Recipe Magic for a Healthy Week

It may seem odd, but I was actually happy for Monday to show up. Yes, Mrs I hate Mondays embraced this morning. Why? Because my household needed a moment to recover from a ridiculously busy weekend, and prepare for the week.

Our crazy schedules taught me rather quickly that meal planning, and easily prepared meals would be the way to go. This week I am breaking out the Love Bowl. You are entitled to not name your crockpot, but I just so happen to LOVE mine. It has magic powers, and enables us to come home to a home filled with heavenly scents, and hot meals. I am so excited to taste these meals this week:
Monday is chili day, and my recipe was inspired my sweet, new friend Sarah. I had to tweak it a bit for Superkiddo’s allergies, and preferences, but IT SMELLS HEAVENLY IN HERE!

Tuesday will be taco day. This household LOVES tacos! Soft, hard, chicken, black bean, you name it. We perfected the art of allergy-safe Mexican food, and Superkiddo pretty much lives for Taco Tuesdays. This week, my plan is to attempt oven black bean tacos, inspired by my darling friend Jody. I am learning so much from her, and I appreciate her wealth of nutritional knowledge.

Wednesday is usually a much easier evening for everyone around here. We aren’t racing off to Kumon or a team practice, and we have time to sit, and really savor our meal. It is also a really big study night for Superkiddo as most of his exams are on Thursdays and Fridays. This week we will break out the Love Bowl again for chicken and sweet potato soup, make a batch of homemade cornbread, and attempt to make our own butter. The butter recipe is courtesy of Kelly.

Thursday is always a crazy, busy day of school and practices, so we have to rely upon quick and easy meals. This week we are doing tomato & chicken soup, and vegan grilled cheese. If you do not suffer from food allergies, you can enjoy the real stuff. Around here, we have to make the fake, safe stuff taste amazing. It took some time, but we finally perfected it. My preference for making vegan cheese taste a little less like fake cheese? Smoked paprika. It creates an almost smoked gouda effect.

Friday is always Family Fun Night! Woohoo! After an exhausting day of school and swim practices, we enjoy finding silly time together. We occasionally venture out, and include friends, but we typically prefer an evening of just us, with our favorite foods, games, and stories. Superkiddo requested pizza (no surprises there), and the Bald Genius & I will have chicken chili nachos.

Most of these meals are made from a base of ingredients that can be prepped ahead. The veggies that are chopped for chili day, are also in preparation for taco day. The chicken and black beans that are cooked on Tuesday, can be divided into portions for tomato chicken soup, chicken & sweet potato soup, and chili chicken nachos.  The first day of cooking can get tedious and messy, but it makes way for an easier week, with less time spent in the kitchen, and more time enjoying your family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wish all of you a happy, healthy week!

Until next time,

xoxo