Home Sweet Home (and my first menu plan in ages!)
I'm back. Ahhhh… There is no better place than home. 🙂
We got in very late last night, so I am a bit wiped and hoping for an early bedtime tonight. Ryan came down in the afternoon on Saturday to pick us up, and we intended to be home by around 8 or 9 pm. Wouldn't you know it, right as we were about to get on the freeway, we suddenly had a very sick little girl in the backseat, all over everything (and I do mean everything). Poor thing!
We rushed back to Grandma's (fortunately only 5 minutes away) and spent about 3 hours, cleaning up clothes, pillowcases, briefcases, duffel bags, her car seat, and of course, the backseat of the car. Not so fun. Finally, everything was clean, dry and little girl was feeling well enough to get back in for the 3+ hour drive home. We made it home uneventfully, coming in just after midnight.
Tired as I am (Caden woke me at 6:40 this morning, and though I tried, I couldn't get back to sleep), I am just so grateful to have our family back together, to be back to puttering around my own kitchen, to worship and fellowship at church today (and see my good friend's sweet little newborn, whose arrival I missed on Tuesday morning). Although we had a wonderful time with my husband's family, it's good to be home.
We also had a guest arrive today, an old family friend who is down here taking a 3 week course and needed a place for herself and her one year old son to stay (her husband is currently studying as well, in a different city). While she takes her course, we get the privilege of caring for her sweet little boy, who we've never met until today but have already fallen in love with. What a doll he is! You should see him dance, lol!
With all the excitement of being back and having a full house, I'm definitely back to proper meal planning! Here's my first real attempt in months (I've had loose menu plans during my morning sickness, but they weren't worth sharing- honestly!). I'm trying to save all of the food that I had bought just before we left for Seattle on very short notice, and just make meals with what I have on hand as best I can, before everything spoils if it hasn't already!
Breakfasts
- Toast and eggs
- Pancakes/waffles x 2
- Baked oatmeal x 2
- Breakfast wraps (scrambled eggs, potatoes, fresh tomatos and cheese in a tortilla)
- Cinnamon Raisin scones
And, a green smoothie (kefir or yogurt plus various types of fruit, blended up with dark leafy greens, like spinach and kale) every morning. We are trying to make a new habit of having these as a regular part of our breakfasts. We often have fruit smoothies, probably 3-5 days a week, but we are working hard to get more fresh greens in us, and this is a great way to start our days! Check out Lindsay's recent post on green smoothies for more information about what they are and why they're so good for you!
Lunches
Mostly leftovers, bits and pieces from the fridge, yogurt with fruit, sandwiches, etc.
Dinner
Monday: Salmon, sweet potato and broccoli chowder, with a chunky vegetable salad (no green leafies, but lots of cucumbers, peppers, carrots, cauliflower, etc. in small chunks. This is my husband's favorite type of salad).
Tuesday: Pizza (homemade soaked dough) with chicken, spinach, peppers and whatever else strikes me, plus a green salad.
Wednesday: Spicy Meatloaf (from Nourishing Traditions), 12 Clove Butternut Squash, and some kind of grain (probably quinoa or millet).
Thursday: Burritos with beans, rice, and cheese, plus fresh guacamole.
Friday: Spaghetti squash with Janet's Tomato Sauce, and coleslaw.
Saturday: Out to a birthday party for our daughter's friend (this family invites whole families over for dinner and a fun evening, rather than just a kids party- isn't that a great idea?), and we're leaving a bit early to take the kids to auntie and uncle's house so that we can have a late dinner date for ourselves before he leaves for New Orleans on a 5 day business trip. 🙁
Sunday: Macaroni and Cheese with cauliflower (from the latest issue of Real Simple), plus spinach salad.
Find more menu planning inspiration at I'm an Organizing Junkie!
Welcome back! Sorry to hear about your daughter getting sick though, hope she feels better soon!
I wanted to ask you before but now this menu plan reminded me. What do you use for tortillas? I think you mentioned making them once. Where is your recipe from? What ones do you buy if you buy them? I bought some the other day that were so awful. They were sprouted ones in the frozen section. They were too stiff and not soft; they would not roll. They were organic and sprouted and all that and a lot of $ but were awful. My husband loves tortillas so this week he bought the regular ones again, much to my dismay, although I am trying to be respectful about it (but struggling). He asked if I know how to make some, but when I tried before it was also a disaster! Making bread and bread products I find so difficult and I was discouraged that even the good store bought ones weren’t up to his standard- they broke into pieces even though they appeared soft.
Thank you for sharing your baked oatmeal recipe I am going to try that. Do you know if cooking oatmeal in the crockpot can still be soaked? I am still figuring out the soaking thing. Maybe the act of having it cook slowly in the crockpot soaks it somehow.
I love green smoothies. YUM! And so good for you! I usually keep mine limited to fruit and greens… sometimes I add some raw vegan nut/seed milk and/or hemp protein powder.
Cheers!
Kristen
I love green smoothies! I make mine with spinach, banana, frozen strawberries and peaches, yogurt and a bit of orange juice. I usually add coconut oil and a little honey too. So yummy 🙂
The salmon, sweet pot and broc soup looks so yummy. I have been reading and wanting to comment on several posts…I just find little time. I haven’t even posted on my own blog since last Tuesday. I need to learn better to write in spirts LOL!
Glad your back!
I need to learn how to spell while I’m at it.
I meant spurts not spirts. I still think they need to put spell check on blog posts.
Sandi, it is sooo good. I love it! And here-here to spell check everywhere! 🙂
Glad to hear others that love green smoothies, too! We’ve been doing them with kale most recently, and I just bought a huge bag of spinach to try out some new flavors. I’d love to expand into some other greens, too, but these are the ones we like the best so far.
Nola, I think it is good enough, or at least close, to cook your oatmeal very slowly in a crockpot, as long as you have something acidic in there. Another option to make sure that it’s done correctly is to put it to soak in the pot in the morning, but don’t turn it on. Then just give it a stir and turn it on before you go to bed that night.
As for tortillas, I do make my own most of the time, using the soaking recipe in my Sue Gregg cookbook. The first day they are wonderfully soft. After that, they do crack a little bit and I want to experiment to figure out how to avoid that.
When I buy them, I buy the sprouted ones by Healthy Way, I believe, from Costco, and I usually freeze some of them. I find these ones to be quite soft and not break too easily, even after freezing. Giving them a quick fry in olive oil softens them nicely, too. I also sometimes buy Food for Life’s (Ezekiel bread maker’s) sprouted corn tortillas. They do break, but it also helps to briefly fry them, and they’re nice for taco style meals, rather than burritos.