Healthy Meals 4th Week January

Here are our final meals of January! How is everyone else doing with their cooking this month? I always love hearing new ideas. You can find our first 3 weeks of meals here: 3rd Week, 2nd Week, 1st Week

Saturday - BBQ Chicken and Rice Casserole

This is a recipe from my Cook Once Eat All Week cookbook. I made it last year and we really enjoyed it. The base of it is rice combined with riced broccoli. It is topped with BBQ sauced chicken and fresh bacon crumbles. It is so tasty that even Ryan ate it, knowing there was riced broccoli in it!

Sunday - Cheeseburger Salad

I cooked up burgers and topped them with cheese and a combo of ketchup/mustard. I served them with lettuce, tomato, pickles and red onion.

Monday - Red Lentil Soup and Sourdough w/ Homemade Butter

The soup looks yellow but it is made with red lentils. It was a basic recipe but really tasty! I made homemade sourdough and then we just happened to make homemade butter that day for our nutrition science curriculum. It was such a delicious totally homemade meal!

These are the red lentils I buy.

Side note: I recently discovered these granola bars and they are SO good! They are grain free and only flavored with natural sweeteners (maple syrup, honey) and so good.

Tuesday - Breakfast Nachos

This started out as breakfast night and then morphed into breakfast nachos. I cooked potato slices and scrambled eggs, and then topped with lettuce, pico de gallo, and guacamole. This meal had so much flavor!

Wednesday - Asian Ground Turkey, Rice, Sauteed Veggies

I was going to make asian turkey lettuce wraps but forgot to buy the boston butter lettuce. I still cooked the turkey and seasoned it with coconut aminos, ginger, garlic, and a touch of garlic chili sauce. On the side I intended to make brown rice but ran out of time, so I just cooked some white rice. (The kids were happy!). I also stir-fried a big pan of onions and celery, which I topped with a drizzle of sesame oil. I had forgotten how much I like stir-fried onions and celery! We also had edamame (Jenna's favorite. We call it Eddie's Mommy).

Thursday - Random Chicken Bean Veggie Combo

I was SO close to buying food this night, but now I can't remember why. I think maybe I had a headache? Finally I decided I could at least cook a little bit of chicken and boil some whole wheat spaghetti noodles. I decided to top mine with garbanzo beans for added protein, since the kids ate most of the chicken and noodles. Then I cooked a frozen package of vegetables from Costco that contained peas, zucchini, green beans, and leeks. I decided it needed something fresh on top, so I diced up a tomato and then added parmesan. This meal made me think of my Mom because it was really random and a mixture of fresh food and leftovers. (She's known for combining strange foods to use them up) It ended up being good!

Friday - Beef and Sweet Potato Stew, Homemade Sourdough

I had a pound of stew meat but no potatoes. However, I did have white sweet potatoes! So I tried out a new stew recipe using sweet potatoes, and I thought it was excellent. Recipe is here. I didn't tell Adam about the potatoes, and he said this version of stew was not his favorite. On the side I warmed up the 2nd sourdough round that I had made earlier in the week. Comforting and nutritious.

Saturday - Baked Chicken Parmesan, Green Beans, Sourdough Garlic Bread

Our final meal of the month! It doesn't look impressive but it was SO good. For the chicken parmesan, I simple spread a thin layer of marinara in a glass pan, and layered thinly sliced chicken breasts on top. I sprinkled with garlic powder and oregano/basil. Then I topped with mozzarella, more sauce, and then parmesan. I baked it for about 30 minutes. I also sliced up the leftover sourdough and topped with butter and garlic salt/parmesan, and then baked for 15 minutes. Finally, I steamed some green beans. The flavors in this meal were amazing, and Andrew and Jenna had seconds and thirds of the chicken!

Healthy Meals 3rd Week January

Here we are, already 3 weeks down in January! We continued to eat dinner at home every night this week, focusing on healthy whole foods as much as possible.

Friday - Veggie Burger, Big Salad

I know, this is the lamest Friday night dinner. I hadn't gotten around to meal planning for the upcoming week so it was kind of a "use up what we have" night. We were outside until around 8pm talking and playing with neighbors on our block. So when we came inside I needed something fast. (Kids ate dinosaur chicken nuggets and fruit) I fixed myself a big salad of lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, and tomatoes. On the side I had a Dr. Praeger's veggie burger that wasn't that great. I may have also consumed an (unpictured) cookie in a mug.

Saturday - Pot Roast with Sauerkraut

I made a pot roast in my instant pot, but unfortunately the meat turned out pretty tough. We still ate it, but it definitely wasn't that shredded fall-apart meat that is so good. I served mine with sauerkraut!

Sunday - Ground Turkey, Pasta, Broccoli

This was just a basic dinner that satisfied everyone. Ground organic turkey, whole wheat pasta topped with some parmesan, and steamed broccoli. I used up the rest of the chickpea rotini and then added in half a box of this whole wheat penne.

Monday - Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap

SO tasty! Pretty sure this was my favorite meal from the week! I've never made these before, but it just sounded really yummy. I basically made the components of a chicken caesar salad and then stuffed it all into a whole wheat tortilla. Here is the cast of characters:

I sliced 4 chicken breasts in half lengthwise and then marinated them in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, and kefir. I was supposed to use mayo, but rarely have it in the house. I figured kefir would be a good replacement, and it was!

Tuesday - Pork Tenderloin, Potatoes, Roasted Cauliflower

This was a meal that felt kind of special but was incredibly simple to make. I seasoned a couple pork tenderloins with a spice rub, seared them in a pan, and then popped into a hot oven to finish cooking. When it was done I had a lot of pan drippings/juice, so I whisked in a tiny bit of flour for an instant gravy. I also stuck some potatoes in the oven (everyone else had white potatoes, I had a sweet potato). For the cauliflower, I just chopped a head of cauliflower up into bite sized pieces, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted in the oven along with everything else. (Jenna and Andrew loved the cauliflower!)

Wednesday - Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

I put all the ingredients for this chicken tortilla soup in my crockpot in the morning, and the house smelled amazingly spicy all day. It had chicken, corn, black beans, tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, cumin, and chili powder. About 30 minutes before dinner, I sliced up a bunch of corn tortillas and baked them in the oven until they were crisp. I topped my soup with a few tortilla strips as well as white cheddar cheese.

Thursday - Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs, Kale Chips

We were gifted some food from Omaha Steaks for Christmas, and these meatballs were the last item from our box. I cooked whole wheat spaghetti noodles for the kids, but roasted a spaghetti squash for Adam and I. Cut in half, roast, and then shred into noodles! I topped mine with marinara, parmesan, and a couple meatballs. On the side  I grabbed a couple of the kale chips I made for the kids.

What was on your dinner menu this week?

Healthy Meals 2nd Week January

 Here's another week of healthy-ish meals. Halfway through the month and we've had a homecooked meal every night. I hope we can keep the momentum going!

In case you missed it, here are last week's meals: Nully Baby Blog: Healthy Meals January 2021

Friday - Whole Chicken, Sweet Potato, Roasted Veggies

That potato looks like a white one, but it's actually some sort of sweet potato. I cooked a whole chicken in my crockpot using my favorite technique here. I also roasted these beautiful veggies! (Red potatoes for Adam.....and I honestly don't remember what carb I fed the kids.)

Saturday - Fried Rice, Ground Turkey, Edamame

I started with this bag of riced cauliflower stir-fry (I love this stuff, but sadly only found it at Costco once!). I added in some scrambled eggs and dumped in a little bit of leftover brown rice. So our fried rice was half brown rice, half cauliflower. On the side we had edamame and ground turkey.

Sunday - Sourdough Crust Pizza

Not low-carb or anything, but I love my homemade sourdough pizza! This is hands-down my favorite way to make pizza these days. I simply feed my sourdough starter, and pour the starter directly into a hot cast iron skillet. Spread it around until it's nice and thin, flip once, top with toppings, and transfer to the oven for maybe 10 minutes. No making dough and letting it rise, no rolling out dough and making a flour mess. And bonus health points for fermented sourdough!

My sourdough starter is ALIVE! I topped mine with ground beef, jalapenos, cheese and tomatoes.

Monday - Broccoli Cheddar Soup 

Okay this is NOT a great picture. I made broccoli cheddar soup using some homemade chicken broth I made from the whole chicken I cooked in my crockpot on Friday. This was some tasty soup!

Tuesday - Salsa Chicken Taco Salads

Salsa chicken is always an easy dinner in our house that 5 out of 6 of us enjoy. (I'm looking at you Lucas). I simply put chicken breasts in my crockpot and combine with salsa, taco seasoning and a good squeeze of lime. At the end of the day I shred it and add in other taco ingredients, like lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, green onions, cheese, and guacamole. I'm pretty sure my kids ate an entire bag of chips with this meal.

Wednesday - Mahi Mahi, Quinoa, Kale Salad

What a healthy meal we have here! Unfortunately I over-salted the fish and it was SO salty. We made our way through it but drank lots of water. The quinoa was from a microwave bag that I found at Target, and I was impressed with the ingredients!

On the side we tried this bagged kale salad which I honestly didn't love. I don't like poppyseed dressing because it tastes so sickeningly sweet.

So I used this dressing instead, which I normally love, but it just didn't go with this particular salad very well.

Thursday - Tamale Pie

This was another new recipe from my 100 Days of Real Food Meal Planner.

Adam and I both really liked it! Funny story, the salad on the side is actually cabbage....I thought it was iceburg until I cut into it and realized it was cabbage. It ended up being tasty anyways. I topped it with leftover cilantro, green onions and tomatoes.

What meals have you made lately?

January Homeschool

 Anyone else feeling a little bit of the January blues? The fun holidays are over and the days are cold. We're halfway through our school year and things are feeling a bit monotonous. Honestly, my kids are bickering a LOT, and I'm really looking forward to the Spring when we can at least get outside more and hopefully play sports with friends. For now, here is what a typical homeschool day looks like for us right now. 

Most days are pretty scheduled and we cover quite a few subjects. Every once in a while we have lighter days, like today. Today, for example, is consisting of reading, math, more reading for a research project, and a nature walk later on. And that's probably it.

But here is a more typical day from earlier in the week. We always start out morning with a Bible story while we eat breakfast.

After that I always try to get one "family subject" done, before we start on individual lessons. On this day it was science.

While I read to the kids about protein, they colored.

Mid-morning my Dad comes over to do math individually with each of the kids.

While that's happening, I'm working with the others on language arts type work.

Lucas also does spelling

And piano.

Ryan works on his Fix-It Grammar

Followed by some tracing of the United States

We recently started using this book for North America geography. Ryan is obsessed with tracing things on tracing paper, so this is working out well so far.

Tracing the maps inevitably leads to tracing cars.

And drawing trucks.

We always try to make time for lots of reading:

And of course some playing.

On this particular day we headed to our local park after lunch for some Vitamin D and fresh air. There's an area next to the playground that my kids call "the forest". They built a teepee and Andrew informed me that he would be sleeping out there at night.

The afternoon got away from us (read: my kids have NO motivation to do more work in the afternoon), so we ended up doing our history reading after dinner. While I read about the Lewis and Clark Expedition and we discussed it, they played on the floor with legos.

Lucas opened up his latest Atlas Crate and I helped him with this project.

And of course we ended our day with more reading in bed. Our current family read-aloud is The Wild Robot.

Tell me, how are you surviving January school in your home?