dinner – Page 7 – Hewes Family Fun

8/16/2020 Weekly Meal Plan

August 16, 2020Abby H.

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 2 months, and I’ve gotten really good at hiding the extra snacks.

I took the kids with me to the grocery store today, and while we picked up a few extra things, overall we were good and stayed within our budget. I did forget to buy cat litter, though, so I’ll be off to Target tomorrow morning.

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 (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.

Lunches will be whatever the kids want for the time being (Peanut butter sandwiches and baguettes toasted with garlic butter are high on the list as of late). I may make up a cheese pizza and serve that for a few lunches during the week with apple slices (or apple sauce), cheez-its, and milk (as well as some sort of dessert- I made these cookies over the weekend, and they make a good lunch dessert)

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 starts for us on Wednesday. We are distance learning for the foreseeable future, and while I never imagined I’d be teaching Kindergarten and Special Ed 4th grade at the same time, here we are. The kids are still excited about going back to school, seeing friends via their class Zoom meetings. I am going to try and organize a socially distanced Pokemon hunt with Pokemon Go for some of our classmates and friends who play.

Sunday: Leftovers
Monday Stuffed Peppers, garlic bread, fruit
Tuesday: Salad and Sandwiches
Wednesday: Stir Fry veggies and chicken
Thursday: Pizza Night (pizza and salad or fruit)
Friday: Salad and Soup
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?

New Recipe: Baked Tortellini

July 28, 2020July 27, 2020Abby H.

00169 (1).jpg This recipe is dead simple. Make it as complicated as you want. Use jarred sauce, make your own from scratch, or take a jar of sauce and church it up yourself. Whatever.

Frozen pasta, fresh pasta, heck, you can even use the shell stable/dried tortellini. You could use ravioli if you wanted.

You can make this Vegetarian, Vegan, Chock Full o’ Meat, Gluten-Free, it’s up to you.

This is one of those recipes that’s a big hit at potlucks too. It’s pretty inexpensive, and we always have the ingredients in one form or another to make a batch.

Baked Tortellini

Ingredients:

6-8 cups of Red Pasta Sauce. I usually make a big batch of this sauce and portion some out just for this recipe. If you use jarred sauce, I recommend you add 3-4 cups of veggies (carrots, onions, celery, bell peppers, zucchini, chopped/diced tomatoes, etc.)
22-30 ounces of Tortellini/Ravioli, cooked per the package directions (this will probably take a couple packages)
2 Cups Italian Cheese blend

Directions:

Cook the pasta per the package directions. Drain.
Pour pasta sauce into a baking dish (I use a 9×13), toss cooked pasta in sauce.
Sprinkle cheese on top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-ish minutes until food is bubbly, and cheese is brown and delicious looking.
Serve with hot French Bread or Garlic Bread and a green salad.

This serves 8-10 people as a main.

If you are vegan, substitute in filled pasta and cheese that works for you.

7/20/2020 Weekly Meal Plan!

July 20, 2020Abby H.

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 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.

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?

7/13/2020 is National French Fry Day!

July 12, 2020July 12, 2020Abby H.

There is a day for everything, I swear! July 13, 2020 is National French Fry Day! And I know you will all want to celebrate.

If you are trying to maintain social distancing, and don’t own your own air fryer (I like this one), check out one of these two delivery services:

When you order through DoorDash, your first order has a $0 Delivery fee!

From your neighborhood sushi spot to the burger and fries you crave, choose from over 300,000 local and national favorites across the U.S. and Canada.

Grubhub has a sweet deal too: Free delivery on an order of $15+ for new customers with code AFFFREEDEL at Grubhub.com.

And if you eat fries, you probably like ketchup too! Heinz is sponsoring a contest to go along with National French Fry Day!

One grand prize winner will receive: $1869 for 57 future takeout orders. 50 Ketchup Artists will win: $57 for a takeout meal (or two) on Heinz.

To enter, simply have to post a picture of your meal along with the hashtags #TheGreatAmericanTakeout and #Sweepstakes, and tag @thegreatamericantakeout on Instagram or @TheGATakeout on Twitter.

Pretty sweet, right?

Talk Back: What is your favorite food to top with Ketchup?

6/22/2020 Weekly Meal Plan

June 22, 2020Abby H.

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 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.

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?

Always Eat After 7 PM: Goal Setting and Updates!

June 12, 2020June 11, 2020Abby H.1 Comment

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed below are my own. hi-res Cheesy Ground Beef skillet - vertical

This is the Cheesy Ground Beef Skillet from Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion.

Most people assume foods like red meat and white rice can’t be fat loss friendly, but the latest research confirms the combination of protein and carbs (especially at dinnertime) actually helps regulate cortisol (known as the “belly fat hormone”), induces deeper sleep, and even helps stabilize morning blood sugar.

Ours wasn’t as photogenic, so I borrowed the pic from the book. It was simple, filling, and there was enough for lunch the next day! at 30 grams of protein per serving- I was pretty satisfied all night long, and well into the next morning.

And a quote from the book really resonated with me about the lack of hunger I was used to feeling within 20 minutes of rising each morning. “Those who ate breakfast ended up eating about 260 calories more a day, the review found. Those who skipped breakfast were about one pound lighter than those who ate breakfast. These findings led the researchers to conclude that eating breakfast isn’t necessarily a good strategy for losing weight. The science isn’t really there. Breakfast could very well be the least important meal of the day.”

My main reason for joining the Always Eat After 7pm journey is that we just aren’t able to exercise as much as we were pre-lockdown, and I want to keep up with my healthy lifestyle. And wow! Have we ever! You can see my first post here, and the second post here.

The food lists are great! They really help with shopping and meal planning. It is real food and real ingredients. And the recipes are easy to follow. You don’t need to be a chef or foodie to follow them. Oh, and they are kiddo friendly. There are so many ideas for snacks too- So you are never left feeling hungry (or in my case… hangry).

The other thing that has really been working well is the Lemon Water 3-Minute Fat-Burning Morning Rituals. “One of the simplest 3-Minute Fat-Burning Morning Rituals, lemon water is a glass of water mixed with the juice of one half of a lemon. This drink provides all the benefits of regular drinking water, which supports weight loss, digestive health, physical performance, and cognitive function.”

We bought some large plastic tumblers recently to help all of us (including the kids) to drink more water. I do my lemon water in the morning while I make coffee and make the kids breakfast. At the same time, I pour ice water for the kids and top with a lemon slice. They feel fancy that they get to drink “spa water” like mommy. Water is a great way to start the day!

“Water helps digest your food, expel wastes, regulate your temperature, protect your tissues, cushion your joints, and protect your spinal column, among many other vital functions. It is through water that hormones flow to the proper organs, that nutrients reach all cells, and that toxins are diluted and removed from the body.”

Learn more about Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight and how to purchase it here.

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed are my own. To learn more about how and why I partner with brands, check out my disclosure page here.

Recipe: Refreshing Cranberry Kale Salad

June 11, 2020June 11, 2020Abby H.

kalecut I know, KALE. It’s weird and has that super crunchy stem. It’s really good for you, but it gets a bad rap.

This salad recipe is dead simple and is so good that you will fight over the leftovers (if there are any).

I like making this in the morning and letting it sit in the fridge all day. That gives the ACV in the dressing time to mellow out and all the flavors to mingle.

I like starting with a bag of triple-washed chopped kale, since it’s usually the same price as whole kale, and it saves me time, but you do what works best for your family and budget.

Ingredients:

1 package triple-washed chopped kale, or 6 cups of kale, washed and chopped into bite sized pieces.
1/4 cup Apple Cide Vinegar, with the mother (I like Bragg’s)
1/4 cup of your favorite oil, we prefer avocado oil (like this one)
1 t. honey or agave
dash kosher salt
a few grinds of black pepper
1 T. fresh, chopped rosemary, or 2 t. dried rosemary (whichever you have)
1/2 c. crumbled herbed feta or goat cheese (your choice)
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped almonds (you could substitute sliced almonds or almond slivers if you prefer)

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix oil, vinegar, honey, rosemary, salt and pepper. set aside.
In a large salad/mixing bowl, add kale, cheese, almonds, and cranberries. Dizzle over oil/vinegar dressing and toss gently.
Store in Fridge 4-6 hours minimum before serving.
This is great as a side dish, or top with a grilled chicken breast or steak for a great main dish.

Serves 6-8 as a side or 3-4 as a main dish.

If you are vegan, substitute honey for agave and use vegan cheese crumbles of your choice.

Why I Chose Always Eat After 7 PM

May 31, 2020May 31, 2020Abby H.1 Comment

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed below are my own.

Over the past few days I’ve read Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion cover to cover twice, making notes, and checking our current groceries.

I posted about Always Eat After 7PM last week here.

I decided to give Always Eat After 7pm a shot because we needed something new that helped keep us full, and in my case, help with sleep. I’m not sure if you gentle readers know, but when you have kids, sometimes sleep is elusive. I also like how nothing is off the table. Moderation and balance are key! “Cheat” days or meals are built into the program. Joel Marion’s Always Eat After 7PM program makes dieting easy and eliminates 90% of the reasons for resistance.

Joel head shot The author, Joel Marion took his time to research and develop the theories and practices behind this program. In an interview he states, “It actually took several years of researching for me to discover the real science of eating late night. After a few years of tweaking and refining, I finally came up with a rapid fat loss solution that overcomes all the pitfalls of traditional diets.”

Another quote from that interview really spoke to me. Most diets or eating programs are hard to follow, When asked if the Always Eat After 7pm program is hard to follow, Joel Marion said, “It’s not. And that’s exactly why I wrote the book. While any diet is never truly easy, it can be more enjoyable and much easier to adhere to when you understand how Always Eat After 7pm works because it caters to our bodies natural instincts.” And, ladies and gents, is what hooked me.

“A research paper published in Sports Medicine in 2014 showed that people who eat the majority of their carbs at dinner actually sleep better. Carb-induced, quality sleep decreases cortisol (a fat-storing hormone) and ramps up the production of your sleep hormones, serotonin and melatonin. Restorative sleep increases fat-burning hormones—the main one being growth hormone—overnight.”

We’re spending a portion of today meal planning and doing food prep, so our first full week in the Always Eat after 7PM program can be successful! You’ll probably see some new recipes and foods on the weekly Meal Plan post that will be coming up today (or early tomorrow morning, depending on how today goes).

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed are my own. To learn more about how and why I partner with brands, check out my disclosure page here.

Always Eat After 7PM Book Challenge: It Starts Now!

May 26, 2020May 31, 2020Abby H.2 Comments

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed below are my own.
Recently I was offered the chance to check out Joel Marion’s new book: Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight. Since we aren’t able to hit the gym and we still want to stay on our journey to health, I decided to read the book and give this program a try.

We are still going out for walks several times a week, but I am not able to get the same level of exercise as I was pre-quarantine. And this is in no way a complaint- just a fact of life.

After reading the first few chapters of the book and browsing the recipes, I was hooked. So many parts of this program resonated with me. Here are a few excerpts that got me excited:

“So, despite all the bad press over the years, certain carbohydrates play an important role in balancing your hormones and regulating your metabolic rate, while avoiding the dreaded weight loss plateaus that accompany conventional mainstream diets. Furthermore, when you eat these carbohydrates, you’ll feel much better than you would if you were following a traditional diet.”

“In general, healthy fats can also help increase feelings of fullness and satisfaction because they regulate appetite through a number of mechanisms, including the release of appetite hormones. What’s more, combining fat with fiber has been shown to further increase the satiating potential of fat. The satiating power of fats is often one explanation offered to describe why some weight loss trials have shown that low-carbohydrate (and higher-fat) diets tend to lead to greater weight loss than low-fat diets.”

We’ve been traditionally taught to avoid carbs, have an early dinner, and never eat before bed. But the fact is, the latest scientific research shows us this earlier model is not the most ideal. I’m excited to try out this program! Joel Marion is a fitness expert and nutritionist debunking the myths underlying traditional dieting and offers a simple, highly effective weight loss program. This program is easy and eliminates 90% of reasons for resistance.

One thing that has stopped us in the past is snacking. With kids and a busy life, we don’t always have the time or ability to sit down and eat mini-meals or spend hours cooking recipes with strange ingredients. Always Eat After 7PM offers some really great snacking and meal options! All the recipes that I’ve looked at so far actually look tasty and are family-friendly.

If this sounds like something that interests you, I encourage you to follow my blog- I’ll be posting weekly updates with my progress and more tips and tricks from Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion. Learn more about the book and how to purchase here.

This post is brought to you by our sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. The opinions expressed are my own. To learn more about how and why I partner with brands, check out my disclosure page here.

5/25/2020 Weekly Meal Plan

May 25, 2020May 25, 2020Abby H.

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. This is only kinda working- I need to do a better job of hiding the snacks that are meant for the future.

The big kid and I went to the store on Saturday- all masked up and ready to hunt for bargains. We went over budget by about $20, but we stocked up on some extra stuff like a big bag of frozen mango chunks, more eggs (we’ve been eating a lot more eggs recently as the price of meat keeps going up), and cheese.

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.

We’re wrapping up distance learning in the next two weeks. That means I’ll be looking for more fun stuff for us to do. Our local parks are opening up to walking and I think we’ll be getting outside more as we are able.

Sunday: Leftovers
Monday Cheese enchiladas, Right Rice, and Beans
Tuesday:Veggie Stir Fry with Lo Mein
Wednesday:BBQ chicken and veggie bowls (with rice)
Thursday: Pizza Night!
Friday:Cheesy Chicken Broccoli casserole, kale salad. 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.
Saturday: Breakfast for dinner (possibly breakfast burritos)

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?

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