Weekly Meals May 25 – May 29

Meal updates from last week:
We really enjoyed the Greek chicken thighs with Greek salad, hummus and pitas, but our most favourite meal from last week was the pad Thai, it was outstanding!  I purchased the shrimp from the Calgary Farmer’s Market, they were huge and added so much to the dish.  I didn’t have a chance to make the Mediterranean linguine, I will let you know when I try it out.  This weekend we ordered food from Cactus Club and Mercato Mission, the food from Mercato was outstanding!  We ordered a simple pasta with tomato sauce, grilled pork ribs and sautéed green beans with shallots.  I would order from them again soon, and they also do pizza takeout.

This week we will be eating at home Sunday to Thursday, we will probably do takeout or BBQ on the weekend.  The weather is supposed to be really nice this week, so I am going to try and use the grill a lot.  Tonight we had elk burgers, coleslaw, baked beans and corn on the cob.

• Chicken gyros salad from @smittenkitchen this salad sounds delicious, and as always my kids will eat all the components minus the lettuce.
• Minestrone with kale and turkey sausage from @foodnetwork I have made this soup many times before, and it has been gobbled up by all!  When I use sausage in any recipe I always buy Spolumbos sausages.
• Spring roll bowls with grilled chicken from @littlebrokenblog you know that I love a one bowl meal!
• Chicken caesar burgers from @iowagirleats I haven’t made these in a long time, they are so easy and packed with flavour.  I will serve tater tots and a green salad on the side.

Last week I made a batch of good morning protein cookies from @weelicious they were really good, and a great snack to have on hand.  I ate one smeared with peanut butter for breakfast on the weekend.  I have a few spotted bananas that need to be used, so I think that I will try to make some muffins.  One of my favourite banana muffin recipes is from @cookieandkate they are a one bowl recipe and you can choose to add chocolate chips or blueberries.  Shop safely with Dinner List 130

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

Weekly meals July 22 – July 26

Meal updates from last week:
We really enjoyed the pad thai and turkey meatloaf.  I always have issues cooking rice noodles, and this time was no different, half were cooked and half were hard!  The turkey meatloaf was really good and full of flavour, a perfect comfort meal.  I liked the parmesan salmon but cooked it as directed on the grill, I do not have my cook time mastered using the grill so the salmon was a little dry.  My son’s birthday cake was amazing he loved the dog, and it was worth the two hours it took me to ice the cake!

This week we will be eating at home Sunday-Thursday then we are headed out of town for the weekend.  I will be food prepping for the weekend and making some muffins and a loaf that we can take with us on the road.

• Easy chicken gyros from @foodiecrush we will eat this with raw veggie and tzatziki.
• We are headed to a local lake for the afternoon and then eating with friends I am going to bring this BLT pasta salad from @foodiecrush we will be eating grilled sausages with the salad.
• Chicken fajita burrito bowl from @themodernproper another one bowl meal.
• Sheet pan shrimp boil from @damn_delicious I am going to leave out the potatoes as my kids don’t love them.

As I have been mentioning for weeks I have a pile of spotted bananas that need to get used.  I found two interesting recipes that I would like to try: peanut butter chocolate banana loaf and blueberry banana bread.  These will be easy breakfasts that I can serve with some fresh fruit or yogurt.  Let me help you with your shopping by taking shopping list 101

Happy cooking,
Sara

Weekly meals June 3 – June 8

Meal updates from last week:
Two of the meals from last week were part of our family favourites, the BLT salad and Thai noodles will always be on heavy rotation in our house.  We also loved Rachael Ray’s take on Salisbury steak.  It was like eating a burger over mashed potatoes.  Enough said!

This week we will be eating at home Monday-Thursday, I’m going out with friends on Friday and not sure what Saturday has in store for us.

• Spicy pork bowls with greens and carrots from @bonappetite as always I love a one bowl meal!
• Miso salmon with asparagus and carrots from @marthastewart I will serve this over rice as my kids don’t love couscous.
• Honey mustard chicken bacon and avocado salad from @buzzfeedtasty my husband and I enjoy a dinner salad and our kids will eat all of the ingredients minus the lettuce 😉
• Steak gyros from @cremedelacrumb1 we will eat these with pita and a Greek salad

Today we celebrated our son’s Birthday, his actual Birthday isn’t until July but we like to include all his school friends in a party before summer break.  As always I made our go-to chocolate cake recipe from @thelittlekitchen.  If you are looking for an amazing cake and icing recipe then YOU NEED TO MAKE THIS ONE!  Don’t forget to print Dinner List 57
before you head to the store.

Happy cooking,
Sara

*Blueberry oatmeal muffins*

Weekly meals Mar. 12 – Mar. 16

Meal updates from last week:
All meals from last week were great!  We especially enjoyed the potato puffs from the Shepherd’s pie soup, I think that these would be a great make ahead potato dish to serve at Thanksgiving or Christmas.  The ramen were so delicious, my son didn’t really like the sauce but loved the noodles and veggies.  The Stromboli was a great make ahead meal for our swimming night.  The stew was also very flavourful and we loved the addition of kale and sweet potato, it made the stew more filling.

This week is a very busy week in our house, and thank goodness we are starting it off all healthy.  It looks like this week we will be enjoying some plus degree temperatures, so that means it’s time to fire up the grill!  We will be eating at home Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and possibly Friday.

• BBQ’d sausage and hotdogs with sautéed onion and peppers.  I will also serve some raw veggies on the side as well as a salad for the adults.  I will sauté the onion and peppers on my grill hot plate that I have told you about before.  This plate is so versatile, we use it for many things: breakfast, pizza and veggies.
• Avocado kale caesar salad from @whatsgabycooking I will also grill some chicken to serve on top of the salad.  I have shared before that my kids don’t like salad, so they will have chicken with some veggies.
• Turkey and swiss sloppy joes from @cookinglight we will eat these with a side salad and possibly waffle fries.
• It’s always good to have ingredients for a recipe just in case, so in the event that we are home on Friday for dinner I will be making Greek chicken gyros from @halfbakedharvest

Once again I made another batch of the vanilla almond granola, and for some reason this time it turned out even better than the last two times!  My blueberries were starting to turn so on Saturday I made these muffins.  The crumb topping on these muffins is amazing.  We are going to friends on Saturday I am taking these summer rolls with peanut dipping sauce.  With everything green coming this weekend I was thinking of making these!  Don’t forget to print the Dinner List 48 to help you with your shopping.

Happy cooking,
Sara