Today I’ve got nothing. Nothing, except a tomato the size of my kid’s head.
Did you know that RedDog is the ONLY one in our family who likes fresh tomatoes? He’ll eat them straight off the vine with a little salt. It’s like candy to him.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are trying to control our gag reflexes.
We like tomatoes cooked in pastas, sauces and salsas. The Hubby and I even like them finely diced in salads or pico de gallo. But there’s a seedy, slimy thing we can’t handle with fresh tomatoes.
This huge tomato came from my friend Michelle’s garden. She cuts Owlie’s hair and while we were there the other day RedDog sat and ate baby cherry tomatoes by the handful off her vines. He also claimed this bad boy as his prize for sitting through a boring old haircut. He had half of it for lunch on Saturday and the other half on Sunday. He was a happy boy.
We try to eat pretty healthy around here. We’re not “all organic” or “no refined sugar” healthy, but I try to limit the junk and cook fresh and from scratch instead of buying prepared foods.
I have recommitted myself to menu planning to help our grocery budget and maintain consistency in our healthy eating. Just FYI, here’s what’s on the menu this week:
- Calzones, green salad & peaches
- Sloppy Joes, sweet potato fries, green beans
- Asian cole slaw, pot stickers, brown rice, pineapple
- Chicken, pesto & pinenut pasta, breadsticks, fall salad
- BBQ chicken, quinoa blackbean corn salad, fresh fruit
The only premade item on that menu will be the pot stickers. I know it’s only five meals, but Friday I have a date with some girlfriends at Café Rio and Saturday The Hubby and I will head to the temple, so the kids will make dinner (probably grilled cheese, mac and cheese or frozen pizza). Gotta get away from the kitchen or I end up hating the cooking portion of my job.
For full disclosure’s sake, I will admit that two of my kids will love everything on this menu, one will like about half and one will HATE all of it except the fruit and bread. But I don’t cook to make my kids happy, I cook to make them healthy (and my Hubby happy).
What’s on your menu this week? Are you a menu planner?
6 comments:
Sometimes I wish I was still cooking for a family because cooking for two is just not fun, especially when one of the two has some difficult eating issues.
I've pinned a million, okay thousands, of great recipes on Pinterest which I will probably never make. I think for the Queen's Dish this time I will make 4 recipes just so I can say I made them.
Keep up your healthy recipe planning and cooking, it will pay off in good health and good habits for the whole family.
I'm glad that at least one of the Lees appreciates the goodness of fresh tomatoes. When I was growing up, in the fall, fresh tomatoes were our after school snack.
I think your Hubby is a great audience for your culinary skills! If at least one person appreciates your dinners
(other than you of course), then you are a success!
I am grateful to have one good eater, one pretty decent eater and only one very picky eater at this stage in life.
Well- I had 2 factors against me this week: multiple events each night and the hubby out of town. I had on the menu the following: pb&j, oatmeal (with any toppings you want), canned tomato soup, and scrambled eggs with toast. The kids were thrilled! They thanked me enthusiastically each night. Next week should be much better- I'll have more free evenings and a better audience for my culinary experiments.
Mmmm I love tomatoes! When I was little and went with my mom to the market place I asked her to buy me a tomato to eat right at that moment. With time, some farmers knew me for my love of tomatoes, I was "the girl that loves tomatoes". :)
Sometimes I think I should have a menu plan... but I only have to cook for myself, so I don't usually plan much in advance...
I've always been a bit embarrassed to admit that I don't like tomatoes. I like them in sauces and salsa, but no slimy way could I ever eat one by itself straight out of a garden. Everyone always looks at me like I'm crazy whenever I have to admit I don't like tomatoes!
Menu planning, hmmm, I have a monthly calendar on the fridge for the Menu and I'm supposed to fill it in. What usually happens is that I serve something and then I write it on the calendar so it will look like I planned that!
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