August 11-17, 2013

Sunday:  Pizza with Church Small Group

·          We were invited to a small group game night, and as a bonus, had a pizza dinner!

Monday:  Slow Cooker Brown Sugar & Garlic Chicken with Rice & Roasted Broccoli

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar & Garlic Chicken

·          I took the boys to Hawaiian Falls with my mom earlier in the day, so I knew there was a chance I wouldn’t be completely energized to cook dinner.  Slow cooking to the rescue!  I put this together and had it in the fridge.  Then, my sister-in-law (who was watching Payton for me), took it out and turned on the crock pot for me while we were gone.  Ta-da!  Dinner is (almost) ready!  This recipe is good, although it is pretty sweet.  The kids loved it, and Chad & I simply added some spice to ours to give it a kick.  There was quite of bit of this leftover, which worked well for my lunches during the week.  (http://kim-thislittlelifeofmine.blogspot.com/)

Tuesday:  Dinner with Another Family

·          A family from the church we’ve been visiting invited us over for dinner, and we happily accepted!

Wednesday:  Spaghetti, Diced & Roasted Zucchini & Sweet Potatoes, & Warm, Whole-Wheat Bread

·          In true 12-year-old form, I actually had braces put on this morning.  I’m definitely not loving them, but I know I will be glad when it’s all said and done.  This being the case, I needed something easy to eat that the family would also enjoy.  You can’t go wrong with spaghetti!  Adding in some small, diced vegetables that I roasted up rounded out the meal nicely.

Thursday:  Sprouts’ Dinner:  Spinach & Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts, Twice Baked Potatoes, & Sauteed Spinach with Blue Cheese

·         My mouth has been pretty sore, so I truly didn’t feel much like preparing a meal.  So, it was off to Sprouts for some help.  J  I picked up their chicken and potatoes, as well as some frozen spinach that I prepared and flavored with butter & blue cheese.  (The boys even ate their spinach…but it took about 45 minutes.)

I didn’t really mean for us to consume quite that much cheese in one meal, but it looked good, and most-importantly, easy for me to eat.  Here’s hoping that this time next week I am able to eat a bit more normally.  J  On nights like these, I’m grateful to the grocery stores in our area that provide some tasty options for a quick dinner at home.

Friday:  Sliders with Oven-Baked French Fries

·          This meal has been so common this summer that I’m sure those of you looking for new meal ideas are pretty bored with it.  It just goes over so well with everyone in the family, we’ve had it in the rotation A LOT.  We had such nice, unseasonably cool weather this weekend that it seemed a shame not to fire up the grill and enjoy our dinner outside!  Still reeling from the braces, I ate my slider with a fork.  Lame…but still delish!

Saturday:  Grilled Orange-Soy Chicken, Roasted Green Beans & Carrots, & Warm, Whole Wheat Bread

Grilled Orange-Soy Chicken

·          I’m not kidding when I say that our weather this weekend was RIDICULOUS.  It was so much cooler than the typical August weekend here in Texas that we pretty much lived outside.  I tossed chicken in a ziplock bag and added, orange juice, soy sauce, minced garlic, pepper, & olive oil and let it sit in the fridge for about 3 hours.  Then, it was easy for Chad to grab and grill when we were ready for dinner.  I roasted up some green beans and thin-sliced carrots at 425 for about 20-25 minutes.  All 5 of us enjoyed a healthy and yummy dinner on the back porch!