Weekly meals Dec. 18 – Dec. 23

Meal updates from last week:
We loved both of the soups and the chicken taquitos.  The noodle salad was good, but I found it a little salty.  We liked the tofu bowls, but I have made better recipes.  This weekend was quiet, I still had a sick kid at home so we didn’t end up doing much.  Friday night we ordered food from Cactus Club, Saturday I made a simple tomato sauce pasta with salad and Sunday we had family Christmas.  My mom made the majority of the food: turkey, stuffing with Italian sausage, turnips and gravy.  I took a broccoli and cauliflower bake and there were also mashed and baked sweet potatoes as well as salad.  If you are looking for any Christmas dinner recipes just use the search engine.

This week we are eating at home Monday-Thursday, Friday we will order in, Saturday night we are going to a party and then we are hosting Christmas Eve.

• Creamy cauliflower soup from @nytcooking, you need a subscription for this site but I found a similar recipe here.
• Baked salmon from @cremedelacrumb I will serve it with some steamed rice and a green veggie.
• BBQ sausage with fries and a fall salad from @dianemorrisey.  You can find all of her recipes on her IG account.
• Pork stir fry from @theendlessmeal I will serve this with some steamed rice.
• Taking sausage stuffed dates to the party on Saturday night
• Christmas Eve: wine-braised short ribs, mashed potatoes and harvest salad.  Cookie tray for dessert.  I am thinking of serving a winter Aperol spritz, I found this recipe and this one.
• Christmas morning: cinnamon french toast muffins with fresh fruit and coffee.
• Christmas dinner: pesto stuffed shells with vodka sauce, fresh bread and house salad.

Today I baked Swiss Mountain Shortbread, the entire tray will go to my husband’s office with coffee for his staff to enjoy.  I think that means that I am finished baking for the season!  You never know if I will make another recipe, but as of today I feel like I’m done.  My grocery shop today was a huge one!  I shopped for my entire week, and then also tried to buy for the weekend including Christmas Eve and Day.  It took me a long time to make my list, and I only missed a few things that I will pick up tomorrow.  The grocery list 31 23 is really long, but includes all meals up till Christmas Day.  This will be my last post of 2023 as I am going to take a break and spend time with my family during the holiday season.

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!
Sara

Weekly meals Sept. 19 – Sept. 23

Meal updates from last week:
All recipes from last week were great!  Everyone loved the peanut chicken, and the fish bowls were amazing.  My husband said that air frying the halibut made it tender and juicy.  My son ate his fish in a tortilla, my daughter wouldn’t even entertain trying to fish.  You win some you loose some.  The kale salad was also very good, we didn’t eat the steak meal as we had a school function, I ended up taking the kids to Subway.

This weekend we were camping, we contributed sloppy joes, coleslaw and tater tots for Friday dinner.  Saturday morning we cooked bacon, eggs, toast and served it with sliced fruit.  Dividing the meals with other families makes for a more enjoyable trip, and cuts down on food costs.  We still have one more camping weekend planned at the end of the month.

This week we are eating at home Sunday-Thursday, it is a busy week with basketball and school open houses.

• grilled beef tenderloin, garden potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and the house salad from @skinnytaste.  We had this meal tonight as we missed it last week.  The kids don’t love steak so they had grilled chicken drumsticks.
• Tuscan white bean and kale soup from @littlebrokenblog the weather is going to be cooler tomorrow and I have been waiting to make some fall soup.
• Grilled chicken thighs with fall salad from @gimmesomeoven
• Pad Thai from @tastesbetterfromscratch I will cook shrimp for the recipe.
• Dinner out as both kid’s schools have open houses.  Too busy to cook!

We harvested all of our grapes today, which means that it is time to make some jelly.  I will start the process this week, and hopefully make the jelly this weekend.  We only have our beets and carrots left in the garden, I am hoping to get to them this weekend, however root veggies are all good through the first few frosts.  I used some of the zucchini and made muffins, but I still have many more to use up.  I am also thinking about making something pumpkin, I am being bombarded by the internet to start baking with pumpkin.  Our favourite pumpkin recipe is for these muffins by @cookieandkate.  The  Grocery List 28 22 is finally back!

Stay healthy,
Sara

Weekly meals Sept. 20 – Sept. 24

Meal updates from last week:
We loved the veggie lo mein and sesame soy chicken from last week.  As always the hamburger soup was a hit, and my son raved about the chicken taquitos (he ate 5).  I think that if I make them again I will add a little bit of sour cream into the filling as I found them dry.  This weekend I ate out with a friend on Friday night, we hosted friends on Saturday night and tonight we had dinner with my parents.  Saturday night I made the BBQ chicken bowls with sweet potatoes and coleslaw, I will say this again, if you haven’t made this recipe yet then you MUST!  Tonight my mom made beef lasagne, I brought a caesar salad  made pumpkin cookies for dessert.  I added chocolate chips to half of the dough and I didn’t ice the cookies, instead I served them with some vanilla ice cream.

This week we will be eating at home Monday-Thursday, Friday we are off camping for the weekend.  Kids activities have started to get busier, so there will be more simple meals served on those nights.

• Teriyaki shrimp sushi bowl from @thealmondeater you know how I love a good bowl!
• BBQ Spolumbos sausages with this feel-good fall salad from @gimmesomeoven.  I will make the kids some fries to have with their sausages.
• Korean grilled chicken breasts from @skinnytaste I will serve steamed green beans and roasted broccoli with the chicken.  I might make some butter noodles for the kids.
• Make your own pizza using fresh dough from CO-OP, I like to pre cook the pizza base as I find it works better when adding the toppings.

I have almost used all of my pumpkin, but have collected many spotted bananas this week, so if I have time I will bake with both.  I have made these pumpkin muffins in the past and they are so good!  If I don’t get to the bananas then I will freeze them for another day.  Plan out your shopping with grocery list 21 29

Stay healthy,
Sara

Weekly meals Nov. 2 – Nov. 6

Meal updates from last week:
Everyone loved the macaroni and cheese soup with broccoli, so much so that we finished the entire pot!  The chicken gyros were also very delicious, I made mine into a salad and topped it with tatziki, everyone else ate theirs in pita.  The teriyaki turkey rice bowls were very good, a quick and easy weeknight meal to put together.  We ate out Friday night and then made burgers before going out trick-or-treating.  Tonight we had pizza and salad.

This week we will be eating at home Monday-Thursday, we don’t have plans on Friday, Saturday night we are going over to friends.  

• BBQ chicken with fall kale salad from @littlebrokenblog I will also make some baked beans.  The kids have asked for BBQ hotdogs instead of chicken.
• Tomato soup with broccoli grilled cheese from @skinnytaste both recipes are from her new cookbook Skinnytaste Meal Prep.  I am not making the soup from scratch, we enjoy the creamy tomato soup from Pacifica.  Find a similar grilled cheese recipe here from @twopeasandtheirpod.
• Pretzel crusted chicken salad with mustard vinaigrette from @howsweeteats the kids will eat all of the salad ingredients minus the lettuce.
• Arroz con pollo from @pinchofyum I have looked at this recipe a couple of times in the last few weeks, so I decided to give it a try.

I don’t have any plans to bake this week, and with the amount of candy in our house my kids don’t need anything else!  I still have some canned pumpkin left, so I will eventually make another batch of muffins.  I have to confess that I have already been thinking about my holiday baking and trying to think about what I am going to make.  When I have a plan I will share.  Make shopping enjoyable with grocery list 144

Stay healthy,
Sara