I tried several times to sit down and make a meal plan for this week, but I was feeling so nauseous I couldn’t bear to think about food. So I decided to outsource the task and ask the family to do it! I told them to write down on a piece of paper 5 or 6 meals they’d enjoy eating.
You know what’s funny about this? Whenever I’ve gotten their input, they always pick the same 10 or so meals… and they’re typically things that are simple, easy for me to prepare, and often quick too.
In my family at least, I’ve noticed that…
Kids and men have pretty simple tastes, it’s us moms that complicate things by trying to be fancy all the time.
Here’s what we’re eating this week:
Source: familystampingfood.blogspot.com via Candi on Pinterest
- Roast chicken with carrots and broccoli, mini baguettes
- Chicken enchiladas and black bean mango salad
- Caleb’s famous homemade pizza, green salad
- Sloppy Joes and red potato salad
- BLTs with mango cucumber salsa and organic corn chips
A few ways I’m making this menu healthier and cheaper:
- Buying a whole chicken (organic, it’s on sale this week) to roast instead of chicken parts, and using leftovers for the enchiladas. Bones will be made into broth.
- The enchilada sauce is homemade.
- Mangoes, avocados, tomatoes, and red potatoes were all on sale – these ingredients will be used several times
- My Sloppy Joes recipe is made with grass fed beef and lentils to stretch the protein. Our beef comes from a local farmer we trust. No pink slime there!
- Caleb’s pizza crust is from scratch, so it’s super inexpensive and has no preservatives or other yucky ingredients.
Do you ever ask your family for input when you’re creating meal plans?
I’ve found the same thing… when I ask my husband and kids what they want on this week’s menu, it’s usually the same few things. I guess we could make things easier on ourselves if we just stuck with their choices!
Definitely! Of course, I have to admit that I sometimes want more variety as the head chef.
Sounds like a yummy menu. I have never made made enchilada sauce from scratch, will you share your recipe?
~Jamie
Sure thing, I got the recipe here: http://inashoe.com/2012/02/easy-homemade-enchilada-sauce/
I wish the kids would be so inventive…mine would say “cereal” (because I rarely buy it) or “pizza” which is always on the menu anyway. Food Depot had yellow mangoes on sale for $.68/each this week…my FAVORITE! Can’t wait to make something with them. I like the salsa idea.
Hi Carrie,
I’ve found my kids and hubby are also a lot fussier than I am. They will eat anything so long as it tastes decent enough. I’m the only one who is wanting to be a master chef! Haha
Are you able to share Caleb’s recipe?
Do you use only one whole chicken per meal? We are only 6 (with one newbie who doesn’t yet eat) and we go through 2 whole chickens per ‘meal’ (dinner with enough leftovers for lunch – we always cook this way). If you do only go through one, please tell me how you do it!