A Year's Worth of Dinner

A Better Way To Eat

2010-07-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

I always knew I was feeding my family a lot of garbage. In the last several months I have been working hard to fix that. Here are some links to my new found inspiration. I will begin to post our dinners again just to keep myself accountable. I'm not perfect (SURPRISE) but I'm moving in the right direction.
Kitchen Stewardship
Nourished Kitchen
Frugal Granola
Keeper of the Home
Passionate Homemaking
The Weston A. Price Foundation
GNOWFGLINS
I've also been reading Nourishing Traditions and learning something new everyday!

Another busy day

2009-11-08T20:46:00.000-08:00

I was gone again during the dinner hour so I'm not particularly pleased with what everyone ate. I was in Cottage Grove at my MIL's and left right at dinner time so we stopped at BK and Aliyah had chicken tenders and I had a spicy chicken sandwich. John was at home with the boys. He ate a roast beef sandwich and Ollie & Eli had fish sticks. Who knows if they had anything on the side. Hoping tomorrow will be healthier!

Lots of randomness

2009-11-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

I had a busy day and John was with the kids (while I was away) from 10:00 until 6:30. Mom saved the day and fed the boys Roast beef, rice and green beans for dinner. Aliyah snacked her way through the evening on crackers, cheese and raisins. I had some left-over Spinach lentil soup and an english muffin. It was a good day!

Why have bread when you can have a schadenfreude

Pizza

2009-11-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

Shared a pizza with my Mom and Dad. And enjoyed a Parisian salad from Costco. The best news about dinner was NO HEARTBURN (and no dishes)!

Motivated to try again

2009-11-05T19:42:00.000-08:00

John and I have been attending Financial Peace University and as a result I've been cooking more. So, I want to try again to document what we've been eating. Dinner time at our house has been so frustrating and not at all enjoyable since the kids are extremely picky. They not only say they don't like everything (of course before they've tried it) but they whine and complain as well. Ollie has been doing the best so I'm hoping the other 2 will grow out of it. Aliyah used to be such a good eater. I don't know what happened.
So, here it goes... Tonight we had Spinach Lentil Soup and English muffins with melted muenster. The soup was very tasty. It needed extra salt and pepper but that's the only addition I made to the recipe. Ollie ate about 1/8 cup of soup and 1/2 english muffin w/cheese. Eli ate 1/2 plain english muffin and NO soup and Aliyah ate about 2 bites of a plain english muffin and NO soup. So, Eli and Aliyah probably went to bed hungry again. (I don't let them eat anything after dinner if they don't eat their dinner.) Until tomorrow!

Enchiladas

2009-11-04T19:52:00.000-08:00

Enchiladas with ground beef, corn tortillas, mozzarella and John's homemade sauce. John added some cactus and chipotle chilies to his. Ollie had 2 corn tortillas with meat and cheese and Eli and Aliyah wouldn't touch anything.

Southwest Skillet

2009-11-03T19:55:00.000-08:00

Southwest Skillet. John ate his in a tortilla. I ate mine with some cheese and crushed chips. Ollie ate a very small portion with a cheese quesadilla on the side. Eli picked out all the ground beef and just ate that. Aliyah ate about 2 bites before she pushed her plate away.

Chicken again...

2009-03-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

John took the boys (ours and 1 nephew) fishing today and I had a lovely lunch date with my very best friend while my dear sister-in-law played with Aliyah. When I got home we went to Kohl's for a bit of shopping and then stopped at Costco on the way home to pick up dinner. I purchased 2 rotisserie chickens and my favorite Cherry Almond Bleu Salad kit. There is enough chicken left-over for another meal and it was delicious! The cost was just $13.27. Definitely worth it!

Baja FRESH

2009-03-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

YUMMY!
John - Chicken Tortilla Soup, 1 shrimp taco and soda
Laurie - 1 Steak taco, 1 chicken taco and water
Ollie - Cheese Quesidilla, applesauce, rice and juice
Eli - Plain flour tortilla, chips, rice and juice
Aliyah - Rice, beans and a plain flour tortilla
It was good but was it worth it? The dinner I made last night cost about $5 and tonight's was $19.82.

Steak

2009-03-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Country Style Steak
White Rice (that wasn't ready until after we'd almost finished the other parts of dinner)
mixed veggies - that would be peas, carrots, green beans, corn and lima beans

Baked Potatoes and Chili

2009-03-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

The title pretty much tells the story.
My family would not eat if I lost the can opener...

Baked Potatoes
Chili (Walla Walla Onion from a can with 1 an extra can of chili beans mixed in)
Green Beans (from a can)

Maybe I will try again...

2009-03-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

Pizza (Supreme from Leonardi's on sale for $10)
Cherry Almond Bleu Salad

shared with Craig & Jane

Spaghetti

2009-02-02T20:19:00.000-08:00

Sunday we had tacos and conveniently had quite a bit of ground beef left over. So, for dinner tonight all I had to do was open a jar of spaghetti sauce, add the leftover meat, cook some noodles and open a can of green beans. Dinner! I wanted to steam some broccoli but just didn't time it right. I also heated up some french bread that's been in the fridge for too long. It wasn't growing anything so I figured it wouldn't hurt anyone.

Happy Meals that don't make me happy...

2009-01-13T21:48:00.000-08:00

Tuesday is here again. Everyone had a happy meal for dinner, even me and it was BLAH! Even Aliyah ate a hamburger. Is that a bad omen that my 1 year old can eat an entire McDonald's hamburger? Oh well, I feel a little better because I never give her any fries, Eli doesn't really like them and I look the other way while Ollie scarfs his portion down.

Pizza with a twist

2009-01-12T19:45:00.000-08:00

I was desperae not to go out so I grabbed what I could find and that was a small package of pepperoni, a bit of mozzarella and parmesan, the tortillas and I made some (VERY) thin crust pizza. For the grown-ups I also added diced green chilies and tomatoes. They were actually super tasty! Eli & Aliyah had chicken nuggets and everyone also ate some green beans.

Saturday night Tacos on Sunday

2009-01-11T20:42:00.000-08:00

Tacos/burritos were created from tortillas, ground beef w/onion, black beans, refried beans, lettuce, cheese (a mix of cheddar and mozzarella), tomatoes, sour cream and salsa.

Pizza again...

2009-01-10T20:40:00.000-08:00

John and I both wanted steak but once again no one took it out of the freezer and I hate trying to thaw it in the microwave so we called the old stand-by, Leonardi's Pizza and ordered a 3 Trio Special for $9.99. Pepperoni, sausage and olives.

Does this count?

2009-01-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

I steamed the brocolli, washed, pricked, wrapped and put the potatoes into the oven and took the chicken out of the freezer and put it into the oven. So, does that count? Did I cook dinner? I guess it was better than sitting at a restaurant! Our dinner:
Chicken Breast Tenderloins
Baked Potatoes
Steamed Brocolli

Yummiest Food of the Week and A Cheap Date

2009-01-08T21:14:00.000-08:00

John and I were able to have a date night while my parents graciously watched and fed the kids. We ate at McGrath's Fish House. It's been our new stand-by for months if we can get there before 6:00 for Happy Hour! They have the most amazing appetizers for $2.99. It's really a treat every time we go and we can't stop commenting to each other throughout the meal how great the food is. It is NOT greasy bar happy hour food. We started with the Pear, Bleu Cheese and Walnut Salad AND the Brushetta Caprese. And ended with the Ponzu Salmon Stack and the Asian Ahi Nachos. The tuna is really awesome sushi grade stuff and the Salmon is a very generous portion (especially considering it's only $3!) Our bill, including tip, was $16.30. Can't wait to go there again.

I DID IT! I DID IT!

2009-01-07T19:04:00.001-08:00

I made dinner. We had Hearty Hamburger Beef Stew (from Once-A-Month-Cooking) and Cheese Corn Spoon Bread. It was great. Here's the recipe for the stew:
1 lb ground beef
1 1/4 cups chopped onion
2 cups peeled and sliced carrots
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 16-oz can green beans, drained
1 16-oz can corn, drained
3 stalks of celery
1 46-oz can tomato juice
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp celery seed
salt and pepper to taste

Brown ground beef and drain. Add the rest of the ingrediants and simmer, covered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Note to self: Rinse the green beans and corn and don't add any salt!

Happy Meals

2009-01-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately the McDonald's down the street has Happy Meals for $1.25 on Tuesdays between 4 and 8. The kids know it's Tuesday since we go to BSF in the morning. The thought of a Happy Meal for dinner did not make John happy so he stopped at WinCo and got some fried chicken. The boys were content with their hamburgers and John, me and Aliyah ate chicken and green beans. Stick around if you dare - it can only get better.

Bean Burritos

2009-01-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

These shells, these beans, this cheese and everyone is happy.
Don't hold your breath tomorrow will not be better.

Costco dogs

2009-01-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

Another exciting dinner at the Case's!
Costco called to say the Ollie's glasses were in and I could not go to pick them up until Aliyah and Eli were awake which was 4:30 and to close to dinner to avoid the Costco dogs. Ollie and Eli had hot dogs, John had a polish sausage and I split a chicken Caesar salad with my Mom. Aliyah ate some chicken and hot dog bun. The food was washed down with soda, lemonade, water and milk. Mom provided fudge bars for dessert. I think I'm going to have to cook tomorrow night.

Saturday Night Tacos

2009-01-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

Growing up we always had tacos on Saturday night when we were with my grandparents. Last Saturday at my Grandma's 80th birthday party my cousin reminded us what a fun tradition it really is. So, thanks to my Mom we descended upon her house like a flock of geese and consumed the yummy tacos she prepared. A few were lucky enough to have some left-over steak in theirs. Thanks Mom for the great dinner! If you want some real inspiration please check my sister's blog as she is much better at feeding her family than me.

Chicken, Noodles and Carrots

2009-01-02T21:08:00.000-08:00

That about wraps it up. We ate some left-over chicken, Four Cheese Corkscrew pasta (courtesy of FarmHouse) and some baby carrots for dinner. Ollie ate a little bit of everything, Eli ate 3 or 4 carrots (then he said he was hungry 30 minutes later - go figure) and Aliyah ate some chicken and pasta. She gnawed on a carrot for about 10 minutes but it was too crunchy for her to get down. She just spit the bits out that did happen to come off. Maybe tomorrow will be better. You better come back just in case!

Boring!

2009-01-01T22:02:00.000-08:00

I stayed in all day because either Aliyah or Eli were always asleep. At 5:00 my Mom invited me to go along to Shop-Ko with her to pick up some laundry baskets. I jumped at the chance to get out of the house. We planned to pick up a pizza from Leonardi's (a pretty yummy pizza shop inside Win-Co). However, when I called to order our pizza they were backed up 40 minutes. Even for bake at home! So, I moved on to plan B. I walked around Win-Co until I saw a take and bake pizza that looked mostly like a big slab of bread with a thin layer of sauce and even thinner layer of cheese. It was only $7 so I also bought a package of pepperoni and a package of shredded mozzarella. When I got home I moved all the Canadian bacon and pineapple to one half, piled the pepperoni on the other half and covered the whole pizza with an additional 2 cups of cheese! With my additions it was decent. First dinner of 2009:
doctored up pizza
sliced green pepper
ice cream and cookies

Easy Cheesy Eggplant Casserole

2007-10-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

3/4 lb. sliced eggplant (grilled for 5-10 minutes)
1 cup spaghetti sauce
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
3/4 cup cottage cheese
2 Tbsp. grated parmesan

Layer in a 8x8 in the order above and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

This is so yummy! I think I could eat the whole pan myself. Thanks angelfire!

Oatmeal Crispies

2007-09-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

1 cup shortening (i use butter)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 cups instant oats
1/2 cup chopped pecans (i didn't have any)

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350. Delicious! The best cookies I've ever made. Thanks so much Ree.