Monday Meal Plan (June 11)

After almost a month of not planning our meals, being on vacation, overspending and just random insanity we have a meal plan. I finally have found a nice pattern to help make the meal plan simpler to plan. I have assigned each day a meat "flavor" such as beef on Mondays. This means I can narrow it down and not feel quite so over whelmed.

Friday is big sassy's last day of kindergarten. She is so old! I cannot believe that she will officially be a grade schooler next year. Apparently her new teacher is amazing (she met her today) and sas has gushed about her from the moment I saw her. Consider me super relived. We are doing one of her favorite on Friday, grilled pizzas.

Monday (beef)
B-Omelets with cheese and sausage
L-Salad
D-Steak, grilled veggies, potatoes roasted with cheese and bacon

Tuesday (Mexican)
B-Eggs with cheese
L-Leftovers
D-Taco Salads

Wednesday (pork)
B-Oatmeal
L-Leftover taco salad
D-Pork ribs, potato salad, peas

Thursday (chicken)
B-Fried eggs
L-Leftovers
D-Lemon and garlic chicken thighs, green beans

Friday(fish/seafood)
B-Yogurt
L-Chicken and salad
D-Grilled pizza (trying a scallop pizza with Alfredo sauce to get the kids started on seafood they like)

Saturday(crock pot)
B-Eggs and bacon
L-Leftovers and salad
D-Whole chicken, roasted carrots

Sunday
Clean the fridge, leftovers

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.