Food....Menu Planning, Family Favorites & Recipes Boun Appetito!

Food Food Food - pretty much the primary focus in my house. I have a husband that loves food. I have three kids that eat everything! So food for me is a daily priority: what to cook, what is healthy, how do I fill them up, menu planning and shopping.

On a weekly basis this is how I manage feeding my family:
Sunday Night I review the food in the house (refrigerator, freezer and cabinets) - then I menu plan accordingly making a menu using the stuff I have in the house. Of course I get special request from the kids, I have a craving for other stuff, and then I also shop for our weekly needs.  Mondays I grocery shop for what I need to have everything for the week.

Why I menu plan......basically to save money! I LOVE grocery shopping. I am that person that walks ALL the aisles looking and loving everything! I especially love stores like Whole Foods, Lazy Acres, Jimbos, Sprouts, Traders Joes. I would shop each one weekly if I could because each ones has things I love!! I like to try things and so I buy lots of groceries. I menu plan breakfast, lunch and dinner. I also have big eaters in my house so menu planning helps me keep to a budget. It also helps me stay sane having a plan every week. It also helps me save money not eating out all the time.....remember I have big eaters, so even Chick Fil A can be $60 which is way to much for chicken!

    


When I menu plan I also determine how best to organize it. Several days a week my kids are at the rink till dinner time.  Those days I usually cook dinner in afternoon before we leave for activities so that it's ready when we get home. A few other days a week my kids spend their evenings at the rink so I need to make dinners that can be packed up and brought to the rink. Other nights I know I won't want to cook and I designate those as "eat out" days!! It's all about the planning, having the items I need to cook, and then sticking to the plan. Some nights when I am at home a few more hours I will make dinner for that night and also either prep or make dinner for the next night. Thankfully my kids don't mind food warmed up!

Interestingly during this time of "stay at home" our food process pretty much stayed them say except I menu planned for long periods of time. Four weeks ago when we started our stay at home, I menu planned for 4 weeks and bought all the necessary food for those 4 weeks.  Just this past week I did it again. I menu planned for another 6 weeks and did a huge shop. Our family is taking the "stay at home" very serious partly because I have had pneumonia since February so my lungs are high risk and I can't risk being out and about! In addition, my sister in law lives in Northern Italy where things are very bad, so we have seen through her eyes first hand how bad things can get! So we are Staying at Home! 

So I menu planned for 6 weeks and shopped for 6 weeks (yes I had three carts full of food! - don't judge!)  I also joined a farm CSA where they are delivering to my front door weekly fresh fruit and veggies. So we are pretty much comfortable at home, enjoying family dinners and have plenty of food!! 

For San Diego Residents.
They delivery to your front door
https://yasukochifamilyfarms.com/
 

                


The kids have contributed to this post......they have favorites!!  I have included a few recipes to share!! I grew up having family dinner every night, and I have always, whenever possible, made sure family dinners were a priority in our house!  I am loving this part of lockdown!!!



Niko
Favorite Food: Fresh Fish (whole fish is best) and ALL FOOD in Greece
Favorite Drink: Water
Favorite Snack: Nachos
Favorite Sweet Treat: Kadaifi (Greek Dessert)
Food I hate: Raw Carrots


Theo
Favorite Food: Long Pasta with Homemade Meatballs and LOTS of Marinara Sauce
Favorite Drink: Shirley Temple and Water
Favorite Snack: Babybel Cheese and Siggi's Yogurt Sticks
Favorite Sweet Treat: Strawberry Ice Cream
Food I hate: Cooked Spinach



Ana
Favorite Food: Chick Fil A
Favorite Drink: Oreo Milkshake from Chick Fil A
Favorite Snack: Salad, preferably Caesar or Kale Salad
Favorite Sweet Treat: Cookies & Cream or Oreo Ice Cream
Food I hate: Salmon




Phil
Favorite Food: Fresh Fish of any sort
Favorite Drink: Retsina (Greek Pine Resin White Wine)
Favorite Snack: Peanut Butter by the spoonful (creamy and
Favorite Sweet Treat: Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies
Food I hate: Green Mint Chip Ice Cream

Val
Favorite Food: Pasta (even though I can't eat it and GF Pasta sucks)
Favorite Drink: Red Wine
Favorite Snack: Chips & Salsa
Favorite Sweet Treat: Green Mint Chip Ice Cream
Food I hate: Liver (PTSD from childhood)



My kids during dinner will tell me if a recipe is a "REPEAT" or "DELETE".....it is funny, don't remember how it all started but one day I made something new and they were all raving about it and they said it was a "REPEAT" and so started the tradition of letting me know if I should bother repeating certain recipes. There was a time that we had Taco Tuesday EVERY Tuesday, and they at one point said "DELETE" Taco Tuesday! I got the message. One thing I love about my kids is that they are good eaters, they eat their dinners, they try new things and they almost always say "Thank You Mom for Dinner!" 

Now, I can cook.  I am a really good cook actually.  BUT, who has that time day to day! I save those chef skills for special occasions. Day to Day I take short cuts, buy bag or frozen items.....below's recipes have a few of my short cuts listed!!!

Enjoy the recipes!

Chicken Orzo & Broccoli Bake DINNER 

Great for family dinner

Chicken Thighs (boneless & skinless, I use thighs because they stay moist)
1-2 cups Orzo
Chicken Broth - 1 box which is 4 cups
Broccoli Head cut into bit size pieces

• Use a large flat pan that you can also put in the oven. I use a huge cast iron skillet. 
• Put olive oil in bottom of pan. Prep the chicken thighs by putting salt and pepper.  Over medium/high heat brown up chicken thighs. Cook thighs till brown and slightly crispy on each side. 
• Remove thighs from pan. Turn off heat
• Add a small amount of chicken stock into pan to dislodge all the brown bits. 
• Add 1-2 cups of orzo into pan. Then add chicken broth.  You want to make sure you feel like you have enough liquid. The amount of orzo and liquid depends on your pan size. My skillet is huge. If you are using a medium size skillet use this proportion: 1 cup orzo, 2 cups water. Then arrange the chicken thighs on top of the liquid/orzo mixture.  
• Put into a 400 degree oven and cook for about 20-30 minutes or until you see that orzo is cook and absorbed almost all the liquid.  
• When you are about 10 minutes from being done, I toss my raw broccoli in olive oil and garlic powder and then I sprinkle them all over top of chicken and orzo. They will cook up in the oven as the chicken and orzo finish up. Reason you don't put them into oven at the beginning is that they will get charred if cooked too long.
• When all cooked you will have cooked orzo, moist chicken thighs and cooked broccoli - and then you just serve it all up!! Some of the orzo will get a bit crispy which is my kids favorite part.

Homemade Chipotle Bowls DINNER 

Great for family dinner, also a great to-go item either in bowl or in burrito!

• Chicken Breasts or other Protein (I cook up several frozen chicken breast in my InstaPot which makes the best shredded chicken.....I cook up 4-5 breasts, shredded them easily with knife and fork. I then freeze half the shredded chicken for next time) (other protein: Beef, Shrimp, Carnitas, etc)
• Can of Corn or frozen bag of corn or fresh corn on the cob cooked up and cut from corn
• Can of Black Beans
• Shredded Mexican Cheese Mix
• Sour Cream
• Guacamole or Avocado slices
• Spanish, Brown or White Rice - I cook up a box of Spanish rice from a box OR I microwave a bag of frozen brown or white rice
• Trader Joes Peppers Mix - I cook up in a saute pan a big handful of the frozen pepper mix
• Shredded lettuce or cut up lettuce that I have in refrigerator
• Salsa, Hot Sauce
• Bag of Chips

(if you like burritos, take any/all ingredients above and make into burrito)

Chocolate Butter Protien Balls SNACK 

Anytime snack - great for school snack, or a little sweet treat with my afternoon coffee

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/chocolate-peanut-butter-bake-energy-bites/

1 cup dry Oatmeal (I use Gluten Free Oats so I can eat them, tastes the same)

2/3 cups toasted unsweetened coconut flakes

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional Add: mini chocolate chips, I use dairy free chips so I can eat them and they are amazing

Mix together all ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and chill in refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you want. I usually make mine golf ball size.  I feel mine because makes eating them take a bit longer and out of sight out of mind because they are that good. I roll my balls and put on a parchment lined baking sheet, put in freezer for a couple of hours till frozen. Then you can put all in a ziplock bag and because they are frozen they won't stick together.

When you mix up the batter, if mix is too dry, add in an extra tablespoon or two of honey or peanut butter. If the mix seems too wet , add extra oatmeal.

Kale Salad 

So good your kids will eat it!

• Kale: De-stem Kale is very important, I just lay leaves flat and cut out center stem.  Cut leaves into bite size pieces, wash and dry
• Olive Oil, Lemon and Salt - pour over dry Kale and begin to massage and squeeze Kale till the Kale is completely covered and also the leaves have softened, this is also your dressing which is now all over the Kale leaves. If you like more dressing just make more on the side.

Things I add (whatever I have on hand).....Silvered Almonds or Pumpkin Seeds, Dried Cranberries, Feta Crumbles or Parmesan Shavings, Cut up Baby Sweet Peppers, Cut up Avocado, Baby Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Red Onions, etc.

Roasted Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Glaze

  

Recipe from "Real Life Dinners" by Rachel Hollis

Brussels Sprouts (1 pound), washed, cut off bottoms so that you can separate a lot of the sprout into pieces and leaves - basically trying to deconstruct the Brussels Sprouts
Olive Oil, Slivered Almonds (1/2 cup), Balsamic Glaze bottle from Trader Joes (1/4 cup glaze), Salt, Pepper, Soy Sauce (2 tablespoon), Honey (1 tablespoon)

425 Oven, parchment lined baking sheet
Toss Brussels Sprouts, olive oil, almonds, salt and pepper
Roast for about 15-20 minutes or until crispy and slightly charred
Making Sauce - I cheat by buying a bottle of balsamic glaze from Trader Joes. Mix in honey and soy sauce into the glaze.
Remove Brussels Sprouts from oven. Pour sauce over Brussels Sprouts and toss to coat evenly.
Addition option: you can also cook up some bacon pieces till crispy and add to cooked Brussels Sprouts.

Boun Appetito!!