheesy Chicken Broccoli casserole, fruit salad, Texas Toast and leftover nuggets. The casserole has a very small amount of chicken, so I can scoop some out for the big kiddo and he can have some meat-free.
- Tuesday: Bean, Rice, and cheese bowls with grilled veggies
- Wednesday:BBQ chicken and veggie bowls (with rice)
- Thursday: Pizza Night!
- Friday: Leftovers
- Saturday: Waffles and fruit salad
Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.
Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?
Spice Deals at Penzeys!
I love to cook, and one thing that really elevates recipes and home cooking is quality spices. That’s why I love Penzeys. They sell quality spices and herbs, and the prices are really reasonable. Oh, and they always have really good deals!
- This weekend you can score their $9.95 Cocoa Cuddle Gift Box for free with any $5 purchase.
- Their Lemon Pepper is just $1.
- Wanna spice up your stir fry or cookies? Their Powdered Ginger is just $2.
No coupons or codes are needed for the good Lemon Pepper and Ginger prices. Those are automatic for everyone. Online at penzeys.com, once you’ve reached $5 in spending, simply enter Cuddle into the apply code box at checkout. No need to place the box in your basket, the code will do that for you and for free. It’s easy.
And the Fine Print:
|
*Penzeys Cocoa Cuddle Gift Box Offer Details *Penzeys Lemon Pepper Offer Details *Penzeys Ginger Powdered Offer Details |
1/13/2020 Weekly Meal Plan
This week is going to be another week with time spent doing fruit and veggie prep, in addition to our weekly meal planning sesh, which I did yesterday.
For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.
Friday I picked up some fresh fruit and veg, which should get us through until next week.
I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.
You may notice a lot of plant-based meals- We are not vegetarian (well, the big kid is, but the rest of us aren’t), but I am trying to get more veggies into our diet. I do a lot of cooking from scratch- I find it easier to get veggies and fruit into recipes that I can have 100% control over.
I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day:
Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix). I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.
Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and Bitty. The big kid takes his lunch to school, but once in a while, I can convince him to buy his lunch.
For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked. We’ve got a bunch of stuff in the freezer, as I’ve been portioning out 2-3 adult-sized entree portions from several meals a week and freezing them for later meals.
- Monday: Butter Chicken, steamed rice, and veggies
- Tuesday: Frozen Entrees
- Wednesday: Tuscan Soup
- Thursday: Breakfast (probably pancakes or waffles served with poached eggs on top, fresh fruit and glasses of milk)
- Friday: Chef Salad (It’s Date night, but we’ll probably have dinner at home before heading out to shenanigans)
- Saturday: Home made pizza
- Sunday: Leftover fiesta!
Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?
12/30/19 Weekly Meal Plan!
It’s the last meal plan for 2019! I’ve got lots of good stuff planned recipe-wise this week. I’m doing my best to use up a lot of the stuff we’ve got in the freezer and pantry.
I’ve got a bunch of bananas that are REEEEALLLY ripe, they will be turned into banana bread today.
For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.
I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.
You may notice a lot of plant-based meals- We are not vegetarian (well, the big kid is, but the rest of us aren’t), but I am trying to get more veggies into our diet. I do a lot of cooking from scratch- I find it easier to get veggies and fruit into recipes that I can have 100% control over.
I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day:
Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix). I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.
Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and Bitty. The big kid takes his lunch to school, but once in a while, I can convince him to buy his lunch.
For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked. We’ve got a bunch of stuff in the freezer, as I’ve been portioning out 2-3 adult-sized entree portions from several meals a week and freezing them for later meals.
- Monday: Pork Chili, and cornbread
- Tuesday: NYE and I’m not sure what we’re doing, but I’ll have fresh veggies, fruit, hummus, and other snackies.
- Wednesday: Chef Salad (greens, hardboiled eggs, cheese, peppers, carrots, celery, snap peas)
- Thursday: Quinoa Veggie Bowls
- Friday: Date Night (I think we’re going out)
- Saturday: Pizza & Fruit Salad
- Sunday: Breakfast for dinner (savory waffles with poached eggs)
One of the kid’s recent favorite lunches is “Plate of Snacks”. I use the sectioned plastic plates (like old school cafeteria trays), and fill each section with a snack from the corresponding food group. This tray has goldfish crackers in the protein section (the 4-year-old insisted because there was fish on the section).
Talk Back: What are you planning to cook this week?
Hewes Family Fun 