Menu Plan 6/28

Time for a new menu!! This week we're having BBQ meatballs, Pioneer Woman Style! They are super yummy! I'm going to try them in the crock pot after I brown them, so I don't have to heat up the oven. I'm going to use her recipe for BBQ sauce but tweak it to make it more healthy (honey in place of the white sugar, using no HFCS ketchup). I also just saw this recipe and must find a place for it on my menu! I love cooked spinach. Ok, back to the meatballs! As you all have read, Luke is a picky eater! He rarely eats any meat/protein at all! He will eat chicken nuggets and peanut butter. And most recently he's started eating these chicken skewers. Well, Friday night I made meatball subs. I made large meatballs for the marinara sauce and I made some smaller meatballs to bake off in the oven for the boys. Well, mainly for Eli. He loves meatballs! Well, to make a long story short. Luke wanted Buzz Lightyear to eat dinner with us. Well, Buzz loves meatballs. Buzz even took a bite of one! So, Luke tried them too! And while he only ate two, he really liked them! I seriously think that is the first time he's eaten beef! I think Buzz might be joining us for more meals! And since meatballs were a hit, we might be having them a lot! And it's an easy food to make in large batches and they freeze for quick lunches, too! So, here's the menu:

BBQ Meatballs, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes

Grilled Pork Chops, Squash (how should I cook it this week?), Sauteed Spinach w/ Garlic

Scrambled Eggs, Hash browns, Fruit

Ranch Chicken Veggie Pasta Salad

Chicken Enchiladas, Rice and Beans


I'm not sure what we're doing for the Fourth yet, but this menus will get us to the weekend! Have a great week!

Check out Orgjunkie.com for great menu planning.

Check out Mindful Menus for real food menus and meal ideas!

Menu Plan Tuesday... just doesn't sound right!

Yep, it's a day late. I need to get back into the swing of making my menus on Sunday nights!! Our weekends here lately have been so busy that it's Monday evening before I get around to doing it! Here we go:

Grilled Pizza's- Cheese for the picky's and feta and spinach for me (Didn't have these last week! The night I had planned for it, it stormed! Oh well!)

Meatball Subs, Baked Parmesan Squash

Pork Chops, Green Beans, Fried Potatoes

Italian Beef Stew, Whole Wheat Biscuits (Yes, I know this isn't a summer dish. But we've got lots of left over beef from Italian Roast Wraps. And who says you can't have beef stew in the summer time?)

Chicken Pasta Salad (w/ Green Peas), Broccoli with Homemade Ranch Dressing

Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Fresh Fruit

This weeks menu features my dad's fresh broccoli, green beans and squash from his garden! I'm also making some zucchini muffins for snacks with his fresh zucchini and an apple crisp with apples from their apple trees! YUM! I LOVE fresh, real food!

Homemade Refrigerator Pickles

I created this recipe after finding a few online. You can make it simple or add extra ingredients to it. I've made 2 jars for us to eat and 2 for my parents! They are yummy!

Homemade Refrigerator Pickles (basic recipe)

2 medium size cucumbers, sliced
1 cup white distilled vinegar
1 TBS salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 clove garlic, minced

In boiler add vinegar, salt and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve, every few minutes. Keep covered! And always lift the lid away from your face! Boiling vinegar is STRONG! In the mean time slice your cucumbers and place in a heat safe bowl. Add garlic to cucumbers and stir. After the vinegar mix boils for a few minutes (5-10) and everything is dissolved, remove from heat and carefully pour over cucumbers. Stir the vinegar mix with the cucumbers for a few minutes to coat. Pack cucumbers into a pint size jar and fill with vinegar juice. Refrigerate, will keep for 2 weeks. (probably more, because of the vinegar and salt but they probably won't last that long!) These are great right after you make them but the flavor developes as they sit in the fridge.


Add ins (you would mix these in with your cucumbers before pouring the hot liquid in):
Sliced Vidalia Onion (really good, think Top 'O The River)
1 tsp of crushed red pepper (or more)
1 tsp mustard seed

You can also add more sugar if you like your pickles sweeter! It's a great recipe! I doubled the recipe for a quart size jar but had a little extra that wouldn't fit in the jar! I have made them with the basic recipe and with all of the add ins. The second wasn't as hot as I would like them, so I'm wondering if adding some hot peppers would be good? I might try it with jalepenos. This recipe is really flexible! Enjoy!

Friday's Food for Thought

So, you may have noticed recently that I've been talking a little more about real foods, butter, whole milk, coconut oil... So, I thought I'd just share a little bit about what got me thinking about all of this and where I am now (below I'm listing some really good links):

First of all, I have a deep desire to feed my family well. I am a mother and a wife and it's my responsibility to cook for them and feed them. The more I desire to do well in that area, the more I research and learn about what foods are best. I'm so thankful for the vast amount of information that is available on the internet. From my research I've learned that fats, particular saturated fats, aren't bad for you. In fact they are actually GOOD for you! Healthy! The fat in butter, whole dairy(milk, cheese), coconut oil, eggs, and cold pressed extra virgin olive oil are good for you! I'm learning how to use each of them properly (did you know frying in olive oil at high temps can cause carcinogens!?). I've learned that staying away from processed foods can help you save money, thus allowing money to afford those items above from better sources (Wright's Dairy! Yum!). I've learned that while it may take a little extra time to make something from scratch, than to open a box and 'prepare', knowing I'm doing my family good makes it worth it! I am convinced that cancer, heart disease, diabetes, ect are so directly a result of our horrible eating habits. I'm convinced the chemicals used on produce and in our foods, the BPA used to package our foods, the hormones packed in our meats and dairy, the cheapo grains our animals are being fed... and on and on... are killing us. And while I can't change everything (especially considering the limited grocery stores... hello, why can't I buy organic produce ANYWHERE?), I can do my best. And I can feel good about it. So, I'm doing my best to feed my family real food. Something I read recently said you know it's real food if it doesn't come with a bar code on it! So, let me summarize a few of the changes we have and haven't made:

Changes we've made:

Drinking whole milk only, especially the boys. The boys only drink Wright's Dairy Whole Milk. We do still get WIC and I am praying about canceling it. I think it's a great service to low income families and we have benefited from it. But after all of the research I've done, I really think we should all be drinking whole milk. I don't want to waste the 2% that we still get on WIC so the Hubs and I drink what we get, or I cook with it when I know it's going to be broken down in baked goods anyways.

Eating mostly farm eggs. We get our eggs either from the dairy or my MIL picks up farm eggs from a farmer near by. Eggs are so very good for you! Yes, even the yolk!!

Buying grass fed, locally farmed beef. Currently we get, when we can afford it, Wright Dairy beef. It is more expensive but I know it's SO much better for us! The fats in grass fed beef are easier for our bodies to process and use than from the grains and whatever else they feed those other cows to get them to fatten up and grow quicker for mass production. Ew. Anyway, we buy it when we can, maybe 2 lbs per month. I'm so thankful it's available! And I feel so good when I'm feeding my family tacos or hamburgers from that meat. As far as other meat, there aren't many other options. Sigh.

Buying local dairy, butter and cheeses. (also from Wrights Dairy!) Their butter is soo good! It comes in a huge roll and I just cut it into 4 pieces, wrap 3 pieces in foil, then in a freezer bag and chunk in the freezer. The other goes into the fridge. We also buy their block cheese when we can. We do get cheese on WIC still so we only get dairy cheese when we have a need for extra cheese. I do buy the dairy's whole milk buttermilk on occasion too. It comes in a gallon size only, so I buy it when I know I'm going to be needing a lot of buttermilk!

Limiting packaged, processed foods. Our mashed potatoes come from potatoes, not a box! ;) But I do still buy some packaged foods.. like some cereals, mainly Cheerios and Frosted Mini Wheat. We do get bread on WIC. I'm not sure I'll ever be good at bread making!

Make more snack foods from scratch. I've been experimenting with making granola bars, crackers, cookies, breakfast items, ect for us to snack on. This saves money and gets rid all of this 'question mark' ingredients in the ingredient list. I get to choose what goes in the snacks we eat. I do still buy some snack foods, for instance the boys have been finishing up the Goldfish crackers left over from Luke's party. I also buy granola bars and will continue until I find a recipe I'm satisfied with. I buy Yoplait yogurt. The dairy does sell yogurt but I've yet to try it on the kiddos. They sell it in gallon jugs, and that just seems like a lot. Maybe we'll try it soon! I know some people who make their own yogurt. Hmm. I'd rather just buy it at this point! I also buy 100 calorie pack cookies, ect for myself and the boys as treats. And they still get candy every now and then. There are other things that I buy every now and then that I'm just not thinking of but these are the things that I still buy most often.

And yes, I still buy my Diet Coke! Ahh.. right now, it's for my sanity. Maybe one day I'll give it up!

There are so many things I'd like to change, but it takes small steps. I think I could just throw my hands up and say, it's just food!! I mean, does it really matter!? But it's not just food. It's taking care of my family. And when presented with facts about what is best, it's our responsibility as Mom's (parents) to use that info for the benefit of the people we love (that goes for other things.... like car seats as well!). Now, don't go thinking I won't eat me a burger and fries every now and then.. or a Sonic Milkshake (mm.. I've been craving one!). I never said I was perfect and I don't plan on perfection this side of heaven. ;) I'm just trying to create a healthy relationship with food. I'm in agreement with some things in moderation, but I'm really just trying to eat real food. Another article I read said to go by the 80/20 rule. Eat healthy 80% of the time and don't worry too much about the other 20%. And although I know we're not at 80%, we're adding healthy habits slowly and I'm praying about it as we go.

Wanna know what I've been reading on the subject?

5 Fats You Must Have in Your Kitchen

Healthy Fats and Oils - a HUGE list of great articles on healthy fats.. even ones that cover "Does fat make you fat?"

Oh and by the way.. about fat... particularly losing it, here is my weekly Shred update!