kids

4/5/2021 Weekly Meal Plan!

Abby H.

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The CSA emails us in advance to give us a heads up as to what may be in our boxes on Monday, so that’s helped me be able to meal prep and write up this post.

I usually spend time over the weekend getting the meal plan and prep started. Saturday I made banana bread (recipe here), and a big box of chicken brown rice. I portioned the cooked rice out so we can have it for lunch and dinner as a side dish a few times this week.

Sunday I made chicken stock using the rotisserie chicken carcass I had tossed in the freezer a few weeks ago, along with the veggie scraps I keep in a large bag in the freezer. It’s usually celery tops, carrots bits, onion skins, and the ends and pieces from various vegetables from my weekly veggie prep. I cooked the stock most of the day, strained off the solids, and used the stock to make a yummy chicken vegetable soup. I used this recipe, substituting the chicken stock for veggie stock.

I did a grocery trip on Saturday- Milk, eggs, cheese, and butter. We are pretty well stocked on most other stuff. I went to Costco last week and did the quarterly stock-up trip- Snacks for lunches, coffee, powdered peanut butter, trash bags, laundry soap, paper towels, and toilet tissue, and a few other things fell into my cart.

Veggies and fruit are delivered each Monday by Yasukochi Family Farms CSA. For $25, it’s a great deal. I don’t have to pick anything, go to the store, or carry it upstairs. I can’t go to the store and get the same amount we get weekly for $25. Seriously. It’s a deal.

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 try to 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.  The kids are nuts about pancakes. The Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.

Lunch: The little kiddo and I usually have something quick and filling, lately it’s been sandwiches on croissants, and strawberry yogurt.  Big kid takes his lunch to school.

Dinner: 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: Vegetable Soup, homemade apple sauce, sourdough toast/Banana Bread
  • Monday:  Poached Eggs with Hashbrowns, fruit salad, Protein shakes (Big kid doesn’t like eggs)
  • Tuesday:   Tamales, Salad, Rice
  • Wednesday:  Roasted Veggies, Baked Potatoes (with an array of toppings)
  • Thursday:  Cheesy Bacon Meatloaf, Roasted Broccoli, Noodles (or rice)
  • Friday:  Pizza/Takeout Night
  • 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?

2021-2022 School Year BOOK IT Enrollment Open!

Abby H.

80’s and 90’s kids know what’s up!

Book It is still alive and well! Enrollment is now open for the 2021-22 BOOK IT! Program year. Parents can now enroll their homeschool children!

You also have the option to enroll in Camp BOOK IT!, which will run June-August, 2021. Just check the box to opt-in when you enroll!

PreK students (age 4 by Sept. 1st, 2021) are now eligible for BOOK IT! Be sure to include those students in your enrollment!

Another awesome feature of the 2021-2022 school year is that your entire school doesn’t have to participate, teachers can sign up their individual classes!

Please share this post with the parents and teachers in your life! More info about Book It and FAQ can be found here.

3/29/2021 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.
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I usually post this First thing on Monday morning or late Sunday night, but I was waiting for our CSA box to arrive to firm up our meal plan for the week. To learn more about Yasukochi Family Farms and our first CSA box, click here. We partnered with Yasukochi Farms for a month and we enjoyed it so much that we’ve subscribed! For $25/week, we get a box of quality produce! It keeps us out of the store, I don’t have to pick the best of the overpicked offerings, and the box is all local and farm fresh!

The kids and I hit up the grocery store this morning and picked up some snacks and some pantry staples that we had gotten low on (brown sugar- I’ve been making a lot of cookies).

This week is our second week of spring break. It’s warm, so we’ve pulled out our kiddie pool, and we’re visiting the Platypus at the San Diego Safari Park on Wednesday. We’re spending a lot of time playing with the neighbor kids in our bubble. In fact, water balloons have been requested, so we may have a water balloon battle later in 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 try to 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.  The kids are nuts about pancakes. The Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.

Lunch: The little kiddo and I usually have something quick and filling (I’ve been prepping bean and rice bowls on Sundays for us to have during week) so we can get back to our adventures.  Big kid takes his lunch to school.

Dinner: 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: Soup, Roasted Veg, garlic flatbread
  • Monday: Quiche, Fruit Salad, blueberry muffins (blueberries from our CSA Box)
  • Tuesday:  Veggie Burgers, Nuggets, Potato Faces (these things), Salad/fruit
  • Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner: Pancakes, Fruit
  • Thursday : Pollo Asada Taco Salad with Beans and Rice
  • Friday:  Pizza/Takeout Night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Fiesta

Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?

Tryazon: Add Some Adventure to Your Game Night with Boxitale!

Abby H.

This arrived in my inbox overnight- This looks like a perfect opportunity for families with game-playing kiddos. We’ve had several Tryazon parties- They offer all kinds of opportunities from yummy foods to fun games and toys.

It’s time for another great game night with this Tryazon Featured Party opportunity, from Akibabus! Boxitale craft-games come with a full bag of craft supplies, an interactive app as well as a buildable game arena to develop creativity, problem solving skills and STEM skills! The games can be re-played and are ideal for kids aged 6 and up.

Tryazon has 50 hosting spots open for this opportunity! Those selected get to receive a party pack with one Boxitale game as well as Witches Annual Race to share with friends and family! Learn more and apply here: https://www.tryazon.com/boxitale-adventure-game-night/

To learn more about the opportunity and to apply, click on the button below
HOST A BOXITALE GAME NIGHT

Q-insights Parent/Child Cereal Survey Pays $125

Abby H.
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Q-insights is another company that I do research groups, focus groups, and online surveys to earn extra money.

They have a lot of stuff in South Orange County, and less often San Diego County. These days they are doing most of their studies online via chat or online surveys.

Right now Q-Insights is currently recruiting for an online study on the topic of Breakfast Cereal.

Q-Insights is looking for males and females ages 30-49 nationwide that have a 6-12 year old child to participate in a 75-90 minute online focus group regarding breakfast cereal.

The survey pays $125 for participating. Your child would need to be present for about 45-60 minutes of the online focus group.

If you are interested, please fill out the Google Form here and one of their recruiters will call you.

Family Recipe: Fruit Salad

Abby H.1 Comment

The other day I was chatting online with a group of friends and I mentioned making fruit salad. One of my younger friends asked, “Can you send me the recipe for that?”

I’ve never really thought about writing a recipe for fruit salad, since I’ve been making it since I was a kid. It was always a staple at family dinners with my maternal grandparents. My Grandma was known to make a literal punchbowl of fruit salad for parties.

This recipe does not make a punchbowl full.  The nice thing about fruit salad is that you can put any kind of fruit into it, and if you don’t eat it all in one meal, it keeps in the fridge for a few days.

I change it up based on what comes in our CSA box each week, and based on which fruits are in season.

Grammie’s Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

  • 2 Apples (any kind but red delicious, those are awful)
  • 2 oranges
  • 2 bananas (not overly ripe or they fall to mush)
  • 3 cups berries, your choice (I recommend 2/1 ratio, sliced strawberries and blueberries)
  • 1 ripe pineapple, cored and skinned. You can also use a can of pineapple tidbits in juice (juice drained off and fed to a kid) if fresh pineapple isn’t available.

Optional, but tasty when in season:

  • 1 cup fresh peaches, skin removed
  • 2 kiwis sliced, skin removed
  • 1 mango, peeled and removed from the pit/core

Note: I don’t like melon in my fruit salad. If you do, add 1-2 cups of your favorite melon (Cantaloupe or Honey Dew hold up well in a fruit salad).

Directions:

  1. Clean, Chop/slice all of your fruit (not needed for blueberries). I try to make each kind of fruit bite-sized, but a different shape. That way it makes for a nice presentation.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the fruit. If you omit the oranges, add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and toss the fruit to coat. This keeps the apples from browning.
  3. Serve fruit salad cold as a side dish for any meal. If you like it spicy, serve it with Tajin on the side.
  4. Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days in a covered container.

Talk Back: What are your favorite fruits to include in Fruit Salad? 

Santee School District Spring Break Meal Distribution

Abby H.

Like many other school districts, Santee School district will be handing out free lunches and breakfasts over the spring break.

On March 22, 2021 and March 29, 2021 at the district kitchen (9880 Riverwalk Drive, Santee, CA 92071) from 11:30-12:30, food for each week will be distributed. Please remember to mask up! The menu is listed below.

If you live outside Santee and know about other school districts distributing lunches/meals, please leave information or a link in the comments! Sharing is caring!

Free Food Resources for March 2021 (San Diego County)

Abby H.

I’m sorry this is a little late coming for March. Fear not, you haven’t missed out! There are still many free Neighborhood Distributions for this month!

You can still find resources here for Central and East County, and Here for North County.

Neighborhood Distributions for March 2021:

These Distributions are primarily produce/fruits & veg, however, some locations may also distribute canned goods, dairy, and bread.

Super Pantry Locations can be found here (this listing is countywide).

If you have a child attending public school in San Diego County, check to see if your school distributes free lunches daily.

In Eastern San Diego County, Grossmont Union High School District schools are distributing lunches to kids ages 2-18, Monday through Friday at various times  (Check your closest school to find out exact times and locations within each school). They also do Pizza Fridays, where each kid receives a pizza, drink, salad, plus food to be eaten over the weekend. It is definitely more than enough food to keep kids fed over the weekend.

Forgive the blurriness of this picture, but Grossmont Union High School District will be giving out two family meals over their Spring Break. Monday, March 15, 2021 and Monday March 22, 2021. The offers vary by week, but it’s a great chance to pick up some extra food to feed the kiddos. Yes, I know it says March 2020, but it is for this year.

If you know of other resources, please leave a comment! And feel free to share this post with anyone you may know in need.

Looking for Fun, Free TV for Kids 2-11? Kartoon Channel is Here!

Abby H.

Kartoon Channel! is filled with wall-to-wall with Fun, Family-Friendly, and Free shows for kids from ages 2-11. Available for download wherever you get your apps.

  • Kartoon Channel! shows will keep kids entertained.
  • Kartoon Channel! shows are safe for everyone to watch.
  • Kartoon Channel! has great shows for kids 0-11. Some favorites are Super Simple Songs, Rainbow Rangers, Llama Llama, Hatchimals, The Wubbulous World of Doctor Seuss.
  • Kartoon Channel is great for family co-viewing.
  • Viewers can download the app, absolutely free, on their smart TV, mobile device, or tablet.

I downloaded the Kartoon Channel! app this morning, I know the kids are eager to find something new to watch.

 

 

3/8/2021 Weekly Meal Plan!

Abby H.

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Our second CSA Box is being delivered today! To learn more about Yasukochi Family Farms and our first box, click here. A lot of our meals this week are going to be veggie-heavy. We eat a lot of produce anyway, but now we’re eating more local produce!

I hit up the grocery store over the weekend for some much-needed bread, milk, and butter. I’m waiting for the grocery ads to come out for this week to see if I can find some deals on chicken or beef. I really would like to make a meatloaf to have for lunch this week (and meatloaf sandwiches for another lunch).

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 try to 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.  The kids are nuts about pancakes. The Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.

Lunch: The little kiddo and I usually have something quick and filling (I’ve been prepping bean and rice bowls on Sundays for us to have during week) so we can get back to our adventures.  Big kid takes his lunch to school.

Dinner: 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: Badas Burgers (it’s an amazing food truck that’s taken up residence across the street from our house- so dangerous!)
  • Monday: Salad, Nuggets, fries
  • Tuesday:  Entrees & Fruit Salad
  • Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner: Pancakes, Eggs (scrambled with veggies and cheese), fruit
  • Thursday: Skillet casserole, roasted veggies
  • Friday:  Pizza Night!
  • 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?