Last week I sat down one afternoon, while one certain Little Man was sleeping and the other certain Little Man knew he could not come out of his sanctuary until the little hand points to the four and the big hand points to the twelve, to meal plan.  I thought doing a week honoring Auntie Rachael Ray would be in order.  Whenever I watch her shows, I find myself thinking, “That looks so good!  And so easy!  I could do that!”  And she has the kid organization Yum-O:  right up my alley!

Except when I looked at the recipes last night that I selected for the week, I got tired.  Man, she’s high maintenance!  I know she says she’s not, but boy howdy:  the shopping list was beginning to look like I needed to hit up Kitchen Stadium, and that somehow is not in the budget.

So I turned to a different cookbook, a “borrowed from my mama” cookbook (aka I borrowed it and probably will keep it for a while longer . . . you know, than the year+ I’m working on currently), a cookbook that has fun little stories in it:  More-with-Less:  Suggestions by Mennonites on how to eat better and consume less of the world’s limited food resources.  Now the shopping list?  Ah, so short.  And yet things still sound yummy (at least to this mildly weary cook).

Monday:  Whole wheat pineapple muffins, cheese eggs, apples; Blueberry Oatmeal; Chicken cheese casserole, cauliflower bake, bread, applesauce

Tuesday:  Apple cinnamon crunch cereal, yogurt, blueberries; Swiss eggs, cinnamon raisin toast (from Bob’s Red Mill:  yum), banana; Crusty Mexican bean bake, nachos makings, applesauce

Wednesday:  Zucchini bread, cottage cheese, pineapple; Quesadillas, raisins, veggies; Baked lentils with cheese, corn cheese bake, bread, banana

Thursday:  Leftovers; Pb&j, corn chips, apples, string cheese; Leftovers

Friday:  Apple walnut pancakes, cheese eggs, peaches; Mini pizzas, veggies, apples; Oven fried chicken, sweet potato fries, veggies

Saturday:  Leftovers; Leftovers; Lasagna roll-ups, salad, cheese bread

Sunday:  Applesauce bread pudding, string cheese; Leftovers; High protein waffles w/pineapple sauce

Snacks:  Fluffy vanilla pudding; Cobbler; Wheat germ balls

I think I have frostbite on my fingers from raiding the freezer.  I’m actually being proactive in remembering to thaw things:  novel idea!  It’s just so easy to look at a recipe the hour before a meal, get ready to make it, and then realize that the main ingredient is frozen solid:  oops and not-so-tasty.

I’m also interested to see how using more beans and grains goes over:  my family has never been big into eating meat, but still – I doubt a lentil has intentionally passed our lips anytime in the past few years.  But what if it’s covered in cheese?  EVERYTHING’s better covered in cheese.

Interesting noticings of the past week:  JJ loves pancakes (eats them for snacks!), hates waffles; Abe doesn’t mind waffles, hates pancakes.  JJ loves fake sausage, hates scrambled eggs; Abe, the exact opposite.  But both inhale their fruit before any other food touches their lips:  gots ta love those carbs.

Foodie Facts