The Midspace Summer

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When the school bus pulled away from my house last Tuesday morning and took away my four oldest kids, you could feel the vacuum of their energy leaving the house. In many ways it had been a hard summer, with many different needs happening for everyone in our family. But it was also a really good summer, and one I’m going to remember.

This summer I tested a theory. If I signed up my kids for nothing, made zero commitments to getting our twins in and out of a car to take them to something that would stimulate them from the outside, they would be able to get bored.

And if they got bored, they might have to listen to their insides.

And if they listened to their insides, their own mental chatter, they might have a glimmer of who they really are, and be able to sit with that person. They might actually engage with their insides long enough so that for the rest of their life, they would have a memory of who they really are.

I think a lot of moms instinctually try to do this, to slow their kids down. The world moves so fast. I remember listening to the writer Anna Quindlin years ago talk about kids, and how they need to stare off into the midspace sometimes. They need to be free enough to let their mind wander to know what it tends to wander towards.

Of course my kids got bored and wanted to watch TV. But we had all screens off policy between 9:30 am-5:30 pm. Inside these hours you could read, play games, play outside, anything but fight with your siblings or watch a screen. Halfway through I signed up three of them for the local soccer camp. On most days I had an outing – the pool, the beach if I had a sitter for the babies, a movie, a shopping trip, going to a museum or nature center – that would take up some of the day. But the rest of the time it was choose your own adventure.

Here’s what we learned: Lucy really likes music and loves to make slime. Sophie can whip up blueberry cobbler, brownies or pancakes on a whim and is in that chrysalis-like season where she is starting to leave girlhood behind in moments and in others cling to it. Her own type of midspace. RJ has encyclopedic knowledge about sports and is beyond passionate about airplanes and flying them and learning about geography. He had his first flying lesson for his birthday, and even his 5-year-old brother knows that his favorite overnight flight is Dubai to LA on his flight simulator app. And Andrew got to marinate in that summer before Kindergarten, where he can be a cop one minute and a rock star the next. Where books are enormous windows to another world and into their minds. And he fell in love with nature so much we are now the proud owners of an ant farm and an aquarium.

Here’s what else we learned: Like most kids, mine have a lot of energy and it needs to be directed somewhere. This experiment was actually really hard, and I will likely throw in a little more structure next year. I put in forced reading time for everyone when ever it got too hard (for me too!) which did help to get the kids hooked on books (see what boredom can do!). I was crawling to the finish line of the start of school because I was so depleted directing all that energy. Particularly when babies woke up at 6 and big kids wanted to stay up until 10. Minus the 10 hours a week I had a baby sitter to write and breath and run, I was on 16 hours a day.

I thought about when I was a kid, and how mothers weren’t in charge of directing that energy. Kids directed it outside, with friends. We could ride around the neighborhood at any given time and find kids to play with. We would hover over bridges dropping sticks for fun, swing a rope over the Itty Pitty, play hide and seat, and generally create universes out of our tiny wills that were fascinating. Now, kids are booked. They are really structured and have a lot of camps and activities.  And I get it. Kids have a lot of energy. Channel away, fellow parents. But I can’t help feeling nostalgic about our roving bands of free-range kids and wishing our kids could have a taste of that because it was awesome.

Still, we all have to bloom where we’re planted. And they did in so many ways. Sometimes they got on their bikes and got lucky, and found a friend at home. Often they played with their baby brothers. Each of them will have major memories of the twins as babies because we went slow enough that we had a lot of time to play with them. That was the highlight of summer. The year of the babies was entertaining for everyone. And the best parts were when the big kids actually played with each other. Dance parties, and pretend school, and hide and seek and baseball in the back yard.

I recently read an accomplished photographer describe their style of photography, and in it they said that most of their work is done by instinct. It got me thinking that maybe parenthood is like that. The next few challenges or choices I was faced with, I tried to pay attention to what my instincts were telling me. And you know what? It works. Except for that detour with the ant farm (instincts, where were you on that day?), I realized that I am better at parenting when I listen to my instincts.

Like most parents I am generally winging it most of the time, and whenever I hear people who feel the need to share that their baby was exclusively nursed until 12 months (not a drop of formula!), or are eating the same thing as their parents by 10 months, I know that that parent is still trying to pretend like they have control over their child (an illusion that is really shattered after your third kid). When you are not parenting by outside scripts of success, and you are listening to what your instincts are telling you, you tend to instantly prioritize. You tend to ask yourself, “do my kids feel loved? Have I made eye contact? Have I uttered words of affirmation? Have I nipped that bad habit in the bud?” Then, if all those things are for the most part happening, and you leave the house and everyone has shoes on, you know you are #winning.

More than that, you know that each one of your kids is a totally different person, who needs to be treated individually, and who will go off and do all kinds of amazing things without you. I hope they don’t do those things because of a race to keep up with peers, or because of forced expectations. I want them to be called to them. And in order for that to happen they have to be able to know what it’s like hear a call. They need silence and quiet. Stillness and space. And they had plenty this summer.

So I am trying to give my kids opportunities to listen to their voices, to their instincts. To even just recognize them. It means I have to slow down – so I am not rushing them, so I can ask them questions that help them tune into their instincts. To have the space so that they can solve problems on their own.

This summer’s slow speed let me cultivate things in my kids’ hearts. Character building, perspective building, confidence building. Was it in between putting out fights and cleaning up messes? You bet. Did I yell sometimes? Double yes. But it was worth it. I’m hoping to hang on to this lesson as we navigate the rapids of our fall schedule, which with four kids committed to sports is non-stop.

And while I am rejoicing that the school bus now comes to my house every morning, and that they’ll be tired enough to go to bed at 8 (praise hands), I can still remember watching them swim in the ocean on our last night of summer, and feeling like I deep down knew them all, and had snapshots of who they are at these ages. I thought about how we spent this slow summer, and I my instincts said, yup. That’s just what we needed.

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Weekly Meal Planning 9/3

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I’m a bit late posting this because the return to school and sports has definitely been a whirl wind.  For starters, the high temps are KILLING ME. Or I should say, are killing my kids and I have to stand back and watch. Their school doesn’t have A/C and my son has football practice  three days a week and, well, lets just say we don’t have time to go to the pool to cool off.

So we’re trying to come up with easy dinners that don’t include ordering pizza (though that is definitely a fine option for big times of transition.)

Luckily, I made a lot of food for our big Labor Day party, and I hoped there would be leftovers for the week. Even though we had a big turnout, everyone devoured the eight racks of ribs I made so we had extra cheeseburgers and pulled pork FTW.

Sunday

These Oven-To-Grill Ribs and this Kale and Brussel Sprout Salad were the hit of the party. I also made a beautiful blackberry and goat cheese salad similar to this one but with red wine vinegar instead of balsamic (either would be great) and failed to take any pictures. But it needs to be blogged about because it is so pretty and good.

Monday

Left over cheeseburgers from our BBQ party.

I make mine with 1 tsp. salt, 1 T. Worcestershire sauce, and 1/4 minced onions (we like a lot you can cut it down to 2 T.) per one pound of ground beef. I made a ton for the party just like this and they were so good!

Tuesday

Chili Lime Sweet Potato and Chicken 

Wednesday

3 Ingredient Pulled Pork 

Leftover pulled pork from our party that I froze, and I used the homemade BBQ sauce from the ribs recipe which was ridiculously good. I love this 3 ingredient crock pot recipe, so easy and delicious. I need to have coleslaw with this and  I was so glad I made extra dressing and left it in the fridge to make some fresh. I make my dressing by winging it and tasting it often, but it is similar to this one.

Thursday 

One Pot Pasta with Spinach, Peas and Parm

Friday 

This tired momma is ordering pizza. My condolences if you don’t have a pizza delivery service nearby.

Saturday

We have another party to go to but I think I will be bringing these Tomato with Whipped Feta or

Peach, Prosciutto and Ricotta crostini.

 

Hope your September is off to a great start!

Happy Eating, xoxo Katie

 

Lemony Ricotta Pasta with Basil

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When I cook dinner, I very often focus on the meat as the star of the show – a stuffed chicken breast, a pork tenderloin with lots of flavors, a well cooked piece of beef. I’ll rely on a box of rice or couscous, or the perennial favorite – potatoes – to round out the meal. But sometimes, it’s nice to have a side that’s fancy, and let someone else (like Target for example) bread your chicken cutlet for you.

So it was that I had this recipe printed out and stuck to my cork board in the kitchen, waiting for the night to try it. Its attractions included 1) Lemon 2) Parm 3) It looked easy. And it totally was.

And I was really intrigued by the directions to just stick a metal bowl right in the pasta water to heat up the ricotta and make the sauce. (Or in my case, your daughter wanted to help and the pasta was cooked before you were ready to make the sauce so you scooped it out and left the water boiling and used that. But think I could use this method a million times in the future. Also had to hurry and used bad kitchen lighting. But doesn’t her sunshine face make up for it?)

The sauce comes together in a snap, and with the lemon, parm, salt and pepper and basil, it has so much flavor. My kids loved it, and it made a lot so they also loved the leftovers the next day (it totally got better with age.) The recipe encourages you to make your own ricotta, and if you have the time it is worth it. We were in between homework and soccer and did not have the time, but ONE DAY I will make this with fresh ricotta. (This recipe for fresh ricotta is my favorite.)

And, once you’ve stirred together this sauce, you’re pretty much done.

You just stir, add some more salt, olive oil or lemon zest to taste if you want, and top with a load of fresh basil.

Now that I know about this technique of stirring ricotta in the hot water to make a sauce, my creative juices are flowing. Porcini and pancetta? Sun dried tomatoes and olives? Let’s see where the future takes us.

Happy Eating! xoxo Katie

Lemony Ricotta Pasta with Basil

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 pound dried short pasta, such as gemelli, fusilli, penne, or rotini

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese, preferably freshly made

1 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese

Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon

Juice of 1 large lemon

1/2 teaspoon

kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)

Good-quality olive oil, for serving

Directions:

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.

Place the ricotta, Pecorino or Parmesan, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper in a large heatproof bowl and stir to combine. When there are about 2 minutes remaining in the pasta’s cooking time, place the bowl over the pot and slowly stir the ricotta mixture. You should see it loosening as it warms.

When the pasta is al dente, drain it well. Add it to the bowl of ricotta and mix well to evenly coat the pasta in the sauce. Add the basil and red pepper flakes, if using, toss, and serve immediately. Drizzle olive oil over each serving.

This recipe originally appeared on TheKitchn.com

Weekly Meal Planning 8/27

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I used to be a lot more lax in my meal planning, preferring to have three or four recipes on hand and letting our inspirations take us where they may each day. And then sports with four kids happened! And needing to coordinate with a sitter/au pair person!

And you know what? Now I love that I spend zero energy each day wondering what we will have for dinner. It’s automatic, turn-key and so much simpler. I also like to have a few options for how to make something really simple and quick, but sometimes I like to know how to maximize the flavor. Example: the enchiladas for Sunday’s dinner. I have made my own enchilada sauce before and it is not hard, and it’s so yummy! But if I only have 10 minutes, I’m going to go with the super easy Betty Crocker version and use rotisserie chicken and canned sauce. Or my Easy Shepherd’s Pie, which uses all natural store made mashed potatoes but I link to the original recipe by Alton Brown with his delicious mashed potatoes. I am giving you both so you can pick which one works.

I hope these links help you build your meal plan!

Monday

Easy Shepherd’s Pie 

Tuesday 

Mini Meatloaves

We start school today! Mini meatloaves our our traditional first day of school meal. Here is one year where I made it with Turkey Bacon but we usually go back to this recipe from Martha Stewart.

Wednesday

Wednesdays will be our crock pot dinner night for sure, with overlapping sports practices. If you have favorites in your family please share them in the comments!

Chicken Taco Bowls

Thursday

Cheesy Baked Gnocchi

Friday 

Pizza

Saturday 

We love to do a date night at home, so the kids will have something simple, and I’ll make this Filet au Poivre recipe in a cast iron skillet with a red wine reduction.  

We usually like to eat this with roasted veggies, but sometimes I like to make a yummy artichoke risotto on the side.

Sunday

Chicken Enchiladas:

Easy & Quick

Healthy & Flavorful

 

Corn, Crab and Bacon Chowder

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Why is it I crave chowder in the summer? I mean it’s 80 degrees, and I’m dreaming about potatoes cooked in a creamy broth, preferably with seafood.

What the heart wants, it wants, I guess.

A few weeks ago, my husband took the big kids camping and I had the babies solo, and a whole day to get ready for my best friend visiting. It might be some sort of existential test to ask yourself, ‘If you had a whole day alone with twins what would you most like to do?’ My answer was of course cooking. I made this chowder and a loaf of sourdough bread. It took me most of my free waking hours to do that BUT it filled me up and we munched on the bread all weekend with avocados, jam, and cheese. (I used this recipe for the second time and loved it).

This soup was so good and satisfying, and feeds a crowd. I even pureed it for the babies and they loved it! (After I googled if babies can eat shellfish, which they can! Why do I forget all these things?).

I know most seasoned home cooks keep their bacon drippings around forever, and can’t bare to waste it, but I honestly don’t  – it feels like pressure when it’s sitting there. I usually just try to brown up bacon at the start of a recipe and then use it as a garnish. I love the way cooking onions and garlic in bacon drippings infuses a dish with a rich, smoky flavor.

I added peppers to the dish for color, and loved the flavor they added too. And you can use fresh or frozen corn for this recipe, whatever you have. And I used two cups of heavy cream in addition to homemade broth I had in my freezer (makes it so good but use whatever you have!). But you can sub milk if you want though it will loose a lot of creaminess if you do (maybe add a pat of butter in that case. Creamy soups forever).

Or you could just use more of this secret ingredient is right here: cream cheese. Adding cream cheese to creamy soups to add richness, tang and creaminess.

Trust me, you will want to add this to every creamy soup you make from now on. It adds that quality where you can’t stop eating it, something in it is just so good.  

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go make another batch of this soup because after looking at these pictures I am totally CRAVING it now.

Happy Eating! xoxo Katie

Corn, Crab and Bacon Chowder (printer version here): 

  • 3 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 8 slices of bacon, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 4 all-purpose potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 4 ribs celery, chopped
  • 1 small orange, red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 sprigs of thyme OR 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 5 tbsp flour
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 1-2 cups heavy cream depending on how rich you like it
  • 4 cups corn kernels, scraped fresh from the cob, or 1 bag frozen kernels
  • 1 lb. cooked lump crab meat, fresh is available in plastic tubs at many fish counters
  • Chives, chopped for garnish

Instructions

  1. Place 1 tsp butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until golden. Use a slotted spoon to remove onto a paper towel lined plate. Leave fat in pot.
  2. Lower heat to medium heat. Add 2 tbsp butter, once melted, add garlic and onion. Cook for 2 – 3 minutes until onion is translucent.
  3. Add celery, potatoes, seasoning with salt & pepper, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes
  4. Add bell pepper, bay leaves and thyme
  5. Add flour and mix it in. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
  6. Add broth and cream, stirring to combine.
  7. Put the lid on and simmer for 25 minutes (adjust heat so it’s simmering energetically but not bubbling like crazy or super gently).
  8. Whisk in 4 oz (half a brick) of cream cheese
  9. Add corn and lump crab, stirring to combine and simmer for 5 more minutes.
  10. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and garnish with remaining bacon and chives.

 

Weekly Meal Plan 7/30

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Oh man, July. I’m gonna miss you. You were sweet and slow and delicious.

Our new au pair comes Friday (which is why I have missed a few weeks of meal planning! I hope to be more consistent when she comes and we head into fall!) so you’ll see some meals reflecting her arrival.

Happy Eating! xoxo

Katie

 

Monday

Beef Mac, double recipe. This recipe comes really close to the way I make it, but sub whatever veggies you want to use. I also love to use Rao’s Marinara – it’s amazing.

Tuesday

Smothered Chicken

Wednesday

Oricchiette With Sausage, Tomato and Broccoli

Thursday 

Easy Chicken Parm

Friday 

Our new au pair comes! I’ve heard so much about Bandeja Paisa in my research, so I’m going to try to make a version of this. I also really hope she helps us learn how to make Empanadas.

Saturday 

Mixing it up! Pizza is usually Friday but we have a day at the pool scheduled so pizza when we get home is easy breezy.

Sunday 

Ribs

These are my favorite ribs, and they are so easy! Sometimes they can be intimidating but I found this recipe in a magazine and I have never looked back, they are exactly what I want when I sit down to a rib dinner. These, coleslaw and corn are on the menu for a taste of an American summer dinner. (Though the ribs recipe I use is in a whole post about a southern dinner and the baked cheesy grits and collard greens from Christy (aka Instabrunk) are amazing too.)

 

Watering Your Roots

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There is this unfortunate thing that happens when you are the proprietor of a bed of lettuce and summer hands you a string of hot, sunny days.

They start to bolt.

This means they grow straight up into the air, with leaves that are tough and bitter, as opposed to growing more tender leaves around the base that are good for eating and harvesting.

The only way to protect them from bolting is to water them faithfully, particularly during hot days. Which I couldn’t do when we were traveling.

Even though this summer has had so much sweetness – babies swimming! Big kids around! Visiting family near Lake Winnepesaukee, and then splashing in the rivers near our condo in the White Mountains near North Conway, NH. Slow lazy mornings and fun evenings at the pool, with lots of fresh fruit and veggies and enough hot dogs and s’mores to make kids happy – I still had to admit that I knew how those lettuce plants felt in the heat of the summer sun.  When we got home and saw that they had bolted, I mourned the loss tender romaine and butter leaves at the ready for salads and sandwiches. But I realized this phenomenon was a great way to describe how moms of kids in the summer might be feeling too. Lots of hot sunny days and not enough time to water our roots can make our leaves tough and bitter, too.

My mantra this first year of having twins is to be aware that my life has fallen into a black hole temporarily, and be gentle on yourself. But I am not good at stagnating. Like, at all. I have to be growing in some area to feel alive. Having new experiences – travel, food, writing, learning – are easy ways to grow. But not easy when you have twin babies.

I was most definitely bolting.

So I quickly took stock. My husband and I decided to cancel our upcoming trip to Pemaquid, Maine. It’s where my novel was set, where we feel very alive with the wild ocean and fresh seafood. Instead we stayed home, cleaned out our attic before our new au pair arrives in a few weeks (hallelujah). It felt so good to throw away bags of things we didn’t need, and I felt my stress falling off of me as stuff got hauled away. It wasn’t traveling and experiencing new things, but instead putting my life in order, that brought me happiness and peace.

Likewise, I trimmed back the overgrowth in our front yard when the babies napped and weeded all of our beds with my kids. When the babies woke up, we set their circles of neglect in the shade, where they watched us bend up and down with so much curiosity they barely made a peep. Somehow all that hard work made me feel…better. Calmer. Less veering out of control-y.

I made plans with my best friend from college to meet at Mass at BC with the babies while the big kids went camping with their dad (who would make an excellent professional nature guide if he wasn’t so good at his current job. If you see Rob, ask him to tell you about the bears). Being on campus connected me to my 20 year old self in unexpected ways and reminded me, even though my current life was heavy and my roots were thirsty, I had lived other lives, had been in rich soil which helped me grow. That there were seasons in life, and a growing season would come again.

I hired a sitter for a day not so I could work or entertain my older kids, but just so my best friend and I could spend the day relaxing and talking and eating, which filled me up in so many ways. I am so thankful for her friendship and her driving out here to water the roots of it.

I started a 30 Day Health Program with Isagenix. It’s worked for me in the past, and I was waiting to stop nursing to start. For the last two weeks, I’ve worked out with my oldest son who is getting ready for football conditioning in a few weeks. Turns out he is the best workout buddy as he motivates me on the days I am not feeling it and vice versa. It feels like next-level parenting to multi-task excercise with him. Our jumping around also elicits much wide-eyed starting from the babies as they sit on the rug next to us.

After my PMDD came roaring back a few months ago, I knew I had to do something, since it made me jittery and snappy with my husband and kids. It is like having depression and anxiety for the ten days before your period, and it made me so sympathetic to those that have it all the time. Stress tends to exacerbate it. I researched the nutrition I needed to battle these hormone issues (read: I watched a lot of YouTube videos made by women who have it). This 5-HTP supplement is ahh-mazing for PMS/PMDD, especially with 1 gram of melatonin during the last two weeks of your cycle, since together they increase your brain’s serotonin levels naturally. And so is this one since it helps to break down the excessive amount of Estrogen that triggers most of the symptoms. If you think you fit the profile for having PMDD or other hormone related issues, these have helped me so much I wanted to share in case they can help someone else. Please research their use if they sound like they could help you. One thing to know is that it is really important to just use the 5-HTP + melatonin for just the last two weeks of your cycle so your body still produces them on its own, and don’t use it if you are on any SSRI’s. I am only one month in, but so thankful for the results. It’s eliminated my PMDD symptoms by almost 90%. In other words, while I used to feel like the Dementors in Harry Pottery were sucking my face, now I feel like myself. (Please be kind to judging this info as it feels very hard to share but I am doing it in case anyone else has those dementors in their life. It sucks.)

I finally mapped out the novel that was knocking on my brain and started to research it. Now it gets chewed on all day while I am rocking babies and folding laundry, and I dive in writing when I have a sitter. I’m thrilled and excited to be writing fiction again.  And I picked up Kristin Lavransdatter again on our trip and can’t put it down. I feel lost and adrift if I am not reading a good book, and consequently feel solid and found when I am. Writing and reading aren’t just watering my roots, they’re adding  nourishment to my soil. (Side note/mildly funny story: Last week I was in front of the row of books at Target with the twins in my 2 (!) carts. A group of older ladies walked by and one of them said, ‘Oh dear, you don’t have time to read with those babies do you?’ I just stared wide-eyed and said, ‘the babies make me need to read more’! I love when people refer to reading as self-care, because its true.)

I tried hard to reach out to others and avoid getting isolated. I texted friends and made plans. Blueberry picking with the kids. Dinner at the pool. Dinner without kids at the new restaurant that just opened. Date nights with Rob. I brought my sister with special needs her favorite dinner at my mom’s house. My other sister met us at the fair with her kids while Rob stayed with the babies for the first time solo. (Now that I think about it, our babies have really rolled with our schedule and done so well with most of our fun outings. So thankful for their flexible natures.) Next up: taking them all to an outdoor concert with friends.

Of course, the quickest way to water our roots is to pray. A few lovely novenas felt like they dumped extra water on my roots and perked my spiritual life right up. This one to St. Anne whose feast day is tomorrow has been beautiful, and I swear it feels like taking mom vitamins since as the mother to Blessed Mother, I think she has a soft spot for mothers. (I’ve also heard great things about this book and am looking forward to reading it.)

These efforts have paid off. Little by little, I feel more like myself. Like my new leaves are more tender and soft. I know it’s a function of the babies getting older and sleeping more, and of seeking help for my health issues, but I also know that trying to proactively carve out ways to do the things that nourish my roots is essential. (Lest you read this and think any part of it says I have my act together – I had to binge a late-to-the-party Game of Thrones addiction to the very last episode just to get it out of my life.)

My time-wasting journey into GOT aside, I know that self-discipline, when you can dig down and find it, is always the best path to growth. And yours no doubt looks different then mine. Maybe it’s Weight Watchers and knitting or Work out classes at the gym and your side business that get you closer to your best self. To water your roots. Either way, finding a way to tend to each part of you – your mind, your soul, and your heart – always pays dividends. Like lettuce gardens and unruly attics and front yards, it’s often about pruning and weeding to get to order and goodness.

So these are the things that are helping me in this season. I’d love to hear about what’s helping you, since I am currently still failing at keeping my house clean and having my five year old reliably wearing matching shoes. So leave a message in the comments and let me know.

p.s. If your lettuce plants do bolt, the gardening rule is to break off the top part of the plant, and wait for cooler temperatures and they’ll start growing tender leaves again. Which as a mom sounds a lot like ‘when school starts you’ll have more time to take care of yourself and you’ll feel more balanced.’ But maybe that’s just me.

 

 

Weekly Meal Plan 7/16

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We have finally stopped traveling and settled down into structured days that include a slower pace, time to breath and watch summer thunderstorms and visit farmers markets. There are a little more veggies, a little less sugar, and more time to sit at the table for dinner (my favorite). I know not every season gives us this luxury now, so we’re savoring away. And if these meals look like I am on a health kick its because I am! A month of ‘being on vacation’ provides a lot of motivation for one of those kicks, am I right??

Housekeeping note: I’m posting these meal plans after I make them and shop for them, usually mid-week. My thought is people can look back on them when they are doing their meal planning over the weekend. If there would be a better time to have a new one at your finger tips, feel free to let me know in the comments. 🙂

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Monday 

Maple Mustard Salmon with Lemony Couscous & Steamed Zucchini

Tuesday

Pesto Chicken Kebabs – these look so delicious and are a great way to use up all the basil thats exploding! I’ll add red onions and summer squash to mine.

(Side Note: Please check out this blog Flavor the Moments appetizer index – I want to make everything!)

Wednesday

Cayenne-Rubbed Chicken Breasts with Avocado Salsa

Thursday

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Friday

Pizza or Pool – this Fig, Carmelized Onion and Blue Cheese Pizza looks amazing if we are up for homemade (I usually go meatless on Fridays so I would leave off the bacon).

Saturday

One day I will post my husband’s award-winning steak! (The awards given by friends and family.) Until then, this steak recipe looks so good – I might just have a bloody mary with my husband’s steak. And how good do these Cauliflower Steaks look for the side dish?

Sunday

Eggplant Parmeasan with Fresh Mozzarella 

I love this dish so much when eggplants are in season, but doing it in the halved eggplants? Beautiful and Genius.