Welcome to the first week of dinners for the new year. An entire year of meal planning and shopping for those meals and cooking those meals (or not cooking them, in favor of something that sounds better/easier in the moment) and eating those meals and cleaning up those meals stretches before us.
While that doesn’t sound particularly appealing, I am feeling a tiny burst of energy about it all. The transition from indulgent holiday food to lighter, more regular meals feels refreshing. I spent a bunch of time this weekend looking through recipe blogs for new possibilities; it sometimes helps to have something New and Exciting – or at least New – to keep me out of the meal planning doldrums. I am going to lean into it while I can, before the inevitable drudgery of making meals day after day after day until death settles over me like a weighted blanket.
We did not make sticky toffee pudding yesterday, so that is back on the list for this weekend. (We did get food from my favorite Indian restaurant for dinner, and it was especially delicious. I would rather have chicken vindaloo ten times over than sticky toffee pudding, so it was a win for me. Plus, leftovers for lunch!)
This week, with Carla doing remote school (and therefore getting to sleep in a little later each morning), I am going to make an effort to have us all eat together. Normally, Carla eats dinner by herself at about 5:30 or 6:00, and my husband and I eat dinner around 8:00 or 8:30. Yes, I hate it, thanks. In an ideal world, we would eat together more often, giving us more family time together… and also giving us opportunities to model things like table manners and conversational skills and “trying new things” to Carla. I’m hoping my husband will get home early enough (people are canceling appointments right and left, which is Not Great Bob) that we can all eat together. This doesn’t mean I will be able to make one dinner for us all, of course, because I want Carla to actually eat something. But I can at least make similar foods (chicken nuggets or fish sticks when we have a saucy chicken or fish dish; raw versions of the veggies we eat) that I know she will eat, and add small portions of whatever my husband and I are eating to her plate. It is very challenging to have a picky child, especially since I am a picky eater myself, and I know how upsetting it can be to try new things. Plus, I know that deciding what to eat and what to refuse is one of the few things that Carla has autonomy over, and I don’t want to rob her of the ability to say no for so many reasons. But I also want her to eat more things than chicken nuggets and frozen peas and plain white rice, FOR THE LOVE OF COD.
Parenting quandary detour over.
There are only five meals on the plan for this week, to give us some wiggle room for last-minute additions or cravings.
Dinners for the Week of January 3-9
Chicken and Zucchini Stir Fry: You know by now that this is one of my favorite dinners. Plus it has a lot of vegetables, which means it fits in nicely with my “more veg” aspiration. Plus my husband suggested it; whether as a peace offering for not making the sticky toffee pudding or because he genuinely is in the mood, I don’t care because I love it. (My spell checker thinks that “peace” is misspelled in the previous sentence… though not in this one. Why are you messing with me, spell checker? Underlining a word I KNOW how to spell is making me question everything I thought I knew.) (It’s definitely not “piece offering,” right? RIGHT?)
Steak, Pepper, & Sugar Snap Pea Stir Fry: I guess I am in a stir fry mood today? This is a new-to-me recipe and sounds different and yummy and veggie packed. I will probably ignore the steak, but my husband will eat it, and we have a package in the freezer at this very moment. Carla likes steak and (raw) sugar snap peas… I wonder if I can persuade her to eat this? Unlikely but I will try.
Follow Up: I loved this — it was such a nice change from our usual stir fries. My husband said it was too salty, though, and I don’t know how to change that since the sauce contains soy sauce. Carla ate a piece of the steak and a piece of the pepper and voted them too spicy (there is sriracha in the sauce as well), but she tried them! (She also ate a slice of beef tenderloin, a pile of raw sugar snap peas, a few slices of raw red pepper, and a big heap of rice.)
Honey-Garlic Glazed Salmon with Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts: Another aspiration is to get my family to eat more fish. I love fish. Carla used to LOVE salmon. But now she and my husband turn up their noses. Well, perhaps if I slather it in a sweet glaze?
Oven Baked Pork Chops with Steamed Broccoli: We will probably have some couscous alongside this old standby, which, incidentally, is another Husband SuggestedTM Meal.
Baked Tilapia with Coconut Cilantro Sauce with Sautéed Green Beans: Listen, there is NO WAY that Carla will even try this. But it sounds amazing and I think my husband will like it. Especially if I can find cod instead of tilapia.
What are you eating this week?
We are having Pork Char Siu with rice and broccoli (which we actually had last night), eggs and bacon and etc, homemade egg rolls (which I will make from the pork char siu leftovers and the bacon and egg leftovers- my family LOVES breakfast egg rolls which stems from a toddler Elizabeth thinking that egg rolls had egg in them and I thought “well why not?”), and then French dip sandwiches. We always do four meal plan meals a week and then one to two days of leftovers and one to two days of takeout or “I don’t know, eat whatever”.
1) It is definitely NOT “piece offering” for the love of GOD, SPELLCHECK. Stop making us crazy. My spell check is American and so it always gives me the side-eye when I use “u” as in “neighbour” or “flavour” or what have you.
2) I was known as a picky eater as a child, turns out I was just vegetarian. Ha! I still have major food aversions though, and not just of the meat variety. So, solidarity! I get it.
3) I love love love that you used Not Great Bob. I love that saying and what a great show that was. I will be smiling all day about it.
My picky child is now 17, and I want to thank you for being real about feeding a picky child on this blog. I too, would make (and still do at times) different versions of dinner for my kids, even though parenting experts would have you believe that is wrong, wrong, wrong. I don’t care, I wanted him to EAT. Just last night, Alex put a bit of salad on his dinner plate for the FIRST TIME EVER. No dressing, just salad. It was momentous. (We teased him, to be sure!) He has decided that lettuce is acceptable since it “has no taste,” and I am here for it. So just be patient. I also love your perspective as a picky eater, yourself; I was not, so it’s all been really new to me. (My parents were, “you either eat it or don’t, but that’s what’s for dinner,” and I always just ate it.)
We had to do curb side pick up last week while waiting for PCR test results (negative, thank Bob) and figured we might as well meal plan while doing online grocery shopping. I feel very ahead of the game as a result, but I should probably start thinking about NEXT week as a result and that makes me feel tired.
Last night was your mushroom and pasta and goat cheese dish, which I have modified to include way more mushrooms and slightly more goat cheese and always arugula. One of my favorite dishes these days and super easy to make. The leftovers are delicious.
Tonight is gingery chicken and rice noodle soup with crispy garlic from here: https://nerdswithknives.com/gingery-chicken-rice-noodle-soup-garlic/
Tomorrow should be cheesey chicken taquitos with spinach/kale/arugula and pico de gallo but the tomatoes we got via curbside pick up are Sad and Pathetic so not sure what the plan is there, maybe we will walk to the store tomorrow. It is snowing today and the roads are a mess, so I am avoiding the store today. Idea from here: https://www.mealime.com/recipes/cheesy-chicken-taquitos-pico-de-gallo-corn-salad-yogurt-crema/10361 but I admit that I tend to use the Instant Pot to cook the chicken, add spinach and/or sauteed onions and peppers when rolling them up, and skip the corn salad and yogurt crema. How every standard-commenter-on-a-food-blog of me.
Wednesday looks like creamy chicken and gnocchi from here: https://damndelicious.net/2020/12/04/creamy-chicken-and-gnocchi/ I again tend to use the oven or instant pot to cook the chicken, since I worry about the pieces not cooking thoroughly.
Thursday might be eggroll in a bowl. Or homemade pizza. Or delivery. We shall see.
Clicked on that gingery chicken soup so fast…
It is so good! Even better as leftovers, as the flavors can meld together. I also think it would be really good with some bok choi.
We made tonight’s version with chicken stock I had made with lemongrass and that was a good addition.
That website is amazing too! New to me but I bookmarked half a dozen recipes to try! Thanks for linking!
That sticky toffee pudding sounds like it would make winter bearable. Also, this is the second time in the last two weeks that I’ve seen sticky toffee pudding. The universe wants me to try it. 🙂
It DOES want you to try it! This recipe is good and you can make separate little ramekins of pudding cake which FREEZE WELL. Do it!
Oh! Good tip. Thank you!
I would really like to try one new recipe per week in 2022, if I can make myself plan for them. We’ll see. This week (Friday) it’s going to be crock pot chicken and dumplings. I’m somewhat skeptical, but I love C&D when it’s good.
So I totally don’t care if a kid skips a meal because they don’t want to eat.. they won’t starve to death by breakfast. That being said our middle one only ate steak from 1.5 until she was 3… it was like feeding a tiger. We’d have pasta and she’d have a ribeye… was so ridiculous. Fresh green beans (with enough snap to simulate snapping a femur, maybe?) was what got the tiger to try new foods. After that it was eat what we’re having or you’ll really enjoy your breakfast, you know?
“It was like feeding a tiger” LOL forever
I have not gotten tired of cooking during the pandemic (thank God), but I am always looking for new inspiration/recipes/ideas to keep it interesting… so I’ll probably come here and see what you’re cooking 🙂
Oh, spellcheck, no! “Peace offering” for sure. The other day I was typing something with its and autocorrect tried to change it to it’s, I BEG your pardon!
STEP OFF, Spell Check!
We had spaghetti yesterday – which probably sounds boring, but I almost NEVER make spaghetti. My poor deprived children. I made up a giant pan of hot Italian sausage, mushrooms, onions, bell pepper and zucchini. I used 1/2 in the spaghetti sauce and the second half is going into tonight’s supper: Baked Rice. I love baked rice. I’m going to make a simple salad to go on the side because I’m fancy like that (and we haven’t had a side salad in like…months. It has more been a side of peanut butter balls with a side of pecan pie).
Tomorrow is going to be Clam Chowder, and Thursday will be leftovers.
Friday night we’ll get back into our regular routine which involves my favourite GF oatmeal waffles that the kids and I dress up with fruit and syrup and my husband does savory with some meat/eggs.
And as a fellow Canadian, I relate so much to Nicole. I WILL CONTINUE to spell flavour and neighbour with a “u” regardless of what spellcheck tells me, but it does get annoying to feel like a teacher is shaking her finger at me.
“A side of peanut butter balls with a side of pecan pie” <– YES, this has been our past many weeks as well. And it was glorious and now it is time to revert to a more vegetable way of life.
I’m a picky eater – so I get it. Continue to offer the new things to her and encourage her to just try a bite (a bite is not so arduous as “eat this whole plate of new food”). I look at your meal plans and think, oh that sounds SO good! Well…except for anything with goat cheese or brussels sprouts.
And, yes, spell check! Get off your high-horse and look at the context of the sentence already! It’s definitely “peace offering.”
When the kids were younger and Beth used to come home from work later than they could wait to eat, I used to eat with them on the early shift and then I’d sit with Beth while she ate (and sometimes one or both of the kids would, too). It’s how we tried to approximate the family dinner.
It’s cold here this week so I declared it Soup Week. On my three cooking nights we’re having (vegetarian) hot dog and bean soup (last night), cheddar and broccoli (tonight) and vegetable soup I found in the freezer plus cheddar-broccoli quinoa patties I also found in the freezer (Wednesday). Noah’s making a curried noodle soup on Saturday. Thursday is North’s day and I don’t know what they’re making or if they are on board with Soup Week– they didn’t write what they’re making on the white board. Friday we always have pizza. Sunday’s Beth’s night and not planned yet as Sunday is grocery shopping day.
I laughed at your spell check’s incorrect bossiness. You are a wise mom allowing Carla to have some autonomy. We never considered that as an important option. Oops.
I am making chicken tacos today – honestly, I haven’t cooked in SO long that I thank you for reminding me. I need to get that crock pot started. We’ve been eating leftover veggies that I made Dec 26th for Coach’s family Christmas gathering. Pairing it with various meats. Time to get back in the kitchen and apparently the grocery store. We have no fresh fruit today and Ed almost staged a riot. Otherwise, Tank has requested chili, so I will work on that as soon as someone, preferably not me, gets to the grocery store.
I read your recipes and I wish I liked fish. Especially since I supposedly have high cholesterol. It just so happens thought that I hate fish. Maybe I can enjoy it if it is slathered in sweet sauce.
I’m actually so envious of your adventurous eating, to be honest. My husband is a grown adult who eats like your child (for legitimate reasons of intolerances/allergies, but STILL) and we eat the same things over and over again. You’re doing great and Carla’s going to be just great even if it seems like she’ll never eat anything outside of chicken nuggets!
All your meals sound delicious to me. I like variety. I know how you feel about wanting to get back to eating lighter meals. We didn’t overindulge too much in December, but… 🤷♀️
I love posts about meals! I’ve been very not good about making meal plans this past couple of years. I say I will, but then I don’t. And life really is SO much easier when I do! I think my issue is not having a dedicated time to do it. When the boys were little (and I worked 12 hr shifts, so I’d have some weekdays off), I’d do that during nap time. But now I don’t have a dedicated time, and I never do it. Your meal list sounds like all meals I would love. I LOVE zucchini. How about you just post your meals every week, I’ll copy them, and I’ll be done. LOL!!! just kidding…. 😉 So far Monday we’ve had a Mexican chicken “guisado” (kind of a mexican version of a stove top casserole- chicken, pinto beans, potatoes, zucchini simmered in salsa verde with arbol chile for extra spice), Tuesday we had a lean ground turkey veggie soup and french bread, and wednesday was leftovers. Tonight….I have a coupon that expires from Chipotle for free guac, so…..I think I can’t let that go to waste, right??
Definitely cannot let that Chipotle coupon go to waste!