Weekly Meal Plan and Cookie Dough Balls

Christmas in in two days! Are you ready? We're ready. Well...one main present hasn't yet arrived, and it's not expected to arrive on time. It's one of the tough parts of living abroad. Things don't always arrive on schedule. Everything else is wrapped and tucked under our little tree, ready for Wednesday morning. My daughters are planning to set their alarms for 5 a.m. Christmas morning. I do so hope they oversleep.

I'm linking up to Menu Plan Monday. If you're visiting from there, welcome! I hope you'll hang around a while!

Here's what's cooking at our house this week:


Monday, December 23rd

Breakfast: Gingersnap Oatmeal

Lunch: Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

Dinner: Chicken and Dumplings

Snack: Cookie Dough Balls (below)


Christmas Eve

Breakfast: Cinnamon Rolls

Lunch: Leftovers and homemade bread

Dinner: Paleo Chicken Pot Pie,   Flourless Orange Cake 


Christmas Day

Breakfast: hootenanny and bacon

Late Lunch: Roasted Goose, Brussels Sprouts, Sweet Potato Rolls, Oven-Roasted Whole Onions, Carrots, Spice Cake with freshly whipped cream

Snacky Dinner: Deviled Eggs, gingerbread men cookies, leftovers, cinnamon raisin bread


Boxing Day

Breakfast: biscuits & cream sausage gravy

Lunch: leftovers from Christmas

Dinner: Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, leftover veg from Christmas, leftover sweets


Friday, December 27th

Breakfast: leftovers

Lunch: Simple Sesame Noodles and Baked Ham & Cheese Sandwiches

Dinner: leftovers for the kids while Mom and Dad go out on a date! We're venturing out for the first Mexican food we'll have since moving to Europe two Octobers ago. The restaurant is supposed to be pretty darn good, but having lived in the midwest may have spoiled us for Mexican. We'll see. I'll let you know how it was.


Saturday, December 28th

Today, I am going to begin stocking my freezer for future meals. I'm going to assemble this list of slow cooker freezer meals as my first go with freezer cooking.

Breakfast: donuts and fruit (they balance each other out, right? hehehe)

Lunch: sandwiches and chips

Dinner: Beef Noodles


Sunday, December 29th

Today, I'm going to assemble several breafast freezer/pantry meals.

DIY Instant Oatmeal Packets
Breakfast Sandwiches
Cinnamon Applesauce Waffles
Pancake batter (mixing it up and storing it in decorator bags to use later)
Pumpkin Spice Scones


Breakfast: breakfast sandwiches

Lunch: Loaded Baked Potato Soup and homemade rolls

Dinner: Meatball Sub casserole and salad



And now, I've got a recipe for you. You can take it to a Christmas pot luck, or you can wrap it up and give it as a gift. Edible, safe, raw cookie dough. What's not to love?

Cookie Dough Balls

total time spent: 30 minutes hands-on
total cost to me: $5 per batch, roughly
craftiness level: beginner

Ingredients:

2 cups flour (gluten-free or otherwise)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup chocolate chips (recommend mini but all I had was regular)

Beat butter and sugars together until creamy, then add in flour and salt. Mix in chocolate chips. Roll into balls and chill until firm.

Now, you can leave them as is, or you can dip them in melted chocolate. It's up to you!

Nom them relentlessly. Or, you know, gift them.

Yummy Homemade Peppermint Patties

I live in the lovely town of Velburg in Bavaria, Germany. This town is small, but they know how to throw a party. 

The Christmas Market was this past weekend, and it was our second time going. We love it. It's small, intimate, and has a good variety for such a tiny town. 

We were there at just the right moment to see Sainkt Nikolaus arriving on his motorbike.

 He then gave a speech in German, which was lovely even though I couldn't understand it. 

Then, he gave all the children treats. 

And finally, he departed the town on the same motorbike. 

We went to (another) Christmas market on Sunday. This one was at Schloss Guteneck near the Naab River. It was wonderful, as they all are, but we all agreed that this was the best one we'd been to in the two Christmases in Germany. We've got one more left for the season: Nurnberg. We're going there next week.

Here are a few photos from our latest Christmas Market adventure:

Food really is the best part of German Christmas markets. 

Now, it's Monday, so before I show you our craft du jour, I need to share my menu plan with you. 

I felt like "large roasted meat with veg" for our menu until Christmas. There is comfort in the scent of a meal roasting in the oven, isn't there? And this cold, dreary weather we've been having just begs me to cook large things. 

Plus, it's economical to roast meat and have it for a few meals. 

Here's the plan:

Breakfast items

scrambled eggs
hard-boiled eggs
bacon
sausage
Paleo Pancakes
Gluten-Free cinnamon rolls
Fruit Smoothies
oatmeal with toppings for the kids

Lunch items

leftovers
deli meats and cheeses (we bought five pounds of fresh smoked sausages and 100g of a 14 month aged cheese at the Schloss Guteneck market)
fresh fruits and veg
nuts
dried fruits
hard-boiled eggs

Dinners

Monday lasagna

Tuesday Whole Roast Duck with Balsamic Vinengar and Honey Glaze, Brussels Sprouts, and Carrots

Wednesday Duck & Veggie Stir Fry and making stock from the bones

Thursday company Christmas party

Friday roast beef, cauliflower mash, roasted carrots and onions

Saturday beef stew and paleo cornbread

Sunday  roast chicken, mashed root veg, broccoli

Baking projects: peppermint patties (below), fudge, Christmas cookies


Now let's talk Christmas crafting. Up today: something edible: 

Peppermint Patties (link)

total time spent: 90 minutes including chill time
total cost to me: just under $10 for one batch
craftiness level: beginner-intermediate

You will need:

• powdered sugar 
• mint extract
• butter
• cream
• either melting chocolate or chocolate chips and shortening (I used refined coconut oil)

See the link above for specific directions. 

A few tips:

• I ended up using at least 3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. I didn't measure after the initial measurement of 2 1/4 cups, but it took a lot of extra tablespoons to make play-dough consistency with my filling. 
• I couldn't get my filling to roll into a perfect round. Admittedly, I didn't try for long. Also, I didn't much care enough to go for perfection. 
• I used chocolate chips and refined coconut oil (to eliminate the coconut taste) instead of melting chocolate. 
• The paper towel tube is pointless once you start cutting. The cutting action flattens out the bottom of the rounds anyway. You can hand-shape them after you cut. 

Bleach Pen Tee Shirt Idea

I'm a fan of crafting. 

I'm a fan of Pinterest. 

I'm a fan of cute stuff. 

But I'm a huge fan of saving money and repurposing things, too. 

So when I come across ideas that do just that, I'm all about it. 

Today's craft idea is a great way to repurpose an older tee shirt. Maybe you have a grease stain you'd like to cover up. Maybe that red wine didn't quite come out. Two words: Bleach Pen. 

Make a design and cover that bad boy right up. 

Or, you know, get some thrift shop tees and go to town making Christmas presents for all your friends. 

Bleach Pen Tee Shirt (link)

total time spent: 10 minutes hands-on, plus 15 minutes waiting and time in the washing machine afterward
total cost to me: $2.99 for the bleach pen (already had the tee)
craftiness level: beginner

Tips:

• Don't make your design too intricate. The bleach will spread a bit
• Watch your shirt carefully. One of mine was still not bleached after 20 minutes and another was ready to be rinsed after 5 minutes. 

Also, it's Monday, so it's time to plan another week of healthy meals for my family. This is a week full of Christmas markets, birthday parties, and holiday get-togethers. Here's what's in store for us this week:

Monday:
fruit smoothies
fridge cleanout
coconut curry turkey chili & gluten-free cornbread
honey-cinnamon roasted chickpeas

Tuesday:
bacon & paleo biscuits
fridge cleanout
paleo chicken pot pie

Wednesday:
fruit smoothies
eating @ the Christmas market in Bayreuth
deli meats, cheeses, fresh fruits, and veggies and nuts before the concert tonight

Thursday:
paleo pancakes & scrambled eggs
crock pot vegetable soup
eating @ the homeschool group Christmas party tonight

Friday:
egg bites with added meat
creamy Italian chicken soup
dinner date with Hubs (kids having boxed mac & cheese, their choice, gluten-free though)

Saturday:
gluten-free cinnamon rolls
leftovers
eating at the Christmas market (one kid eating at a birthday party)

Sunday:
bacon & eggs
deli meats, cheeses, fresh fruits, and veggies and nuts before another birthday party
eating dinner at the Amberg Christmas market

baking projects this week: gluten-free gingerbread men, apple cider caramels

Starlight Mint Platter and What's Cookin at My House

I've seen variations of this holiday craft floating around Pinterest for the last couple of years. And I've wanted to try it for just about as long. I worried that the candy would melt in a runny, disgusting, takes forever to scrape off the cookie sheet kind of way, or that it would burn and be unsightly. Since I promised to be your guinea pig and report only crafts that work well, I knew I had to attempt this platter. 

It's on the Craft Fail blog, this craft. People complain of burnt candy, weird melty messes. So you can see why I was reluctant. Still, it's so darn cute if it actually turns out right. I couldn't resist the challege. 

I set my oven to 350F, arranged my mints, and off I went. 


Starlight Mint Platter (link)

total time spent: 5 minutes to assemble platter, 6 minutes (about) per platter baking time
cost to me: $1 per platter (already had the parchment and cookie sheet)
craftiness level: beginner

See the link above for full directions, but I have a few tips to help make this craft successful for you:

• space your mints 1/4" apart or less, but not touching. Don't use a ruler, just eyeball it. 
  
• don't worry about slightly larger spaces. The mints will fill in the gaps. 
• keep an eye on your mints. At five minutes, mine looked like this:    
  
  
  and at six, they were done: 

The candy is soft enough when you remove it from the oven that you could drap it over a bowl and shape it into a candy dish, if you wanted to. Just be careful, because it's really hot. 

I'm happy with my platter. I plan to make a couple more later today. 

Now, onto my menu plan. 

Thanksgiving is behind us. Time to get back to healthy eating and shed some of this extra weight I've been carrying around for far too long. This is a busy week for me. I have to make a trip to Vilseck, which is an hour away. I won a gift basket at their thrift shop on Black Friday (oh, PS: Black Friday shopping next year, try your local thrift shops. You may find yourself amazed at the deals!) and we have a few get-togethers to attend. I plan to bring healthy foods along with me to these get-togethers so that I can stay on track. One of them asks participants to bring a soup and dessert to share. Easy enough to make those items I can enjoy! 

I'm also adding a weekly healthy habit to my routine. Today will be the fifth day of my "take a walk every day" habit. In a couple more days, I'm adding "track my water intake" to make sure I drink enough water. I think I do, but I'm going to track it to be sure. 

Many of my meals are links. I don't know why Blogger isn't distinguishing them as links, but if you click on them, they're links. So if you want a recipe that you see here, try clicking on the recipe's name. It's likely a link. Blogger is just being strange as usual. 

Monday

Breakfast coffee as I type this up
Lunch green vegetable minestrone and a fruit smoothie
Dinner chicken pot pie
Snack roasted chickpeas

Tuesday

Breakfast warm cinnamon raisin quinoa
Lunch leftovers
Dinner pan-fried chicken, mashed sweet potato, cole slaw
Snack bacon jalapeno deviled eggs

Wednesday

Breakfast scotch eggs
Lunch eggs scrambled with meats and veggies
Dinner orange chicken and veggie stir-fry
Snack blueberry tarts

Thursday

Breakfast egg white bites
Lunch leftovers
Dinner crock pot creamy Italian chicken tomato soup
Snack chunky candy

Friday

Breakfast raspberry almond quinoa
Lunch meatloaf and roasted broccoli
Dinner chicken piccata, peas and carrots
Snack guacamole deviled eggs (minus the cilantro. I am in the "cilantro tastes like soap" club.)

Saturday

Breakfast pancakes and scrambled eggs
Lunch chili 
Dinner Hungarian goulash
Snack coconut cinnamon apples

Sunday

Breakfast eggs and bacon
Lunch leftovers
Dinner pulled pork waffle sliders , cole slaw with homemade mayo, and sweet potato fries
Snack gluten-free gingerbread cookies (recipe to come next week)

What's Cookin' at My House #4

First of all, I won NaNoWriMo 2013!

..which feels like a very, very big deal, because, in less than thirty days (in 23, precisely), I wrote over 50,000 chronological words. A story. I wrote a story. And it's nearly done. My heroine is about to meet her final challenge before the ending. I'll revise and edit the crap out of this thing, then I'll seek out publishing. My pal Wendy Callahan, author and NaNo Winner, has offered her assistance. And not everyone gets help from a published author! I can't wait. Some day, I, too, will be a published author. 

The novel's name is PARTS, but that's subject to change, and it's about an alternate reality in which human body parts are assigned based on your unique abilities and what your country needs from you. My main characters, Piper, Finn, and Blaize (all subject to change), uncover an ugliness being hidden by the entity overseeing this process, and they work to bring it to the public's attention. They meet every possible obstacle, right up until the last moments. 

My name is Piper Grey. I was born in a woman's ward in Sector Eight, on April 14th, 2033. I was Made fourteen years later. This is my story. 

Anyway, back to the mundane tasks of keeping a home: feeding the clan, to be specific. Clan's a good word here, because we're dabbling in Paleo eating. In the past, low-carb has made us all feel better (with special care to disclude our baby girl, who has the beginnings of kidney disease, and has since birth, so she ate all the grains and veg and fruit the whole time, as too much protein is bad for the kidney she has remaining -- long story for another day) but we all miss the carbie things. Paleo is a nice mix, because it's not low carb -- it's low carbs that make us feel like crap. Plus, it'll help us get over dairy consumption. Dairy does none of us any good. We all have sensitive tummies. 

So we're trying this new thing. Yes, with Thanksgiving stuffed right inbetween. Pun totally intended. Living with the 80/20 mentality which allows for copious chocolate consumption once a month, Thanksgiving will be left as-is. 

Even if you're not Paleo (and we're not Paleo, just dabbling), this is a damn fine menu plan, I think. Anyone would enjoy it. Just add grainy stuff if you need to. 

Monday

Breakfast: Cinnamon Raisin Quinoa (this is really, really good)
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: Crock Pot Balsamic Roast, Sweet Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts
Snack: Kale Chips

Tuesday

Breakfast: Scrambled Veggie Eggs and Sausage
Lunch: Out to eat -- probably not Paleo, to be honest
Dinner: Paleo Chicken Pot Pie
Snack: Fruit and Nuts

Wednesday

Breakfast: Meatsa Omlets -- salami, pepperoni, sausage, and ham bits in an omlet with peppers, tomatoes, and onions, too. 
Lunch: Veggie Soup
Dinner Almond Butter Chicken (we loved this so much last week that we're having it again this week!) with Broccoli and Carrots
Snack: Roasted Root Veggies

Thursday

Thanksgiving

Brunch: Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, 
Dinner: French Meet Pies, Yams Hawaiian Style (recipe below), Cornbread Stuffing made with Bacon and Onions, Corn Casserole, and Macaroni and Cheese. Pecan and Pumpkin Pies for dessert. No turkey. No ham. We're just not that into it. 

Friday

Black Friday

Breakfast: Kids will be home and will have leftover pie. Healthy, right? We will be shopping and will have something from the local bakery (equally healthy). 
Lunch: Kids: leftovers. We'll be having once-in-a-European-tour authentic Tex-Mex at a restaurant. 
Dinner: More leftovers. 
Snack: Probably not. 

Saturday

Breakfast: Primal Scotch Eggs
Lunch: Paleo Orange Chicken and Stir-fried veggies
Dinner Sweet Pulled Pork Waffle Sliders & Sweet Potato Fries
Snack: Honey-Cinnamon Roasted Chick Peas

Sunday

Breakfast: Paleo Pancakes and Scrambled Eggs
Lunch: Green Vegetable Minestrone Soup
Dinner Paleo Pan-Fried Chicken, Cole Slaw, and Roasted Root Veggies
Snack: Bacon Jalapeno Deviled Eggs


Yams Hawaiian Style

Ingredients:

• 2 large cans yams, mashed
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 15 oz can crushed pineapple with juice
• 1 cup pecans, chopped

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and cook and stir until heated through. Couldn't be simpler. 

In other news, beginning Friday and extending through Christmas Eve, I will have daily posts detailing homemade gifts, decorations, and other fun stuff you can make for the holidays. It's a Very Pinteresting Christmas, by Yours Truly. I hope you'll come back then. 

What's Cookin' at My House #3

Going on this week:

• My oldest daughter turns fifteen! You know --- that year when you get your LEARNER'S PERMIT and begin -gulp- driving. 
• We have homeschool gym class and a Zumba class (kill me now) on the same day
• We have a get-together on Tuesday
• My husband is out of the house all week
• Still working on my novel
• Homeschool. 
• I've committed to exercising on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this week. I have accountability partners. So, you know, I have to get it done. 
• Snow is in the forecast, finally!

Here is my weekly menu plan. If you notice it's quite similar to last week's (and the week before's), well, yay! because that means you're a returning reader! And shh--- things went a little wacky the last couple of weeks and we skipped home cooking too much. 

It is all completely gluten-free. It's not a fad with me. Gluten really does make me sick: it gives me headaches, makes me irritable, wrecks my gut, makes me phlegm-y, bloats me, makes me crave more gluten, causes me to have seasonal allergy symptoms (and take Benedryl), wrecks my teeth, and a list of other symptoms. The wheat of today is not the wheat our ancestors thrived on, and gluten intolerance and gluten allergies are more and more common. Gluten-free is not a weight loss program, although it does help shed the pounds I carry from bloat. Gluten-free is a health program. Because who wants to feel sick all the time? If you're not gluten free, you can still make these meals. Just replace any specialty flour with your own all-purpose and thank the gods you get to buy cheap flour. Also feel free to add pasta, skip rice, whatever. It's your life. I won't tell you how to live it. I will tell you, though, that even if you're not gluten-free, this is a kickass menu plan anyone can enjoy. 

Aside from that, my menu is also mainly clean and slightly paleo. I adhere to neither of those plans but I find their recipes fit in with my particular way of eating nicely. Plus, they're healthy. Well, except for the Nutella Brownies. But, you know, Nutella. Brownies. 

I bought a bunch of disposable freezer containers so that I can freeze my leftovers for busy day meals. Tis the season for busy days, after all. 

Oh, by the way. I have something super fun planned for this blog starting the day after Thanksgiving and running through Christmas Eve. More details to follow soon. 

Click on the meal each day to open the recipe on other sites. And enjoy. :)

Monday
Breakfast Paleo Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies (make ahead of time)
Lunch Spaghetti Squash & Meatballs (start before breakfast)
Dinner Almond Butter Chicken with Stir-Fry Veggies and Brown Rice

Tuesday
Breakfast Almond Joy Oatmeal
Lunch Stuffed Mexican Sweet Potatoes
Dinner Rosemary Chicken with Green Beans and Red Potatoes (start after breakfast)

Wednesday *Bay's Birthday!*
Breakfast Warm Cinnamon Raisin Quinoa Breakfast
Lunch Slow Cooker Lentil Soup (leftovers)
Dinner Mac & Cheese (homemade, gluten free) and a delicious (homemade, gluten free) cookies and cream cheesecake for dessert -- Birthday Girls' request. I will post a recipe later this week.

Thursday
Breakfast Apple Pie Bites (make ahead of time)
Lunch Refried Bean Soup (start before breakfast)
Dinner Chicken from the chicken truck and salad (There is a delicious food truck in my village and they sell roasted chicken. It is fabulous)

Friday
Breakfast Sweet Potato Breakfast Hash
Lunch leftovers
Dinner Quick & Easy Chicken Curry

Saturday
Breakfast Almond Flour Yogurt Waffles
Lunch leftovers
Dinner Crock Pot Pork & Green Chili Stew (start after breakfast)

Sunday
Breakfast eggs and toast
Lunch veggie fried (brown) rice and egg drop soup
Dinner Crock Pot balsamic roast (start after breakfast)

Snacks throughout the week

Roasted Chick Peas
Guacamole Deviled Eggs
Coconut Cinnamon Apples

Sweet Treat to End the Week (All work and no play makes Jane a dull girl, so the saying goes.)

Nutella Brownies

Self-Imposed Busyness

I have been so busy lately I scarcely have time to think, let alone blog. Here I've gone and started this lovely little blog and have been just about ignoring it ever since. 

NaNoWriMo. 

I've been busy writing a novel. I'm at 30,000 words exactly, as of last night. It's consuming my month. Last night snuck up on me, and I realized at bedtime that I was without a weekly menu plan. And when you're spending three to five hours a day writing, plus homeschooling, plus trying to maintain a home and three relationships, a menu plan is pretty much a requirement, don't you think? Oh, what, you wouldn't know? You think I'm insane? Yeah, you're likely spot-on there. 

Still, it's fun! I'm writing the story about two strangers who come together to change their destinies, and to awaken the world to some pretty awful things happening behind everyone's backs. It's really a metaphor to reality, but that's not how I intended it to come across. 

Actually, to be honest, if there's one thing I've learned writing this novel so far, it's that the novel is writing itself, and rewriting me. The words that come out of my fingertips often surprise me, as though they didn't really come out of my own mind, but out of the minds of characters I'm still getting to know. 

So please have patience with me, as I learn to fit this new part of me, the writer part, into my delicately balanced existance. I love writing, and NaNoWriMo has awakened the beast. I don't intend to stop on November 30th. I don't intend to stop ever. I have to find a way to fit writing into my daily life, and I think three hours a day is a good amount of time to do it. I just have to learn to schedule myself. Not a strong suit with me. 

Oh, also, I'm writing a U.S. History curriculum for my fifth grader, because nothing on the market is quite right for her. That is a lot of work. We're going to focus the first half of 2014 on U.S. History from Roanoke until just before World War I. It's a lot of ground to cover in six months, but I'm putting books, movies, video clips, hands-on activities, and more together to make it work. 

I'm in the middle of several crafts. 

And I've got a move that spans two continents coming this summer. 

And I've got this blog. :)

Without further adeu, my menu for the week:

Monday:
Breakfast: Egg White Bites
Lunch:Fried (brown) rice with vegetables
Dinner: Black Bean Soup in the slow cooker (throw a bag of black beans in the crock pot and soak overnight. drain, return to crock, add a diced onion, a diced bell pepper and some vegetable broth, cook all day, puree half of the soup. top with green onion, sour cream, and/or cheese. easy!)

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Cinnamon-Raisin Quinoa Breakfast
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: Slow Cooker Creamy Beef over Rice & oven-roasted Brussels Sprouts

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Egg White Bites
Lunch: (out)
Dinner: Mexican Quinoa and Black Beans

Thursday
Breakfast: Apple Pie Bites
Lunch: (out)
Dinner: Chicken from the food truck and Greek salad

Friday
Breakfast: Paleo Sweet Potato Hash & Eggs
Lunch: Refried Bean Soup
Dinner: Crock Pot Creamy Italian Chicken Tomato Soup

Saturday
Breakfast: Almond Flour Yogurt Waffles
Lunch: Stuffed Mexican Sweet Potatoes
Dinner: Pork and Green Chili Stew

Sunday
Breakfast: Yogurt with fruit and Paleo Pumpkin Granola
Lunch: Paleo Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs
Dinner: Slow Cooker Lentil Soup

Snacks throughout the week

Baked Herb Veggie Quinoa Bites
Coconut Cinnamon Apples
Zucchini Chips


Sweet Treat to End the Week

Gluten-Free Nutella Brownies (omg!!)

As you can see, I'm relying heavily on my slow cookers. I can't imagine getting through this month without them. Which reminds me: Thanksgiving is coming up, too. I have to do that shopping this week. Sigh. 

PS Any recommendations on alleviating screen-related headaches? 


this post is linked to the following: 

menu plan monday
manic monday

What's Cookin' at My House

I'm so busy this month, with NaNoWriMo taking up a lot of my time, plus all of my normal day-to-day stuff, that I need to rely on my slow cookers and other kitchen gadgets to make my days easier. This week's menu is heavy on grab-and-go items, leftovers, and slow cooker recipe. I don't know what I'd do without my three Crock Pots. Honestly. 

I'm at 10,008 words out of 50,000 required to win NaNoWriMo, byt the way. Anyone else writing a novel this month? I'd love to link up with NaNo Buddies!

Here's our menu for the week:

Breakfasts:

Grab & Go Egg White Bites
Egg & Avocado Toast (tried and true)
Oats with berries and honey
Greek yogurt with fresh fruit
Cereal (Gluten-free) with almond milk and berries


Lunches:

 Tuna (homeschooled, fifth grade) & I eat lunch at home. Bay (public schooled, ninth grade) & Hubs take lunch boxes to school & work. Listed are just weekend lunches and lunch items I make to last the week for Tuna & me. 

Greek Salad
Leftovers
Sandwiches with lots of fresh veggies

Dinners:

Monday: Tuscan Chicken Soup (tried and true) and crusty, gluten-free bread

Tuesday: Creamy Beef (tried and true) over rice, with salad

Wednesday: "Candy" Chicken, (tried and true) rice, and steamed veggies

Thursday: Buy a rotisserie chicken from the chicken truck, salad, and crusty bread

Friday: frozen meals

Saturday: BBQ Beef & Bean Sandwiches, (tried and true) fries, and sliced fresh veggies

Sunday: Pumpkin Black Bean Soup with Sausage (new recipe)

This post is linked to Manic Monday, Menu Plan Monday, Manic Monday

What's Cookin' at My House

In nine months, my family is moving back to the USA from Germany. 

I'm so sad that we have to leave Europe. I love it here. 

What's not to love? The food, for starters. Take a look at a few of the reasons I love Germany:

Do you see why I need to watch what I eat so I can lose some weight before I move? This and so much more is everywhere! So I announced to my family that we're going back to eating clean and ditching the gluten. 

My oldest (a high schooler) doubts me. She said, "yeah, right. I've given up on this family eating clean. We've tried so many times."

Ouch. 

But she's right! We do. We start out strong and finish weak. Usually, our healthy eating ends with a quick run through the McDonald's drive thru line. 

Something about her doubt fuels my fire. I'm determined not to give in, and not to give myself a reason to. I'm determined to find easier, tastier, clean eats for my family and me. 

Here goes week one. 

Breakfasts:

Grab & Go Egg White Bites
Egg & Avocado Toast
Oats with berries and honey
Greek yogurt with fresh fruit
Cereal (Gluten-free) with almond milk and berries

Lunches:

Tuna (homeschooled, fifth grade) & I eat lunch at home. Bay (public schooled, ninth grade) & Hubs take lunch boxes to school & work. Listed are just weekend lunches and lunch items I make to last the week for Tuna & me. 

Tuscan Chicken Soup
Spaghetti Squash with turkey meatballs and tomato sauce
Burrito Bowls (rice with various burrito fillings, make your own)
Garden Vegetable Soup with crusty gluten-free bread (From Paleo Slow Cooker book)
Loaded Rice Cakes: Rice cakes topped with nut butter and any of the following: chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts, coconut, fresh fruit

Dinners:

Monday:Turkey with Blueberry Pan Sauce, rice, and steamed broccoli


Tuesday: Slow Cooker Mexican Quinoa & Black Beans (tried & true)

Wednesday: out to eat

Thursday: Buy a chicken from the rotissirie chicken truck, salad, and crusty bread

Friday: Hearty Beef & Cabbage Soup & Crusty Bread (Paleo Slow Cooker)

Saturday: Shredded Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Sunday: Coconut Curry Chili

This post is linked to Manic Monday, Menu Plan Monday, Manic Monday, Mingle Monday, Moms Monday Mingle