Menu Plan Monday 4/27/09

This week, our youngest will be turning 6 and Saturday is his big day. He wanted an Army man/ BBQ birthday party, and we plan to do what we can to make it happen. Here is our menu plan for the week.

Breakfast:
Pancakes
PB and Honey Sandwhiches
Yogurt
Bacon, eggs and grits

Lunches:
Leftovers
Turkey Sandwiches
Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Supper:
Monday - Crispy Chicken Strips over a bed of lettuce and mixed veggies, broccoli

Tuesday - BBQ Chicken Pizza (didn't end up making this last week, so we moved it to this week)

Wednesday - Cheese and chicken quesadillas with salad and fresh fruit (probably cantalope -shopping today)

Thursday - Roasted Chicken, rosemary potatoes, roasted asparagus

Friday - Chicken Salad Sandwiches and fresh fruit

Saturday - Birthday party BBQ

Sunday - dining out

Click here to see my Palmolive Sample giveaway post and check out hundreds of menus at Organizing Junkie.

Bento Lunch 4-27-09

Here is hubby's lunch for today. We marinated the chicken in teryaki sauce and a little sesame oil and rice wine vinegar then grilled it. It is served with broccoli, cauliflower and rice. His main dish is accompanied by stuffed grape leaves, grapes, strawberries and blackberries and a little container of trail mix. You can also see two chocolate mints hiding in the utensils compartment.

Eating local?

My parents came to visit last week and brought with them a cabbage they had grown in their garden. Does that qualify as local (we live 4+ hours away from them), or will I just have to be satisfied with the fact that I know the "farmers"?

We ate it last night with supper. Here it is before I chopped it up.

We made it into Asian Slaw and cheated by using bottled dressing :o) It was yummy.

Garden Update

We were hoping that by spring, we would be in a house with acreage so that we could have a really big garden, but with the lay-off at the end of last year and relocating again, we still have not found that acreage. So this spring's garden is really, really small. In fact, this house does not have a back yard, and I feel uncomforable digging up the front yard in a rental, so the garden is in containers.

Here are some flowers, plus parsley, Greek oregano, basil and a red bell pepper plant.

This is our meslcun (lettuce). It is still at the "micro greens" stage but is growing quickly. Before long, it will have to move inside as the temps here have been as high as 85 the last few days.

This one is a little blurry, but its a cherry tomato and there is one little tomato on it (top of the picture in the foreground).


Here are both tomato plants (yellow pear tomato and red cherry tomato) and the mesclun. We may try a container of squash and a container of cucumbers if we can get to them before it gets too hot out.

Last weekend, we discovered a farmer's market in a city about an hour away from us. While it is a small market, we found a farmer selling grass fed beef there, so now we have a "local" source of grass fed beef. In addition, a new friend who raises chickens has supplied us with some eggs. Hopefully we can find a local source of chicken soon. Can't wait for all of the summer produce to start showing up at the market :o)

Laptop Lunch - Bento Style Lunch Box

I seem to be reviewing lots of products lately. Today's post is about these great lunch boxes called Laptop Lunches. We've been eying these for years and finally, a few weeks ago, I broke down and ordered. Wow! These things are wonderful. The goal of the organization, which was started and is run by some concerned moms, is to reduce the waste caused by all of the "throw away" containers used for kids school lunches. That is a goal worth supporting, in my opinion.

Even better than the goal, though, in my opinion is the boxes themselves. they are colorful, compact, well designed and fun. My husband takes lunch to work every day. Before our laptop lunches bento box, we used 5-6 sandwich sized disposable zip top bags per day, or one box of 100 per month. Here's what his lunch looks like now (this is the one we packed for today):

He's having a grilled chicken sandwich and a spring mix salad with carrots and feta cheese. That little container in the salad is a small container of dressing. He's also having strawberries and blueberries and the trail mix is for a mid afternoon snack. Not pictured is the drink container that we filled with orange juice and put in the freezer to help keep the lunch cool (we also got the insulated bag which eliminates the need for refrigeration). The juice will thaw by lunch time and be ready to drink. There is absolutely no waste in this box, nothing to throw away. I love this!

While the boys and I don't work or go to school every day, I did get boxes for us, too. We travel at least once a week during the lunch hour and these are so nice for packing a lunch that we can either picnic at the park or that the guys can eat while I drive. And I love that they eliminate the temptation to run through the drive thru or buy "lunchables" type products, eliminating both expenses and waste.

Chemistry Lab

We just started Chemistry with our 3rd grader. We are using R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey -Chemistry by Pandia Press and although we are just starting, we already love it. We've used other R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey books before and my kids love the hands on approach and the overall "fun" factor. So do I. Today's lab illustrates the different types of tests a Chemist might use, physical and chemical. Here are our supplies:


Note that we are still using "camping" style for our decor as our "household goods" have not been packed and moved yet, lol.

For the physical test, the students were to observe the three "chemicals" which were visually very similar and notice their physical characteristics (look, smell, and touch. Students were warned never to taste an unknown substance.).



Following the physical test, the students did various chemical tests to notice the way the substances reacted with water, oil, and vinegar. The blue food coloring added a nice cool factor to the test.




It was also sufficiently messy to keep two boys happy for almost 45 minutes, but not so messy that Mom could not keep up. A definite success in my book :o)

Menu Plan Monday - 4/20/09

I have a cold this week and am not feeling well, so the menu is simple and will be mostly from the pantry and freezer.

Breakfast:
Waffles with yogurt and fruit
PB and honey sandwiches
baked oatmeal
eggs, bacon and grits

Lunch:
Leftovers
Turkey Sandwich
Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Chicken Salad Sandwich

Snacks:
Fruit
Cookies
Hummus and chips
Carrots with ranch dip
cheese cubes

Supper:
Grilled Chicken Sandwiches, mixed roasted veggies
BBQ Chicken Pizza, salad, breadsticks
Shrimp Scampi, broccoli, sauted eggplant and summer squash
Turkey Sloppy Joes, fresh fruit
Lassagna (from the freezer), salad, corn
leftovers

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