Meal Planning: Week of September 8th

Review from last week:

On Saturday night we went out for dinner as planned.  It was fun to sit on the patio while Ben watched all of the cars and trucks going by.  There currently is a LOT of construction going on in Downtown Bothell - I'd love to catch an early dinner or HH here sometime because Ben would go nuts watching all of the construction trucks during work hours.

On Sunday we made chicken and mashed sweet potatoes.  I'm on a mission once again to get Ben eating more of what we eat.  Sometimes it's impossible, but I think it's so important to get him more interested in REAL food and not giving in to toddler food all of the time.

Not pictured, but we had soup and grilled cheese on Monday night.  For all of you moms who have kids that are picky with vegetables, these veggie blend-ins are really quite amazing (and more important, convenient).  When I make grilled cheese sandwiches, I will shred the cheese and mix a packet of butternut squash in and Ben consistently tears it up.

We had tarragon chicken with green beans and Trader Joe's naan.  (The frozen kind.  Makes great pizzas for Ben's lunch, also).

Side note - I'm reading a really great book my mom recommended called The Kitchen Counter Cooking School written by a woman chef (Kathleen Flynn) from Seattle.  It's her story about how she helped 9 women who felt completely hopeless in the kitchen and relied on boxed dinners and ultra-processed, unhealthy foods.  She taught them all cooking basics like seasonings (or as she calls them, "flavor splashes"), all the ways to cook vegetables, what types of knives to use, how to make bread, how to break down an entire chicken (and what to do with each and every piece).  I am finding it completely inspiring.  

Anyway, her chapter about vegetables make me realize that roasting is not the ONLY way to cook them - so I picked up some green beans and cooked them "the French way", as Julia Childs would say (i.e. boiling them for 5 minutes then draining and dumping them into ice water).  They come out so crisp and BRIGHT green that way.  Fun.  (Wow, I'm obsessed). 

We did the vegetarian Blue Apron plan this week, and our first meal was delicious.  Rose romaine salad with cucumber, plums, and toasted red walnuts tossed in a honey/vinegar vinaigrette with a side of tasted brie baguette.  Yum.

The second meal was Japanese Okonomiyaki.  I'm telling you, based on the ingredients and preparation, this is NOTHING either of us would ever think to order at a restaurant or cook at home.  As I was cooking it, Greg and I were both a little skeptical, but we reminded ourselves to keep an open mind because we have had only a couple Blue Apron dishes turn out bad.  

And SURPRISE - it was freaking awesome.  It was essentially a vegetable pancake (made with whole wheat flower) and I plan to eat it all the time now.  YUM.

Plan for next week:

I busted out an old cookbook from my hippie days (when I did yoga teacher training), The Kind Diet.  I thought I would try out a few recipes this to see if any would stick in my family.  Stay tuned.

Friday: Tonight is the last of our Blue Apron meals, Fresh Cavatelli & Sun Gold Tomatoes.

Saturday: End of summer BBQ at Becca and Jess's house!

Sunday: Pan-Seared Chicken & Sauteed Bulger with Tomato salad & Creamy Lemon-Yogurt Sauce.  I'm also going to make Quinoa with Basil and Pine Nuts for lunches (The Kind Diet) for lunches for a few days.

Monday: Sweet Potato-Lentil Stew (from The Kind Diet).

Tuesday: Potato Leek Soup.  Will also make a batch of Red Radish Tabbouleh for lunches(from The Kind Diet).

Wednesday: Leftover soup (and we will freeze the rest).

Thursday:  I have a work event Thursday evening, so Greg and Ben will probably have meatballs and grilled cheese sandwiches. 

Friday: Lisa and Evan are coming over for dinner!  Making Smoky Swiss Chard & Black Bean Tostadas

Saturday: Southern-Style Shrimp and Grits with zucchini, corn and cherry tomatoes.   

Sunday: Eggplant Parmesan with Chia Seeds