Recently I wanted to get back on track with cooking healthy(er) and, in the name of accountability, committed to sharing what I’ve been serving my family every night this month. Plus, don’t you just love peeking into other peoples’ homes? Well, here we go! {Read more about the idea behind my September Re-Set and see how I did during week 1, week 3, and week 4.}
It was a weird week – my husband was gone for work the first three nights, and then we camped the following two. But when you think of it, when does any week look completely “normal?” So I decided that our schedule wasn’t going to throw me off and I was going to keep the momentum going. Still going strong!
Sept. 8 – steamed artichoke
When my husband’s gone I usually cook stuff that I love and he doesn’t. Artichokes are my absolute favorite food in the whole world (which is weird, because if I’m being completely honest with you, I don’t like vegetables). So this was a special treat for me. But because they’re ridiculously expensive and my kids wouldn’t appreciate them nearly as much as I did, I gave them the option of a few of last week’s leftovers. Everybody won! Time to table: 1 hour (all hands-off).
Sept. 9 – grilled shrimp tacos with the world’s best guacamole
Nobody’s ever accused me of being original. But they have accused me of being cheap. That’s exactly why this meal is nearly an exact replica of last week’s – I still had cabbage slaw, cilantro, sour cream, tortillas, lime, and queso fresco around the house, so why not use it up? I just swapped lightly seasoned grilled shrimp for the chicken and made up a quick serving of guacamole once I realized I had all the ingredients in the house. (I made the kids’ tacos with leftover roasted chicken because I still had a ridiculous amount in the fridge.) Time to table: 15 minutes.
Sept. 10 – assemble-your-own salad
Why yes, I am still working through leftovers and, lucky for me, they also happen to serve well as salad toppings. This is always a hit with my kids, and since I didn’t have to cook anything new, the time to table was under 5 minutes.
Sept. 11 – grilled turkey and cheese
We went camping, and usually we grab something from a drive-through and dine in the car on our way to the campground. You guys. Accountability totally works. Instead of fast food we used stuff we already had for a quick and easy dinner. {And we also ate other leftovers. Because I hate wasting food.} I don’t have a food picture because we were hungry, but it took all of 10 minutes to get food in front of my family.
Sept. 12 – nachos
I’ll be honest. Healthy eating is not our priority when we’re camping. So we made nachos. And they were delicious.
Sept. 13 – simple chicken & dumplings with peas & carrots
I told you last week how I feel about Sunday dinners. This week wasn’t nearly as involved but just as yummy and comforting. And I even used up the last of the leftover chicken from last Sunday’s dinner in this dish! Time to table: 30 minutes.
Sept. 14 – {heartier} chicken noodle soup
After a week off of work, it was back to “real life” for me, which meant breaking out the old mother’s helper: my slow cooker. Chicken soup always warms the soul, but we love this recipe that’s a little heartier. I made one change from the original recipe by using this instead of cream soup* (in favor of reducing processed ingredients), and instead of using raw chicken I threw in the last of the grilled chicken from last week’s tacos, which I had tossed in the freezer to use another day. Time to table: 10 minutes (to boil the noodles). Random tip: Never cook or store your noodles in your soup. Keep them separate until serving to avoid soggy noodles!!!
*Just as I feared, this substitution scalded in the slow cooker because of the milk. It still tasted fine, but next time I’d either add it for the final hour OR just cook the whole thing stove-top. It was also richer than I’d prefer so I’d only use one serving of this homemade cream soup in a full recipe.
I think this week’s theme was probably: How To Use Up Leftovers And Feed Your Kids The Same Chicken Four Times Without Them Realizing It. Admittedly overall things could have been healthier or more creative, but since our schedule was so “off” and, at the end of the day everything came from my kitchen, I’m happy. But I do hope to improve things in the health department next week. See you then!
