What We Ate {Last} Week

I don’t know about you, but I always get a bit intimidated when other real food bloggers post their week’s menu plans. It all sounds so good on paper, and I wonder how they have the time to make all those lovely, well rounded meals, and how they can afford fish and organic veggies and stuff. It leaves me feeling guilty and inadequate.

Not a pretty thing.

So, I usually avoid those type of posts, and just go on my merry way, planning my menus with what I do have time to make and what I can afford. And I never thought to put my week’s menu plan out there, ’cause I didn’t’ want to make anyone else feel inadequate or guilty.

Not a pretty thing.

But then one of you went and asked. 🙂 And then I had an idea (ok, let’s give credit where credit is due – I think this one came from my Father). What about posting a log of what we ATE the previous week? Then you could really see how this whole real food thing pans out with a tight budget and 3 kids in the mix!

And, it would be an opportunity for me to embrace humility, ’cause the truth is, not everything we eat is pure, organic, and WAPF-approved, and telling you what we actually ate rather than what I wish we were going to – that just might be a little humbling.

And humility is good.

I keep reminding myself.

So, without further excuses and grasping for what remaining dignity I have, here’s a list of what we ate (and a few preparation details) in the past 7 days.

steaming swiss chard to put in the freezer for smoothies

Monday
Breakfast: Kefir smoothie with raw egg yolks, steamed swish chard, frozen fruit, and flax seed. I hadn’t made kefir in weeks. Maybe months. Finally, with cooler weather,  and more time indoors, I’m getting back into our healthier routines. The kids could not be happier – even Seth drinks the smoothies now. We paired this with scrambled eggs with a little raw cheddar cheese thrown in.
Lunch: Leftover Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken with veggies and rice. Oh, man – you’ve got to try the spice rub in this recipe!

the chicken dinner lunch’s leftovers were from

Dinner: Beef and Spinach Quiche* with some lentil sprouts thrown in ’cause they were going to go bad soon and I thought this would be a safe place to hide them. It worked. Neither the kids nor the Man noticed. Score! The crust was made with white flour ’cause I haven’t had time to make sprouted wheat flour this month, and I’m learning that white flour, though not ideal, is easier to digest than un-soaked or un-sprouted whole wheat. I paired this with local, as-good-as-organic sweet potatoes – peeled, chunked and baked with a bit of butter, cinnamon, and honey. Again, the kids adore this!

Seth with his smoothie – oh, how he loves it!

Tuesday
B: Kefir smoothies as above and omelets
L: PBandJ’s and Sloppy Joes over at my MIL’s
D: White Lasagna* and applesauce from our own apples (yeah!)

Wednesday
B: Kefir smoothies and scrambled eggs (by this time Jesse is begging me to buy oats ’cause we’ve been out for days and we’re all missing oatmeal
L: Leftover Quiche and sweet potatoes, as well as some Homemade Mac and Cheese I threw together for filler. White, storebought pasta ’cause I haven’t had time to make noodles and I’m out of rice pasta. 🙂 I did throw in some fresh, homemade cream cheese (cream cheese:: the secret to awesome homemade mac and cheese!)
D: We ate out with friends ’cause Jeremy had a meeting in Syracuse.

Thursday
B: Omelets (still forgot to pick up oats!)
L: Leftovers – mac and cheese, taco salad*, some cheese melted over corn chips for filler
D: Chicken Divan* (Including Mayonnaise* and Cream of Chicken Soup* from scratch)

Friday
B: Oatmeal*!!!
L: Leftover Chicken Divan*
D: Homemade Pizza with the best whole wheat pizza dough ever*. Our favorite toppings – Pineapple tidbits and Pepperoni.

Saturday
B: Leftover Oatmeal (I always make a big enough batch to eat for two days – it’s better the second day, anyway!)
L: Leftover Pizza
D: Pot Roast (Thank You, Lord, for Pioneer Woman! She’s taught me everything I know about red meat, an area of insecurity because I grew up on a chicken farm. 🙂 I highly recommend every recipe I’ve tried from her. Who better to teach me how to grill steak or make a savory pot roast than the wife of a cattle rancher?

pot roast ready to go in the oven

Sunday
B: Oven Pancake*, which I forgot to soak. 🙂 It was scrumptious anyway.
L: Potluck at church. I brought Caesar Salad*
D: Leftover Pot Roast and Popcorn

Further Notes…
*Indicates a recipe found in my book. Compiling your own cookbook is seriously one of the coolest things every. All YOUR favorite recipes in one place, with your tweaks in print so you don’t have to adjust the recipe again each time you make it. And yes, I use cookbooks all the time – I’m simply too scatterbrained to trust myself to remember the salt or the baking soda without following a recipe. About the only thing I don’t use a recipe for is Chicken Pot Pie*, so it turns out a little different each time, which bothers my husband AND me. So, I really should use the recipe I nailed down in my book.

 Leftovers are my secret weapon. I talk more about using leftovers to give yourself freedom from the kitchen in my book.

These photos are from the Real {Fast} Food facebook page, where I often post photos of what we’re eating that day. My camera is broke, so taking photos with my phone and emailing them to facebook is the only way I have to give photographic updates.

For more on how we manage real food on a real budget, check out “How Eating Better {Didn’t} Break the Bank”

P.S.This was not meant to be a post promoting my book – it just turned out that way ’cause everything we eat is in the book! 🙂 So, go there if you have further questions.

That is all. 🙂