family time

12/16/19 Weekly Meal Plan!

Abby H.

stemarie_1650skitchen

I spent Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday feeling sick, so the last few days of our meal plan went out the window. Saturday I dragged myself into the kitchen and made chicken vegetable soup in the hopes it would make me feel better.

This week we’ll be eating a lot of soup- We’ve got 3 different kinds in the freezer, and it’s been getting cold here at night. I’m also going to try a few new recipes, if they work, i’ll post them on the blog later this 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.

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: Leftover Chicken and veggie soup with hot croissants
  • Tuesday: Baked Potatoes with assorted toppings (we’ve got leftover BBQ pork, broccoli with cheese, bacon bits, cheese, caramelized onions).
  • Wednesday:  Soup & Grilled cheese sandwiches- and a big green salad!
  • Thursday:   Smoothies and bagels (or toast)- This is pretty popular at our house.
  • Friday:  Pecan crusted salmon, roasted veggies (carrots, potatoes, onions, celery), brown rice (we didn’t make it last week)
  • Saturday:  Pizza time (also salad will be served)
  • Sunday:  Leftover fiesta!

Talk Back: What are you planning to cook this week?

12/9/19 Weekly Meal Plan!

Abby H.1 Comment

stemarie_1650skitchen

Holiday decorations are up, and we are in full holiday mode! That means lots of fun stuff: looking at neighborhood light displays, making holiday crafts, and of course, holiday foods!

I did a small trip to the grocery store yesterday- we’ve got produce co-op this week, so I’m waiting until Wednesday to see if we need anything else. We’ve got meat and proteins in the freezer, and I’ll be pairing them with the veggies and grains we have on hand. 

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: Butter chicken with rice, steamed veggies (we didn’t make it last week)
  • Tuesday: Pecan crusted salmon, roasted veggies (carrots, potatoes, onions, celery), brown rice
  • Wednesday:  Soup & Grilled cheese sandwiches
  • Thursday:   Kung Pao stir fry with chicken and veggies, served with rice.
  • Friday:   Breakfast for dinner: Smoothies, avocado toast with Everything but the bagel seasoning(bacon will be available as well).
  • Saturday:  Pizza time (also salad will be served)
  • Sunday:  Leftover fiesta!

I had someone ask me how we always have enough of anything for leftovers. I always cook enough of the main dish for 6-8 servings, that way we have leftovers for lunches later in the week or leftover night. And really when you make stuff like soup, it’s hard to make a batch of soup that only feeds 4 people.

Talk Back: What are you planning to cook this week?

Frugal, Tasty Meals with Dinnerly!

Abby H.

To facilitate this review, the awesome folks at Dinnerly provided our family with 3 meals (4-6 servings each). I received no financial compensation to write this review- All opinions are my own.

I’ve reviewed dinner/meal kits before, and my complaint is always that they are so expensive, upwards of $10 per person, per meal. At that point, I better be going out to dinner, and I am not washing dishes! Secondly, the meals are usually not child-friendly, especially if you have a kid on the spectrum (like we do), who also happens to be a vegetarian.

Enter Dinnerly! At $4.49 per adult-sized serving, Dinnerly is so much less expensive than other meal kits. But how? digital recipe cards instead of paper, fewer ingredients per dish (which means less chopping and cleaning), simple packaging, and no fancy marketing campaigns.

The big kid and I looked at the website and he chose two meat-free recipes, and I chose one with meat.

  • Mediterranean Meatball Stew with Carrots & Couscous
  • Coconut Curry Ramen with Snow Peas & Jammy Eggs
  • Baked Squash & Kale Risotto with Parmesan

recipeWhat I really like is that the recipe tells you what is in the kit for your recipe, and what you will need from your own kitchen (and trust me, it’s nothing special or fancy).

The directions are great for those who don’t have a lot of cooking experience. My 8-year-old was able to read the steps and follow them. He helped me cook the Risotto, and he measured, stirred, poured, and ripped up the kale into bite-sized pieces.

The 4-6 adult-sized servings are pretty generous, by the way. With every meal, there were closer to 7 servings. I always serve side dishes with the main dish. Most nights we had salad or some kind of veggie side dish. When we had ramen, I picked up a bag of pork potstickers from 99 Cents Only for the grown-ups, and also made a miso dressing coleslaw. If you want to stretch meals further, I suggest adding sides, or maybe sneaking in some extra veggies (I added 1 cup of peeled, diced crook-neck squash to the Mediterranean Meatball Stew).

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Tamari Sauce for Ramen

Some of the recipes needed a little “kick”- especially the ramen- so we added ginger, red chili flakes, and a bay leaf to the broth. BUT, since everyone has different levels of spice tolerance, Dinnerly Kits are a great place to start if you want to explore different flavors and cultures without having the buy a bunch of new and/or different spices. For example, the ramen kit comes with two of these cute little packages of Tamari sauce. I did clean one of them out when I was done and now it’s in the kid’s toy kitchen.

Everything is pre-measured and ready to go, even the spices. This is another reason I love Dinnerly- It cuts down on food waste.

75557570_10157525826901061_3062456495460319232_n75443029_10157525826876061_5954310997228388352_nThe veggies are all super fresh and ready to be cut up! The risotto came with two little cubes of parmesan cheese, that my 8-year-old grated and sprinkled like a pro!

I made the Mediterranean Meatball Stew with Carrots & Couscous and took it to a friend for a night in. It was cheaper, healthier, and tastier than stopping to grab takeout. It was so tasty and filling.

If you want to check out Dinnerly, they have been nice enough to create a promo code just for my readers! The code to use at check out is hewesfamily15, and it’s active through the first week of December and only valid for first-time users. The coupon code is worth 15% off! To get started, visit Dinnerly here.

I think Dinnerly would also make a great gift for a family that just has a baby,  or someone who might need a little love.

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Butternut Squash & Kale Risotto
75429695_10157525826651061_6446603043503865856_n
Coconut Curry Ramen
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Meatball Stew and Cous Cous

11/4/19 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

stemarie_1650skitchen

The littlest kiddo and I went grocery shopping on Friday, and man did we stock up! I went over budget by about $10 again this week, but we picked up some pantry staples that we had run out of. They will last at least a month, so I’m not too concerned.

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 heavy cream 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. I did a little meal prep over the weekend, chopped and bagged veggies soups and chili, and made cookies for the kids.

  • Monday: Breakfast for dinner: Egg scramble with bacon, cheese, and veggies, hot cocoa
  • Tuesday: Leftover chicken tetrazzini, I made a huge batch last week.
  • Wednesday: Vegetable ravioli soup (recipe this week)
  • Thursday:  Taco-dillas (Quesadillas made with taco fixings), beans & rice
  • Friday: Vegetarian chili (I made a double batch last week and frozen part of it).
  • Saturday: I’ve got two events on Saturday, so I’m going to grab pizzas on the way home.
  • Sunday:   Leftover-palooza.

 

Talk Back: What are you planning to cook this week?

10/28/19 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

stemarie_1650skitchen

The littlest kiddo and I went grocery shopping on Friday, and man did we stock up! I went over budget by about $10, but I was able to pick up a lot of stuff that will last us a few weeks, and stuff for both kiddos school/preschool Halloween parties. This week I’m re-organizing the freezer.

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 heavy cream 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. I did a little meal prep over the weekend, chopped and bagged veggies soups and chili, and made cookies for the kids.

  • Monday: Breakfast for dinner: Breakfast sandwiches on bagels, strawberries, hot cocoa
  • Tuesday: Crockpot chili (vegetarian), protein biscuits made with Kodiak Baking mix recipes forthcoming!!
  • Wednesday: Grilled Cheese sandwiches, soup, goldfish crackers, strawberries
  • Thursday:  Halloween- Pizza night!
  • Friday: Skillet casserole, probably chicken tetrazzini
  • Saturday: Quesadillas, Mexican Caesar Salad
  • Sunday:   Leftover night

 

Talk Back: What are you planning to cook this week?

October is Kids Go Free Month!

Abby H.

Screen Shot 2019-09-27 at 1.23.12 PM.pngThis is the 3rd year I’ve written about this awesome month-long deal, and 2019 is the best year yet!

This year, there is a Kick off Kids Free with Museum Mash-Up on 9/29!

Celebrate the launch of Kids Free in October at the Museum Mash-Up event at The New Children’s Museum Park on Sunday, Sept. 29 from 10 AM – 1 PM. This free public event offers fun activities and displays from 12 museums, live performances by the San Diego Ballet and an animal encounter courtesy of The Living Coast Discovery Center.  In conjunction with Museum Mash-Up, The New Children’s Museum will be accepting Kids Free in October coupons from 11 AM – 4 PM on Sept. 29.

For those of us with curious kids, this is perfect! Kids can get into over 40 museums in the San Diego area free with paying adults (all the info can be found here).

Some of the participating organizations include:

Birch Aquarium at Scripps
Fleet Science Center (Galleries only)
Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum
Heritage of the Americas Museum
Japanese Friendship Garden
Living Coast Discovery Center
Maritime Museum of San Diego
Marston House Museum & Gardens
Mingei International Museum
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
Museum of Making Music
Museum of Photographic Arts
San Diego Air & Space Museum
San Diego Automotive Museum
San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum
San Diego Chinese Historical Museum
San Diego History Center
San Diego Model Railroad Museum
San Diego Natural History Museum (The Nat)
Tijuana Estuary Visitor Center
Timken Museum of Art (it’s always free for everyone FYI)
Women’s Museum of California

A full list can be found here. Oh, and as part of free October, Kids can get into the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park free when accompanied by a paying adult!  Other Kids go free attractions include: Legoland, Sea World, and the USS Midway!!

More info can be found here, and other fun, free stuff for kids can be found here and here.

And I’m hoping to have more info on some free events for Halloween over the next few weeks.

Brick Or Treat Party nights are Back at Legoland California!

Abby H.

bot-t3-vampire-show

I’m stoked! Brick or Treat is back at Legoland! This will be our 3rd year going, and the kids can’t wait!

Join Legoland California every Saturday night (Sept. 28, Oct. 5, 12, 19, and 26) at 5 p.m. The family theme Park transforms into the ultimate family Halloween party with tasty goodies, monster jams and spooktacular entertainment! With treat stations located throughout the Park and inside SEA LIFE® Aquarium, there is sure to be something to satisfy every sweet tooth. Along with tons of candy, guests can collect specialty items such as LEGO® Commemorative brick, LEGO® Life Magazine and healthy treat options!

The popular Brick-or-Treat festivities are back with a new out of this world Pop Badge Challenge! Families can collect an exclusive Brick-or-Treat pop badge by snapping a selfie with an intergalactic dancer at Club Astro Bash! After dancing their way at Planet Boogie, they can collect one pop badge per weekend, with an exclusive, new Pop Badge design offered each Brick-or-Treat Party Night!

The ultimate family Halloween party is filled with frighteningly- fun entertainment as the Boo Crew returns with a new creepy crawly stilt walker, The Spider Queen! Guests can get in the Halloween spirit by jumping in and boogieing down at the seasons most frighteningly-fun dance parties which includes Midnight Monster Jam where guests help the Monster Crew bring their spooky fun character concert to life! Wacky Professor Frankenbrick returns to Brick-or-Treat with one goal: to be the best mad scientist in the world! Kids can partake in the interactive Frankenbrick’s Lab show by using their imagination to bring his LEGO® Monsters to life. Kids can celebrate the season by singing along and moving their feet to the beat with The Witchettes in the Courtyard Theatre or by joining in the interactive play, Mail Order Monsters. Guests also have a chance to win some scream worthy prizes by showing off their coolest costumes in the Brick-Or-Treat Costume Contest presented by Disguise Costumes! With three categories: Group, Heroes & Villains and LEGO Themed, as well as a Costume Parade for all kids to join in, there is a chance for everyone to strut their stuff during the Halloween celebration!

Brick-or-Treat Party Nights is a special event and admission can be purchased for as low as $64 if purchased online in advance. Special event ticket holders can enjoy costume contests, decorations, character meet and greets, trick-or-treating, live music and tons of frightfully festive entertainment. Guests can follow the fun by using #BRICKORTREAT2019 on social media.

We’re going on October 5th, make sure to keep your eyes peeled on our Instagram Feed for photos of all of the cool treats, spooky costumes, and of course, Granny’s Apple Fries!

9/6/19- Weekly Freebies and Deals!

Abby H.

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Woo Hoo! Friday means Freebies and deals!

In the Mail:

In Stores/Events:

 

Magazines:

8/30/19- Weekly Freebies and Deals!

Abby H.

file000845666076

This week there are some good ones!

Samples

 

Events/In-Store

Magazines

Deals

 

8/24/19- Weekly Freebies!

Abby H.

file000845666076

We were busy with doctor’s appointments, so we didn’t get the awesome stash of freebies and deals up yesterday, so here ya go!!

Free Events

Free Samples

Free Magazines

Online Deals