Week 76: School is OUT!

School is OUT for the summer!  I'm so excited to be able to let my kids sleep in!  I'm amazed at how quickly they adjust to this whole 'sleeping in' thing!  We've gone from waking up around 6:15am to sleeping until 8am or later (for my oldest as least).  I love the quiet time in the morning when everyone is sleeping.  Hey, maybe I can actually start blogging again with this wonderful time?

Well, I am looking forward to this summer!  I am in the process of having a screened in porch finally put on the back of my house, so this is a fantastic start to our summer!  It's so much nicer to have a protected place from the mosquitos during a Georgia summer.  We used to have a screened in porch, but knocked it down a few years ago because it was structurally unsound.  This one is going to be awesome!

Here's a picture of my husband and his dad hard after the first day of work on the porch! Tomorrow we get a roof!  It's off to a great start!

Week 76 Menu

Sunday - Salmon with mixed roasted veggies
Monday - Thai basil shrimp, cabbage, red peppers, white rice

Tuesday - Sirloin pork roast with roasted carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes

Wednesday - Spaghetti with meatballs, zucchini noodles, angel hair
Thursday - Mahi Mahi, rice, black beans, mango salsa

Friday - Out to dinner?

Saturday - Grilled chicken, baked sweet potatoes, green beans

Happy cooking to you all and don't forget to honor our Veteran's this Memorial Day!  We are so grateful for the sacrifice that all of you make to keep our country safe!

Sarah

Week 70: Warm December. . .

This warm weather is creeping me out!  Seriously, it should not be 70 degrees on December 9th in North Georgia!  I am enjoying the outside time for the kids (and for my hubby who is working on our deck), but it just feels strange to see people wearing flip-flops in December.  Ok, enough of my soap box and onto the menu. . .  ;)

Thai Basil Shrimp with red peppers and cabbage!  Sent this picture to Alain to lure him home last week!  

We finally bought our Christmas tree today and decorated it, so it was a sweet family night for all of us.  The kids proceeded to pay with legos as soon as the decorating was complete and I made some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for a special treat!  I've been using coconut oil in these cookies rather than butter and they are delicious!  It's really interesting that they seem to hold their shape better with the coconut oil rather than spreading out on the cookie sheet to be a bit thinner when I use butter.  Not sure if any of you have tried it, but I'd love to hear from you want to share your thoughts!

Week 70 Menu

Sunday - Rotisserie chicken, green beans, white rice
Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Pot roast, carrots, potatoes

Wednesday - Chicken Cacciatore, pasta, zucchini pasta, roasted cauliflower
Thursday - Shrimp tacos, white rice, black beans, cabbage slaw (romaine lettuce for Paleo taco shells)

Friday - Roasted salmon with normandy vegetables

Saturday - Out to dinner

Hope you all have a great week!

Sarah

Week 69: Playing Catch Up!

Well, I totally missed posting last week's menu with my post-Thanksgiving craziness.  My SIL came into town to visit her sister (who had pre-eclampsia and delivered a preemie a few weeks ago) with my niece, so we had a little time with my sweet niece, Josephine (Zach calls her 'JosePine' and I love it).  The 'no-menu' weeks are always a challenge, but we did almost totally Paleo meals all week despite the chaos.

Now this picture is not a Paleo meal, but I made these right before Thanksgiving and I was thrilled with this pita bread recipe!  It was the easiest bread I've made and the kids devoured this stuff as it came out of the oven.  I cooked it in the oven on a cookie sheet turned upside down and they only take a few minutes to puff up and cook!  Pita bread was a really fun recipe to make with the kids, so give it a try if you like pita bread.  They are SO much better than anything you get in the store!

Week 69 Menu

Sunday - Rotisserie chicken, broccoli (from our garden)
Monday - Mexican beef (or lettuce wraps), roasted cauliflower, guacamole

Tuesday - Spaghetti with meat sauce, green beans, zucchini noodles

Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Thai basil shrimp, cabbage, red peppers, white rice

Friday - Grilled steaks, spring mix salad, grilled asparagus

Saturday - Roasted salmon with normandy vegetables

Happy cooking!

Sarah

Week 61: Return to Normal?

It feels like August was gobbled up by the time goblin!  Seriously, we traveled for one week to Oregon, had a week home, and then were blessed with almost two weeks with visitors!  During all of the excitement, the kids started school and now I feel like things are slowly starting to come together!  I don't think we've encountered 'normal' yet, but we're enjoying each day!

We had a special treat this weekend by visiting with my best friend from high school, Stef, and her family!  Here's a picture of the girls with Stef's 2 kids!  We visited a barbecue festival up in Kennesaw and then ate dinner at our house!  It's been over 6 years since we've seen each other, so it was indeed a special treat for everyone!

I did not even attempt a menu plan last week while we still had family in town!  Now, I'm back and ready to get creative with some cooking. . .

Week 61 Menu

Sunday - Marinated salmon (Costco) and roasted frozen veggies

Monday - Sirloin pork roast, potatoes, broccoli

Tuesday -  Thai basil shrimp, cabbage, red peppers, white rice

Wednesday - Leftovers 

Thursday - Roast chicken, carrots, potatoes, couscous (just use whatever veggies you have on hand)

Friday - Out of town

Saturday - Out of town

Have a great week!  I'd love to see those menus!  Doesn't matter if it's fancy or simple!  We can all inspire one another!

Sarah

Week 57: Grilled Pizza!

Grilled pizza has always been in the back of my mind since I saw a show on The Food Network years ago demonstrating how the whole thing works.  So, today was my sweet Emilie's 6th birthday and she adamantly begged to have homemade pizza for dinner.  I tried to explain to her that our oven is broken, but that really doesn't mean much to a 6-year-old birthday girl!

This is the photo before it went on the grill.  We ate it so fast that I didn't get any pictures after it came off the grill!  ;)

Wow!  I can't say enough amazing things about grilled pizza!  It tastes just like it does cooked in a stone oven!  It was just the perfect crispness on the crust and perfectly browned.  Each bite was heavenly!  Alain and both felt like we were tasting pizza perfection!  We're such food geeks!  We've made our own pizzas before, but only in the oven and they were always good, but this just really took it up a notch.  The kids made their own pizza and Alain and I made ours (side 1-pesto, pulled pork, artichokes mushrooms, and buffalo mozzarella; side 2-red sauce, sausage, mushrooms, buffalo mozzarella and basil).

Emilie's 6th Birthday!

Week 57 Menu

Sunday - Homemade pizzas

Monday - Mexican beef, black beans, white rice

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Thai basil shrimp, cabbage, green beans

Thursday - Chicken stir-fry, broccoli, white rice

Friday - Grilled salmon, pan seared asparagus

Saturday - Out to dinner

I'm hopeful that the oven will be fixed this week!  I was cooking this weekend and I heard this awful "POP" sound come out of the oven and it looked like there was a fire inside!  I quickly turned off the oven and took out the food, but the heating coil on the bottom seems to be damaged.  So, I tried to keep our menu out of the oven this week!  

Happy cooking!

Sarah

Week 53: Last Week of School!

This is always a strange week for me because I'm excited for the change in routine that summer brings, but I'm also a bit resistant to the change in the schedule I've established over the last 9 months!  Overall, I think I'm more excited for the change than anything, but I feel this rush to get as much done as possible while the girls are in school all day!  Since I grow to be a greater procrastinator each year, that makes every year a little bit more difficult.  Is that why time seems to fly faster each year?

All of the kiddos (Annabelle, Emilie and Zach in front of our cul-de-sac garden)

I'm not sure if I've mentioned our cul-de-sac garden yet on this blog, but we have started hosting the community garden in our cul-de-sac every Spring and it's SO awesome!  Alain is really the gardener in the family.  I kill every plant that's given to me, so my hubby always takes care of any plants that are given to me as gifts.  Anyway, we have 5 houses in our cul-de-sac and everyone contributes to the garden each year.  Each year we try a few new things, but this year we have tomatoes, basil, jalapeños, zucchini, radishes, green beans and I'm not sure if that's all, but it sounds like a lot to me.  We all share the harvest and it's a great project that brings us all together!

Oh, he's so cute!  Love that little man of mine!

The last two weeks of school are crazy busy around this house.  There's a few parties this week at school and swim team started last week, so we've been out practicing every night with the girls!  It's fun, but I'm looking forward to swim team practice in the mornings after school is out so that we'll have the rest of the day free to play!  

Weekly Menu #53:

Sunday - Roasted chicken legs, corn on the cob, broccoli

Monday - Thai shrimp with basil, cabbage, white rice (didn't get to this last 2 weeks, so I'm really craving it this week)

Tuesday - Mexican beef tacos, black beans, white rice leftovers (this is crock pot meal, so I'm hoping this will be easy while I'm packing the night before we leave to go out of town)

Wednesday - Leftovers

Thursday - out of town

Friday - out of town

Saturday - out of town

Have a great week!  Let's see your menus now!  I'm out of town this weekend, so menu probably won't be going out until late next week!

Sarah

Week 52: Happy Mother's Day!

I'm so grateful for my family!  The kids really spoiled me this weekend!  Emilie (5) had a Mother's Day Tea on Friday (and made me all kinds of gifts) and Annabelle (8) made me cards and a handprint flower bouquet with a poem!  Zach (3) even painted me a flower pot with sweet little flowers in it!  I'm awed and amazed by my sweet children every day.  An extra bonus this year was that I got to hang out with my mom and my sister on Saturday and we went to Antico for the best pizza ever!

My husband made me eggs benedict for breakfast and we decided to try the hollandaise from scratch this time.  For years, we've bought the little packages, but those require milk and we thought it would be better to make the sauce from scratch because it does not contain milk (only egg yolks, butter and lemon juice).  Here's where we remember the importance of measuring ingredients.  Alain squeezed one whole lemon into the saucepan, but it was supposed to be only one tablespoon.  This was a particularly juicy lemon, so the sauce was very tart!  ;)

Onto the menu planning!  Our calendar has been so crazy busy, that menu planning is getting difficult.  Might be a few more 'out to eat' days that usual just to accommodate the craziness.

Weekly Menu Plan #52

Sunday -  Homemade pizza, salad
Monday - Out to eat for me (maybe spaghetti for the family?)
Tuesday - Out to eat
Wednesday - Community Group Dinner (we just bring burgers and a side)
Thursday - Beef tacos, black beans, white rice, seared zucchini
Friday - Thai shrimp with basil, cabbage, leftover white rice
Saturday - Grilled salmon, corn on the cob, roasted mixed veggies

Have a great week!  Looking forward to seeing your menus too!

Sarah

Week 47: Family Baking Day!

Don't you just love those beautiful, blue sky, warm weather days?  Today was definitely one of those memorable days.  All of the southern flowers are blooming (even the beautiful, yet invasive wisteria) everywhere you look and the colors are just eye-popping!  Of course, the other side of that beauty is that everyone is suffering from sinus-related illnesses.  ;)

Nevertheless, we took full advantage of the weather today on a Girl Scout field trip to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens!  There were tulips blooming everywhere and in every possible color that you can imagine!  It's also 'Orchid Daze' so the fragrant scents of those delicate orchids were spread out through the Garden!  I guess I'm a sucker for flowers. . . the hyacinths are my favorites and they were everywhere too!  Loved it!

Emilie is obviously posing in the back and Zach can never stand still for any photos!  

Anyway, I got a chance to bake a snack for the field trip (because I happen to be the Daisy leader for the troop) and all of my kids wanted to help me bake chocolate chip cookies!  I can't honestly remember the last time that all three kids helped me bake one recipe.  Typically, Zach and Emilie take turns, but Annabelle has been doing her own thing now that she's a big third grader.  So, I let Annabelle help Zach take care of the dry ingredients and Emilie helped me with the wet ingredients!  I know that it really stresses some people out to have the kids in the kitchen with them, but I love baking with my kids.  I don't love cooking dinner with them as much because I am usually in a hurry to get dinner made, but with baking we can take our time and enjoy the experience!  Above is the best picture I could get!

Now onto the menu. . .

Week 47 Menu

Sunday - Leftovers
Monday - Chicken stir fry with cabbage, broccoli and carrots, white rice
Tuesday - Thai basil shrimp, cabbage, red peppers, white rice (we have lots of cabbage to use up this week)
Wednesday - Burgers
Thursday - Grilled salmon, wild rice, roasted mixed veggies
Friday - Out to Dinner
Saturday - Shrimp fra Diavolo, zucchini pasta, angel hair pasta, steamed broccoli

Happy menu planning everyone!  I'd love to see what you're cooking this week!

Sarah

Week 42: Easy Week. . .

Well, my sweet hubby is out of town for 9 days.  Although we are already missing him dearly, the kids and I are a little excited about the possibility of using dairy items, potatoes, legumes, grains and maybe even a little sugar in our dinner menu plans this week.  I feel like I'm rebelling just a bit, but I'll be happy to return to Paleo eating in a week and a half.  Annabelle's favorite meal is beef stroganoff, so that's definitely going to be on the menu and we may have to have a pizza night as well!

We were eating dinner tonight and I just had to take a picture of my 8-year-old, Annabelle, eating Thai Basil Shrimp.  She eats it the way her daddy does (no rice, but lettuce wraps).  She really doesn't care for the cabbage and red peppers unless she eats them with the shrimp in a lettuce wrap.  Amazing!  I would never have tried that with my kids, but they all love it!

Weekly Menu #42


Sunday - Thai basil shrimp (I know we just had this on the menu, but we are eating it again!)
Monday - Over to a friends' house (I'm only responsible for dessert)  :)
Tuesday - Beef Stroganoff, steamed green beans, egg noodles
Wednesday - Out to dinner
Thursday - Baked salmon, roasted cauliflower, baked sweet potato fries
Friday - Barbecue meatloaf, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots
Saturday - Out to diner                                                                                           

Have a great week, everyone!  I'd love to see some of your menus!  Don't be shy!

Sarah

Week 41

Sometimes I wish that someone else could plan my weekly menu.  I can only imagine that everyone feels this way sometimes.  I haven't felt well this weekend, so I just have no desire to put a menu together.  However, thanks to this blog, I feel pulled to post my menu as I lay here on my sofa.  I'm very grateful that this blog holds me accountable to myself and can only hope that it helps you in some way each week.

Playdoh cupcakes designed by Annabelle and Autumn!

I would love to see what you all are eating this week!  The operative word there is 'eating.'  You see, it doesn't matter if you are cooking the meal, making mac-n-cheese from a box, or going out to eat, I just think it would be fun for all of us to share ideas!  Share away!

Now here is the menu for this coming week:


Week 41 Menu

Sunday - Burgers, baked potatoes & sweet potatoes, seared asparagus
Monday - Thai basil shrimp with cabbage and red peppers, white rice
Tuesday - Grilled salmon, roasted cauliflower, leftover white rice
Wednesday - Chicken tacos, black beans, yellow rice, cabbage slaw
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Spaghetti with meatballs, zucchini pasta, roasted carrots
Saturday - Out to dinner

Have a great week everyone!

Sarah

Week 35

I've missed this blog and I've missed cooking! So sorry to stay away, but with traveling and personal illness, I've been unable to get to my blogging!  I am feeling better now and here to stay for a few weeks!  I hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your families!  We had a great time in Knoxville, TN with family and friends!

We celebrated this year with a bunch of neighbors, so I only had to make a chocolate trifle!  It's a favorite at our house and here's the picture!

I know that December is going to fly right by for most of us, but let's do our best to get our weekly menu plans full of healthy meals so that we can splurge a little on all of the goodies we'll be surrounded by this month! 

Here's the menu for this week:

Sunday - Thai Chicken Soup, tacos for kids (with leftover chicken that I boiled), white rice, black beans
Monday - Seared salmon, roasted asparagus and carrots, white rice
Tuesday - Spaghetti with meat sauce, pasta (or zucchini noodles), steamed broccoli
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Chicken thighs & legs in Bride's Mole*, roasted potatoes & sweet potatoes, roasted cauliflower
Friday - Thai basil shrimp, white rice, seared cabbage
Saturday - Out to dinner?


*Bride's Mole is not on that website, but that was the closest recipe I found online.  I'll try to put in on this blog since I think I'm making it for Christmas this year. 

Happy cooking this week to everyone!  I'd love to see some of those menus (even if it's mac-n-cheese and pizza)!  Bring it on!

Sarah

Thai Basil Shrimp

I make this recipe on a weekly basis and it's Annabelle's standard for shrimp, so I thought it was time to post the recipe.  Annabelle is my picky eater (she's the first, so I'm sure that's my fault).  My mom claims she gets it from me, so I know that she'll grow out of it.  However, it took me 21 years to grow out of it. We'll see how she does. . .

Thai Basil Shrimp (Adapted from 365: No Repeats by Rachel Ray)

Ingredients:
4 tbls. canola oil or olive oil

1/2 head of cabbage, core removed, shredded finely
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
salt and coarse ground pepper
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced (or grated if you prefer)
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup low-sodium tamari (aged soy sauce)
3 tbls. honey
20 fresh basil leaves, torn or shredded


Directions:
1. Saute the red peppers and cabbage with olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan on med-high until soft and fragrant.  
2. While the veggies are cooking, clean and dry shrimp, then season with salt and pepper.  Remove the veggies to a plate and 2 tablespoons of oil and add shrimp in a single layer.  You don't want shrimp all on top of one another, but they should have their own space to come into contact with the hot pan.  You want to get a good sear on the shrimp to get the best flavor. For medium size shrimp, I flip them when they just start to turn pink (1-2 minutes), then cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 2 minutes more.  Now bring the red peppers and cabbage back to the pan.  Add the tamari and honey to form a sauce to glaze the veggies and shrimp.  Throw in the basil and you're done!

Oh man, I love shrimp!  This is right after they are initially seared!

Note - I usually serve this with white rice for the kiddos and I, but Alain uses romaine leaves and puts the concoction in the middle of the leaves like tacos so that he can consider this meal fully Paleo.