Prep for a smooth(er) back to school

Ever since I had the roasted tomatoes at the Full Belly farm dinner I have wanted to make something similar.  It felt silly to buy tomatoes when we have them coming out of the garden at a crazy rate, but the problem was, we kept eating them in meals so there weren’t quite enough to roast in a big dish.  I really wanted to almost poach them in olive oil until they reduced into a sweet gooey mess of tomato jam…

So I finally found the moment this Sunday.

The oven was already on for I can’t remember what reason (some other prep item) and all I had to do was drench the tomatoes in olive oil, salt, pepper, dried oregano, and dried parsley.

And then it went from the above, to this…

I jarred it up for the time being, but I can’t wait to enjoy it…SOON.

Next up was making dinner for later that week.  Because some of the week nights were a little crazy, I decided to make at least one meal in advance.

And slaw seemed the best option since cabbage needs extra time to break down anyway.

I made a Thai almond butter sauce with the juice of one lime, 1/2 cup almond butter, 1/2 cup tamari, 2 tbsp maple syrup, and 1/4 cup water.

Once the cabbage was coated in sauce, I added two filets of baked salmon and 2 cups of chopped snap peas.

And then I cooked 2 cups of quinoa to fold in as well before throwing it in the fridge for later.

Here’s what it looked like when I pulled it out later.  Ready for cilantro and nuts before digging in.  More on that later.

Continuing the prep line up.  I also made two lunches for Kyle (I had made a pot of rice earlier before cleaning it out and immediately making quinoa in it).  They were both identical with rice, broccoli, and mac nuts, but I used two different sauces based on what jars I had to use up in the back of the fridge.  One was Nom Nom Paleo all purpose stir fry sauce and then other was a spicy korean BBQ sauce that was from a gobble meal a while back (and was too spicy for the me/the kids).

I de-stemmed and ripped up two bunches of curly kale, which will come in handy for lunch time salads like the one below (and a few kale dinners on the meal plan).

Speaking of lettuce lunches…

Guess what Mr. P requested for his snack at school?  LETTUCE!

I was convinced that wouldn’t be enough to fuel him through the day though, so I included almonds and raisins, but when he returned the tupperware to me the next day, he had – in fact – picked out the lettuce and left the rest.  😛  What a funny kid.

I’ve been letting him choose what he wants for snacks at school to give him a little control and help with the school transition.  He has been picking walnuts with dried pineapple (his fave trail mix combo) or this seed and bean snack mix.  The lettuce was a wild card and I was happy to oblige.

BANANA BREAD.

In order to have a GF and DF option for myself at the back to school parent coffee, I knew I’d have to make something myself.  So I did!

I’m on the board now, so September has A LOT going on for me.  I know I’ve always shared openly how awesome the community is at our church and preschool.  Well, the parent support system and inviting nature is what hooked me and so when they asked if I would take on a position to act as the liaison for class parents and fostering that inclusive community vibe, I couldn’t possibly say no.  So that just happened.  Here I thought I was going to have more down time to blog once the kids were both in school at the same time…

Anyway, back to this guy.

I just added cilantro and almonds to serve.

Boom.  Dinner is done.  Bonus, it made a ton so we can have it another night too.

Yes, I hoarded Christmas time dark chocolate oranges for the rest of the year.