My Weekly Meals, on the Real (Edition 2)
Last week I had such a great response from sharing what I fed my family for one whole week. Many felt a sense of peace that they are not the only ones that struggle feeding their family what we feel is “perfect.”
The reality is that we are all humans, life gets crazy, children get picky, and there is just not enough time in the day to feed our family the way we want or even get from scratch food on the table.
Sometimes simple is seriously the best way to get through the day — even if that means snacking throughout the day or stretching a meal.
There is no right or wrong — as long as we are consciously trying and putting our best efforts, that’s all that matters. I think the best part is that there is always next week. “Next week” always gives us the chance to reevaluate and see if we can sneak in one better meal for the week or make better choices when going to the grocery store.
Because of the great response, I figured I’d share our weekly meals, on the real again. In fact, I’m going to share what we eat for the next two weeks as well and then do a reevaluation in one big blog post. This way we can look on the “grander scale” and see exactly just how well we ate in a month. Sometimes it’s better to look at things from the big picture then focusing on the singular days where we may not have eaten as well.
Also, here is a picture of my meal plan for the week so you can see if I was able to stick to it or not.
Monday
Breakfast: Andrew had some granola, and I made eggs
Lunch: We had a hodgepodge of a lunch because we went to the grocery store and also snacked while we were there. Between Andrew and I, we split an avocado with our favorite unrefined sea salt and pepper, madeleines, we both had an apple banana (the little bananas), we split an apple and ate it with sunflower seed butter, and a few bites of smoked salmon.
I also decided to make Mommypotamus’ chicken liver and bacon pate which turned out AMAZING. Seriously guys, if you’re looking to add more liver to your diet, I highly encourage you to try that recipe. Andrew had a few pieces of bacon from the recipe before I put it all together in the food processor. I ate the bacon liver pate with carrot sticks. When Scott got home from work, he also was munching on the pate (and we almost finished it because it was that good).
Dinner: I made a whole roast organic chicken (I bought from Whole Foods), with roasted organic carrots and organic potatoes. Andrew ate everything but the carrots.
To make the chicken: Preheat the oven to 410 degrees. I patted dry the chicken and seasoned it (inside and outside) liberally with pepper, garlic salt and a little more of our favorite unrefined sea salt. Then I melted about 1/2 cup of refined coconut oil (on the stove, not in the microwave) and sprinkled pepper, sea salt and garlic salt and brushed it on the chicken. I chopped 3 carrots, sliced an onion, and took 5 cloves on garlic and put it around the chicken. I placed a few pieces of onion and garlic inside the cavity of the chicken.
For 15 minutes, I cooked it at 410 and then decreased the heat to 375. Every 15 minutes or so, I brushed the chicken with the coconut oil mix. The last 15 minutes I cooked the chicken, I did not baste it so the skin could turn crunchy. I cooked the chicken for about an hour. After dinner, I removed all the meat and placed it in a container, and then put the carcass into the crockpot to make homemade broth.
To make the potatoes: I chopped 4 organic Yukon gold potatoes (I chose organic because potatoes are heavily sprayed), sprinkled olive oil on them, and then sprinkled them with homemade Italian seasoning plus a little unrefined sea salt. I baked them at the same time as the chicken but just took them out when they were done.
Tuesday
Breakfast: Andrew requested pancakes so I made my einkorn flour pancake recipe (they are more crepe-like than fluffy pancakes). We topped those with real maple syrup (I bought the organic grade B maple syrup from Whole Foods).
Lunch: I ate more pate with carrots and a leftover pancake; Andrew ate leftover pancakes, chips, and homemade kombucha.
Dinner: I had spaghetti with homemade meat and veggie sauce and broccoli ready, but Scott called me and told me to drop Andrew off at Grandmas and meet him at our friend’s wine shop. There we had wine, grilled steak, salad, bread, and potatoes with the owners of the wine shop and a few friends. I think Andrew had noodles at Grandmas.
Wednesday
Breakfast: Andrew, Scott, and I split scrambled eggs.
Lunch: Andrew had school today so I made him 1/2 a sunflower seed butter and jelly sandwich with 1/2 a cut up (skin off) organic apple. I had to clean a house today, so I made myself a ham and cheese sandwich and ate the other half of the apple (skin on).
When I picked Andrew up from school, we ate the remaining madeleines (from Monday) and Andrew had a cup of raw goat milk, along with his favorite Enjoy Life seed snack.
Dinner: Spaghetti night. The noodles I purchased are actually capellini brown rice noodles from Jovial. I defrosted my freezer-friendly homemade meat and veggie pasta sauce to go with the noodles. I made steamed broccoli as well. Andrew ate noodles with butter, and half an avocado.
Thursday
Breakfast: Andrew had bacon, toast and jelly. I had 2 over easy eggs on sourdough toast (Whole Foods brand of sourdough).
Lunch: We met friends at the zoo, so lunch was a hodge-podge of stuff. Andrew had 1/2 a sunflower seed and jelly sandwich, organic apple slices, pita chips, Enjoy Life seed mix, and regular chips. I snacked on a few of those things, plus the liver pate with carrot slices.
Dinner: I pan seared grass-fed rib eyes that were on sale at Whole Foods (it’s always a special treat when they are at their lowest price) on my cast iron skillet. I steamed green beans (topped with butter and sea salt) and cooked white organic basmati rice with homemade bone broth (mashed with butter, sea salt, and pepper). Andrew ate everything — although he did only want to pick the beans out of the green beans and leave the outside.
I also decided to sneak a handful of Enjoy Life dark chocolate chips because, ahem, this was the first day of Aunt Flow and I was needing it.
To pan sear steak on a cast iron skillet: Turn the heat on medium high. Place a tablespoon of butter and wait until it melts and starts to foam a little. Place a seasoned (just sea salt and pepper) steak on, and keep there for however long you want to cook the steak (we like our grass-fed meats on the more rare side, cooked for about 7 minutes or so on each side). Flip, and cook. The steak should brown a little on both sides. Repeat steps for the next steak.
To make bone broth rice: All you need to do is replace the amount of water you will be using for rice with homemade broth. Cook like your normally would. Make sure to add lots of butter in the finished product and season simply with unrefined sea salt and pepper. Delicious!
Friday
Breakfast: I skipped breakfast because we were going out of town and I had WAY TOO MANY work related things to get done before we left. Andrew had some toast before school.
Lunch: We were really low on food in the refrigerator, so I made Andrew another 1/2 sandwich of sunflower seed butter and jelly on sourdough bread for school lunch, along with a date. I picked Andrew up from school, headed to Whole Foods to pick up a few things for the weekend, and decided to pick up a small plate of plantains, white rice, and black beans and eat it outside. Andrew had some of my rice.
We picked the kids up (who I watch weekly) after Whole Foods and Andrew snacked on a cliff bar at their house.
Dinner: I dropped Andrew off at Grandmas for the weekend and because Scott and I were running late for getting on the road, we stopped at our favorite local burger place and got ourselves a burger and tallow-fried French fries.
Saturday
Breakfast: I made scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon for us and our friends at the little motel we were staying at.
Lunch: We all went to the little tiki restaurant on the river (attached to the motel we stayed at) and Scott and I had steamed clams, oysters, and fish spread (and beer).
Dinner: One lady brought Steuffers lasagna (I didn’t eat this) and another lady brought homemade garlic bread and salad (which I ate). I also ate some of her chicken salad for dinner since I wasn’t eating the lasagna.
Sunday
Breakfast: I made scrambled eggs and toast for everyone
Lunch: Scott and I ate chicken salad on the way home in the car.
Dinner: We picked up Andrew and snacked on some chips and Kerrygold cheese before dinner. I made pan-fried breaded chicken breast, steamed and buttered green beans, salad, and leftover rice (mashed with lots of butter). Andrew did not eat the green beans and salad but ate the chicken (lots of it) and rice.
We also came home to SIX (the sixth one is not pictured but was found later outside of the coop) eggs in our nest box! How exciting!
For the chicken breast: Grab 2 bowls and 2 plates. In one bowl, crack and whip one egg. In another bowl, pour about a cup of breadcrumbs (we buy Whole Foods brand plain breadcrumbs) and about a tablespoon homemade Italian seasoning, along with sea salt and pepper. Butterfly your chicken breast (cut it in half lengthwise; you’re essentially making the chicken breast thinner), pound with a meat tenderizer, and season with unrefined sea salt and pepper.
Dip each chicken piece in egg and then breadcrumb mixture. Do this until all chicken pieces are breaded. In a pan, on medium heat, place enough expeller pressed coconut oil to cover the bottom, and fry each breaded chicken piece until golden brown on both sides.
Want more on simplicity and food? I recommend reading these —
I think your Andrew eats in a week what my niece eats in a day! Lol! She is always hungry. She needs to be gluten free so finding food and snacks to keep her going is always a challenge. I recently found I also have to be gluten free so this is a huge learning curve.
Haha. Yeah, Andrew really fluctuates with how much eats. I try and let him choose how much and when he eats since he knows his body better than I do. I can imagine that would be difficult. Best of luck to both of you!