Weekly meals Oct. 7 – Oct. 11

Meal updates from last week:
Favourites from last week were: Shepherd’s pie and the chicken buddha bowls.  We enjoyed the turkey sloppy joe’s, and I didn’t end up making the lo mein as we decided to have waffles instead.  All of the pumpkin muffins from last week are gone!  I’m not sure if I will make more, or try a different recipe.  This weekend I finally got the chance to make grape jelly, and pumpkin cookies to serve to friends that came for dinner tonight.  Was a highly successful Sunday of cooking!

This week we will be eating at home Sunday-Wednesday, we are going away for the long weekend, spending time with family and enjoying a non-traditional Canadian Thanksgiving.

• Italian bolognese sauce from @fooddotcom we ate this with spaghetti, caesar salad and fresh bread.  The sauce took a long time, but let me tell you it was worth every minute!  I didn’t realize until after I serve dinner that I forgot to add the milk to the sauce.  I am not sure that it would’ve made a big difference, perhaps it would have made it creamier?
• Barbecued chicken with autumn glow salad from @pinchofyum it looks like Monday is going to be one of the last warmish days, so I am going to take advantage and grill some chicken.  We will eat this with a salad full of fall flavours.
• Thai coconut curry shrimp noodle bowl from @howsweeteats I am not sure if my kids will like this meal, I am crossing my fingers and will let you know.
• BLT salad from @marthastewart this is a family favourite that I haven’t made in a long time.  My kids love eating the homemade croutons.

I still have a cup of pumpkin left over from my muffins and cookies, if time allows I will bake another pumpkin recipe this week.  I also have a recipe for banana date muffins that I’ve been told are the best muffins ever.  I bought all of the ingredients, so stay tuned to see if they are worth all of the hype!  Today my mom dropped by and gave me a new cookbook!  I cannot wait to look through Fraiche Food, Full Hearts by Jillian Harris and Tori Wesszer, the recipes that I have looked at so far look amazing!  Shopping made easier with shopping list 108

Happy cooking and Happy Thanksgiving,
Sara

 

Weekly meals Sept. 23 – Sept. 27

Meal updates from last week:
We really enjoyed the chicken gyros and shrimp burrito bowls.  I liked the sesame noodle bowl, but we ate it cold and later in the night, so it didn’t taste as good as if it had been fresh.  I had a chance to use the gifted apples and zucchini to make muffins,  they are delicious, really moist and flavourful.  Tonight we ate at my parent’s house, dad made elk burgers, my sister-in-law made this great broccoli salad and I made apple crisp.

This week we will be eating at home Monday-Thursday, my husband will be away all week, so I try and make dinners a little easier because I am solo.  We don’t have plans for the weekend, but it looks like the weather is going to be taking a turn 😦  That means I need to get my grapes off the vine (for jam), and try to take all of my flowers out of their pots.

• Grilled sweet and spicy Thai chicken kabobs from @cremedelacrumb1 I will serve these with brown rice and steamed beans.
• Sausage and greens sheet pan dinner from @epicurious this is a one pan meal, which means I don’t need to add anything!
• Sicilian chicken soup from @littlebrokenblog we will eat this with cheese buns.
• Healthy sloppy joes from @kimscravings I will add a side salad to complete this meal.

I did buy some canned pumpkin today when I was shopping, and was thinking about making these muffins.  I also have some zucchini left and have made these cookies before and they are good!  Who knows what I will have time for, so stay tuned to see.  Start the week off right with my grocery list 106

Happy cooking,

Sara

Weekly meals Sept. 16 – Sept. 20

Meal updates from last week:
As always the entire family loved the hamburger soup, and this time I made it with ground elk instead of ground beef.  I don’t find that it changes the taste in any way.  I took the soup for lunch and it was even better days after it was made.  My husband and I really like the chicken enchiladas, my daughter didn’t like anything except the rice and corn and my son only liked the chicken and rice.  I guess it just goes to show, that you cannot please all of the palettes in your house!  I also enjoyed the salmon bowls, it was a perfect combination of flavours and the citrus dressing just added a little tartness.

I have to say that I am glad last week is all over.  We were so busy with work and school, plus we were celebrating my husband’s birthday.  It just felt so packed with things, I am hoping that this week will be a little slower.  We will be eating at home Monday-Thursday we don’t have much planned this weekend.  I would really like to bake some zucchini muffins, but we will see what time I will have for that.

• Chicken gyros from @littlebrokenblog I love a good Greek flavoured meal and I think that this one sounds delish!
• Sesame noodle bowl from @pinchofyum we are heading to the school BBQ, but I think the kids will eat there (hotdogs) and my husband and I will eat these bowls after.  I am going to use linguine as the noodle for this recipe.
• Shrimp burrito bowl from @carlsbadcravings I am going to make a version of this bowl, but I won’t be using the peppers as they are far too spicy for my kids.  We will add corn, tomatoes and some sliced avocado.
• Homemade pizza using pillsbury pizza dough, this is a simple and fast weeknight meal to prepare.  Add any of your favourite pizza toppings and make a green salad, and you have a well balanced meal that your kids will love.

While making my meal plan for the week I came across a few recipes that I would love to try: hummus platter with roasted veggies and rice, crunchy cucumber cabbage salad with sesame dressing and crockpot chicken fajitas.  My kids wouldn’t go for the hummus platter but it would be a great appetizer to take to friends or even a nice meal to serve for a girls night.  Head to the grocery store with grocery list 105

Happy cooking,

Sara

Home and away

We have been back for a few days after going to visit friends in southern Alberta.  We enjoyed soaking up some summer heat, swimming, hiking and picking strawberries.  We spent the weekend at home unpacking and now repacking for a week away with family.  We will be heading to the coast, and I cannot wait to see the ocean!  I have cooked a few meals lately that I will share with you.  I have also made a list of easy recipes that we can possibly cook while we are away on the coast.

Meals lately:

• yogurt marinated grilled chicken from @foodandwine I served this with corn and a salad.
• Shrimp cauliflower fried rice from @cleanfoodcrush
• Thai noodles with chicken and broccoli from Anne Lindsay
• Cinnamon-rhubarb muffins from @finecooking
• Buttermilk banana bread from @delscookingtwist

Meals while away:

• Rosemary chicken and peach salad from @damn_delicious
• BLT salad from @marthastewart
• Sheet pan chicken shawarma from @thekitchn
• Cilantro lime shrimp from @thewoodenskillet
• Thai chicken lettuce wraps from @evolvingtable
• Turkey taco burrito bowls from @togetherasafamilyblog
• Sheet pan caprese chicken from @foodnetwork
• Grilled marinated flank steak from @simplyrecipes
• Grilled chicken caesar lettuce wraps from @food52

Regularly scheduled meal plans and grocery lists will return next weekend, until then, enjoy the last few weeks of summer!

Happy cooking,
Sara

Vacations and birthdays

This past week we were at a family reunion and then spent some time with my husband’s family.  Home for a few days to celebrate my daughter’s birthday and then we are off again to go and visit friends.  I don’t have a formal meal plan as we will be away, but I will be sharing some recipes that I have tried in the last few weeks.  Regular meal planning will be back the week of August 18.  Here are some great summer recipes that I have been loving:

• Chicken thighs with peach salad from @cookinglight peaches are in season right now and grilling them is simply amazing!
• Summer panzanella salad from @howsweeteats this salad is outstanding and a must make!
• Buttermilk shrimp tacos from @bevcooks
• Chimichurri chicken from @theforkedspoon we loved the flavour of this chicken.
• Blueberry banana bread from @pizzazzerie this froze really well and then when warmed tasted as good as fresh out of the oven.

Just a few recipes to get you through the next couple of weeks, stay tuned for regular meal planning.

Happy summer,
Sara

July 8 – July 12

Meal updates from last week:
Everything from last week was delicious, I loved the cilantro shrimp with grilled avocado.  My husband said that grilling the avocado was a game changer!  The pasta was delicious so simple and came together in less than 30 minutes.  I will be making the turkey tacos again, they were more saucy than normal tacos and the kids really enjoyed them.  The Greek chicken bowls were outstanding, I made them for a crowd and everything was devoured.  I also made a mixed berry crisp, as the berries at the market this week were plentiful.  I used: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.  I served this with some vanilla ice cream.

This week we will be eating at home Sunday-Thursday, my husband and I are out a lot this week just on different nights.  There are no plans for Friday, but I will probably make something simple like breakfast for dinner.  Saturday we heading out with friends and then Sunday we are out again.

• Tequila lime grilled chicken club from @butteryourbiscuit we ate these with blackberry spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette from @cookinglsl corn and fries.
• Pineapple shrimp fried rice from @skinnytaste I will add some steamed edamame and green beans to round out this meal.
• Spanakopita chicken meatballs from @thedaleyplate we will eat these with cucumber, tomatoes, olives and some yogurt dipping sauce.
• Pirogies with raw veggies and sour cream for dipping.
• BBQ sausage with waffle fries and caesar or green salad.

The stack of spotted bananas keeps growing.  I made a batch of peanut butter banana blender muffins from @sara.haven, head to her Instagram for the easy recipe.  Shopping made easy with shopping list 100

Happy cooking,
Sara

 

 

Happy Canada Day!

Meal updates from last week:
We really liked the two salads from last week, my favourite was the chicken salad with the tahini ranch.  Just like last week the dressing was the star of the show.  I didn’t have a chance to make the pasta, so I added it to my list for this week.  We spent the weekend away and arrived home today.  It is always so great to get out of the city, but no matter how long you have been gone there is always so much to do when you get home!

This week we will be eating at home Tuesday-Friday.  I will be out for dinner Wednesday and then we are expecting some company this weekend.  This is our first full week of summer vacation, so I think we will just try to be a little low key.  Possibly some play dates, bike rides and if the weather cooperates a trip to the pool.

• Lime cilantro shrimp from @thewoodenskillet we will eat these with some brown rice and the suggested grilled avocado.
• Corn and blistered tomato pasta from @amandafrederikson this was a recipe from last week’s meal plan that I didn’t get a chance to make.
• Turkey tacos from @culinaryhill I will serve these with hard shells, and eat mine as a taco salad.
• Greek lemon chicken bowls from @halfbakedharvest I saw these on her Instagram feed and they looked amazing!  I cannot wait to try it.

Last week I made a batch of banana chocolate chip muffins that were really good.  They we very moist and stayed fresh longer than most muffins.  I still have a pile of spotted bananas so I might have to make another batch.  I don’t have any other plans to bake, but I have been thinking a lot about pies…so I might have to make some dough.  Stay tuned!  Long weekend means there isn’t a grocery list this week, it will be back next week.

Happy cooking,
Sara

Weekly meals May 20 – May 25

Meal updates from last week:
All of the recipes from last week were winners!  We loved the salmon bowl as well as the Vietnamese noodle bowl.  The ramen salad with teriyaki chicken was delicious, as was the cashew chicken.  I wouldn’t change anything from any of the recipes, the only thing that I didn’t add was the red chili to the Vietnamese sauce.  I didn’t want it to be too spicy for the kids.

We spent the long weekend close to home, spent time with my mom, ate out and in a couple of times.  Friday night we went out for French food at Suzette Bistro, if you’ve never been then you must go.  Saturday night we ate at the golf course, and then we made salmon for dinner Sunday night.  My mom has an air fryer and has been raving about how amazing it is, so I wanted to see for myself what this new gadget could do.  We made the kids grilled cheese and pizza in the air fryer.  We also made basil-parmesan salmon from @skinnytaste it was so good!  The fish cooked in 12 minutes, we ate roasted cauliflower and peppers with the salmon.  My advice is that if you have room in your kitchen, and are cooking for two people then it would be a great small appliance for you!    We also had a chance to bake with the kids, which is something that I love to do.  It is so important that they understand how to measure, mix and scoop even if they are little and make a mess!  We made some superfood breakfast cookies, I added a little peanut butter drizzle to the top for added sweetness.

This week is a busy one!  My son has baseball three times this week and my husband and I are out one night.  We will be eating at home Monday-Friday.  Tonight I made dinner and my mom joined us as we are still solo.  I will share the meal below:

• Orecchiette with sausage and broccoli from @onceuponachef we ate this with a simple green salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, toasted almonds, feta and a balsamic vinaigrette.  I also happened upon a recipe for dark chocolate cashew butter blondies, they sounded so amazing that I had to make them!  I used peanut butter instead of cashew butter, but let me tell you they were delicious!!  You can find the recipe by following @sara.haven on Instagram.
• Chicken rice and black bean burritos from @northsouthblonde I needed a quick and easy meal for baseball night.  I am going to use chicken that I already cooked, so these should come together very fast.
• Shrimp cobb salad with jalapeño vinaigrette from @halfbakedharvest I love a dinner salad and as always the kids will eat it deconstructed.
• Pirogies with sausage and raw veggies.  I needed another easy meal this week as my husband and I will be out for dinner.  My kids love this dinner combination!

I do not have a dinner plan for Friday, but we do have ball again so I will need something fast and easy.  I am thinking that it will be breakfast for dinner, or grilled cheese with tomato soup.  When I have a plan I will share it with you.  I don’t have any other baking plans for this week but was thinking about some blueberry muffins, so stay tuned for the recipe.  The grocery List 94 is back and ready to print.

Happy cooking,
Sara

*Best blueberry muffins*

Weekly meals May 6 – May 10

Meal updates from last week:
We loved all of the recipes from last week, but my favourite was the ramen.  This was the first time that the broth tasted like real ramen broth from a restaurant and wasn’t watered down.  I splurged and bought some more expensive dried porcini mushrooms that I rehydrated in boiling water and then added the liquid to my broth.  My son loved the broth, meat and veggies but didn’t loved the noodles, my daughter loved it all and ate three bowls!  I also really liked the chicken shawarma and shrimp tacos.  I made a batch of spiced yogurt muffins as I had a large amount of plain yogurt that was going to expire soon.  I wasn’t sure how they were going to turn out, but they were great warmed up with a little butter and a cup of tea.  On Friday night we went to friends for dinner, we feasted on an amazing Mexican spread that ended with tres leche cake!  On Saturday night we went out with friends for dinner and got to try a new restaurant that just recently opened.  It is called Lulu Bar, and if you have the chance you need to go!  It is a pan-Asian menu that encourages small plate sharing.  We ordered eight dishes, so we could try lots of different things on the menu.  We loved all of them!  Here is what we ordered: edamame, coconut squid, Thai sausage skewer, chicken satay, vegetable dumplings, pineapple and macadamia nut branzino, pea shoots and snap peas, bao hotdogs and for dessert the Hula pie.

This week is going to be a busy one, my son has baseball three times, plus we have some other school commitments.  We will be eating at home Sunday-Thursday, we don’t have plans on Friday and then Saturday my husband is out with the guys.  Tonight we had my parents over for dinner, and celebrated Cinco de Mayo with beef and elk burritos from the @bestofbridge.  This recipe is a family favourite, and some together quickly.  I made my own taco seasoning instead of using the packet, and served sour cream, guacamole, salsa and shredded lettuce on the side.

• Grilled salmon with steamed brown rice and sautéed green veggies.  I am going to marinate the salmon in scotch (bourbon can also be used), soy sauce and brown sugar.  The ratio is 1/2 cup for the scotch and brown sugar and 1/4 cup for the soya sauce.  Lesser amounts if you’re using a smaller salmon filet.  I am going to cook this on the BBQ plate.
• Oven roasted pork tenderloin with garlic, mustard and herbs from @whatsinthepanblog I will serve this with roasted potatoes and steamed beans.
• Buffalo chicken sloppy joes from @spoonfulflavor we will eat these with tater tots and a side salad.
• BBQ chicken salad from @skinnytaste one bowl meal for the win!

The bake sale from this weekend was cancelled due to the horrible weather, so I will be making the M&M blondies this week so they are ready for the sale on Saturday.  I have no other baking plans, but who knows what will happen as the week progresses.  Make your life easier and print Grocery List 93

Happy cooking,
Sara Rumpel

Weekly meals Dec. 17 – Dec. 21

Meal updates from last week:
I really liked all meals from last week.  The soup was great, but my kids didn’t like it at all.  Although they did enjoy the bread sticks.  I loved the tandoori chicken and the shrimp stir fry.  I made a batch of the carrot muffins and they were gone by the end of the week. I also finished my holiday baking and made the Swiss Mountain Shortbread.  I took a cookie platter to my grandma’s on Sunday where we were celebrating with family.  I posted a picture of the platter on my Instagram feed, it included: cherry and dark chocolate shortbread, Swiss Mountain shortbread, peppermint bark cookies and peanut butter blossoms.  I also included some licorice dogs, Lindt chocolate and peppermint M&Ms.  Almost the whole platter was eaten, so I would say it was a success!

This week we are slowly winding down to winter break.  We will be eating at home Monday-Wednesday, Thursday we are going to friends and ordering takeout.  Friday we will be eating what ever is leftover in our fridge.  I can for-see an omelette with all of the veggies we have.

• Thai turkey lettuce cups from @cookinglight we ate this tonight and they were delicious.  I added some steamed brown rice, peppers and snap peas.  My kids ate them without the lettuce cup.
• Sheet pan shrimp fajitas from @cookinglight I will serve these with flour and corn tortillas.
• Honey mustard chicken salad with bacon and avocado from @cafedelites I have made this a couple of times and it has been a hit.  As always my kids will eat all the components minus the lettuce.

As we head toward Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I have been thinking about what to contribute.  We will be spending the holiday with my parents, brother, sister-in-law and niece.  For Christmas Eve my sister-in-law and I will be making a large snack platter.  If you are looking for any platter ideas then head to www.thebakermama.com or www.weelicious.com.  On Christmas Day we will have cinnamon buns while opening gifts and then usually an egg dish is served after all the chaos has ended.  We will have traditional turkey dinner that evening, and I usually make dessert.  This year I haven’t really had my eye on a specific recipe, but I’m sure that I will find something in the next few days.  The Dinner List 79 is a short one this week!

Happy cooking,
Sara