Menu Planning - Sept. 12-18

Last week's meal planning was a success (not that I blogged about it) so we're going to try it again!

Sunday - Jerk Chicken, Red Beans & Rice, Grilled Pineapple

Monday -roasted chicken & potatoes, green beans

Tuesday - spicy garlic shrimp over linguini w/ salad

Wednesday - chicken tortilla soup (w/ leftover chicken from Monday)

Thursday - Hamburgers, sweet potato fries, roasted broccoli

Friday - spinach enchiladas, black beans

Saturday - eat out!

Back To School

Well it's only the 3rd day of school and I'm already tired of packing lunches.  I did pack lunches all summer long for camp but since they were home for the last 2 weeks I've had a little break.  And at least with summer camp, they had a place to keep their lunches cold and could also heat things up.  Having to pack a cold lunch everyday is a little harder.  Of course freezer packs help a lot!  (I haven't brought out the thermoses yet, but I suppose I could!)

Here's what I've packed for lunches so far.  (I hope by posting this, I can look back on it later when I'm stumped on what to pack!)  Everyday they both get some milk and a bottle of water. 

B's lunch:  (he's the picky one so there's not much variety!)
Peanutbutter sandwich
Pop Chips
Apple slices, apple sauce or Mandarin Oranges
Mozzarella Cheese Stick

C's Lunch:
PB&J
Pop Chips
Greek Yogurt w/ fresh strawberries

Leftover chicken fajita wraps  (NOT a big hit!)
applesauce
Pop Chips

Crackers
Mini kababs w/ Cheese and Salami
Cauliflower w/ ranch dressing
Apple slices

Tomorrow is pizza day in the cafeteria so I get the day off and they'll get to buy lunch!

Catch up time! Not to be confused with ketchup time!

OK, I kind of forgot I had started a blog!  But we were on vacation and I wasn't anywhere near a computer.  (That's good, right?)

Well, for the most part we've continued with our health eating.  We had some sweet and spicy pork kababs using cubed pork tenderloin in an easy marinade (a little teriyaki sauce, some rice wine vinegar, touch of brown sugar and some crushed red peppers).  I made one batch for the kids with less heat than for my own.  Everyone really liked them so I'll definitely make them again.

Then to gear up for back to school I wanted a quick and easy breakfast alternative to the typical bowl of ceral, frozen waffles, etc.  So I made a "Green Eggs & Ham Fritatta"  (ham, spinach, mushrooms & onions).  I know the eggs weren't really green but the spinach was.  So far that has been a good decision!  My daughter and I have had some for the past 2 mornings.  Too bad my son won't go near it.  He's been having dry cheerios and fresh fruit.  Here's the fritatta! 

If you've never made a fritatta, they are so easy!  Saute up any ingredients you want, beat 8 eggs (I used 6 whole eggs plus 2 egg whites) and pour the mixture over the veggies / filling.  Let that heat on a low setting (covered without stirring) for 5-7 minutes.  Add some shredded cheese (I use different kinds based on what filling I'm using) and put under the broiler for about 3 minutes.  SO good and easy and TASTY!

I think I'll make another one next week.  We'll see what sort of ingredients we can come up with!

We've also enjoyed some more lobster, fish tacos, chicken fajitas and thai lettuce wraps during the past week.  I just don't have any photos!  We ate everything up too fast! 

The Weekend of Zucchini

It's late August and I just haven't had enough zucchini lately!  I decided to look for some new zucchini recipes to try out over the weekend:  Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, Zucchini Fritters, and Stuffed Zucchini. 

On Saturday afternoon, the kids helped me make the muffins and B (age 5) LOVED the muffin tops but didn't like the bottoms.  C (age 9) took the teeniest of tiny bites and said they were nasty.  This surprised me since C loves sauteed summer squash and zucchini tossed with rigatoni and a little olive oil.  I couldn't believe she wouldn't want to try the zucchini with chocolate!  What is wrong with her!?  And B never tries anything new!  Ever!  I was tempted to hide the zucchini so it wouldn't scare him away, but he was so excited not only to help but to gobble them up as well!  That made me so proud!  There might be hope for him afterall!

Sunday morning, I made the zucchini fritters on my own and they were just about the tastiest thing I've put in my mouth in a LOOOOONG time!  I used bread crumbs with parmesan cheese instead of flour and they were just amazing!  They were a tad salty even for me.  (I have low sodium due to Addison's Disease so I often crave salt.)  I forgot that I salted the zucchini to help get the water out of them, then I salted them again once they were done.  And of course parmesan cheese has plenty of salt too.  Yikes! They were still superb but next time I'll scale back on the salt.  I tried to bribe C into trying one but she would only take a tiny bite and said it was "OK".  I just know she would love these if she'd really try them!  But they ARE fried so I don't need to be making them very often anyway.  I'll keep them as a guilty pleasure for ME!  They were really quick and super easy!  And did I say they were AWESOME?!?!?  Mmmmm!  (I thought I took a pic of my fritters but I must have eaten them up too fast!)

By Sunday night, I was really getting bummed that no one else was enjoying my zucchini weekend nearly as much as I was so I decided against the stuffed zucchini recipe.  We had a roasted chicken with green beans and new potatoes instead.  I still have 4 zucchinis to use up.  It's cold and rainy today so maybe I'll try this Spicy Zucchini Soup.  That would be great for my lunches this week or I could freeze some for later.

If you click on my links, you'll see that I've found a couple of GREAT blogs with GREAT recipes and ideas.  Check them out!  I'm sure you'll enjoy them too!  http://simplyrecipes.com/  and http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/

Eating healthy, but need a snack!

I packed my greek salad and some tuna for lunch, along with a nectarine. It was really tasty but I wish I had packed a snack as well.  I'm super hungry and trying to avoid the "snack co-op" in the office.   Did I mention I'm super hungry?

Tonight's dinner is grilled halibut tacos with black bean and corn salad.  Can't wait for that!!!!

P.S. this is a test post from my phone.  I wonder if it will work!

Ready or not, here I come!

Well, I’ve finally decided to join the masses and start a blog. I’m too shy to even let friends and family know about it yet. I’m just wanting a place to keep track of my journey towards a healthier lifestyle. I don’t know if I’ll post every day but I do hope to be fairly active. This has got to be a better use of my time than watching TV, right? (Who am I asking??? I don’t have any followers! LOL)

Anyway, I brought the kids to the Farmers Market today and gave them a mini scavenger hunt to keep them interested. (Thanks to http://whatscookingblog.com/ for the idea!) If they were able to mark off all the items on their list, they could pick out a treat from one of the vendors. Both kids did great! B (age 5) picked chocolate chip cookies. Of course once he saw his big sister C (age 9) getting chocolate gelato, he wanted that too. Since the cookies came in a 4 pack he agreed to share and got gelato too. So, HOW is this a healthy start? I don’t know! (I didn’t have any! Give me a gold star!) They each had less than half of the gelato and we were out of the house moving around. And we did stock up on LOTS of fresh veggies!

I came home and made a Greek Salad. It is full of fresh cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, kalamata olives, feta cheese, fresh oregano, fresh parsley and some red wine vinegar and EVOO.

Hmmm, the cucumbers look really white in the photo, huh?  The salad is marinating in the fridge now. Can’t wait to eat it throughout the week!

The Farmers Market also had fresh lobsters and other fresh fish, so tonight will be our first experiment cooking lobsters at home. Yikes! We’ve got corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes to go with it.  The kids named the lobsters Marianne, Steve and Bob.  It was nice knowing you guys!