Sunday Food For Thought

Another week is beginning...Or ending depending on your schedule. 
Here is another week of menus that just might inspire you along the way:

Suppers:

• Sunday: Roast Pork loin with roasted potatoes, steamed veggies (broccoli and carrots) and spinach salad.
• Meatless Monday (and also Dad's night in the kitchen): Tortellini with vegetable sauce and leftover spinach salad.
• Tuesday (sometimes Turkey Tuesday but not today): Ginger Pork stir fry with baby bok choy and peppers, and brown rice.
• Wednesday: Sausage and Peppers with whole wheat spaghetti
• Thursday: Sheperd's pie and salad
• Friday: Homemade pizza (with stuffed crust!)
• Saturday: Baked pasta with Green salad, and garlic toast

Lunches:

• Monday: Pork and Spinach roll ups
• Tuesday: Tortellini or turkey sandwiches with tomato soup
• Wednesday: Fried rice
• Thursday: "Meatball" subs (made with italian sausage and mozzarella cheese)
• Friday: Peanut butter bagels with bananas

Happy Packing!

Kim

Christmas Countdown

At this point, December 10th, I would say we are officially in "Countdown mode" in our house.  Especially since everyone (except for me) is off for a two week Christmas Break as of this coming Friday.  So they are all walking around the house, counting down, "5 more days"..."5 more days"!
   Argh!  Five more days and they are all off and then I am tripping over them for full week while still getting ready for Christmas.  Not sure why the school district couldn't have kept them in until the 23rd.  That would give us a week to recover, after the holidays, before sending them back to school.  Maybe next year.

Rather than wasting any more precious time complaining, it is time to get on with the list!  There is still so much to be done, and I am really hoping there might be someone else interested in doing it...I have enough to do.   The Dance show (finally!) is today, but there are still skating practices, the Bethlehem walk, a skating Christmas party, Christmas cards for school and skating friends, Teacher presents, Family Christmas cards (and I discovered this past week I have misplaced the kids' school pictures)...Oh well, I still have next weekend to get things in order.....No, I don't...Somehow Grandma's Christmas party got left off the calendar.  So, that means there are officially no weekends left before Christmas to get things done...Okay, Rob, get ready, your list is gonna be long!  Typically, he gets the Costco Run and the Seafood Market Run and the Liquor store run...I think there just might be some Christmas Card writing on that list, as well as at least a dozen other things I cannot remember at this very moment...
   In the midst of all this chaos that is approaching, we still need to eat!  I have to say, this is where the Freezer comes in handy!

• Sunday: This is Dance show day...I am really hoping we are going out for dinner!
• Monday: Cheese tortellini and spaghetti sauce(all from the freezer!) with spinach salad
• Tuesday: Vegetable Soup and sandwiches before heading off to the Bethlehem Walk
• Wednesday: Ginger Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry (except for the little kids, who will be having hot dogs at the skating club Christmas party!)...such a great and easy recipe, I had to share
• Thursday: Slow cooker Chili and salad
• Friday: Sushi, Pizza and Brownies (the only homemade item on the menu) and the first sleepover of the Holidays!  Welcome, Tracy and Hailey!
• Saturday: Skating show day...do we get to go out two nights in one week? 

However, the last week of school before the Christmas holidays deserves some fun lunches...

• Monday: Turkey, spinach and cream cheese pinwheels , with fruit salad.
• Tuesday: Spaghetti sauce Shepherd's pie
• Wednesday: Eyeball soup (because my 10 year old asked) Your favourite meatballs in any clear soup, but its fun to use Udon noodles or rice noodles that are really long as it makes the meatballs look like they are "peering" out of the bowl.
• Thursday: Buffalo Chicken wraps with lettuce and ranch dressing (instead of blue cheese)...This is an Eating Well recipe, and the only change I make to it, to make it more kid friendly is replacing the cayenne pepper with Chili powder and a tbsp of brown sugar.
• Friday: Appetizer Lunch (what we used to call "bits and pieces"), inlcuding veggies and dip, rice cakes and salsa and perogies.

Turkey and Cream Cheese pinwheels are kind of fun... Basically a roll up, but because they are cut, they look "different" and somehow with kids, when things look different, they taste different.  If your kids don't like spinach, you could use regular leaf lettuce.

• 1/2 of 1 package (3 ounce) cream cheese
•  1 teaspoon cream-style horseradish 
• 1 teaspoon mayonnaise
• 1 green onion sliced lengthwise and then chopped fine
• 1/2  cup spinach leaves
• 3 (8 inch) whole wheat tortillas
• 6 slices Oven Roasted Turkey Breast

1. Combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, green onion and  horseradish in a small bowl.  Mix well. Spread cream cheese mixture onto tortillas.
2. Cover each with 2 turkey slices. Spread the spinach leaves on top. Roll up jelly-roll fashion. Refrigerate 2 hours or until serving time.
3. Slice each tortilla into 8 pieces.
   
   This makes enough for 3 lunches.
   
   Happy Packing!
   
   Kim
   

Baked Rigatoni

After lasagna (did I spell it right, Mum?...), baked rigatoni is my favourite pasta.  Really, it's just lazy lasagna.  So, how do you make it?

First start with a big batch of Spaghetti sauce

Then, spray your lasagna baking dish (the old 9x13 one).  Preheat oven to 375F.

Next, boil your rigatoni noodles, about 600g for 6 people (and if anyone out there has found whole wheat rigatoni, please let me know, because of all the pastas we eat in our house, it is the one that I can never find in whole wheat).
While they are boiling away, steam about 1/2 a package of spinach in the microwave (tip: cut it up into strips with your scissors before you steam it)...put spinach into microwave safe bowl, add about 1 tbsp of water, microwave on high for 1 minute 30sec.  Take out and stir, it should be cooked enough, but if not, give it another 30 seconds.  Add 1 cup of cottage cheese and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan to the spinach and stir to combine.

Spinach and cheese mixture

Drain pasta, return to pot with a small amount of spaghetti sauce, like 1/2 a cup (this will help to keep the pasta from sticking to the pot).  Stir to combine, add spinach and cheese mixture.  Add another 1 cup of spaghetti sauce.  And then pour pasta mixture into prepared lasagna pan.  If needed add more sauce, and spread evenly in the pan.
Grate about 1 cup of cheese (mozzarella or low fat cheddar is what I use).  Sprinkle on top of pasta mixture.  Place pasta in oven and bake for 35 minutes(until sauce is bubbling and cheese has melted nicely, maybe a little bit brown in spots).  Remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with your favourite green salad or Caesar salad.








 
And make them really happy by adding dessert...

Lemon Cranberry Loaf

If you are lucky, you will have leftovers for lunch...Today, it went in everyone's lunch bag (the pasta, not the Lemon Cranberry loaf).  Yay, no sandwiches to make!


Find more yummy goodies at :

• 33 Shades of Green: Tasty Tuesdays
• Permanent Posies

Happy Packing!

Kim