But then a friend made a comment the other day:  “I miss your menu posts.”

What?  Someone reads this ol’ blog?  And they’re interested in what I have to say?  Like a neglected child who gets a glimmer of positive reinforcement, my inner blogger did a little twirl:  someone cares?!!  Then I should menu plan!  And post!  And after a life of family-visits, end-of-the-school-year-madness, surgery, recouping, rockin’-the-rec-at-VBS, trip-to-Kansas, soul-sucking-heat, I actually found time and space to plan out the munchies.

What cookbook are we planning from this time?  The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook.  Not that I’m a vegetarian intentionally.  It’s more that a) meat takes time to prepare, 2) wrongly prepared meat can cause death, iii) I’m lazy and would like not to kill off my family.  And, dairy and I are fast friends.  So I read vegetarian recipes:  plus, honestly, a lot of them are quick and easy and don’t deal with potential cross-contamination.

Sunday:  Breakfast at church before the outdoor worship (took store-purchased granola as my cereal offering – shocking for me not to bring a baked good – that’s how out of it I’ve been – and how non-stove-oriented – cause it’s hot – and we’re doing one-window-unit a/c – gotsta keeps the bebes cool!); Pb banana shake, sugar snap peas (from our CSA – love them!), whole wheat ritz with raw milk yogurt cheese; Whole wheat english muffin pizzas (with Trader Joe’s pizza sauce:  thanks for the recommendation, Ashlee!)

Monday:  Molasses toast, herby (CSA) scrambled eggs, cherries (CSA and our backyard); whole grain waffles, bananas, peanut butter; Veggie breakfast burrito, fruit salad

Tuesday:  Summer muesli, bananas; Tofu salad sandwich, chips, carrots, dried strawberries; Breakfast potatoes and veggies, scrambled eggs plus

Wednesday:  Almond butter orange sandwich; Bean quesadilla, chips, cherries; Scrambled tofu, almond pancakes w/homemade butter and homemade raspberry jam

Thursday:  Soaked apples’n'spice Bob’s Red Mill cereal, string cheese; Rice and beans casserole, chips, salsa, carrots; Tofu and udon noodles (known to the boys as peanut butter noodles, like the kind that beloved Miss Ashlee makes for her boys, cause tofu and udon is yuck, but who can say no to peanut butter noodles?!!), applesauce, snap peas

Friday:  Almond butter pancake sandwich, bananas; Curried rice salad, toasted cheese english muffins; Grilled chicken mango sausage, new potato and pea salad (Thanks, Mere!)

Saturday:  English muffin cheesecake, cherries; Black bean and sweet potato enchiladas, snap peas, homemade strawberry fruit leather; Potato kale quiche, fruit salad, garlic toast

It’s amazing to recognize the changes since I’ve last posted a menu.  I make a lot more stuff myself, or I get a lot more ingredients locally.   On Saturday a friend and I drove past the house I get eggs from which happens to be in the hills of Dundee.  My friend, who was driving, said, “So we turn around to get to your house?” to which I replied, “Oh no, there’s a back road.”  A back road that’s gravel with crazy amounts of small and large potholes, including a turn that drives you over really really loose gravel where it’s not so obvious where the tires of the car should or actually can go.  And yet their house is a mere few minutes away from my house which is firmly located in suburbia.  At times like that, after doing my weekly egg pickup, and as I hear my youngest littles babbling to hear their voices change as we bounce from pothole to pothole, I must admit: I really do love my life. 

I’ve heard requests for the recipe.

Recipe.

Blog explanation.

Now, I used whole wheat pastry flour, trying to redeem some sort of nutritional value.  I whompawhompawhompahed with my biscuit cutter (a description I could NOT for the life of me remember this morning, having to describe with hand motions, “You know:  it’s flat and has four wire thingies that go around like this, and you take your thumb here and grip and go whompawhompawhompa” – or something like that) for quite some time, which some people say is key and others say makes tough scones.  I used less flour, more eggnog, I think a large egg and an extra large egg, Darigold eggnog (much better than whatever’s at Freddies), butterscotch chips (which deemed an “ooooh” from the Hubby), and raw sugar on top.  When it came to adding the wet goods, I mixed until barely combined – lots of butter bits and still kind of flour-y.  Molded into rounds on a silpat (first time I’ve used them:  had them for about four years), used a pizza cutter, separated, and eggnogged/sugared the tops.

I also was in a good mood while making these.  I had a disastrous attempt at making peanut butter popcorn (apparently when boiling sugar and honey, one shouldn’t do it on high for five minutes), and was nervous, but listening to the latest Trekcast talking about Deanna Troi’s mom (SO funny, if you’re into that sort of thing, which I know many people just shut down and lost respect for me, but hey:  it’s my heritage) made me giggle, and I think that helped the scones.

I also found out that some friends had made the very same kind and we all had different results.  Mine were deemed “biscuit-like”, which I hope is a good thing.

They’re best first thing out of the oven, but will still be edible the next day (stupid Oregon humidity making them all sticky-like).

I do have a few vegetarian/not so meat heavy cookbooks I enjoy.

Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

Feeding the Whole Family

366 Delicious Ways to Cook Rice, Beans, and Grains

Jane Brody’s Good Food Cookbook

And when in doubt, I hit VegWeb or Kalyn’s Kitchen or Food Gawker.  But with the later, I always get sidetracked with the pretty pictures, generally of the cookies (ooooh).

Mrs. Fields Eggnog Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup SALTED butter, room temp (Mrs. Fields calls for this)
1/2 cup eggnog
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon nutmeg (optional)

Preheat oven to 300F.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix well with a wire whisk and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer. Add eggnog, vanilla and egg yolks and beat at medium speed until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets, 1″ apart. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg or skip this step and sprinkle on the nutmeg after you ice the cookies. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until bottoms turn light brown.

Transfer to cool, flat surface immediately with spatula.

Eggnog Icing
3 C. confectioners’ sugar
1/4 C. softened butter or margarine
1/3 C. commercial eggnog (use as much as you need)

In small mixer bowl, beat confectioners’ sugar and butter or margarine until well blended. Gradually beat in eggnog until icing is smooth. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

VIA

And then I heard a friend who made them talking about how she couldn’t make anymore because she didn’t have any yokes.  And I said, “Huh?”  “You know, the two egg yokes.”  “Oh, I didn’t do that:  I used one whole egg.”

Likewise:

• I measured the baking powder in the palm of my hand
• I squeezed in an unknown amount of cinnamon out of the plastic container
• I grated nutmeg til I was tired of grating
• I did not use salted butter
• I added salt (palm-measured, of course)
• I did not mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl
• I baked them at 375

SO be forewarned:  just because you get a recipe from a cookie that I made, it doesn’t mean that I actually *followed* the recipe.  It’s more a set of guidelines to give some generous boundaries with wiggle room in between.

And I wonder why my chemical-engineer-father and math-major mother and bio-chem-brother and I don’t see more eye to eye. 

“Apparently you’ve been recruited to make soup.”

“Ah, sure!  I love to make soup!”

“For the gathering for next week:  do you have any soups you are known for?”

Which I do.  But it’s not so much my recipe as the highest-rated soup recipe on the Cooking Light website, because when in doubt, go for the lots-of-stars/lots-of-comments recipes.  And add garlic:  mmm, garlic.

Then my friend went on to question whether it would be okay to have store-bought bread (yes:  it’s just a vehicle for the yummy soups) and talked about making her black bean vegetarian soup that she made last night, except it had kidney beans, and she threw in ground beef, and then was appalled that her family thought it was chili.  Because it wasn’t:  it was her black bean (but really kidney bean) vegetarian with ground beef soup.  Duh.

If I lived in a big town, I would probably not have that conversation on a cold December Friday night in a jewelry store.

Trying to get JJ to drink some was an effort in trying to get JJ to do *anything* new.

Place new item in front of JJ.

Count the seconds until JJ freaks out.

Tell JJ what it is.

Count the seconds until “But I don’t like …!!!” is exclaimed.

Counter with “You can’t say that:  you haven’t tried it.”

Followed by “But I don’t want to try it!”

Offered with “You should try it; you may like it.”

Nixed with “No, I won’t!”

Lured with “Ooooh, you don’t know what you’re missing!”

Obvious ploy seen through “Yes, I do.”

Give steps towards compromise, “Here, just try a sip.  I’ll dip my finger in it, and you can lick it off.”

While his arms flail, his eyes dart back and forth, and you get the sense that he’s looking for the tranquilizer gun like the scared cornered wild animal that he’s become.

After having the finger shoved in his mouth because it’s dripping on the floor, he falls over, exhausted from the ordeal.

[All while Abe has finished his cup and is laying on the floor with the cup over his mouth, tongue extended, trying to lick out as much as he can.]

And then the magical words:  “You know what this is like?  It’s like the milk with vanilla syrup that you get at Chapters.  You like that, don’t you?”

Fifteen minutes later, and we have an empty cup.

Ten days later, and at every meal, “May I drink eggnog?”

To which he hears, “Nope:  you’ve had enough.”

We’re the worst kind of pushers EVER.

But, if you have eggnog and don’t have small people following you around begging for more “MIK!  MIK!  MIK!” (as some toddlers are found to do), it can be used in:

• waffles
• french toast
• cookies
• muffins

Makes the house smell something wonderful!

Food = good.

Sun = good.

It was a good weekend.

Saturday we loaded up to go to Costco to get an order of contacts.  This was attempt #2, with attempt #1 being two previous Fridays when we tried to hit the Joe’s “Liquidation” sale which turned out to be liquidating their parking space availability as well as unclogged walking isles, but we found that out later because our first Joe’s attempt was too early – not open yet.  We went to go to Costco, but it wasn’t open either, so we got Costco gasoline and stopped off at PetSmart first because JJ had been promised a new fish, you know, in December.  In typical American fashion we walked out with six (I believe) new fish and a snail that’s favorite game is “trick the girl owner into thinking I’m dead so that she has a mini-attack most times looking at the tank, but FAKE OUT”.  Then we went to Costco.  Except Costco opens at 11:00 during the week, not 9:30 like the weekends:  FAKE OUT.  So, back to Joe’s for the last FAKE OUT experience of the day (those prices:  20 percent off is liquidation?!!  Dude, that word can *only* be associated with at least 70 percent or better – don’t you read all the frugal sale blogs?!!).

So we went to Costco this Saturday and boo-yah:  open.  Contacts:  purchased.  Other things we “neeeeeeded”:  purchased.  I mentioned to the Hubby:  it’s going to be nice – go buy something fun to grill.  He wanted salmon, but mentioned how it’s just not the same without the cedar plank treatment that we always do at my folks.  Round the corner:  boo-yah – planks.  With little salmons etched onto them.  Calling Hubby’s name:  use us!  Use us!  Then we grazed for samples (good day for adults – all natural turkey, garlic chicken meal, hawaiian chicken bowl, smoothies, two nut stations, and acai drinks; not so great for kids – dehydrated blueberries and mangoes).  AND we ran into some friends making their necessary purchases of Fair Trade Organic Sugar and non-Fair Trade non-organic Cheerios:  excellent combo.

We left.  We came home.  We unloaded.  We ate lunch.  Hubby moved into yard maintenance, and I moved into, “Hmm:  I wonder if I can lure our friends over for dinner by constantly Facebooking them.”  It worked.  And the food was GOOD, and so easy:  I seriously don’t know why I don’t do meals, with friends, more often.  Minus the incessant reports of all the ways my children were hosting/hazing the other kids.  The one thing I forgot to pick up at Costco:  the Fair Trade Organic nanny.

On Sunday we were chatting with friends during community time while the boys were getting their pack animal mentality on (first exclamation when one saw the other, “JJ, let’s RUN!”  And they did.  Oh, how they ran), and we decided that going to service just wasn’t in the cards once Abe had a permantent indent in his hand from getting a heavy door slammed on it.  So we went for Extended Community Time at a friends house because, really, did we want to have to entertain our children by ourselves, or rather to encourage/lock them outside to play together while we sat and talked?  The answer is obvious.  Again:  most excellent food – an assortment of baked goods from various grocery stores in our area.  They had bakery chocolate chip cookies that made me miss Buttrey’s/Alberton’s bakeries in Boise when I would get a free chocolate chip cookie to munch on while Mama shopped.  Which my boys don’t get, and won’t get, until they’re old and determined enough to read/slog through my blog and get to this blog post.

Sunday I took advantage of naptime to throw on the walking shoes and hit the hills.  There’s a little red on my shoulders, but there’s sunshine blazing on my inside.  Such an odd sensation, plugging in the headphones, having flashbacks of my daily walks in Boise, feeling like I could breathe for the first time in I don’t know how long.  Breathing:  that’s another thing I should add to the good list.  I so often forget.

This week we’re eating from the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home:  Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day.

Monday:  Mighty Zucchini Muffins w/cream cheese, bananas; Mockamole, nachos, ants on a log; Simple Quesadillas, Caribbean Black Beans

Tuesday:  Fruit-filled French Toast, yogurt; Italian-style Tofu Pizza, apples w/pb, crackers; Broiled Tofu burgers, seasons fries, peaches

Wednesday:  Cottage Cheese Apple Pancakes w/peanut butter, cheese; Greek Pita, hummus, chips, apples, veggies; Golden Cheddar Cheese soup, Pesto Palmiers, Salad, tangerines

Thursday:  Leftovers; PBJ, crackers, raisins; Leftovers

Friday:  Blueberry Multigrain Muffins w/cream cheese, peaches; Greek Spinach Frittata, cinnamon raisin toast; Sweet Potato Quesadillas, North African Cauliflower soup, chips, salsa

Saturday:  Yogurt Cheese Pie, cinnamon toast; Tofu Burritos, pb crackers, fruit leather; Feta Spinach Pizza, breadsticks, marinara, peaches

Sunday:  Leftovers; Leftovers; waffles

But that doesn’t mean we weren’t eating.  We’ve been eating … and eating … and eating.  The week after the retreat, I went to my folks’ for a “retreat with two small boys, one of whom decided he would prefer to be attached to mama at all time as well as weep and wail and gnash those darling little molars while falling asleep or at 2am or both” – not necessarily so restful, but rejuvinating in that I didn’t have to cook or clean for seven blissful days.  And I could watch a number of NCIS marathons (a show that has been endeared to me since finding out that the writer/producers also created Magnum, P.I., one of the sacred Trinity of TV Childhood Favs).

While at the Mama & Pappy’s, I could also indulge in a guilty pleasure:  reading books about health/frugality/green/sustainable living.  Why is that guilty?  Because everytime I read these books (or watch Oprah), I freak out about all the bad things that could infiltrate my family’s health and purge the nasties.  Organic grapes and strawberries:  a must.  Homemade laundry detergent:  on top of my laundry machine.  Flax seeds and antioxidents:  regular part of my diet.  Buying disposable diapers:  a shame and guilt-laden experience.  Using paper towels and paper napkins:  rare, but also guilt-laden.  Unplugging any appliance that hasn’t been used:  compulsive and sometimes theraputic.  Bad plastics:  being weeded out.  Becoming a member of a CSA:  first pickup’s in a few weeks.  Positive, happy, healthy thinking:  work in progress, kinda shoved down the list …

I’ve been banned from watching Oprah pretty much because Hubby comes home and I say, “So Oprah says …” and then life changes, or I live in the anxiety that I don’t know what or how to change so that BPA doesn’t infiltrate our drinking water and thereby corroding our systems so that we grow third arms.  It’s totally irrational and illogical:  I’ve swam in the Willamette.  Repeatedly.  I am DOOMED.

My idealist kicks in, and I can’t get it Right, and then I my mind shuts down as I start projecting out, thinking about planting a garden and harvesting everything and spending time ordering ginormous bags of locally organically grown grain to store in Safe plastic containers and grind by hand into my own bread and use organic butter that I get after a day’s walk to and from McMinnville because using my car would cause too big of a carbon foot print, and then I find myself with only enough energy to say, “Could I get some ketchup with that, too?” as I lean out the car window to pick up my hard-worked-for dinner offerings from the House of Dave Thomas.

So I read these books at my parents’ house.  Because their tanks to deal with The Crazy are much fuller (and more experienced) than my poor lives-with-the-daily Hubby.  And they find some of it interesting (hmm: wonder where I get it?).  And they have years and years of knowing how to temper me:  “Why don’t you take baby steps? … You know, instead of planting a garden, investing money in knowing *where* your food comes from is a great first step …  There will always be other years ….  I’ve found an herb garden is pretty easy to grow”, aka. oooh, here’s a direction to move in, oh all-or-nothing one.  They know not to make “You’re wrong” statements or “That won’t work” because look at the head-strong one go charging in that direction.  Plus, they’re just as all-or-nothing as me, oh move-to-the-farmland-Idaho-suburbs-to-by-acreage-and-grow-a-huge-garden-and-raise-animals-because-our-experience-of-living-in-the-urban-South-and-Germany-and-Tacoma-prepared-us-for-situations-such-as-these parents.  I’m just sayin’ …

This last time I read The China Study.  I let Hubby know I was taking it.  “This is the book that my friends read, and they stopped eating meat.  I’m just warning you.”  I read it; I enjoyed it; I believe the author – he’s not a whack job.  I haven’t gone bonkers yet.  I must admit, The Crazy One looks at animal products and thinks, “These promote cancer:  DOOM!”  But The Tempered One says, “Baby steps to four o’clock.  Baby steps to four o’clock”.  So we had Vegan Week in which I cooked vegan dinners.  I thought they were yummy, particularly since two meals required peanut sauce (mmmm).  And to celebrate the end of vegan week?  Grilled cream-cheese-stuffed turkey burgers.  Success.

Honestly I am feeling convicted to be more aware of animal products in my family’s diet, but not crazy.  I need to use things up in my freezer.  And I need to honor my family’s requests for favorites.  Mantra – these are choices to make out of love, not fear, to move us into life, not prison.

This week I used meals from The Sneaky Chef:  How to Cheat on Your Man (in the Kitchen):  a baby step in working veggies and other good stuff into the boys’ food.  I didn’t “hide” things:  I shared what was part of the meal.  And I bonded with my handheld blender:  we needed some quality time together.  Soon it will be quality smoothie weather …. sooooon ….

Monday:  Cheese eggs, cinnamon toast, banana (had to get out the door for MOPS); grilled cheese & turkey, grapes, crackers; Burgerville (Hubby’s half birthday:  woo hoo!  Burgerville’s also very locally/sustainably minded as well, and just plain tasty:  bonus).

Tuesday:  Power Breakfast Cookies (which led to some little peoples’ power poops – oy), sausage, strawberries; Chicken Waldorf wrap, veggies, apples; Italian Herb Chicken, Mighty Parmesan Mashed Potatoes, applesauce, bread, salad (comment:  “Wow!  You really went all out!”  Tried not to extrapolate into “and finally cooked a real meal/meal like my family cooked” – see, holding in The Crazy).

Wednesday:  Blockbuster Blueberry Muffins, cheese; Burly Burritos, veggies, crackers, raisins; Real Man Meatballs w/spaghetti, apples w/pb, salad, bread

Thursday:  Leftovers; Leftovers; Leftovers (seriously needed.  LOOOONG days cooking beforehand)

Friday:  Chocolate-Charged French Toast, cheese, banana; Leftovers (had a meeting that ran long); probably fend for yourself (because I had planned for Turkey Burgers, but tomorrow’s supposed to be quality grilling weather)

Saturday:  French Toast Bites, banana; English Muffin Pizzas, veggies with laughing cow cheese, peaches; Now You’re Talking Turkey Burgers, Real Freedom Fries, applesauce

Sunday:  Leftovers; Leftovers; Top Banana waffles, turkey bacon

In typical tradition, what one child hates, the other loves, and visa versa.

And what one child leaves, the other wears.  Marinara:  the latest facial treatment.

What, no kiss, Pappy?

At least he gets lovin’ in the belly.

And I find that just as there is a time to laugh and a time to mourn, there is a time to photograph and a time to . . . not.  Perhaps it’s that life has found a comfortable rhythm that doesn’t seem all that photo-worthy.  Or perhaps I’m tired of trying to explain why I don’t want to share my camera (which mostly is not explanations, but a barking, repetitive “No.  No.  No.  No.”  Etc., etc., etc.

However, on the ol’ Powershot I found some images.  Scenes of preppy boys:

And flattering self-portraits:

And flattering brotherly portraits (seriously:  could use the term Block Head in this case):

And cousins sitting:

And scholarly exhausted boys:

And getting their weekly body treatment of yogurt, banana, and granola boys:

And boys with bonks:

And boys who comply:

And boys who don’t:

Fairly typical of life around here.

We also plan on eating, this week out of the critically-acclaimed, French cuisine-inspired staple of the Cordon Bleu curriculum C is for Cooking.

Monday:  Big Bird’s Banana & Berry Delicious Toast (which the kids actually thought was delicious.  I was shocked:  my brother and I would not have touched anything cream cheese-ish with a ten foot pole), cheddar cheese; Rosita’s Pita Pizzas (a resounding “Yum!” from the hubby), apples w/peanut butter; Tofu & Veggie Stir-Fry with Beth’s Peanut Sauce (Beth is not a Sesame Street character, but rather a friend from my former meal-cooping days.  I found a container of her peanut sauce in my freezer and did a dance of glee.  Really.  Ask my hubby), crackers, raisins.

Tuesday:  Cookie Monster’s Yummy Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce (I thawed some of my strawberries from last year:  heaven in a ziplock freezer bag), sausage; Cookie Monster’s Peanut Butter Sandwich with grated apples on cinnamon raisin bread, string cheese, carrots; Grover’s Egg Sausage Strata (which we were supposed to have tonight, but someone forgot to read the instructions beyond the ingredients to notice things like “refrigerate overnight or for at least four hours” until three hours before dinner), fruit salad

Wednesday:  Ernie’s Jelly Omelet (sounds yucky, but hey:  maybe Ernie can work his magic), Abby Cadabby’s Pumpkin Muffins (which we already made last week – huge hit); Rosita’s Turkey & Cheese Quesadillas, bananas w/ peanut butter, snap peas; Ernie’s Roast Lemon Chicken, Cookie Monster’s Stuffed Potatoes, garlic bread

Thursday:  Leftovers; PB & J, string cheese, crackers, raisins; Leftovers

Friday:  Ernie’s Breakfast Banana Split; Rosita’s Strawberry Mango Smoothie, cheese toast; Grover’s Little & Adorable Chicken Nuggets, garlic fries, peaches

Saturday:  Elmo’s Dutch Baby Pancakes with Buttery Apples (expecting this to fly really well with the Hubby), sausage; Oscar’s Egg Drop Soup (not expecting this to fly with the little ones, but it just sounded so good), crackers, applesauce;  Leftover Chicken & Leftover Peanut Sauce pizza, carrots, bananas

Sunday:  Leftovers; Leftovers; Zoe’s Easy Cheesy Waffles, apple chicken sausage, applesauce

As I was coupon clipping, recipe organizing, and grocery shopping on Sunday, I told the Hubby that this is a lot of work.  But I think it’s good work, which he affirmed in his laid-back way:  “Yeah, it’s good for me not to eat only pizza and Hot Pockets.”  Oh, that’s right:  I’m feeding people *beyond* the kids:  sometimes I forget that.  Which could also be why there aren’t so many pictures of people above four feet featured on this site.  Hmmm…

Actually, we had plans.  Plans that involved eating.  Plans that involved eating at the Coast where my mama cooked and baked her fingers to the bone ahead of time so we could have a long weekend in a gorgeous cabin with all sorts of yummy treats that we (specifically I) did not have to prepare.  This was for her birthday:  she *asked* for this to be her gift.  I know, she’s a saint.

So in my excitement of having four days where I did not have to prepare three meals and three snacks but rather throw a whole wheat crescent roll at whoever was whining, I created a small menu plan to get us through the days we were home.  It wasn’t much, mostly consisting of “Hmm, what’s this in the freezer?” and “Oooh, better get this out of the fridge before we leave” – a very scientific, intentional meal plan.  But it worked:  had some freezer muffins, leftover pizza soup, frozen pizza, etc.

But this week I have planned.  It’s a hodge-podge assortment of recipes, with a certain Mr. Man begging for me to make something else out of his “C is for Cooking” cookbook from the library.  Methinks that will be some foreshadowing for next week.

Monday:  Homemade granola, yogurt, banana; Bagel w/spinach spread, cheese, raisins; Jerk turkey burgers (I’ve had these on the menu plan before but haven’t gotten to them yet), garlic fries, applesauce

Tuesday:  Pumpkin muffins, cottage cheese, raisins; Banana orange flip (smoothie), goldfish crackers, cheese (our all orange meal); Black bean soup, cheese toast, peaches

Wednesday:  Thrive-on-Five bread, cheese eggs, peaches; Grilled tomato and cheese sandwich (already can hear the wailing), apples, peanut butter; Stirfry, mandarin oranges, goldfish crackers (you know, the perfect garnish for teriyaki)

Thursday:  Leftovers; PB & J, pretzels, raisins, string cheese; Leftovers

Friday:  Very berry shake, cinnamon toast; Chicken nuggets, peaches, pretzels; Chicken sausage pasta alfredo, salad, garlic bread, apples

Saturday:  Strawberry bread, strawberry cream cheese spread; English muffin pizzas, applesauce; Quiche, taboulleh, bananas

Sunday:  Leftovers; Leftovers; Waffles

The boys have picked up on the fact that they like different foods from each other, and that if they take their one required bite, the other kid will eat it.  Hubby and I have not set up this dynamic at all, and yet they instinctively know about “tradesies”.  Yesterday Abe handed his crackers, which were no longer acceptable, to his big brother to finish, and this morning I have found JJ’s barely-touched cottage cheese sitting expectantly on Abe’s high chair tray.  “But he’ll eat it!” is the response.  And “But I don’t care” is mine.  Very mature, eh?  We’re all about the elevation of one to a higher level around here.