Our Wednesdays tend to be busy since we have Home School P.E. Class in the morning, and then Bible Class in the evening. Today, I had a 2:00 appointment as well, so I feel like I was only home to cook and eat today. (As I’m typing this, I hear Matt in the kitchen rinsing the dinner dishes. I love how he’s always willing to pitch in.)
Our Wednesday menu plan was:
Wednesday, January 30
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, applesauce
Meat and cheese burritos, fruit
Alfredo sauce with pasta, tossed salad
Having a plan in place is so helpful for days we are on the go! I had our muffins started last night, so all I had to do this morning was finish mixing them up, put them into the oven, and let them bake while I got ready to go and got the boys up. Along with Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins, I also made a batch of Coconut Flour Muffins, per Malachi’s request. It was easy to do, and it was very nice to have the variety of choices this morning. I always need to make a double batch of muffins to fill us anyway, so having a single batch of two different kinds worked out great.
I had some leftover Caramel Apple Dip in the fridge, so I sliced up apples to go with it, and poured everyone a glass of milk. It had snowed a couple inches during the night, so Matt (who has a snow-removal business) had gotten up bright and early (or should I say dark and early) to get to work moving snow. We were nice enough to save him a few muffins to eat when he got home.
When we got home from P.E. the kids were “starving”. I pulled Meat and Cheese Burritos out the freezer (which I had made last week), and put them into the oven. The kids got a big drink of water, then worked on school assignments while they waited for lunch. I think one or two of them may have swiped a leftover breakfast muffin to hold them over too. :)
While the burritos baked, I made smoothies. Admittedly, frozen fruit on a snowy day didn’t sound like the best idea. But smoothies are a great way to get lots of nutrients. And I thought the kids would find them to be refreshing after running so much during P.E. Sneaking spinach into smoothies is so easy – you can’t even tell it’s in there!
See?
Why yes, we did shiver while we ate them. It was oh-so worth it though. Yum!
I got a later start on dinner than I meant to, so I was a little rushed to get us fed before we headed to church tonight. I get frustrated with myself when I do that. What? Like I expect myself to pull this off perfectly all the time? It’s hard to remember to give myself grace. And it’s also hard to give the kids grace when we have ten minutes to eat and they aren’t hurrying like I’m asking them to. Grr. Chill out, Mom.
And now, back to the happy post in which I share about how I fed my family lovely food today… {blush}
I steamed broccoli and carrots together to go with our Pasta Alfredo and Salad. (And by salad, I really just mean “torn lettuce leaves” because that’s all we had time for!)
Oh, and we were out of Ranch Dressing so I had to mix that up real quickly too. Shew! At least I had a jar of mix already put together so that all I had to do was scoop some out and shake it with the other ingredients.
I do believe tomorrow should be a slower day. Without a doubt, having a menu plan saved me today! (Having ranch dressing already made would have saved me even more, but whatever.) :)
So, how was your day? Hope you got to chew your food at dinner tonight. I think I may have just swallowed mine whole. I don’t recommend that. :)
Mary Brandon says
My power was off until about 10AM. That always rearranges your day. However, last week I went for several days not knowing if ther would be water when I turned the tap, so this was better. There is just me, so no hungry boys to contend with. I was hungry for breakfast though.
Heather @ My Kansas Life says
My day was way busier than usual, but we stuck to our menu plan for everything except dinner. I was in town for Bible Study and I got hungrier than I thought so I caved to McDonald’s fries. Not healthy for me, but so worth it once in a while!
Crystal says
We have church on Thursday nights so last night was easy. I made your chicken and rice casserole and it was DELICIOUS. I didn’t use heavy cream though because I don’t have a good source for it… ok, I actually do but it’s $17 a gallon, YIKES! I’ve only bought it once and that was for Christmas! So, I used Tammy’s Recipes to make homemade cream of chicken soup with some homemade broth and whole milk. I added frozen peas when I added my shredded chicken. It was so good, although I think I’m the only one who thought so. My boys aren’t big casserole eaters. If I would have served the rice, chicken, peas and carrots seperately, they would have loved it. Hubby had an evening appointment and got dinner out, he’s not a big fan of rice so I save all of our rice dinners when he’s not going to be home! ;)
I really want to begin making more real meal lunches but right now my boys are more than happy to eat peanut butter and jelly(or honey) every day with cut fruit and veggies.
Tonight, before church, we’re having cheesy scrambled eggs, toast and oranges. It’s quick and easy which is what I try to do on church night! But we will all need a snack when we get home!
Jen says
Crystal, if that $17 per gallon price is for raw cream, that’s a great deal! My raw cream is $14 a quart. I purchase about 1 quart a month, because I love it in my coffee, and occasionally I use it in a recipe if it’s not going to be cooked. Like stirring it into homemade tomato soup. We also like to make raw, homemade ice cream once in a while. For all cooked recipes, I buy heavy cream at Trader Joe’s. No way I’m wasting the raw stuff in a cooked recipe!
Crystal says
It’s not raw but it is from local, grass fed cows. We know the family (my husband actually worked for them for a while when he was out of work). It is low heat pasturized and not homogenized though. I haven’t been able to find raw milk in my area yet! It is great milk though! It’s all we drink and we love it.
Shannon from VA says
It’s a lovely pic of your dinner, but my husband would say, “Where’s the meat?” So, I make your alfredo sauce pasta and add shrimp….sooo good and my boy loves it!! Thanks for sharing how you improvise and add and subtract from your menu plan and why. This has been very helpful. :)
Laura says
I’m like that too – usually really wanting meat with every meal! I ran out of time for this meal, plus since we had burritos for lunch, we weren’t feeling too meat deprived. (Later I remembered I had cooked, leftover chicken in the fridge that would have easily worked in this. Oh well!) :)
Ginger says
May I have the recipe for your smoothie pictured above?? Looks delicious!!
Laura says
This is the basic recipe: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/mock-frozen-yogurt, which you can mix and match fruits. For this particular day, I used spinach, orange juice, and frozen strawberries. :)
Jennifer S. says
So I have a question – Did your boys need a snack when you came home from church because that’s what I always have to think about when we have church at night?
Laura says
YES!! No matter what I feed them or how much they eat before church, they always need more when we get home. :)
Ginger says
I don’t have any sucanat on hand for the chocolate chip muffins…Can I use agave nectar instead? If not, what is a good alternative? Thanks again!
Amanda says
We had church last night, too! I didn’t have a plan for dinner. All I thought, “what am I going to make?!” (I desperately need to make a grocery run but the weather has been nasty!) For some reason oatmeal bake came to mind. Had all the ingredients so I whipped up a batch and had clementines on the side ;) Leftovers for breakfast with a little milk mixed in…Mmm..delish!
Megan says
My day was rainy…lots of it! I cooked a lot over the weekend, so it’s been mostly freezer food this week. So convenient! Making more food this coming weekend. Single gal in the mountains…skiing tonight!
amy says
Thanks so much for sharing your menus Laura. It helps keep me on track with my menu planning. for some reason, I just haven’t been able to menu plan lately. Reading about yours actually got me focused enough yesterday to plan the rest of the week. Also, remembering to give myself grace when things don’t go exactly as planned is a big help too!
Jessica S. says
Could you share your smoothie recipe? I see oranges, frozen red grapes and spinach? Thanks love the recipes!
Jessica S. says
Nevermind, I found it in the comments :o)
It pays to read EVERYTHING
Laura says
:)
Karen says
I love you! Will you marry me (and then come and feed MY boys?). LOL. You rock — love your blog and meal plans and recipes and attitude of gratitude. Seriously, you are such an inspiration and you make me laugh on some of my darkest days. So, thank you!
Mindy W. says
Well, we got to chew our food but in the dark since we had no power :) leftover chicken salad sandwiches, guacamole and chips, clementines, and couscous salad! Power came back on mid meal thankfully! I didn’t know what I was going to do with a toddler in the dark all night!
I always love reading your stories. You have a really fun writing voice :)
Tracy Deakyne says
Your planning always inspires me! I love to plan as well and, boy, does it make a huge difference! If I somehow don’t plan, it makes me a wreck at meal time! I plan on Sundays and shop for the week on Mondays as I drive past all the stores on the way back from Piano lessons and out here in the country, the stores are few and a bit far at times. Wednesday nights we cook for the weekend(our sabbath is Saturday)and what arelief to have it all in the freezer or fridge and ready to go. Thanks again for your inspiration! Tracy
Heather Gonzales says
Today I was glad that I made a big batch of soup yesterday. I was sidelined with a migraine most of the day, so I wasn’t up to fixing lunch, and my grandma has pneumonia, so family stopping to see her interfered with our dinner plans. Sweet potato soup to the rescue both times! Oh well, at least I got my veggies in today :)
Cami says
Thanks for sharing about your day and meal planning. Always helpful ideas!
I have a healthy, great tasting green smoothie recipe I found that my kids have loved lately…no yogurt even involved. Although, our other favorite, similar to yours, I use yogurt and orange juice.
Green Smoothie Ingredients
1 kiwi
1 avocado
1 banana
1 cup mango (frozen)
1 cup pineapple (frozen)
2 cups kale
2 cups water
Directions
Blend kale and filtered water together for 30 seconds. Next add remaining ingredients and blend until creamy.
http://familysponge.com/simple-green-smoothies/green-smoothie-kiwi-kale-avocado/
Cindy says
Do you buy muffin liners “en masse” from somewhere? Or just stock up every time you go to Walmart?
Laura says
I order them by the case from Amazon usually: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/unbleached-baking-cups