Dec. 1- Dec. 8 Menu

Monday- Lemongrass Soup
Tuesday- Lentil Soup and Biscuits (THAW SHRIMP!)
Wednesday- Shrimp Pasta with Sage and Corn
Thursday- Chicken Nuggets, Salad (fast food due to son's concert)
Friday- Veggie Burgers, Green Beans, and Salad
Saturday- I'll be at a booth, so easy food for the boys- Pizza or Tuna Melts
Sunday- Spinach Ravioli, Broccoli and Salad

Alternatives: Creamy Pesto Gnocchi (need to make more pesto) OR End of Summer Soup (need cannelini beans)

Lunches:
Monday- Turkey, Celery, Potatoes, Stuffing, Cake
Tuesday- Beans, Crackers/Chips, Broccoli, Fruit Snacks
Wednesday- Chicken Nuggets, Biscuit, Corn, Green Beans
Thursday- Pasta, PBJ, Yogo Balls, Corn
Friday- Tuna, Crackers, Fruit Snacks, Corn

Alternatives- Mac and Cheese, Bacon

Turkey and Rice Soup Sunday

I cooked up some turkey broth (with bones, onions, and celery) and then added turkey, more onions, rice, and more celery and cooked up a yummy batch of soup. Unfortunately, I added too much rice (1 cup) and it's much thicker than I was hoping! The boys loved it though.

Salmon, Avocado, and Green Bean Frittata Saturday

Hubby made this Saturday morning from our left over salmon burgers and such. It turned out really yummy and we even had seconds for Sun. AM breakfast!

Tuesday before Thanksgiving Lunch

This is the last lunch I have to pre-make for 5 days. I can't wait!! You can tell I was into convenience foods this time. PBJ, leftover Pizza, Bacon, Oranges

Green Thai Curry with Zucchini and Shrimp Monday

This is one of my favorites (and easy to make!!). I learned how to make this when I was cooking with Jam from Thai Fresh. This is such a yummy dish, and you can really make it as spicy as you'd like (ours was super spicy tonight!!).

I hate to give out Jam's secret recipes, but if you really can't live without it, please comment to let me know and you can probably twist my arm!

Monday Lunch

Annie's Mac and Cheese, Chicken Nuggets, Animal Crackers, Oranges, Yogurt

Nov. 24- Nov. 30 Menu

Monday- Shrimp and zucchini green thai curry taught to me by Jam
Tuesday- Salmon Burgers
Wednesday- Lemongrass Soup
Thursday- Turkey day at E's house
Friday- Spinach and Mozzarella Ravioli
Saturday- Chuy's Parade food?
Sunday- Grilled Salmon and Farmer's market veggies

Lunches:
Monday- Chicken Nuggets, Mac/Cheese, Animal Crackers, Oranges, Yogurt drink
Tuesday- Bacon, PBJ, Apple, Yogurt Pretzels

Kasha Varnishkes Friday

The recipe for Kasha I got from Real Simple wasn't all that great. I think if I had cooked the Kasha separately from the noodles and sauteed it with the mushrooms in the butter, it might have been better. This recipe called for the butter at the very end without cooking it, and it just didn't give it much taste. If I make this again, I'll improvise with my own cooking knowledge!

Homemade Pesto Cheese Pizza Thursday

This is such an easy meal if you already have the pizza crust and pesto in the freezer! The boys LOVE this pizza more than East Side Pies (don't ask me why- I have a soft spot for those thin crust pizzas across the street!!)

Friday lunchbox

This looks like a typical Friday lunch- banana muffin, bacon, mozzarella cheese, oranges, yogurt. Cooper ate everything from his box...and shared some of his muffins and oranges too!

End of Summer Soup and English Muffins Wednesday

This is a SOUP option you can make and save: End-Of-Summer Vegetable Soup- Cannelini beans, green beans, and zucchini, HOWEVER, when I made this, we ate the entire pot! Hubby and I really loved it. Unfortunately, the boys hated it (actually, they might have liked it if they had only tried it). Luckily, they ate the cheese muffins!!

Junk Food Lunch Wednesday (again)

For a junk food lunch, this sure did take a lot of energy and dirty a lot of dishes to make it!! Mac and Cheese (Chaz picked the gross Kraft kind even though we have about 8 Annie's mac and cheeses in the house), yogo balls (not sure if there really is any yogurt in them), crackers and hotdogs. I'm sure I'll throw some real yogurt in there as a drink or side. Oh- and since I have no veggies in the house, I've put their veggie JP+ vitamins in there too.

Grilled Mozzarella Sandwich with Tomato Basil Soup Tuesday

We're grilling up some mozzarella toast and pairing it with some pepper tomato soup (that we'll add some basil to). I love these quick and easy meals!

Pasta Shell Lunch Tuesday

Stuffed spinach shells, frozen corn, cut up kiwi, cookies, and JP+ veggie vitamins

Pesto Shrimp Salad Monday

I found this Target website (of all places) where you can type your "on-hand" ingredients in and come up with a recipe. I came up with Pesto Shrimp Salad. It really wasn't horrible, although we didn't have fresh tomatoes (used a can) nor did we have olives (that weren't martini olives), so I used capers instead. It turned out pretty good. I think our gulf shrimp was a little too fishy AND we had marinated it in lemon pepper for the meal the night before. We paired it with a nice salad and some jalapeno bread.

Chicken Nugget Lunch Monday

Chicken Nuggets, Yogurt Pretzels, Veggie JP+ gummies, cutie orange, pineapple. Both boys seemed to eat every bit of their lunch today... and I know they didn't give it away because I ate lunch at school with #1 and then watched #2 eat his lunch after I picked him up early from school.

Nov. 17- Nov. 23 Menu

Monday- Left Over Shrimp with Pasta and Salad
Tuesday- Grilled Mozzarella Sandwiches and Tomato Basil Soup
Wednesday- End-of-Summer-Soup, English Muffins with Cheese
Thursday- Pesto Pizza with Mozzarella Cheese and Basil
Friday- Kasha with Mushrooms (need to buy them again) with bowtie pasta

Lunches:
Monday- Chicken Nuggets, Pineapple, Yogurt Pretzels, Cutie Orange
Tuesday- Shells, Corn, Kiwe, Cookies
Wednesday- Hotdogs, Mac-n-Cheese, Yogurt, Peas/Nuts/Snacks
Thursday- Lunch at Chaz's School- Thanksgiving Feast
Friday- Bacon, Muffins, Orange, Cheese

Creamy Pesto Gnocchi with Green Beans and Ricotta Lunch Sunday

This was so yummy and so easy!! Don't let the title, Creamy Pesto Gnocchi with Green Beans and Ricotta make you scared. My 5 yo really liked it, but my 3 yo wouldn't even try it... too much green I guess!! I got this from a Real Simple magazine and am really liking the quick and easy recipes they have.

For dinner, hubby is grilling up some shrimp and red snapper (from the Farmer's Market- yum) and we'll probably pair it with a salad and skewered pineapples. We might throw in some of our leftover shells from last night. It's so good to have a stuffed full fridge right now!!

Junk Food Lunch Friday

I guess this isn't truly junk food, but for some reason, I feel like I could have done much better. Fridays are pretty lax around here, so I'll let the boys enjoy some junk!! It also helps that I spent my life savings at Costco today.

Garlicky Broiled Salmon and Tomatoes Thursday

This recipe was so easy and so yummy!! I think I put the broiler up too high and smoked the house up, but the dinner still turned out really yummy! This one is so easy and the tomatoes really add lots of flavor to the paprika salmon. I served this with an oil and vinegar salad. Sorry, it smelled too yummy for me to even take a few seconds to snap a picture!!

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Chicken Teriyaki Lunch Wednesday

Here are the boxes I'm sending with the boys tomorrow. I know they'll dig it because it's left over take out- Teriyaki Chicken (probably LOADED with MSG), steamed white rice, broccoli and carrots, honeydew, and their vegetable JP+ gummies!!

Pizza from Star Pizza in Houston Tuesday

Hubby's friend from work brought us home some pizza from Star Pizza in Houston. Yum!! This was filled with SOOOOO much spinach!! The boys weren't too thrilled (although they loved the crust). It was very tasty!!

Pasta with No-Cook Sauce Monday

Today was a non-school day so it was nice to have such a quick and easy meal tonight. I think Rachel Ray is my new 6 O'Clock Scramble go-to. She's got some pretty quick and easy recipes too!!

The Pasta with No-Cook Sauce was a hit with the parents (along with the baby mixed greens and croutons). The boys, unfortunately, liked their popcorn and honeydew more than the pasta.


Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of Cooper's lunch today. He had a PBJ (with Nutella, PB, and Whole Foods Kids' Jelly), some honey animal crackers, dried peas, and grapes/bananas. He ate everything but the protein (PBJ).

Nov. 10- Nov. 17 Menu

Monday- Rachel Ray's Pasta with No-Cook Sauce (soak black beans)
Tuesday- Pizza from Star Pizza in Houston (cook beans)
Wednesday- Whole Foods Build Your Own Tacos (thaw salmon)
Thursday- Broiled Salmon and Tomatoes from Real Simple Magazine
Friday- Grilled Mozzarella Sandwiches with Tomato Basil Soup
Saturday- Creamy Gnocchi with Green Beans and Ricotta from Real Simple
Sunday- Bowtie Pasta with Kasha and Mushrooms also from Real Simple

SOUP option to make and save: End-Of-Summer Vegetable Soup- Cannelini beans, green beans, and zucchini

Lunches:
1. PBJ, grapes, banana, animal crackers
2. Chicken Teriyaki, Rice, honeydew
3. Chicken Nuggets, shredded cheese
4. Tortillas with Beans, oranges
5. Grilled Cheese, green beans

Lunch Boxes

I've taken a break from taking dinner pictures this week--- too much excitement with Obama winning and all (not to mention we've been eating rather poorly this week). Here are the kids lunches for this week though!

Nov. 3- Nov. 9th Menu

Monday- Grilled Cheese and Tomato/Basil Soup (cook chicken for kids' lunches)
Tuesday- Election Day Zucchini Pasta with Garlic Buns and Salad
Wednesday- Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas with Guac. (save some potatoes for lunch)
Thursday- Salmon Cakes, Celery, and Cauliflower (save 2-3 salmon cakes for lunches)
Friday- Lentil/Rice Casserole with Steamed Broccoli
Saturday- Pop-Up Pancakes?
Sunday- TBH

Lunches:

Monday- Turkey, Tater Tots, Broccoli, Nuts or Grapes
Tuesday- PBJ, Watermelon, Edamame, Granola Bar
Wednesday- Hotdog, L/O Zucchini Pasta with Cheese, Pretzels, Nuts
Thursday- Ramen, Sweet Potatoes, Fruit Snacks, Chicken
Friday- Salmon Cake, Chicken, Chips, Celery

Breakfast on Saturday- very thin pancakes--- yum! Almost crepes!

Salmon, Potatoes, Cauliflower Sunday

Our yummy salmon meal turned into a Pesto Cheese pizza because of this freakin' time change. The boys were starving, we hadn't finished our projects for the day, and it was just so easy to order a pizza. We'll adjust our menu to have salmon tomorrow for sure!!

For breakfast we made these yummy Pop-Up Pancakes!! We put cream cheese, WF mixed berry jelly, whipped cream, and powdered sugar on top (these were my favorite). They were also good with Nutella and powdered sugar. I think I'll try these for dinner and throw some grilled veggies, cheese, or almond butter on top. These might make for a very hearty dessert too!!

Fish Sticks, Tartar Sauce, Tater Tots Saturday

We had a day full of the Dia de Los Muertos parade, the UT game, kitchen renovating, and sick boys, so we decided on a super easy dinner (with no nutritional value whatsoever... well, maybe the fish gave us something good). We baked the Costco fish sticks (very good quality actually) and some Whole Foods Tater Tots. Dad made up some tartar sauce and we ate a Fish and Chips meal fit for a UT football game! Too bad we lost :(