Because We Need to Eat - March 28 - April 1

Easter was busy and I'm not sure that I did the greatest job of slowing down and reflecting on the cross. Thankfully, we have grace and I'd be oh so lost without it. I will have a post up soon about the Easter traditions we've started with K and some other exciting things that are on my mind.

This was another weekend where we didn't make it out to grocery shop or really meal plan so it's a mish-mash of easy meals and stuff we had in the freezer. The good part - our grocery bill was only $60.

Alpine Chicken with Broccoli & Potato Wedges - So this "from the box" chicken isn't actually called that (chicken stuffed with ham and cheese) but it was when I was kid so it will remain so now. The broccoli was steamed and the potato wedges were from a bag. Still delicious, though!

Spaghetti - It may appear as though we eat spaghetti every week. We don't! We actually haven't eaten it any of the days it has been on the plan. Tonight's spaghetti is extra special, though. Mark got a free sample of organic, free-range ground beef from a farm that was going door-to-door. My husband is not one to turn down free meat, apparently! I'm not sure that slathering it in pasta sauce is the best way to appreciate it but I'll probably add some onions, carrots, and celery to the meat, too.

Slow Cooker Taco Chili - A few weeks ago I made slow cooker chili and we had leftovers so we're eating those up with some tortilla chips on the side.

Broccoli Quiche - K's fave and super yummy.

English Muffin Pizzas - Tasty! I served these with apple slices. K has just recently started being interested in apples. I did peel hers and sliced them pretty thin. I put C down for a nap and came back downstairs and she'd polished off her whole meal. I think she was making up for being a toddler and not eating much on the weekend.

Crackers & Cheese with Frozen Veggies - Uninspired. That's all I will say.

Peanut Butter Toast with Squash - Take note of the vegetable and my $60 grocery bill.

Clementines & Bunny Crackers - The Easter bunny brought K some of those Annie's cheddar bunny crackers and the honey cookies. They will be making appearances at snack time this week.

Smoothie  - Again this week because I need to use up the plain yogurt and eat more fruit myself.

Carrot & Pineapple Muffins - I really like these and I only used half a can of the crushed pineapple so I am making more this week.

Because Easter Decorations are Pretty

I love Easter for many reasons but among them are Easter decorations. My Easter collection is beginning to rival my Christmas decorations but I'm okay with that. Hopefully my husband is, too! Here is a quick peek:

Because We Need to Eat - March 21-25

We did eat last week, I promise. I had a cold and so did K which tends to wipe us out. Needless to say, fast food was ordered and vegetables may have been lacking. This week I am trying to make up for it with lots of veggies mixed in with our meals. Most of the dinner recipes came from the Suppertime Survival Cookbook and K's lunches were from the Annabel Karmel cookbook. 

Meatballs with Green Beans & Rice - These meatballs are made with quick rolled oats, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, salt & pepper and of course, ground beef. Here's the recipe for the sauce:

• 1 cup bottled BBQ sauce
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice
• 1 tbsp prepared mustard
• 1 cup water or orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease baking dish and place meatballs in dish

2. Combine ingredients and pour over meatballs

3. Cover and bake for 30 minutes

Harvest Vegetables with Chicken & Penne - This is a simple baked chicken dish with lots of veggies (onion, green & red peppers, zucchini) added to a pasta sauce and served over penne. It was super yummy and the chicken was nice and juicy.

Baked Turkey Enchiladas - I don't often cook with regular turkey so I'm going to try to find some turkey breasts at the grocery store. Apparently this would be great with leftover turkey from Easter. 

Spaghetti - Our go-to Friday meal. 

Grilled Cheese & Pepper Strips - Quick and easy and an all-time favourite of both of us.

Spanish Omelette - This omelette is made with diced potatoes, onions, red pepper and frozen peas. 

Pasta Shell Confetti - This pasta includes some sauteed carrots, zucchini and tomato. The pasta is cooked and stirred into the vegetables along with some heavy cream and grated Parmesan cheese. 

Tuna Pita Pockets  - K enjoys eating these, although I had to make sure she wasn't eating it upside down. This week I added some grated cheddar cheese and if I had more time I might have put in some grated carrot.  

Carrot & Pineapple Muffins - This recipe is from Annabel Karmel's book and is one of my fave muffin recipes. 

Crackers & Cheese - In case, we are busy...so it will be a definite snack this week. 

Smoothie  - check out my recipe here. 

Because the Laundry Needs to Get Done

Doing laundry doesn't bother me. Folding laundry doesn't bother me, either. Putting it away, though. Good grief. I'm terrible at it. Strangely enough, I would rather put away the girls clean laundry than my own. This week, laundry is the focus of the Declutter Challenge my mom, sister, and I are trying to do. You can see my sister's progress on her blog - Grieve Family Adventures. 

We do laundry every day. Now that K is potty training it means we don't have to do diaper laundry every other day. Yay! However, it also means that we have more kids laundry to do. Boo! We get cheaper electricity rates after 7:00pm and on the weekends so we can usually get a load or two done and in the dryer by the time we go to bed. By doing a bit of laundry every day it frees up some time on the weekend to have fun or do other chores. 

Here is our laundry schedule:

Because Potty Songs and Potty Videos are Fun for Me

Two weekends ago we started potty training K (detailed post coming soon). We talk about the potty all the time so why not sing about it? And while we're at it, why not watch some potty tv?

We subscribe to Google Play music so I quickly put together a Potty Playlist by doing a quick "potty training" search. Here are some not-so-super annoying potty songs:

• When You Have to Go Potty Stop and Go Right Away - Daniel Tiger's Neighbourhood
• Potty Party - Splash 'N Boots
• Potty Time - Patty Shukla
• Potty - DeeDee
• Wee Go Potty - Rocknoceros
• Potty Train - Curtis Maloney
• Potty Time - Toozigoots
• Potty Time - JBunny & Grizzly Gold
• Potty Song - Lil Genies

If you are thinking about potty training your toddler I recommend subliminal (or overtly blatant) messaging/brainwashing ahead of time. 

We love Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and I mean love. I probably like it more than K, to be perfectly honest. I just like how nice all the characters are, the catchy music and important life lessons. CBC Kids has full-length episodes posted on YouTube. Here is the potty episode.

Because We Need to Eat - Mar. 7-11

I've been eating a lot of chocolate recently. And cinnamon hearts. Those are yummy. I am finding it to be very luxurious to eat some chocolate or candy while lying on the couch when both babies are sleeping (or at least quietly playing in their rooms). Add a glass of red wine and it would be amazing but then it would have to be night time in order to be acceptable. Sigh. Sadly chocolate, cinnamon hearts, and red wine are not appropriate meals for my family so here is our meal plan for this week:

Tacos with Sweet Potato Fries - This week I made the tacos without the famous Taco Kit from the grocery store. I'm talking whole wheat tortillas, grated carrot mixed in with the ground beef and my own taco seasoning (1/2 tsp cumin, coriander, and chili). That justifies the store bought sweet potato fries, right? 

Veggie Pizza - Another fave cookbook is this Looneyspoons cookbook. As you know, I am a huge pizza girl and this one makes me feel healthy. It has pesto, zucchini, broccoli florets, red onion, feta cheese, and mozzarella cheese. I did realize that I didn't put a pizza crust on the shopping list so I may attempt to make my own pizza dough tomorrow. And maybe I forgot the pesto, too...

Hasselback Chicken with Potato Au Gratin - Check out this Tasty video for the recipe. The potatoes are compliments of my mother and is one of our last freezer meals.

 

Spaghetti - Because it is Friday and we may eat out anyway. 

Baked Potatoes with Broccoli Cheese Sauce - Mark bought a giant bag of potatoes so I thought I'd try to use some up with lunch this week. Since the potatoes need 45 min to cook in the oven we'd have to have this on a day when we are home in the morning. It may not happen.

Peanut Butter Banana Wrap - Yes. This is a wrap with a whole banana in it. I feel like K will like it but who can say?

Chicken Apple Balls - This is from my Annabel Karmel cookbook. Chicken meatballs with onion and apples. Yum!

Breakfast Granola Cups - These look so good and are hopefully easy to make!

Mini Carrot Muffins - Nothing beats a mini muffin! Especially one with vegetables in it. 

Now that I am looking at this meal plan I feel I may have been a bit ambitious. It's okay. There's always peanut butter and toast. 

Because We Need to Eat - Feb. 29 - Mar. 04

Let's potty train the toddler and sleep train the baby. Sure! Great idea. It hasn't been terrible and I will write about both of those things in the near future but sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself and still have expectations of feeding all these people. But here is the meal plan for this week:

Ravioli Bake - Have you seen those Tasty or Tip Hero videos on Facebook? I decided to try one of them this week. Mark couldn't find the large frozen ravioli so we had cute mini ones and I didn't add enough pasta sauce or fresh basil. But there was lots of cheese and K had thirds. That girl loves her pasta!

 

My Finished Ravioli Bake - Cheesy!

K's Dinner with the Mini Ravioli

Honey Lemon Ginger Chicken with Green Beans & Rice - If you can ever find the Suppertime Survival Cookbook, buy it! I found it randomly at The Real Canadian Superstore probably 10 years ago and it is one of my go to cookbooks. This is one of Mark's favourite chicken thigh recipes. I just cook up some green beans in the frying pan with butter and put some rice in the rice cooker and we are good to go.

Ham & Broccoli Quiche with Tomato Cucumber Salad - click here for more info about the quiche. This is a super easy salad to make and is one of the few things I can whip up without measuring anything so excuse my lack of measurements.

• Cherry Tomatoes - halved
• Cucumbers - chopped
• Feta cheese - crumbled
• Ranch Dressing

1. Mix the first three ingredients together and add Ranch Dressing to taste.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew - I haven't made this one before but Mark was pleased when he saw it on the menu which is always encouraging. 

Bacon & Eggs with Broccoli - Okay the bacon was really for me. I made some cheesy scrambled eggs which K gobbles up and some frozen broccoli which she ate without any fuss. Broccoli must be back on her list this week.

Bow Ties with Cherry Tomatoes - This pasta dish is from Annabel Karmel's The Healthy Baby Meal Planner. You can eat it cold or warm.

Tuna Melts - Make some tuna salad, put it on an english muffin, top with mozzarella cheese and put under the broiler for a few minutes. Delish! K loves frozen squash so she'll eat that with it and I will have some baby carrots. 

Sweet Potato Waffles  - These are a snack experiment for this week. K woke up randomly asking for waffles so she may really enjoy these if I get around to making them. 

Banana Muffins - This recipe also comes from The Healthy Baby Meal Planner. There's no sugar in them which is healthy but I tend to add chocolate chips in a few for myself.