Happy Halloween 2019

Halloween 2019 was another sweet one! 

But let's back up......I woke up to rotting pumpkins, so we had to throw a few in the trash.

 After school the kids watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, while I cooked an early dinner.

In years past I have cooked a "fallish" dinner on Halloween, such as chili or soup. Now I just cook what I know they will eat, and preferably something salty! Tonight we had hot dogs, homemade French fries, and fruit.

 This year we had a cool SWAT guy:

The Incredible Hulk:

A Pink Fairy:

 And Leonardo the Ninja Turtle:

All together and ready to trick-or-treat!

Andrew totally kept up with his big siblings. I loved seeing how Ryan helped him.....he held his hand at scary houses and helped him up and down big steps. What a sweet big brother.

 After just a couple blocks we were loaded with candy.

 See that little cheeseball on the left? He kept sneaking so much candy without me seeing!

 Ryan and Lucas went back out with Adam to trick-or-treat on another block. Jenna took over the role of passing out candy, and I must say she was a pro!

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Cook Once Eat All Week (Review #2)

After I recently reviewed this new cookbook on my blog, many of you were interested in learning more about it. So when I cooked out of this book again last week, I snapped a few photos to share.

I jumped ahead to week 4, which featured ground beef, Yukon gold potatoes, and broccoli. Again, very simple ingredients that combined to make some delicious dinners.

 On my prep day I had time to do about 3/4 of the prep. I rediscovered my love for roasted broccoli in the process!

 Who knew roasted potato wedges are just as good reheated in the oven a couple days later?

Our first meal was bunless bacon burgers with potato wedges and roasted broccoli. We loved it all. Everything had great flavor and I didn't miss the bun at all.

Night 2 was a cottage pie. In an attempt to get my kids to eat it, I left out the veggies and instead served them on the side. I also subbed in chicken stock instead of wine, and I think as a result it wasn't quite as good as it could have been. I mean, we still ate it. But it wasn't my favorite meal of the week. Just tasted a little one-note.

Our third meal were these picadillo tacos. They were really tasty! They contained ground beef and diced potatoes cooked in a yummy picadillo sauce that I had prepped ahead of time.

This week I was once again blown away by how 3 humble ingredients can make up 3 very different dinners. Because of my prep day, dinner came together very quickly each night with minimal dishes! I have a bunch of other weeks flagged to try, so I plan on continuing to cook my way through this cookbook, perhaps every other week. Let me know if you try this cookbook for your family!

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Pumpkin Carving 2019

Last night the 6 of us carved pumpkins with Grandma Jan.  Our pumpkins were a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. Ryan carved a medium sized orange one and then helped finish a small white one I started. I was trying to carve a kitty's face but accidentally messed up. Ryan took over and turned it into something really creative. Isn't he talented?

 Grandma helped Lucas carve this funny tall skinny pumpkin.

And the short fat orange pumpkin.

 And I helped Jenna with her girly pumpkin.

Jenna was so happy with the way her pumpkin turned out, since we gave her eyelashes. "Oh Mommy I just love my pumpkin!"

 Andrew drew on his face with markers and said "ewww" every time he saw pumpkin guts.

 My new screensaver picture on my phone.

 Daddies are always the best at scooping out pumpkins!

The finished pumpkins. Didn't they turn out so well? Now I am trying to keep them from rotting before Thursday.

A bonus is the big bowl of pumpkin seeds I have ready to roast in the oven. Happy pumpkin carving!

Friday Favorites

A few favorites from the last couple weeks!

We thoroughly enjoyed our first trip to Bishop's together as a family!

Lately Jenna has been quite the little helper in the kitchen.

And she is still my best eater. On this day she requested garbanzo beans mixed with cucumbers.

I've been trying so hard to keep the TV off and encourage more creative play. I caught this guy peeking out of his new "house".

Kind of random, but I absolutely love this sauerkraut from Costco. I have never enjoyed sauerkraut before but this is a new favorite!

Lucas lost a tooth at school and his new gap smile makes him look so much younger. Favorite!

Reading little notes from Jenna is always a favorite. This is a picture she drew for me, as well as a grocery list she wrote.

Being surprised with free Panera bread from our neighbors was a favorite!

 

Our freshly painted walls are my favorite. I love the way the color turned out (Gatherings, by Magnolia Home), and I love having a white mantle now. Everything just feels fresh and clean and now I am in major decluttering mode.

 What were your favorites from the week?

Dentist and Doctor

Andrew tagged along with his siblings this week for his first dentist appointment. We tried 6 months ago but he refused to even open his mouth. This time he was a pro!

He hopped up in the chair, took the glasses from the nurse, put them on, and leaned back with a smile. He felt just like a big kid. When the dentist checked his teeth, he opened right up. He did so well they decided to try polishing his teeth, and he loved it!

His favorite part was the suction straw that sucks the water out of your mouth. I'm pretty sure he would have sat there all afternoon having his mouth rinsed and suctioned. He got a good tooth checkup and a balloon....and he was a happy boy!

The next day was Saturday and unfortunately Andrew took a tumble off our stairs onto the tile floor. Adam says he was just 2 steps up when he lost his footing and fell, landing on the left side of his head. Andrew typically bounces back up after getting hurt and says "I'm ok!", but not this time. He cried and cried and whimpered in my arms for quite a while, refusing to lift up his head. Then he fell asleep. I was reminded of the time when Ryan fractured his skull and fell asleep afterwards. I called the advice nurse to see what they thought. While I was on the phone he woke up and threw up in my lap. At this point, I was now remembering Ryan's concussion, since he also threw up after that.

They told me to bring Andrew in for an evaluation. Once again, he was an absolute champ. He climbed up onto the table and lay down waiting for the doctor. He answered her questions, and she assured me that he seemed fine. There is no way to really know if a toddler has had a concussion, as the vomiting might indicate. But the fact that Andrew is acting normal and did not continue to throw up is reassuring. She ended the appointment telling me to keep a close eye on him this weekend. Saturday he seemed really sleepy but today he was back to his loud, energetic self. It's times like this when I really appreciate his boisterous personality!

Cook Once Eat All Week (Review)

I tried out my latest cookbook purchase this week, the Cook Once Eat all Week book by Cassy Joy Garcia!  (Anyone else read cookbooks like novels?) Meal prepping is not a new concept for most of us, but this author approaches it a bit differently. She provides you with 26 weeks of meal prep and recipes. Each week is based around 1 protein, 1 starch, and 1 vegetable. From those main ingredients, you create 3 completely different meals.

Here is a quick visual of all 26 weeks and their 3 main ingredients. All recipes are gluten free, although you could of course substitute regular pasta for a few of the recipes. She also gives options for those who are paleo, dairy free, etc. Each week does contain an animal protein, so this cookbook would not work for a vegan or vegetarian. That is actually my main gripe about the book. I think it really could have benefited from having a couple weeks that focus on plant-based proteins, such as beans.

On your "Prep Day" you follow the instructions to prepare the main components for your meals. The directions are very well organized. For me, it took about 1.5 hours, although that included a diaper change, helping Jenna with schoolwork, switching laundry, and loading the dishwasher. I definitely could have completed everything in under an hour without distractions.

The fruits of my labor! Meal prepping this way should save a bit of money, since you are buying fewer ingredients in bulk, rather than tons of different items. You could really be diligent about planning your weeks based on what meat is on sale, and I bet you'd see a reduction in your grocery bill.

On the night of cooking, each recipe takes very minimal time, since the majority of the work is already done. I started with week 1, which was based around shredded chicken, broccoli, and rice.

Night 1 was this BBQ Chicken and Rice Casserole. I actually didn't have high hopes for it...….

But we loved it! Adam said it was one of the best dishes I have ever made. And Ryan said "If you made this every night I would totally scarf it down". (If nothing else, I now know I can "rice" broccoli and stir it into regular rice and my 9 year old will eat it. Hallelujah!) This made enough for dinner and lunch leftovers the next day. Hands-on cooking time was maybe 5 minutes.

 Recipe #2 was White Chicken Chili.

I ended up with a migraine on this day, so Adam had to step in and prepare dinner. Thankfully, most ingredients were already prepped so he didn't have to do much! The end result was yummy and came together in about 10 minutes.

 The 3rd recipe was Chicken and Broccoli Fried Rice.

Adam wasn't in love with the flavor, but I thought it was good! I love when my food actually looks like the picture in the cookbook.

I was curious if we would feel like we ate the same foods all week, but we honestly didn't. Now granted, it was only 3 nights of meals. But even after 3 nights, I didn't feel tired of chicken, rice and broccoli. Each recipe was so unique and different. And I actually like that you aren't preparing food for an entire week. On our other 2 weekday nights we ate salmon and ground beef, so we still had plenty of variety.

 I went through the cookbook and flagged 13 weeks that I believe my family would enjoy. I'd say that's pretty terrific, given how picky my kids can be. I can't wait to cook next week's food.....Picadillo Tacos anyone?

Let me know if you have any questions about my newest cookbook!