Meals This Week

Thank you everyone for all your suggestions - I mean, Alexis. :) She gave me the great healthy meal idea of stir fry, which is always a great way to go! She also told me about the trainermama blog which I already know about and follow. Trainermama is quite amazing, and does have a lot of really yummy and healthy recipes along with other tips for working out and staying healthy so go check her out!

Here we go with the meals!

Tuesday

Stir Fry

Since my first, and only, suggestion for what to eat this week was stir fry, I made sure to make that the first day. I fried up some chicken in a little olive oil, then added some carrots, zucchini, and bean sprouts (was that all? It seems like there might have been another veggie, but I can't remember). For the sauce I used a little soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and chicken broth. Served with brown rice.

Pretty simple, healthy and yummy.

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture, but it turned out really good, and the kids even pretty much ate everything on their plates! It helps when you call the bean sprouts snakes, and each different color of vegetable fights a different kind of monster: green fights ogres, orange fights dragons, red fights vampires, etc. (The colors are antioxidants and the monsters are free radicles, if you want to get technical)

Wednesday

I didn't end up giving myself enough time to make what I wanted on Wednesday so I made these little muffin omelets with spinach, mushrooms, orange peppers and cheese that no one (except me) ended up eating for dinner since Pete brought pizza home so we saved them for breakfast the next day. No on (except me) ended up eating them then either. Fail.

The reason I didn't have time to make what I had planned was because I had to take Mindy to her ballet field trip which was a dress rehearsal for the University of Utah's ballet company. I was lucky enough to get to stick around and watch it with her, and it was pretty amazing! They were really good. Here's my attempt at a photo with my iphone:

Haha Yeah, didn't really work.

Thursday

Moroccan-Style Stuffed Squash

This is one of my favorite things to make, and it was very appropriate for fall. I just love squash. Of course, the kids won't touch it, so they just got the stuffing. Even then, though, Ethan was the only one to really eat any of it. Pete and I liked it though, and it has a really cool presentation so it's fun to make when you have company. I'd even say you could make it with 3 or 4 squash because there's always a ton of stuffing left over, and just have it as a side.

We had squash left over (since the kids wouldn't touch it), and I just dug it out of the shell and saved it for lunch the next day where I smashed it up and mixed it in with some of the stuffing.

I actually liked it better this way because you get more squash mixed in, and the more squash the better for me!

Friday

Rotkhol with Brats and Potatoes

Pete served an LDS mission for 2 years in Germany so he has a fondness for German food, which he has passed on to me. Rotkhol means "red cabbage" and you make it with vinegar, a little sugar and apples. It's got a sweet, tangy flavor and is so yummy with the sausage! This is a pretty simple thing to make, but you have to give yourself a couple hours. I used this recipe except I started out with 8 pieces of bacon, diced, instead of just using bacon fat (where's the fun in that?) and I forgot the apple jelly, but it turned out really good - I mean "sehr gut!"

Pete made the potatoes, and cooked the brats which was really nice because I really wasn't feeling very good come dinner time last night.

Saturday

Almond Crusted Pork with Apple-Rosemary Sauce

This probably would have been better as a Sunday dinner, but I just didn't want to let that lovely tenderloin sit in the fridge for another day so I made it tonight.

This one is another one that's good for company because it has a really good presentation, and it's just so good! My sister was asking me for this recipe a little while ago, and I never gave it to her. Sorry, Katie, here you go!

I just steamed some asparagus to go with it, which was a little hard to get the kids to eat, but they managed.

Sunday

Chili

It wasn't fair when I said Alexis was the only one who gave me a suggestion. I did get a suggestion from someone on twitter also. Thanks Laura! She suggested soup or chili so I'm going to make Chili tomorrow. It should be really good because I can put it in the crockpot before we leave for church and we can have it when we get back. Plus, it's supposed to snow tomorrow, and what's better than chili on a snowy afternoon?

This is supposedly Barack Obama's Chili recipe. Well, whosever it is, we liked it last time so I'm making it again. Maybe with some cornbread.

And for Dessert: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made this with whole white wheat flour and applesauce instead of vegetable oil. They are very chocolaty!