Weekly Meal Planning for Oct 25-31

For some reason, I'm feeling uninspired this week. Honestly, I would be completely fine with different types of soups all week but I don't think my husband or kids would be so into that! So with chili and lentil soup on the menu, I need to add some variety with other types of meals. We have some zucchini from last week's farm box, so I will make some sort of pasta using it. I have some root vegetables coming in this week's farm box so I will use those in some manner as well.

Sunday: Chipotle takeout 
Monday: kubba, lentil soup, green salad
Tuesday: kubba stew with zucchini and spinach 
Wednesday: tomato soup
Thursday: roast chicken, roasted root vegetables, salad with pears  
Friday: leftover chicken and veggies
Saturday: chili at our neighborhood Halloween party 

Are you being inspired by cooler temperatures? What's on your menu this week?

Healthier Halloween Snacks!

It's that time of year when I feel like everywhere I turn, my kids are being handed some sort of junk food because "It's Halloween season!" Ugh. On Halloween, we let our kids eat candy. We don't exchange what they get from trick or treating for "healthier" options. And yes, they hold onto a couple of things to eat in the following days. But in all honesty, the novelty pretty much ends a couple of days later. I end up chucking a whole lot of candy (or hauling it to a dentist's office). Because I certainly don't need - or even want! - it around. 

But, I digress. This post was going to be about healthier Halloween options! So here are some options that aren't just straight up sugar:

Green monster popsicles (or smoothies): these are easy to make and if you have a popsicle mold, easy to freeze too. Just toss in two bananas, two handfuls of spinach, and some milk. These are great for play dates and even smaller classes - just take the smoothie already mixed up and pour into small, clear cups. The kids can decorate the monster "faces" on the cups before you pour the smoothies. 

Clementine or applesauce jack o lanterns: either draw a jack o lantern face on a clementine, or tape an orange circular piece of paper on top of an applesauce cup and draw a jack o lantern face on that. I took the applesauce cups to my (then 3 year old) daughter's preschool class and they loved them!

Sugar cookie jack o lantern: bake sugar cookies, cut up fruit into small pieces, and have the kids make the faces on the cookies before eating them

Trail mix: popcorn, pretzels, cheerios, nuts (optional), and candy corn mixed together. We are sending little baggies of these for my oldest's class on Friday.

Pretzel ghosts: dip one end of a medium pretzel stick into melted white chocolate, dot with two mini chocolate chips for eyes, lay on wax paper to cool and harden.

Pretzel spiders: use a one inch piece of banana as the "body" and stick thin pretzels into it for the legs. 

What healthier halloween treat ideas have you had or served that were big hits?

Weekly Meal Planning for Oct 18-24

I was on a retreat weekend so I am throwing a few things together this week. I have some random food items to eat in my fridge before they go bad! 

Sunday: hodgepodge leftovers 

Monday: tomato bisque and apple-grilled cheese

Tuesday: yellow squash and black bean enchiladas

Wednesday:  pork chops with apples, green beans, mashed potatoes 

Thursday: leftoves

Friday: at a football game

Saturday: dinner party 

What's on your menu this week?

It's Apple Time

We went to a local apple orchard last weekend and have a bushel (or is it a peck?) of apples on the counter! We have a nice variety - four or five different ones - and the girls quickly came up with a couple of things to do with them (aside from eat them as is!). 

The first thing we did was make an apple crisp. We were having my mom over for dinner, and what better dessert to have than a homemade apple crisp with fresh-off-the-tree, local apples? A warm, cinnamon-spiced dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream? Yes please! I used the recipe from 100 Days of Real Food and it was a hit. 

The next thing we made was applesauce. I looked around for some easy recipes as we had never made it at home before, though both girls had at school. The one that kept jumping out was super simple and required very few ingredients: apples, cinnamon, water, salt, and juice from a lemon. Oh, and it gets cooked in a slow cooker. It can't get much simpler than that! It was very delicious and we will be making more later this week!

We had chicken salad for lunch on Monday with apples, celery, avocado, and sunflower seeds. I had a neighborhood meeting in the evening to which I took baked brie with apples and walnuts. And I served grilled cheese and apple sandwiches with soup Monday night.

Lastly, I have bookmarked a roast pork recipe to try later this week. It calls for a few apples and cinnamon. Fingers crossed that this one is as good as the others!

What are your favorite apple recipes?

Pumpkin Spice Creamer and Smoothies

Happy Fall Monday! The girls are off today, and in celebration of this long weekend and not having to wake up at , I decided to make some homemade pumpkin drinks. WITH REAL PUMPKIN. The girls enjoyed a delicious pumpkin smoothie, based off the 100 Days of Real Food recipe. And the Mr. and I enjoyed a yummy pumpkin spice creamer, based off of the Against All Grain recipe. They are both VERY easy to make.

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie
2 cups of raw spinach leaves
1/2 cup of vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup of pumpkin puree 
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 frozen banana
1/2 teaspoon vanilla, optional (we did not include)

Blend spinach with milk, pumpkin, and spice until smooth. Add banana and blend until no more banana chunks.


Pumpkin Spice Creamer
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a jar or bottle. Shake vigorously until well mixed. Pour desired amount into coffee. Refrigerate the remaining creamer for up to five days.

Weekly Meal Planning for Oct 11-17

We have several afternoon/evening commitments this week, so the meals have to be easy "make-ahead and reheat" or easy to throw together! My oldest daughter has requested tomato soup and grilled cheese night so I'm making that one day. And it's been a while since we've had a breakfast-for-dinner night! 

Sunday: zucchini stew over rice
Monday: chicken noodle soup and toasted apple-cheese open faced sandwiches
Tuesday: leftover beef chili nachos
Wednesday: frittata with spinach and apple sausage 

Thursday: out for a fundraising dinner 

Friday: tomato bisque and toasted apple-cheese open faced sandwiches

Saturday: daddy/daughter weekend

Weekly Meal Planning for Oct 4-10

Now that we are officially in October, all I have on my mind are hearty meals! It helps that it's been cloudy, rainy and dreary here. And I've been a bit under the weather. So I want comforting meals.

Sunday: dinner at FIL's

Monday: lentil soup

Tuesday: roast chicken with brussel sprouts and bacon, zucchini tots, lemon roasted cauliflower

Wednesday: curried carrot soup 
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: out to eat at a concert
Saturday: beef chili