Meal Plan Mon--, Er, Tuesday!

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 I promise, I made this meal plan Sunday morning! But as fate my children would have it, I didn't get around to actually putting it all together so pretty in my dear blog. Until now.

Okay, so since we're being realistic here, I will confess that only 3 out of 7 of last week's menu plans actually happened. And the three we did do weren't even on the right day. Not that we didn't eat the other 4 days, other things just came up.You know, life.

So, here's how my new recipes turned out:

Beet Greens Salad-- didn't even do it. Instead, since I was so not in the mood to use my brain follow the recipe, I got creative. I sloshed together the chopped greens/purples with a Tbsp each of dijon mustard, honey and lemon juice. Topped it with the salmon that I was too lazy to patty. Oh, didn't you know? Patty is a verb now. Turned out decent after baking, but because I didn't chop the purples small enough, I couldn't stomach all of mine. But I did eat most of them, and am healthier for it!


Let's see, what else did I try out? (clicking over to blog because my memory doesn't work the same these days) Ah yes, The Mommypotamus' Homemade Pizza.

Ok, so this was something I was looking forward to ALL WEEK. I even bought fresh, organic basil to make my own homemade pesto. I followed all the instructions exactly, even the night-before soaking. Well, let's just say I started to wonder what I did wrong. It didn't exactly look or feel like dough. I would say, hmmm, oatmeal/porridge/soup? Very watery, but I didn't have any flour and since the recipe didn't call for more than I put in it, I trusted that it would thicken up while it sat in the warm place to rise. Um, no. Instead, my precious, long awaited, hard earned dough that I kneaded smeared for 10 whole minutes slowly dripped off the edge of my pizza stone onto the inside of my oven. Boo! I was getting pretty upset because my expectations weren't being met and therefore disappointment began to set in. I could very well make something else for dinner, but I wanted pizza. That pizza. That I had all the toppings for. And had started working on the night before. I contemplated getting a store-bought crust but decided not to. Dang it, I was gonna cook that dough no matter how it ended up tasting! So, we did and finally, after hours of preparation and stress, we had our first homemade pizza. It was obviously not how it was supposed to be, but it tasted good. But not as good as the new one I made today (that Heather so graciously prepared the crust for while I sat and watched in her own kitchen this morning!)! What did I learn? When in doubt, add more flour. A little bit more. A little bit more. Heck, a whole cup more! (she has corrected the proportions now so don't be afraid to hop over there and try it out!)


Ahem, what is the title of this post? Ah yes, Meal Plan something-or-another. Well here's what might end up in our mouths this week (in no particular order):


Last night: (ha! we really did eat this.) My deeelicious Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup


Tonight: Pepper Steak; Sweet Potato Casserole (See? I really do have a few meals from last week that got bumped)


Wednesday: Spaghetti; can't-remember-what-kind-of-leafy-green Salad


Thursday: Bruschetta Chicken Bake; Green Beans, Cinnamon Carrots


Friday: Zesty Chicken Penne; Peas, Broccoli


Saturday: Fish Sticks; Romaine Salad


Sunday: Greek Lentil & Chicken Soup; Chard (will find a recipe because I don't really know what to do with this but it came in our coop pickup Saturday)

Monday: Chicken, Lentil, Tomato, Arugula & Couscous Salad


I will most likely rearrange these as the week unfolds, but it's good to have some sort of an outline of ideas to choose from instead of panicking at 6pm every day with no ingredients in the kitchen and a hungry family! So, I guess I better make it to the store tonight to pick up the handful of things I need, huh?


Oh yeah! I also made Kale Chips last week. Wait, don't cringe. They're AMAZING. They are super healthy and are a totally yummy alternative to traditional potato chips. I'd never even eaten kale, but I kept hearing new friends and acquaintances talk about them so I had to give it a whirl. Tear 'em off the stalk, brush some olive oil on, sprinkle some sea salt on, stick 'em in the oven for 10 minutes and voila! Julia didn't try them but I know she eventually will, and will love them as much as Riley and I did!


I'm also going to make some guacamole/salsa sometime this week that will include the avocado and cute little colorful peppers we got in our coop. That should be fun. Oh and there were some beet tops too, and someone posted a recipe for a smoothie with these and bananas. Honestly, it sounds disgusting, but it will be pink so maybe that will make it taste better! We'll see.

Alright now, it's your turn: What's on YOUR dinner table this week?