Sarah's Recipe Blog

Breakfast: oats and berries (fresh...went to Costco again yesterday...I love that store)

all except Jenny...the darling child begged me to give her jobs yesterday so she could earn money..since we'd had a busy weekend and didn't get our normal chores done I was of course more than willing. She vacuumed and dusted the entire upstairs and earned enough to buy herself a box of cereal at Good Earth which she will eat with great relish and delight in front of all the other children for the rest of the week.

Joseph didn't finish breakfast because a spider appeared at the table....We need to get out of the house today....

Lunch: Rotini Pasta w/ meat sauce

sides: Green salad/ baby carrots

Dinner: Cheesy Adzuki Bean Casserole (my kids will eat almost any leftovers if I make it into a cheesy mexican casserole...added some salsa, garlic and cheese and they loved it)

sides: grapes

Dessert: Cherry Cobbler

as soon as we finished our lessons yesterday my kids raced out the door and picked a huge amount of cherries. Then we spent the afternoon pitting them and checking for ...well...you know..extra unwanted protein. I think Julia and I were the biggest fans of the result. Joseph liked it too but Jacob..the kid who eats pretty much everything wouldn't touch it. I think maybe just maybe he actually doesn't like cherries.

Breakfast: The baby must be growing muscles or his brain is developing or something..I have not been able to stomach oats for the past few days and have been craving Breakfast Burritos..I finally got to the store and bought some eggs and had two and a half burritos with cheese and chicken sausage. Then I finished it off with some Cherry Cobbler and cream. I'm looking forward to feeling great this morning. I was so weak yesterday and could barely keep up with my kids at the library and had to strap them in the stroller and let them fuss....very not fun.

Lunch: Lentils and Rice

Green Salad

after my huge breakfast I wasn't hungry until about 3:00 in the afternoon. I still fed everyone but not until much later than normal

Dinner: Homemade cheese and chicken sausage pizza

green salad

The salad we will be eating this week is the basic spring mix they sell at Costco...it's great because it is prewashed. I always have a hard time feeling like I've washed the lettuce enough. The salad from Costco is alot of salad for only 4 dollars...it will give us enough for salads a couple of times a day and maybe smoothies for a week for my big family.  Sometimes we eat it straight. Sometimes with dressing or other veggies.

Breakfast: oatmeal and berries ( although I have to admit I was craving eggs again)

Lunch: Picnic in the park with G-ma and cousins visiting from California..ones my kids have never met before because of a divorce in that family.

Leftover Pizza

Strawberries

Dinner: French Toast w/ berries and pure maple syrup

When I made the pizza dough yesterday and made a little loaf of bread that I used for the french toast today.

Happy 4th tomorrow everyone..we've got some special meals planned and I'm sure you all are going to have a wonderful day.

Breakfast: Fourth of July Pancakes (strawberries, blueberries, cottage cheese)

I am proud to say that my darling Benjamin made the pancakes all by himself...He even ground the flour fresh(the dear woke up at 6:30 so we could have our picnic breakfast while watching the balloons rise over the mountains)

Lunch: Baked Potato Bar...I've been looking forward to this....

toppings: cottage cheese, grated cheese blend, sour cream, corn, green peppers, tomatoes, onions, spring mix salad blend, broccoli, salt, pepper, ranch dressing, ceasar dressing, barbeque sauce (don't know if anyone will use this..we'll see)..umm...I think that's it....I can't wait..they are taking forever to cook

Dinner: Bagels and Cream Cheese

i didn't eat too much because i was still full from lunch. Somehow all of my children were hungry so we actually ate this meal way earlier than I was planning. I was thinking we'd have it as a late night snack type of thing when we'd finally digested our huge lunch....I guess I'll have it for a later snack when I've finally digested those huge potatoes I ate.   By the way..I did try the barbeque sauce with the potatoes. I think I actually put a little bit of every topping on mine. It was all delicious.

Breakfast: Breakfast Burritos (eggs, whole wheat tortillas, green peppers, corn...leftover toppings from the potato bar yesterday) 

The kids however want oats but for some reason I still can't stand the sight of them....I don't want to eat eggs everyday but I just don't feel like oats or oatmeal.

Lunch: Leftover Baked Potato....still have plenty of potatoes and toppings so I think we'll do this lunch again.

Dinner: TBA 

Breakfast: oats and homemade granola (I made some more and can now stand eating oats again....I actually love eating oats in the morning so I'm wondering why I had a sudden aversion to them)

Lunch: Fix your own...I had yet another baked potato and enjoyed it immensly ...the kids had all sorts of things that I can't even remember now..sorry

Dinner: Lasagna (whole wheat noodles, cottage cheese, grated cheddar cheese, italian flavored tomato sauce, garlic and green peppers)

sides: green salad

Breakfast: Granola w/ oats

Lunch: Haystacks (I found the millions of toppings on the baked potatoes a good way to feed my family of different preferences) I cooked some brown rice and had toppings like..salsa, corn, cheese, avocado, minced garlic, and chicken sausage available...everybody was happy....we may just have to eat that way everyday....I feel a food lag coming on. My definition of food lag is when I find a recipe that I love so much that I keep making it again and again)

Dinner: Rice and milk (well at least my three little ones had this...they love rice and milk and cinammon and agave...our sugar...for a yummy comforting dinner)

Breakfast: Oats and granola

i haven't made it up for breakfast yet but I've already had like 3 1/2 nectarines. I was a little hungry when I got home from my run. BTW...those of you that live in Utah Valley or thereabouts should check out Allred's fruit stand in a couple of weeks here. They sell the most amazing nectarines and peaches. Being the cheapskate I am I love to buy their boxes of seconds...or slightly weird looking fruit that they sell in a big brown box for only $5....it's about 20-25 pounds of fruit. I have a friend who buys it for canning. She came over one day and I fed her children some fresh peaches for a treat. She said, "Oh...I've never given them any fresh" and I said, "Well, my children will probably never eat them canned. " Not that I don't like canned peaches but 1. I'm not really into canning as much as she is and 2. We eat them fresh so fast that we don't have time to can them...I also love making cobblers and that uses up a lot of the fruit.

Lunch: Buckwheat and guacamole

Dinner: Fix your own...Jenny is having raisin bran, Joseph and Jacob wanted cheese sandwiches...the rest of us gave into the temptation of the wating cherry cobbler...the last for the year since our cherry tree has been picked to the bone (except for those really high branches that I'm too chicken to watch my kids climb up to...I invited a neighbor's child that I don't like very much and likes to climb)

Breakfast: granola, oats and yogurt

Lunch: Brown rice and chicken nuggets. I cut up some chicken breasts and roll them in olive oil. Then I stick them in a bowl of flour, garlic powder and salt (Today I'm doing 5 breasts and will use a couple of cups of flour to make sure they get nice and coated)..tsp of garlic, tsp of salt. Cook at 350 for 30 min then turn up to 400 for the last 15 to brown them. I usually spray the cookie sheet I use so they don't stick.

Dinner: We went swimming and then stopped by Great Harvest Bread to redeem our coupon for a free loaf of bread. While there we bought samples...the lady cut them real thick...for awhile I thought that could be dinner and I'd feed them some sort of snack when they begged for one later. They said they were hungry when we got home....so...I poppped some popcorn. We had two kinds: Caramel and Parmesan (for the caramel I boil 1/4 cup of agave and pour it on top of a big bowl...it really covers a big bowl and tastes yummy..see my recipe section)

Caramel Popcorn, Parmesan Popcorn

great harvest bread slices and juice    

Breakfast: oats, granola and yogurt ( I added berries and macademia nuts to mine)

 Lunch: Tuna wraps

sides: tortilla chips, strawberries and leftovers from dinner...popcorn :)

Dinner: French Toast w/ berries

We were gone fishing today and would have had a salad on our wraps if I had been more organized...I wasn't...a day without veggies feels weird..should I feed my kids salad for a bedtime snack...or give them the leftover homemade ice cream in the fridge. Do you think they'd notice if it turned green suddenly?

I just have to say that we had a wonderful day driving out to Strawberry and sitting by the lake was the most delightful experience of the summer yet....gorgeous air...delightful lake breeze..the kids were happy wading and throwing rocks in the shallow water. 
 

Breakfast: oats and granola w/ yogurt

Lunch: Parmesean Pasta

sides: green salad w/ fresh garden green beans and zucchini  the first of the year...delicious.

Dinner: Steamed Red Potatoes, Steamed Yams w/ buttter

fresh garden zucchini slices   I never realized how much I enjoy sliced zucchini when they are little and you can eat them like a cucumber. In the salad at lunch they had some dressing on them and were chopped up small. Tonight I ate them straight and enjoyed the mild taste.

Breakfast: Oat, granola and yogurt ..I bought three large containers of yogurt and by placing a dollop of it on mine and the kids breakfast it has lasted us all week.  Our little Jacob loves yogurt and asks, "more nummies" at every breakfast. I have made my own yogurt before but I find buying the natural brand that has a sugar I approve of to be just as cheap as making it. 

Lunch: Cheesy Quesadillas

The kids ate theirs plain but I added spring salad mix and salsa to mine for a quick satisfying and healthy lunch

Dinner: Mashed Potatoes

Green Salad (with fresh garden green beans and garden zucchini)

Breakfast: Oats, granola and yogurt

No pancakes or waffles this morning. I often make them on Sundays because we don't have church until 11 and I actually have time to cook breakfast. However, Jenny fell out of the new bunk bed that we bought her yesterday and woke us up early. She is fine but we've installed an extra railing thing now so hopefully that won't happen again. We eventually went back to sleep and slept in later than normal.

Lunch: Fix your own. I had leftover mashed potatoes with salad and BBQ sauce on top.
The kids did their own thing and the little boys had sandwiches.

Dinner: Buckwheat and Sweet Mesquite Chicken Bits

sides: Garlic Biscuits (made entirely by Benjamin) and Green Salad (with more green beans and zucchini)

I often don't feel like making anything Sunday for dinner and whip up something really really easy. I like to follow the day of rest thing for religious and worship purposes and also for renewal. I cook for my family because I love them and I'm learning to enjoy it..but I'm human and definitely get burnt out with the kitchen scene day after day. I try to make it mentally manageable by not doing too much every single day and only making bigger or more complicated things when I'm in the mood and it will be a pleasure and not a chore.

Breakfast: Oats and granola (we are out of yogurt)

Lunch: Bean Burritos (emergency lunch today. I was playing my flute with the very talented Josse and after we were done I was so hungry I had to do something fast. So I got a can of refried beans from our 72 hour emergency kit ...we never eat canned foods except in "emergencies", heated them up and piled them up on some whole wheat tortillas)

sides: plums

Dinner: Potato Bar (I had so much fun with this last time that we did it again and invited our friends over who couldn't come last time because of sick children)

Toppings/sides: spring salad mix, corn, green peppers, broccoli, chicken sausage, cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, butter, salt, pepper, salsa, BBQ sauce)

Breakfast: oats and granola

Lunch: Turkey Burgers (Joseph's request)

I had green peppers, onions, pickles, organic ketchup, grapeseed oil mayo-which is way lighter tasting and very yummy, BBQ sauce and some kind of dark green leaf from the spring mix I buy at Costco) I also made homemade buns again. I was thankful they turned out soft and perfectly shaped this time...yay!

Dinner: Potato Supreme

I'm not sure exactly what to call it..I took 2 baked potatoes, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup cheese, 1/4 cup milk, a couple of chicken sausages minced, and a few broccoli florets minced and created what I thought was a great dinner.  My kids spied it with caution but most of them enjoyed it..I do have some picky eaters that simply have bad attitudes..despite my intolerance of pickiness..they persist.

Breakfast: Oats and granola (I had raisin bran)

Lunch: Kasha (or Buckwheat...but we call it Kasha) Brought out a lot of the toppings we used on the potatoes...corn, sour cream, peppers, salad, etc....

Dinner: French Toast (on homemade bread...I always feel so cool when I do it this way) I added nutmeg to the mix and it had an extra yummy taste.
Scrambled Eggs

sides: fresh berries

Breakfast: oats and granola ( I actually rebelled and had raisin bran again..I can only handle oats so many times a week. Don't get me wrong. I love them....I just need a change sometimes. My kids however like things to be the same and some of them don't like raisin bran...more for me)

Lunch: Cheesy Corn Quesidillas

sides: baby carrots and ...ta da...the first cucumber of the year....wait the second...I ate the first myself one night when we hadn't had any veggies that day and i was craving something.

Dinner: Fruteos cereal (looks like fruit loops...DOES NOT TASTE LIKE IT...but my kids don't know that so they loved it) I had some of the homemade bread I made this afternoon with PB and J since I just can't eat fake fruit loops that just taste blah...most of the healthy versions of stuff really tastes yummy or even better...not this....I bought two boxes of it on sale and I think we'll use the other box to make cereal necklaces....an experience every child should have a least once in awhile.  

Breakfast: Oatmeal (ordered by Joseph...he likes to boss me around...he is often polite about it but he does have opinions)

Lunch: Lentils and Rice

sides: green salad with zucchini and fresh garden cucumbers..yum. The dressing I make for it is so easy and my kids LOVE salad with this dressing. I simply put on about a 1T of veganaise (it's grapeseed oil mayo that is very light and very good for you) and then about 1/4 t of garlic powder. It gives it a ranch dressing type taste for pennies and my kids adore it.  They also LOVED the cucumbers. I picked two for the salad and ended up with half of one. They were begging me to cut up more....and I love that.

Dinner: Blini..okay...here is a Russian recipe that I healthified. Blini is the Russian word for crepes. There is a cult in Russia that judges a woman by her blini..the thinner the better..she has to be able to flip them just right...and of course they have to be perfectly round.

I make this recipe in my family sized rectangle electric skillet. The first time I made them Sasha (who usually is pretty oblivious to what food looks like) laughed and said, "A schto za blini?" Meaning loosely...what in the world did you do to those blini?  Ah...well at least my kids can enjoy the joy of blini without mommy standing over a stove for 2 hours...this version cooks up in about 20 minutes..Yay!

I'll post the recipe later..gotta go read stories to my kids.  

Breakfast: Oatmeal and berries

Lunch: Lentil Casserole (yummy..I finished off the lentils and rice in a delicious casserole....I put in corn tortillas, tomato sauce seasoned with cumin and garlic powder, corn, cheese and of course the leftover lentils and rice) I layered it like lasagna and put it in the oven for 40 minutes...oh..I forgot I also added some sour cream..finished off the container that I'd bought for the baked potato bar.

sides: baby carrots

Dinner: Homemade chicken sausage and cheese pizza (every time I go to Costco I have to buy the chicken sausage and every time I buy it I have to make pizza....so here we go again)

sides: Big fat green salad...I'm starting to crave these which is good for me because I'm not really a salad eater....with garden cucumbers...yum.

Dessert: Cinnamon Rolls (homemade...made the dough along with the pizza dough..I used to dread baking things like cinnamon rolls or any yeast based bread because I never felt like it came out quite right...I love my Bosch...I've been baking happily ever since I got it) 

Breakfast: Oats and granola w/ berries

Lunch: Salmon and steamed red potatoes

sides: cucumbers and baby carrots

Dinner: Garden Vegetable Chicken Soup

So only one of the veggies in the soup was from our actual garden but it still sounded like a good name for this soup. I used a box of free range chicken broth, 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut up, 10 baby carrots chopped, 2 medium potatoes chopped, 1 clove of garlic minced, 4 green beans chopped, and about 1/2 cup of frozen corn. I brought it to boiling and simmered it for 30 minutes. My kids adored it especially since we hadn't had soup for awhile.

Dessert: Carob Party Cake w/ whipping cream frosting...it was Jacob's 2nd birthday today...he liked the cake and present part but got really annoyed at us earlier in the day when we kept singing happy birthday to him all the time.

Breakfast: oatmeal

Lunch: Red lentils and rice ( I cooked them together and added a bunch of different types of herbs..sage, parsley, coriander and garlic powder. You can basically put in any herbs you want...red lentils cook up very creamy...I love lentils)

sides: baby carrots ..I'm kind of being stubborn in the veggie dept. I didn't buy many this week because we should have some from our garden in a couple of days...

Dinner: Lentil Mexican Casserole (this is kind of similar to one I made last week..layers of corn tortillas that I broke up by hand, tomato sauce seasoned with cumin and garlic, cheese, frozen corn and of course the lentils and rice from lunch...my kids LOVED it)

The lentils and rice is a great filler food for casseroles, wraps, I know some people make salad type meals with them. I've made lentil burgers many times but Sasha stopped liking them and the kids are happy eating them in the non-burger form...which is much easier.

It is also a DIRT CHEAP meal..I haven't done the math exactly but when you buy in bulk (even with the rising prices it is still cheaper to buy in bulk if you are disciplined enough to eat your bulk food). For LDS people out there this is such a great food storage food. I like beans but I am so bad about remembering to soak them and then never seem to have time to cook them the next day if I don't soak them. I go through phases of being good about beans and bad. Lentils are so easy..no soaking...they cook in roughly 30-40 minutes.  And they can be enjoyed with almost any spice or herb you like...very versatile.  

Breakfast: Oats and granola

Lunch: Historical first picnic on my masterpiece picnic blanket...I'm so sorry I haven't figures out how to post pictures because it is a lovely quilt I designed myself.

We had: Cheesy Quesidillas (on corn tortillas..I like these because you can get a bunch for cheaper than wheat tortillas)

sides: juice boxes ...this is very exciting for my kids because they are expensive...and baby carrots.

Dinner: Garden Veggie Chicken Lentil Soup

I used the rest of the lentils and rice (which is also great for soups) and added carrots, green beans (from our garden), zucchini(from our garden), chicken broth, and chicken.

I have to admit that I burnt it a teeny bit but it was luckily still edible but not as wonderfully delicious as it would have been.

Dessert: Watermelon and then later soy ice cream bought by Daddy to celebrate Pioneer Day and the marathon he ran in the morning.

Breakfast: oats and granola

Lunch: yet another picnic on the blanket....I couldn't resist...and it was science today for our little homeschool so we went on a nature adventure...We had turkey cheese and spring salad mix wraps on whole wheat tortillas w/ watermelon, honeydew melon and baby carrots.

Dinner: The rest of the Fruteos...we made the necklaces and there was some leftover for a night like tonight when I got back  at 6:00 p.m. from a fun and long day of visiting friends and shopping for weird things like a video camera battery that I finally found at a specialty store and young coconuts from the Thai store on the other side of town.  

Breakfast: Oats ..I had mine with bananas and macademia nuts. I'm actually still hungry so I'd better go eat more..the baby must be having a growth spurt. The other day I had to keep filling my bowl up like 6 times before I felt I'd gotten enough. I try to be sensitive to this and eat until I'm full and stop before I'm overfull. Unfortunately my stomach has times where it's tiny and I eat a little bowl of something and I'm stuffed. its a weird pregnancy thing I guess.

Lunch: Turkey wraps  w/ cheese and spring salad mix

sides: nectarines

Dinner: Refried Beans and Rice....I finally made beans...I think credit goes to Lybi for encouraging me with her stories of eating beans...Thanks Lybi !

Breakfast: Oats

Lunch: Cheese sandwiches

Dinner: Revisted Refried Beans and Rice...I love leftovers personally but I don't think my family always does...beans and rice fare well the next day I think.....tomorrow the rest will be made into some kind of yummy soup.  

Breakfast: oats

Lunch : Buckwheat (my little ones LOVE kasha..what we call it...Jacob had 6 servings and Joseph had 4)

sides: Green salad

Dinner:  Homemade whole wheat pancakes w/ pure maple syrup and berries

Breakfast: oats (but some people had leftover pancakes)

Lunch: Oh..I broke down and we actually had PB and J today. I'm not sure why I avoid this but I guess I feel like it's just not a meal that gives me what I need. I'm more of a bean/meat protein person. Anyway, we had the sandwiches in the car on the way to a million errands today. Not even a few minutes to spread out the picnic blanket.

Dinner: Bean Soup

This soup turned out great. I simply added chicken broth, a couple of cut up chicken breasts, garden zucchini and salt. My kids loved it and it filled our tummies.

sides: garden cucumbers....we are getting lots this year..yay..last year we only had a few and it was a bummer because I was all psyched to can pickles. No can can this year...I just won't do that pregnant. It's too much of a strain.

Dessert: Coconut Pudding

I think I forgot to mention the fabulous raw frozen coconut pie I made the other day. My friend gave me the recipe and I LOVE making it.  I used the three leftover young coconuts from the pie. I always buy a few extra because we love coconut and I might as well buy a lot once I'm at the Thai store that sells them for cheap.

For the pudding I hacked open the coconuts with my huge knife I bought at the Thai store. (that's the part I like the best....) Then I pour out the coconut juice (which is soooo good for you). I scrape out the coconut meat and put it in our k-tec blender with a squirt of lemon juice, a handful of blueberries and a couple of T of agave and coconut oil.

Blend it up and serve it immediately or chilled as coconut pudding...soooo good.  

Breakfast: oats and blackberries

Lunch: adzuki beans and barley

sides: garden cucumbers

Okay..I have to say I'm a so proud of myself when I make what I call a "food storage/garden" meal. When something I serve my family is nearly 100% from food storage and the garden I feel like a proud Latter Day Saint girl.

Dinner: I'm thinking of making calzones for dinner tonight...with cheese and chicken sausage filling. Same idea as pizza just a little twist that my kids will probably think is cool. We'll see how I'm feeling...maybe need to rest this afternoon because I've been a busy bee this week and ran a little faster this morning and yesterday...gotta watch my pregnant legs now that I'm in the third trimester.

Dessert: Zucchini Muffins

I will definitely make this no matter how I feel. I've got two beautiful Zucchini from my garden waiting to for me to make them into something delicious.

Note: I made the calzones and the muffins all in one tornado and then spent a hour on the couch recovering...Sasha saved me from the couch and took me house shopping...we aren't moving but we like to look for fun. I told the kids that mommy and daddy were having a date and we just happened to be taking them with us...they weren't too thrilled to be thrown in the car just to drive by some houses.

The Calzones were SOOOOO delicious and even though they were a little bit of work I want to make them again...like tomorrow... 

Breakfast: Zucchini muffins (some of us still ate oats)

Lunch: zucchini muffins ...I didn't mean to eat them again but my friend asked us to meet her at the park and I didn't have enough time to get a "normal lunch" together. Her kids and my kids devoured the muffins and everyone seemed very happy.

sides: fresh picked apricots...my friend has a tree with about 4,000 apricots in it and we made a very small dent in it this morning and picked a few hundred.

Dinner: Adzuki Bean and barley casserole (yesterdays beans and barley with some cumin, tomato sauce, corn tortillas and cheese) My kids will eat anything if there is some cheese on top.

sides: kiwi and peaches