Simple Sassy Potatoes

I officially have an almost 2 year old. Its pretty awesome, big sassy could never have dreamed of being half as challenging as little sassy is. To further prove this point the conversation this morning with Mr. Sassy went like this (after fighting lil' sas to bed over a 3 hour period last night)
Me: No she is bad, like super bad.
Mr.S: Kate, just be patient OK? She is just having a hard time, you are the calm one here, keep it together.
We both turn to look at little sassy only to find her PEELING THE WALLPAPER OFF THE WALLS!!
(I guess she will be our Legendary Child)

 I am desperately trying to find simple sides for dinners. I can only imagine the type of things little sas would find to do in the time it would take me to actually make something that takes longer then 5 minutes!)  From the first glimpse of warmth we fire up the grill and it doesn't get shut down until the temperature is so cold we are miserable being out there. This was made in the oven since we were only doing quick steaks and I wanted to be sure this cooked. I found these awesome packages of bacon ends and pieces that are terrible for breakfast but make an awesome addition for throwing into things  for that really rich flavor. They are a lot cheaper then buying the equivalent weight in real bacon slices.


Simple Sassy Potatoes

6 potatoes sliced  (you pick type, I used a medium sized red)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon oregano

garlic powder (more or less depending on taste)

onion powder (more or less depending on taste)

salt

pepper

bacon (I used probably 1/2 cup)

Tin foil

preheat oven to 400

Lay out your tin foil, roughly two sheets 3 feet long. Make them into a plus sign by laying one horizontal and one vertical on top of each other

Mix all ingredients, Except bacon, in a bowl then dump into the center of the tin foil.

Sprinkle bacon over the top.

Starting with whichever layer of tinfoil is on the outside, wrap it around the potatoes, repeat with second layer.

Place in oven and bake for 30-45 or until potatoes are fork tender.

The sassy girls ate theirs with sour cream but Mr. Sassy and I like them all by themselves.

(recipe inspiration and picture from Cassie craves)

Meal Plan April 23

Today is the first day back to school after spring break. If anything ever makes me contemplate homeschooling its this day. I miss my big sassy, little sas misses her, life is not as silly or unpredictable when she is gone.

This weeks menu is using 90% foods already in our home. Chicken was on crazy sale last week and so were a lot of other odds and ends. And since Mr.Sassy was shopping with me, we stocked up, he loves a good deal and doesn't feel like he fully takes advantage of it unless the pantry and freezer is full!

Has anyone made any whole food eating changes this month? I feel like a failure but am trying to bolster my spirits, the whole 30 did not go well for us. I blame Mr.Sassy, he always manages to talk me into dessert. FAIL, majorly on my part since my 2 worst eating times are after noon after big sassy is home from school and after the girls are in bed. I cannot resist Ben or Jerry, its just not possible. Thankfully it was not everyday only occasionally. I feel more involved in my choices though and I am definitely trying to make them consciously. If I am going to eat a dessert I want it to be the best, most delicious dessert. Not just an Oreo cookie, that is NOT worth it anymore.

This week I am trying Bulletproof Coffee for breakfast so we shall see how that goes. (check it out here) Its the big thing right now in primal eating and since I am looking for some change I'm all in. Today is so far so good, the girls had breakfast and I abstained and after dropping big sas at school I came home and whipped up my first batch. Since I usually add sugar to my coffee I did add in a bit of maple syrup and honey I probably always will. So breakfast today is bulletproof coffee for mommy, we shall see how this goes over. I am hoping to last through the week but if all doesn't go well I have no problem jumping ship. It tastes amazing so why not?

Monday
B-Sunny Eggs
L-Leftover tuna and sweet potatoes (quite the combo right?)
D-Pulled pork, Broccoli, pineapple coleslaw

Tuesday
B-Pizza Eggs (this is the girls new absolute favorite)
L-Pulled pork salad
D-BBQ roasted Chicken (bone in skin on), oven potato fries

Wednesday
B-Scrambled eggs and cheese
L-Leftovers and salad
D-Creamy Chicken and Ham Soup

Thursday
B-Fried eggs
L-Leftovers and salad
D-Brats, BBQ carrots

Friday
B-Fried eggs
L-Leftovers and salad
D-Grilled chicken legs, some veggie (not really sure what yet)

Saturday
B-Coconut Flour Pancakes
L-Leftovers and Salad
D-Steak, Potato and veggies

Sunday
B-Crispy potatoes, veggies and eggs (skillet)
L-Leftovers
D-Mr. Sassy pick, sometimes I just have no creativity. Plus usually once a week we don't have whats planned and I have the extra fixings for a full meal.

Alright people, plan a meal this week. Maybe just plan a dinner or plan dinners for the whole week, even if that means you write it down on a napkin and plan in eating out, just DO IT. Make conscious decisions, over 1/3 of all food Americans buy is wasted. If you spend $200 a week on groceries that means every week you throw out $60 in food. It seems like a lot of work (it is) and a hassle (it is) but once you have all the things planned and the food bought it is such a relief to not have to worry every day about what to do.

Meal Plan Monday and a Challenge

Ahhh the life of the slacker blogger. I spent last week, I mean literally almost every waking moment, out of doors. It was amazing, over 70 almost every day, temp today? 30, with a windchill of absurd. So back to the grind ;). Of course its Monday and that generally means I should plans some meals. I am also instating a full 30 Day Challenge, based on the Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson.

Mr. Sassy and I have been super slackers when it comes to our diet, not our main meals mind you, but eating out crap, snacking on dessert treats after the sassy girls are in bed and all manners of badly influencing each other.So that means today starts day 1 of the 30 day challenge, if you want to join let me know, either leave a comment below or go to the blogs face book page HERE and leave a comment.

Not willing to go all out primal yet, or ever? I challenge you to a 30 day eat better challenge. Close off your pantry, no processed foods (that means ingredient lists), eat whole foods, butter not margarine, fresh or frozen vegetables and fruit not canned. Cut out your sugar and grain intake, SERIOUSLY, cut it out. If you need to sweeten your coffee or tea use the bare minimum you can. The longer you refrain from white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, honey, syrups, etc the more you will realize how fruits and vegetables are naturally sweet and your desire will change to eating less sugar. The last part of the challenge is to see how you feel. Really think about it after you eat a meal, pay attention how hungry are you at the start of the meal, halfway through and when your done. Give it a solid week if you cannot commit to 30 days. Most people experience withdrawals when they cut out sugars and processed foods. Your body has to adjust to not just burning sugars and carbs as quick fuel and start depending on the fats, proteins and fresh produce.

A little musical inspiration, (from back in my good ol' days!)

Monday
B-Oatmeal
L-Chicken and Salad
D-Crock pot Pulled Pork, Apple Coleslaw
Tuesday
B-Scramble eggs and cheese
L-Chicken and Salad
D-Leftovers
Wednesday
B-Yogurt with Toasted Nuts
L-Chicken and Salad
D-BBQ Burgers, grilled vegetables
Thursday
B-Paleo Pizza Muffins (lazy mom moment, will be replacing the tomato step with pizza sauce)
L-Leftovers from dinner
D-Sausages, roasted root veggies
Friday
B-Leftover Pizza Muffins
L-Haddock and Salad
D-Crock Pot Paleo Pineapple Pork Ribs,
Saturday
B-Crispy Potato Skillet
L-Leftover Pork Ribs
D-BBQ Rotisserie chicken,
Sunday
B-Coconut Flour Pancakes
L-Leftover Chicken and Salad
D-Weekly Fridge Clean/Leftover Night

phew! Thats always such an ordeal...I really need to get better at this for some reason its really time consuming for me lately meal planning. I am excited to start my 30 day primal challenge, I really need to get back on the boat.

Meal Plan Monday

After a lovely weekend of sickness we are back, and almost better then ever. Now to figure out some way to guarantee that no one else gets sick!

When I look at this blank menu, at times, it makes my headache. What a pain, it really is a hassle sometimes. I know its worth it and helps to budget but it seriously feels overwhelming when its empty.

A friend suggested last week to do more crockpot meals, and she right. I used to do more and drifted out of the habit but I do have some ol' faithfuls that I will start incorporating. Especially for Fridays since that is big sassy's gymnastics day. Due to the timing of it all we never seem to get dinner started and end up with pizza or drive thru dinner which is a huge budget blower since it wasn't planned for.

Nice spring days like this make me want to JUMP,JUMP!
Monday
B-Fried egg
L-Toast and leftovers (I am still recovering so gentle foods!)
D-Leftover boiled dinner (nom nom nom)
Tuesday
B-Squash and apples with bacon
L-Clean the Fridge
D-Ham and Potato soup
Wednesday
B-Coconut Flour Pancakes (gluten free)
L-Soup and Salad
D-Roasted BBQ Chicken (bone in skin on), Roasted Broccoli
Thursday
B-Ham and Egg cups
L-Chicken and Salad
D-Primal Pizza (gluten free)
Friday
B-Leftover Coconut pancakes (reheat in toaster)
L-Chicken and Salad
D-Crockpot Pulled Pork, crunchy apple slaw (with honey not sugar)
Saturday
B-Crispy Potatoes and Eggs
L-Leftover Pulled Pork
D-Having company so not sure
Sunday
B-Kids request day
L-Leftovers
D-Mr.Sassy makes dinner

Mr.Sassy has been requesting pre made breakfast so I guess I should really step up my game with the whole Mason Jar Meals. Also I know I need to get more seafood in our diet but with sensitive tummies this week it ain't happening. Really struggling with ideas in that sense. It seems most people get their kids to eat them in "stick" version but since we are not eating grains that makes this hard.

Tardy for Monday Meal Plan

UGH MEAL PLAN. For Monday, so late that its Tuesday, pretty sweet huh? Yeah i'm just cool like that. Now last week I purposefully did NOT plan anything for the weekend since I knew Mr.Sassy was off and that means that its just food craziness in my house. Plus lots of traveling so its eating with friends (love) or grabbing something drive Thur (hate).

This week I am taking it easy, we are trying to do a spend less challenge so that means that I have to step up and find a way to primally eat cheaper. Good times right? Sure......OOOH plus fun times of fun times big sassy is off school from Wednesday through the weekend. Plus its ST.PATRICKS DAY WOOHOO.

In honor of the concert Mr.Sassy failed to properly predict, doesn't it Feel So Good, to be wrong?

Monday
Tuesday
B-Scrambled eggs with cheese
L-Salad
D-Chicken soup
Wednesday
B-Sausage and eggs
L-Leftover soup and salad
D-Shepard's pie with Cauliflower top. This was an amazing dish we didn't even miss the mashed potatoes.
Thursday
B-Veggie and egg scramble
L-Leftovers and salad
D-Man Chili
Friday
B-Squash and apple breakfast add bacon (always add bacon.)
L-Leftovers
D-Paleo Pizza
Saturday
B-Green Coconut flour pumpkin pancakes
L-Salads and ham wraps for the girls
D-St Patrick's Day boiled cabbage dinner
Sunday
B-Scramble eggs with cheese and ham
L-Leftovers
D-baked pesto chicken, roasted broccoli, crash hot potatoes

I am having a new evil idea as well. I am going to start making some type of seafood once a week.Try to get big sas to expand her horizons when it comes to food, she eats a lot compared to a lot of kids but I want her to be exposed to it all. To be able to find a food she likes in all types of cuisine. Five is a hard age for food man.

Dr Seuss Monday Meal Plan

Today you are you, that is truer then true. There is no one alive who is youer then you!
-Dr. Seuss

It's Monday, and I really need a plan! We have been busy youtubing Dr. Seuss fun this week, theres some seusstastic stuff out there. Especially the Lorax previews.

Also it is Dr.Seuss week at big sassy's school. So lots of fun activities and food thoughts coming to you based on the lovely and zany Dr. Seuss. And I really need a plan!

We did not make two of the meals last week so they are cycling back on (chili, shepherd's pie.)
I will be making a mason jar meal this week. Actually cooking IN the jar as well as some salads. I am having a hard time being accountable with eating healthy and getting enough vegetables in, so I think if I mason jar salads for myself it will help.

We made roasted broccoli this weekend with dinner and it was delicious. Mr. Sassy's cousin was here this weekend an he and his wife agree that it was better then the steak we ate.
This week we might or might not be here from Thursday morning on, so I am planning a menu based on things we already have in the house with the most perishable being used at the beginning of the week, this weekend we have lots of out of the house stuff planed so no food needed.

Monday
B- Bacon and Eggs
L-Eat out lunch
D-Leftovers/empty the fridge night
Tuesday
B- Green eggs and ham cups
L-Salad
D-Shepard's Pie
Wednesday
B- Green Egg, ham and cheese scramble
L-Leftovers and salad
D-Roast chicken, roast broccoli, squash (probably butternut)
Thursday
B-Oatmeal
L-Leftovers and salad
D-Chicken soup
Friday
B-Green Egg, ham and cheese scramble
L-Leftovers and salad
D-Man Chili

Here are my Dr.Seuss ideas for this week. Over at Simply Mommies this week they made a cute little Seuss themed play table.
Seusstastic Classroom Ideas



Seusstastic Muffin Tin Lunch



Diy Seuss Hat Snack



Lorax How I Would Help



Goldfish Counting



And Finally The LARGEST collection of amazing ideas. I think there are at least 250, go HERE.

Sicky Sassy Baby Weekly Meal Plan

I have a feeling its going to be a long week since baby sassy is already sick and knowing our luck, big sas will soon follow. Thankfully knowing this I can plan simple meals that can be made while holding baby sassy or while she is sleeping. Or even when big sassy is whining, quick and simple are the keys here. We are also planning for company this weekend so I am trying to figure out some ideas that are a little more fancy then normal. I like spending time with my company though so I will probably find something simple that comes out amazing. 

On a side note all of the Mason Jar Meals (inspiration and original aha moment from Robin at Big Red Kitchen.) were mind blowing. Mr. Sassy loved them, they stayed fresh even on Monday after making them late Thursday night. I would 100% recommend making these on a Sunday night for a work week. There are some fantastic ideas on Robin's blog for a million things NOT salads! Ingenious. I will be trying a ton of these in the coming weeks for big sassy and Mr.Sassy. Chicken cordon blue, Kids Quiche, Peanut Butter Pie, and some Sliders.

Mr. Sassy's song pick for this meal plan, Chickenfoot . Yeah they do rock.
Monday
B- Oatmeal with dried fruit (we do old fashioned oats, put the dry fruit in while the water is boiling so its nice and soft by the time the oatmeal is cooked.)
L-Salads with mixed greens, craisins, nuts, oranges, peppers, frozen blueberries and balsamic vinegar
D-Chicken Legs and Thighs in oven with BBQ, Crash Hot sweet potatoes, frozen veggies
Tuesday
B-Scrambled eggs and cheese
L-Leftovers
D-Shepard's pie with cauliflower "top" instead of mashed potatoes
Wednesday
B-Eggs and Sausage
L-Leftover shepherd's pie
D-Chicken soup
Thursday
B-Eggs scrambled with ham, veggies and cheese
L-Soup and Salad
D-Ground beef tacos
Friday
B-Scrambled eggs with veggies, ham and cheese
L-Taco salad
D-Chili, salad
Saturday
B-Crispy Potatoes and Eggs (this is so good, we tried it for the first time last week very much a skillet.)
L- Leftovers, salad
D-Steaks on the grill, carrots and broccoli on the grill, grilled potatoes
Sunday
B-Big breakfast, eggs, bacon, potatoes,
L-Salad, leftovers
D-Mr.Sassy's choice, he wins the cook for the night award.

There you have it, a voyeuristic sneak peak into what the Sassy Family is eating this week. Remember a meal plan does not have to be complicated. Plan one day, or maybe plan one meal a day, it doesn't have to be crazy. The key to a good meal plan is to be honest and to make food you love and your sassy kids love. If that means you plan Kraft mac and cheese and hamburger helper then so be it. If that's what you eat, be honest with yourself and write it down, the ingredients you need and plan it. Some times I mix it up, I make Mondays meals on Thursday cause I don't want what I planned. But its OK, since I already did the shopping and have the ingredients I can do that, if I don't make a meal one day I can make it next week.

Back up plan, meals for when you really don't have a minute

I have these days some days where I try as hard as I can and nothing can just go properly. Big sassy is late for school, little sassy cries all day, the house is filthy, dinner isn't planned ahead and big sassy comes home crying and starving. These are the days that I need some kind of back up plan. I need to be able to throw SOMETHING edible together that is filling, tasty and the sassy girls will eat.

Here are my top 10 back up plans. most of these are fairly primal. They are not fancy, but they will help you avoid the drive thru or delivery man. I do not have any salads listed on here but that is an awesome idea as well, the sassies do not view salad as an acceptable main dish item and we tend to serve it as a side item. Fish is also a very easy quick cook, especially when you already have it in your freezer but big sassy thinks that fish and seafood is poison and will not knowingly eat it.

1. Don't cook the veggies. Worry about your meat, chicken legs, meatballs whatever. Just throw some carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes and apple slices on a plate. Dip away in whatever is in the fridge, balsamic vinegar and oil, Italian dressing, sour cream mixed with any type of season salt/seasoning, almond butter....seriously don't limit yourself.
2. Speaking of that, just do a tray. For some crazy reason the sassies love this more then words can say. Roll up lunch meat, chunk pieces of ham or salami, slices of cheese or string cheese, olives, raw veggies, pickles, any single item in your pantry, cupboard, fridge that is edible and throw it on the platter. Pour some types of dip out honey mustard, Italian dressing whatever else you love. Set out forks/spoons and dig in!
3. Frozen ground beef. Chuck it into a pot, put about 1/8-1/4 cup water in (depending on pan size, just enough to cover the bottom.) put a lid on it and randomly check on it scraping off the cooked parts. Not very fancy but it gets the job done. I can trick my kids into eating "veggie noodles" by peeling the green off of zucchinis and then peeling them into long noodles (stop before you get to the seeds, then peel the other sides.) boil until just before fork tender. Throw the ground beef on top of these, heat a jar of pasta sauce and pour on top. Always keep this on hand ALWAYS, even if you are crazy like me and make your sauce from scratch each time, buy the best jar you can find/afford and save it for this moment.
4. Frozen ground beef, cook as above but this time season with taco seasoning and serve on either homemade primal taco shells or as a taco salad. I keep some tortilla chips (bad, bad primal mommy) on hand for an emergency such as this.
5. Fajitas either in lettuce wraps or just as a "cooked salad", cut up 2 peppers, 1 onion, 1 zucchini, throw some oil in a large frying pan, start cooking at medium high heat sprinkle with a pepper blend of mixed seasoning. stir frequently. Then take a London broil (or sub chicken), sprinkle with same seasoning as vegetables, heat a large frying pan or better a grill, and throw the meat in/on. (keep stirring your veg) let cook at a medium high heat until it begins to brown (no burning allowed.) Flip and cook the other side. test temp. 155 is prime to remove and let rest for 10 min, then slice and serve with the cooked veggies, sour cream and shredded cheese.
6. Steaks, always the most awesome fast meal. Preferred on the grill but doable in a pan. Season with whatever you have, salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic etc. Grill or pan fry until done. Cut an acorn squash in half, spoon out seeds, put a spoon of butter and sprinkle of cinnamon inside the cavity. Put the squash in microwave safe dish and cover with plastic wrap, microwave for 10 min. Test by poking a fork into the thickest part of the squash (inside!) if it goes in really easily its done, if its really hard still give it another 5 minutes and retest, if its almost there give it another 2 minutes. Once done scoop out the flesh and place in a bowl, add salt, butter and cinnamon to taste.
7. Thai red curry leave out the cornstarch its unnecessary, add in 1/4 teaspoon of fish sauce and 1/4 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil. Not necessary but those are the "secret" Thai ingredients. Also fry in coconut oil not olive! Grate (yes grate) cauliflower or you can cut it into chunks and food process until it looks like grains. Stir fry in coconut oil to give you some faux rice to put this on.
8. Burgers, any which way. Ground beef, worcester sauce, BBQ sauce, fave seasoning salt, smell to make sure it smells "seasoned" if not add more seasoning until it does, if it doesn't smell seasoned it will not taste it. Form into patties pan fry or grill. Steam veggies or quick fry some veggies as a nice side.
9. Stir fry, something i'm not so great at but wish I was. Amazing stir fry breakdown HERE.
10. Primal sausage stuffed squash amazing idea, and so good. Nice creamy squash and the flavor of the sausage is awesome too. I use less greens other wise big sassy insists i'm trying to feed her "grass" and won't eat it.

So there you go, some quick ideas to get you through that slump. These are also fantastic things to add to your weekly meal plan so that you have a really fast meal on those days you are home late or have after school/evening activities.

And to be honest sometimes we do drive thru dinner, yep we do. My kids know the inside of happy meal box, some days that's just our reality. Check out Paleo Fast Food for some ideas to keep in mind for those times you do get stuck in a drive thru line.

Man Chili

Conversation over breakfast this morning
Big sassy "Mom, how old is our house?"
"umm its 134 years old honey"
big sas " so that's really old right?"
"right"
"when is it going to die then?"(said in super sad pathetic voice)
wth? "umm well houses don't die honey, they you know, fall into disrepair, burn down and other things."
"oh so our house will live to be 1,000 then." and then happily went back to eating her eggs.
Strange sassy.

Big sassy begged to watch you tube Sophia grace this morning. This kid cracks me up I forgot how funny she is to have around all day.

Last night was man chili for dinner, and since I completely had nothing in the house to pack Mr.Sassy for his lunch. I hand delivered a serving of man chili and a pan of the most decedent brownies ever. He claims he shared, I'm not so sure.

Man Chili is basically bean less chili (therefore making it primal) with as much meat as you like/want thrown in for flavor. Since yesterday was shopping day and it literally took the whole frigging day, I had to throw this all together in the midst of insanity. The meat went in frozen to begin with so just note that if you carefully cooked it up/browned it first then it would be a thousand times better.

Man Chili

(easily doubles)

adaption for crockpot included

2 Carrots

1 smallish onion

1 zucchini

1lb ground sausage

2lbs steak cut into chunks or stew beef

(plus any try any other type of meat, chorizo, hot sausage, Italian sausage, lamb, bison)

2 large cans of tomatoes (use already chopped if doing a quick less then 4 hour cook or whole if cooking for a long time)

1/2 small can of pumpkin

2cups of stock, beef, chicken or vegetable, pick your favorite (we use beef bone broth)

1/4 cup  BBQ sauce (we use DINOSAUR BBQ)

Chili Powder

2 Bay Leaves

1 tablespoon Worcester sauce

2-3 cloves Fresh Garlic

1 teaspoon marjoram

1 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

salt and pepper to taste

optional can of beans (drained and rinsed)

optional can of green chilies (for spicy sassiness!)

 Leave out the zucchini, carrot and pumpkin if you are lowering all carbs. You will need to add an extra small can of tomatoes or an extra cup of stock.

Brown sausage(and any other ground meat) in the pot you want to cook the chili in (unless you want to use the crock pot, then just use a large frying pan) remove, then brown steak/beef plus any other type of meat you will be using in this same pan. You want the ground meats to be cooked through and the other types of meat to be be at minimum browned. This will be cooking for hours so it will all cook through have no fear.

You can cook it all together, you will not get the same flavor as with following the directions but sometimes a girls got to do what a girls got to do!

While Browning the meat, peel the carrots and cut the ends off the zucchini and carrots. Grate them all.

Chop the onions and press or chop the garlic as well.

Add the onions, zucchini and carrots to the pan along with all the meat, cook until the onions begin to turn translucent. At this point if you want you can add this all to a crock pot. Add the tomatoes, pumpkin, stock, BBQ sauce and if you are using them, the can of beans. Stir well, then begin adding spices. I purposefully did not give an amount of chili powder, please add roughly 1 teaspoons. About 30 min before serving, taste, if a stronger "chili" taste is desired add more. Also please smell all your spices/herbs before cooking with them. Its neat to smell something and realize later on how that taste and smell plays into your food.

If your counters/stove/pots all look as messy as mine, it is a success so far. Bring the chili to a boil,and stir, lower the temperature until you have mild bubbles (simmer). This means you have frequent small bubbles that seem to just happily be there. If they are large, popping strongly or seem at all angry, turn the temperature down. You WILL burn your chili to the bottom if its too hot. If you put into a crock pot don't worry. Stick it on high for 5 hours or low for 7-9.

This can be cooked at a higher temperature on your stove top if you watch it carefully, this will take about 3 hours. On a nice mild bubbling temperature it can go 6 hours. Or longer

Chili is done when the steak/beef shreds easily and the chili has good flavor. *(this means shove a spoon in your food and taste it. Just do it.) You may add in more BBQ sauce, chili powder, garlic or anything that else looks good.

The Sassies love this chili and thankfully they have no clue that its full of pumpkin, zucchini and carrots. These can easily be left out without affecting the chili at all, this will lower the carb content. We eat primal  but don't worry about the carbs in vegetables especially for the sassies. If you remove those vegetables you will need to add an extra small can of tomatoes to replace the liquid you lose.

I top with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream. The girls have to have Frito's corn chips or the refuse to eat it! You can easily do it without any of the above, or add on top onions, peppers, whatever floats your boat or gets your sassy kids to eat it!

What do you top your chili with?



Sunday (getting ready for Monday) Meal Plan

Sunday's are usually my day to hang around being so happy my little sassies wake up at 6am, every day, especially on the weekends. Someday I will figure out how to make that stop, for now I don't have any energy for any kind of planning but meal planning.

I usually plan a weekly menu on Sunday so I can do my shopping with only one little sweet sassy thing Monday while big sas is in school. This week is vacation, so I have the joyful experience of bringing two energy laden Sassy Sisters into the stores. People here love me.

Meal planning is annoying sometimes, but since it helps to keep our weekly budget around $80-$120 I will do it. I usually spend around $90 initally and then spend a little more later on in the week. If we have company the weeks budget usually looks like $140. I am trying to come up with some good ideas, I am sick of the "old faithfuls" and we are re challenging ourselves to eat more primal/paleo. 

So the menu for this week is pretty choppy since we are gone Friday, Saturday and Sunday to go visiting the inlaws. Also Big Sas is home this week so I will be trying to make meals that make good amounts of leftovers so that she will have enough to eat with little sas and me for leftover lunch. School lunches for her are different since she has this thing about hot food and cold food.

Mr.Sassy thinks we need some "Billie Jean" to get us through this so rock out and read on.

Monday

B-Baked egg ham cup usually takes 15-20 min depending on how long the oven takes to heat.
L-Salad bar from the grocery store (ending our shopping trip with this is the sassies fav treat)
D-Man Chili and salad will post this recipe when we make it.
Tuesday
B-Eggs scrambled with veggies and ham.
L-Leftover Man Chili, salad.
D-Pulled Pork, Roasted Broccoli, acorn squash and coleslaw (a must for all good pulled pork)

Wednesday

B-Crispy Potatoes and Eggs. Adding in zucchini and pepper and bacon.(always bacon.)

L-Leftover Pulled Pork and veg.

D-Roast Chicken, Baked Sweet Potatoes,

Thursday
B-Banana Crepes and Sausage
L-Leftovers, Salad
D-Primal Shepard's Pie (hopefully using leftover chicken, otherwise ground beef) use cauliflower instead of potatoes.

I do not plan snacks each day, I generally buy enough to be 1x a day for little sassy. Big sassy takes a Stoneyfield yogurt tube or Cheese string to school for her snack, then she has a snack with little sas after school. This week will be mangoes, grapes, frozen berries, slice of chunky cheese (from a block, yes we call it chunky cheese), pears, and yogurt dip. Plus I'm sure we will see something truly awesome and awe inspiring in the store that the sasters HAVE TO HAVE. Hopefully it will be so phenomenol it bring a stunned silence in its wake.

And then because I am a lovely, amazing Wifey, I will be leaving Mr. Sassy these mason jar meals. He is working otherwise he would be coming with.  Don't tell him though, he gets all excited about this kind of thing and will bug me and bug me and annoy the shit out of me until he knows all the details. And then talks me out of doing it. He will love it though so better to surprise the man. Also I am using alot of items in these that will be leftover from our weekly menu plan! Score 2 for planning. Find HERE.
Two will be the following (layer from bottom to top) Chicken salad
Dressing, chicken, coleslaw (plain), dry cherries, almonds, Mandarin oranges.
one other will be this
Vinaigrette, chicken, hard boil egg, bacon, tomatoes, mixed greens.
one will be
Vinaigrette, roasted green beans, olives, potatoes, egg, tomato, ham.

All of these recipes are from Big Red Kitchen the last two did not have recipe links but if you click HERE it will take you to the directions, straight from Robins mouth.
Each will be put with a cheese string, a yogurt (plain yogurt, spoonful of maple syrup, cinnamon, nuts sprinkled on top) and a layered awesome looking mason jar fruit. (bottom shelf of picture in the link) with whatever fruit looks best and isn't a fortune! Also going to make some homemade Lara bars this week for a nice treat.