2 Weeks Worth!! March 26 - April 8, 2017

  Happy Friday!! Our week has felt a little busy, as Spring tends to feel anyway.  We are trying to finish up our school year, but we are also enjoying some field trips and time off with friends on these beautiful days!  Both boys are playing baseball, which means usually 2 practices and 2 games per week (sometimes more).  So, our menu is often simple, kid-friendly, and we are probably eating out about once per week more than usual.  

  I still try to abide by our 80/20 rule...eat well 80% of the time, and don't feel guilty about the 20% of the time when our meal isn't the healthiest.  :-)  It works, and as Moms and Dads, we know we all are doing the best job we can for our family, and for ourselves.  

  So, here is last week's menu, along with what we've eaten this week!  I mean...if I waited all the way until Friday to post, I might as well double up!


Sunday:  3-Envelope Sliders with Fresh Fruit & Veggies

3-Envelope Sliders with Fresh Fruit & Veggies
  This recipe is actually a combination of Six Sisters’ Three Envelope Pot Roast Sliders and You’re Too Crafty’s Best Pot Roast Ever.  I saw the Six Sisters recipe first and liked the idea of having pot roast sliders rather than traditional roast with sides.  But, I didn’t want the flavor of salsa, so I used a Coke instead, as suggested by You’re Too Crafty.  

So, I put my roast in the crock pot around 6:00 that morning before getting ready for church.  Then I mixed 1 packet of onion soup mix, 1 packet of Italian dressing mix, & 1 packet of Au Jus gravy mix with 1 cup of water.  I poured that on top of the roast, then poured a Coke on top of that.  I cooked it on high for about 90 minutes, then on low for 3-4 (my slow cooker cooks pretty hot).  It was SO, SO GOOD!  The house smelled amazing when we arrived home from church!  Seriously, the gravy is so ridiculously delicious that I could have downed it with a straw.  J

I used King’s Hawaiian Rolls, spicy mustard, & Havarti cheese to make our sliders.  We also had plenty of food, so we were able to invite another couple from church over for lunch.  I actually forgot this time, but it's a great idea to pour the gravy in small bowls so we could dip our sliders into it.  I’m not kidding…these are DELISH!  Make them!  As a bonus, we not only had leftovers for dinner the next night, but I also had it for lunch once or twice.


Monday:  Dinner at Mom's


Tuesday:  Taco Tuesday!!  Venison Soft Tacos

  Tacos are always a hit around here.  I usually make the kids quesadillas because melting everything together is always a less messy way for them to eat, making my job easier when it's clean-up time.  ;-)


Wednesday:  Dinner with Friends

  Wednesdays are usually one of our two busiest days of the week with preschool for Payton, her dance class, and practice for both boys.  But, we had rain the night before, so the fields were too wet for practice!  So, we ended up at our friends' house for pizza and pool time.  :-)


Thursday:  Scrambled Eggs, Venison & Cheese Tostadas, Apples, & Roasted Broccoli & Green Beans

  I mean...so much randomness.  But, we didn't have enough venison left over to make a full meal for our family of 5, so I added in some scrambled eggs to round out the meal.  I made what I called tostadas out of tortillas that I cut into triangles and browned and crisped in the oven just a bit before topping with venison and cheese.  Then, I broiled those just long enough to melt the cheese.  This meal was a total hit with everyone!


Friday:  Family Movie Night!

  We had eaten pizza with our friends only 2 nights earlier, so instead of pizza for family movie night, I asked Chad to grill some venison.  I served it along with macaroni-and-cheese, sauteed zucchini, & rolls.  For dessert, we had fresh Cutie orange slices with dark chocolate chips!  Yum!

Grilled venison also makes a delicious topping on salad for the next day!

Saturday:  Dinner Out with Friends


Sunday:  Chicken Fried Venison with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Asparagus

  We had a friend over for dinner, and this was his requested meal.  Whenever Chad fries anything, he always does it outside on his grill.  :-)


Monday:  Hot Dogs & Sausage for Opening Day!!

  The Texas Rangers Opening Day is always a cause for celebration in our house.  :-)  Go Rangers!


Tuesday:  Leftovers on the Go!

  Ranger had a baseball game at 6, so he had an early dinner of leftover hot dogs with fruit at home, and I took Callen's and Payton's dinner to the game.  Chad was out of town.


Wednesday:  One More Game Night Meal...

  This time is was Callen's turn for a 6:00 game, so we did almost the same thing, except the dinner I took to the game for Ranger, Payton, and me was a bag full of fruit, proteins, and a few salty and sweet snacks to go along with it.


Thursday:  Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas

  Chad was out of town for work again, and the kids and I were gone all day on a field trip to the zoo with some of our homeschool friends.  We had the best day!!  But, arriving back home tired and smelly at 5:40 doesn't really inspire much cooking from me.  Thankfully I had some rotisserie chicken in the freezer already shredded up.  I try to always keep the Tortilla Land ready-to-make tortillas on hand because they can be used for so many meals.  It only took about 15 minutes to thaw out and warm up a bit of chicken, make tortillas, shred some cheese, and assemble our quesadillas.  I actually used the chicken and made a big spinach and kale salad for myself.    I served the kids quesadillas with some apples and fresh spinach.


Friday:   Dinner with Mom


Saturday:  Dinner at Studio Movie Grill!