The weekly menu

I was just going to skip this past week’s meals because I got so behind but some are worth sharing (because I think you guys should know about these for your own menu planning) but also, I may actually post a recipe.  Gasp!!  I know, I know, I made something from my own kitchen that wasn’t directly from a cookbook/blog that actually requires written out instructions!  It was monumental for another reason too.  It was the first recipe that I made that ALL FOUR OF US ate.  The same exact dinner!  Can you believe it???  I’m so thrilled that amongst all our dietary restrictions and preferences and abilities (meaning amount of teeth one has) we were all able to enjoy the same meal.  It gave me a glimpse into a future that I like.

It doesn’t photograph great but it was SO good.  And I know what you’re thinking.  Soup?  Really?  Soup can’t be described with caps locks like that.  But I assure you this is a soup that is beyond delicious.  It has serious depth of flavor, but was still super easy to make with pretty common pantry spices.  Although my friends have started giving me crap for what I consider “common” things to have stocked in your pantry after a champagne vinegar recipe I shared with them last week.  Anyway.

Another PP recipe in the books.  Holler to Gwyneth for yet again creating a recipe that the entire family got down with.

Kyle is a big fan of cod and has been wanting something in the fish and chips realm for a while now so this was a good compromise.

I used quinoa flakes and corn meal in place of gluten free bread crumbs because I didn’t have any and they worked great!  I liked the subtle quinoa flavor it gave and the breading still got nice and crispy and flaky.  I have since ordered GF breadcrumbs on Thrive because I realized it was a decent thing to have on hand.  I’m sure my friends will disagree with me.  😉

Psst – right now on Thrive they are giving away a kombucha starter kit with any order over $79 – I am so bummed I placed my order yesterday!!  🙁  This link gives you a discount on your first order BTW.

So yeah, I made a slaw to pair with it.  Nothing fancy, just mayo, mustard, sugar, and vinegar with a bunch of shredded cabbage.

Chose your own adventure style seasoning…I went with the mustard and old bay option.

No egg required.

Baked not fried (which is way easier when you are doing one kid’s bedtime routine while they cook).

Next!

This one requires it’s own post but it’s a vegan butternut squash soup with white beans.  It’s the recipe I mentioned at the start of the post that the entire fam enjoyed.  Stay tuned.

This was another really easy recipe, which I came across on Jenna’s IG.  Her blog is done-zo but I still get pretty good inspiration from her insta posts since we both live near the Bay and have similar-ish situations (moms with a passion for healthy living via fitness, cooking, gardening, etc.).  So yeah, I followed her “recipe” exactly and it yielded this gorgeous thing.

I added fingerling potatoes around the chicken.  The pan juices were legit.  I’m taking credit since the lemons were from our trees. 🙂

Glad I had extra twine from our Thanksgiving rotisserie to tie the legs closed with the lemons inside.

Check out those taters!

Kyle ate one half and P and I split the breast on the other half (it was big).  Oh, and we had peas with it too.  V is super into peas.  She pops them with her little teeth and gums them into mash quite well.  It’s cute.  Also of note – P actually ate these potatoes!  Maybe he’s coming around on spuds.  It’s so funny that he doesn’t like them considering he does like dinners like the next night’s…

For a meatless Monday I made a lentil dish from Cook’s Illustrated Vegetarian Cookbook.

I also made roasted carrots with a curry yogurt sauce (from Cooks Illustrated Vegetarian Cookbook as well).

P had everything but the yogurt sauce (because it has dairy).

Oh hi special carrot pattern.

Here are the plates for the three of us (V had some roasted carrots the next day).

Served over yellow rice with some lentils and herbs that I made up.

He wasn’t in love with the dishes, but he ate them without too much coaxing.  He preferred the carrots over all else and they were the first things to disappear.  After that it was a tie between the lentils and the rice.  I think he likes lentils so-so, but they are still a struggle.  Chickpeas are the one bean that he devours happily, and a few others (black, kidney, white) are tolerated and occasionally enjoyed but certainly not a preferred option over, say, bacon.  I’m happy that even if he doesn’t like things, he still eats them fine, but I’m definitely hoping that repeated exposure opens his palate up.  The fact that curry is a consistent win deserves a fist pump, too, so believe me, I’m trying not to push my luck too much while acknowledging the good in any and every form.

The yogurt sauce was amazing by the way.  I used TJs new product – a full fat cream top greek yogurt from grass fed organic cows.  It was much runnier than I thought it would be considering it was full fat and greek strained, but what do I know about greek yogurt.  My gut didn’t love this meal, but my taste buds did and to be honest, I’ve kinda been in the mood for veg lately that I’m having a hard time staying good about managing my fodmaps intake (hence the GI woes).  That said, it’s a decision I am consciously making so it’s fine.  I feel like the power is in my possession to get back on track when I want and for right now, I want to eat certain foods and will just deal with the gut stuff as it comes.  It’s nothing like it used to be, probably because I’m still much more aware of the little nitty gritty things and I don’t eat a dozen apples a day with hummus and wheat pitas (LIKE I USED TO).

We were definitely pretending it was summer again with this salad.  That’s what happens when you have one day of 60 degree weather amid a month of 40s.

The chicken in this was the rest of the roasted one from the weekend.  Plus my favorite dressing of all time, Brianna’s poppyseed heaven in a bottle.

We also had leftover roasted potatoes along side it.

Fishy fishy.  On Wednesday we had the usual salmon, broccoli rice bowl with Asian flavors (tamari, ginger, rice vinegar).

Soupy leftovers on Thursday – P and I had the butternut soup above.  Kyle had the wild rice cabbage sausage soup from the previous week.

Friday was also leftovers (no photo) in the form of lentils, cod, and I don’t even remember what else.  Totally random fridge scraping.

But I did hit up Whole Foods that afternoon for their #onedaysale because it was too insanely good to pass up!

BUY ONE GET ONE free organic whole chicken!!  Dude, yes.

Kyle and P had a boys date at the UC Davis basketball game on Saturday, so I made something for P to eat at the game and then Kyle had dinner later when he got home (after putting P down).  It was such a special thing for them, and I’m not sure who had a better time to be honest.  Quinoa with meatballs was what I came up with since we hadn’t yet gone grocery shopping and I didn’t want something that would be gross for Kyle if eaten an hour after I ate.

While they were gone I got my food prep on and got all organized for Sunday’s grocery shopping extravaganza.  This weekend I baked GF bread, made pancake batter, shredded the crock pot chicken, jarred broth, baked Kyle muffins, made a million things for V, and probably did more I can’t recall.

And ate dessert.