Mod Apron

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Oops! Posting this meal plan a day late. Sorry! Better late than never, right?

So the big events this week are:

1. My parents are visiting! They arrive tomorrow afternoon. They’re here for 10 whole days and I’m all atwitter with excitement! Our meals should be simple, summery and easy to prepare for a crowd. Hopefully the dinners I’ve outlined above will fit the bill.
2. Friday is Maya’s 4th birthday! She wants to go our family’s favorite Italian restaurant around the corner from our house. And afterwards, we’re throwing her a little surprise party with her friends and neighbors here at home, complete with a triple-decker chocolate cake from Blissful Bites. Oh man, I might be more excited that cake than she is! Actually, probably not; she’s ridiculously excited about her special day. Just like a very-nearly-almost-4-year-old should be!
3. You might notice that Saturday’s dinner is up in the air. That’s because Maya wants to visit a farm her birthday so we’re taking a road trip about 45 minutes south to Half Moon Bay. We’ll be hobnobbing with goats, chickens, horses and rabbits. And I have no idea how long we’ll be gone so I’m leaving dinner open that day. I’m sure we’ll figure out something yummy.

I was hoping to do a big grocery shop today in preparation for my parents’ arrival and the week ahead. But unfortunately, Dennis’ flight was delayed and he got home just before dinner so the shopping will have to wait until tomorrow. Hopefully mom and dad won’t mind tagging along.

This time 4 years ago, I was hugely pregnant (Maya was a week overdue!) and excitedly counting the minutes until we’d meet our baby girl. I totally expected that being a mama would be hard work, completely rewarding and a wonderful labor of love. What I didn’t anticipate was the fun, the joy, the bliss and all the laughing. Good lord, the laughing. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life as I have since the kids came along. This motherhood thing is hilarious! And every day just gets better and better. I’m pretty sure there’s no better job than the one I’ve got.

Have a great week, folks.

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Hey guys! Happy Monday!

Here’s the ol’ meal plan for the week. Nothing too shocking here. In fact, a lot of this meal plan is a total repeat of last week’s. 

You might notice that we are eating a lot of veggies & dip these days. It’s just so easy and the fam is totally digging eating our vegetables this way. Cali produce is amazing all year round, but especially this time of year. Everything just tastes so fresh and good, why not eat it raw?

Lastly, tomorrow (Tuesday) is Henry’s 1st birthday. My baby’s getting so big! We’ll be celebrating with birthday cake, which I’ll pick up tomorrow. But besides that, we’re not doing anything special for dinner. Henry’s favorite foods of the moment are raspberries and waffles with peanut butter, so he might just get that for his birthday meal. The rest of us with full sets of teeth will enjoy burritos and veggies. He’s only 1, so we’re keeping it nice and simple.

Hopefully, my long awaited camera will arrive tomorrow so I can snap some messy-faced cake eating pics!

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Good morning folks! Check out the new meal plan design! Yeah, I tried to make it look like a piece of loose leaf school paper. Adorbs, right? Oh my cup runneth over with meal plan designing talent, DOES IT NOT.

You’ll notice I took out the noise. I like to think it’s a cleaner, more streamlined, dare I say sophisticated meal planning situation. I’m happy with it. Hopefully you like it too!

And as for this week, there’s only a few little deets to report:

• Some of our dinners look familiar and some are new. Note that ALL of them, even our old family favorites, are getting a total nutritional makeover. I’m revamping absolutely everything with an eye to reaching my health goals. (Have you checked out my other blog yet? Good stuff over there.)
• Yes, it’s true: Coffee is back. But it’s DECAF! I swear! I am happy with this compromise for now. A girl has to have at least one vice, right?
• My friend Kendall is coming over for dinner on Wednesday. I’m making salmon burgers. Should be fun!
• On Thursday afternoon, we’re attending a family event at Maya’s school. We’ll probably get home pretty late so dinner will need to be fast and furious. I’m making a spinach & kale pie (basically a healthier version of spanakopita) ahead of time so I can just pop it in the oven when we get home. I’ve never made this before (I’m totally winging it, actually) so I’ve really got my fingers crossed for this one.
• Saturday night is Date Night! I have no idea what we’re doing or where we’re going yet, but I’m excited. Keep ya posted!

That’s all for now! Have a groovy week, friends!

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Hey now! It’s a very special episode of Meal Plan Monday! Why? Because it’s Dennis’ birthday week! [confetti!]

My darling husband is turning 40, dudes. As in FORTY. Let the festivities begin!

Actually, we’re not planning that much. Den detests a fuss and has practically forbidden me to make one. So we’ll probably just have a nice dinner (of the birthday boy’s choosing, which he has not done yet) and I’ve got an idea for a special secret dessert. Hee!

Other than the big birthday this week, it’s business as usual. Have a fabulous week, everybody!

After my massive shopping trip last Monday, you’d be right to assume I was done buying groceries for the week. But then, 2 things happened:

1. We started running low on produce. With all this clean, healthy livin’ I don’t think I properly accounted for all the extra fruits and veg I’d be nomming on. I partially blame California and its incredible produce - year round, but especially this time of year - on this. Plus, Den and the kids have certainly been helping to make a dent in our fruit and vegetable stockpile.
2. I received a “spend $15, get $5 coupon” in the mail yesterday from a market that I don’t normally frequent because it’s not on my usual walking route. But for $5, I’ll definitely walk the extra 3 blocks! That’s a good deal!

I bought:

• a bulb of garlic
• a giant head (this sucker is SOLID) of green cabbage
• 3 bananas
• 2 organic yams
• large tub of Chobani (so addicted!)
• 2 organic nectarines
• pint of raspberries
• 3 organic Fuji apples
• hella organic broc
• bunch of organic celery
• package of Next Organics Dark Chocolate Cherries (okay, this was a total splurge, but it’s a little pressie for Dennis’ 40th birthday next week! He is going to LOVE this!)

My total came to $23.11. But I had that coupon, remember? So I ended up paying $18.11 for my haul today. Those Dark Chocolate Cherries accounted for a lot of my bill.

So, after today’s little supplemental produce shop, I’m only left with $17.43 in my $50 per week budget for next week. Next week will be a challenge for sure!

Holy moly I did a super big shop!

You’re lookin’ at:

• bag of organic tortilla chips (Den’s request)
• 2 boxes of squeezable applesauce pouches (Okay, so these aren’t the most budget-friendly at 50 cents per pouch. We’ve just been out of the house so much lately, and I’ve needed food that I can throw in my bag for Hungry Henry. He’s still a bit too young and too toothless to eat most regular food, so applesauce is the perfect take-along snack. And I love these pouches because no refrigerator, spoon or bowl is required. I justify this purchase because they really do save me time and make my life much easier.)
• box of Ak-Mak crackers (yumster!)
• edamame hummus (hey hummus, please meet Ak-Mak crackers, above)
• tub of organic cottage cheese
• bag o’ lemons (I have been going through them like crazy lately!)
• 3 potatoes
• 2 yams
• 2 Preserve toothbrushes (I just love these toothbrushes and their mail-back program so much!)
• small bottle of balsamic vinegar
• jar of marinara
• bottle of peppermint Dr. B’s
• half gallon of organic milk
• jar of salsa
• 2 organic pears
• mango
• 8-pack of yogurt for Maya’s lunchbox
• 4 pink lady apples (used to be 5, but I ate one while unpacking these groceries. Ha!)
• 5 bananas
• box of button mushrooms
• 2 Cashew Cookie Lara Bars (my little pre-gym treat)
• 2 cans organic garbanzo beans
• bag of organic baby spinach
• a bunch of organic green beans
• bag of organic carrots
• 4 Cali yellow peaches
• box of cherries (I’d like to make a batch of my homemade cherry jam out of these but I suspect Dennis will get to them before I have a chance.)
• large box of organic Cali strawberries

My cupboards and fridge were pretty bare before today’s shop, so I went a wee bit over my $50 per week budget. My total today came today $64.46. 

I am OK with the overage. We really needed a bunch of stuff. Next week, I’ll try to cut my grocery budget to $35.54 to make up for going over this week. Or maybe not. I may just give myself a pass on this one. Haven’t decided yet.

July, is that really you? Wow, you’re still weeks away in my head. This year is flying!

After a week of visitors and then a week of chaos, we are back on track with a brand new meal plan here at Apron Headquarters. Did ya miss it?

This meal plan is ever-evolving, it seems. Now that I’ve committed to improving my health, you’ll probably see some subtle changes on my meal plans. White stuff like bread, sugar and refined grains will be taking a back seat to vegetables, vegetables and more vegetables. And while a lot of the meals will look the same as always on paper, I’ll be making a much healthier version in real life.

I’m excited to do a big shop. Trader Joe’s, here I come! We are out of practically everything! (And as usual, the Grocery List has exceeded its parameters and has spilled over in to the To-Do column. I put the Grocery List in lavender to alleviate any confusion.)

One last note - if you ever want to see a recipe for any of my meal plan meals, please feel free to email me and I will post any recipes requested. Most of these meals I could practically make in my sleep, but I will do my best to type out some coherent directions. 

Happy Monday, folks! And Happy Canada Day to my friends up north!

Heavens to Betsy. I left the house holding one of the kids’ maracas today and it wasn’t until I was already 2 blocks away that I realized.

I can’t actually say how it happened; all I know is that the kids were playing with the bucket of instruments after breakfast and at some point I was cleaning up, getting shoes on, grabbing Maya’s lunchbox and ushering us all out the door to get to Maya’s summer day camp. It was a blur of activity as we were leaving the house.

You can just imagine my puzzlement when I realized I was still holding that thing, and with no pockets or anywhere to put it down. There were more than a couple of sideways glances from people passing by on the sidewalk.

But you know me, I’m always looking at the glass half-full. I decided to use that maraca for emphasis and excitement when talking to other adults at summer camp drop off. 

“Would we like to have a playdate next Thursday? That sounds GREAT! (shake shake shake)”

“Oh! They’re baking bread in class today! How EXCITING! (shake shake shake)”

“Sure, I’ll empty out Maya’s cubby for the weekend. Yay WEEKEND! (shake shake shake)”

Ya gotta make the best of it, that’s my motto. 

And speaking of making the best of it, I did my best to remedy my meal plan and grocery shopping drama by popping by Cal-Mart on the way home for some goodies to tide us over. I bought mostly veggies and I think it was money well spent. Tonight, we’ll have a vegetable and tofu stir-fry with brown rice for dinner. And at some point this afternoon, I’ll make some veggie stock from my two overflowing bags of veggie scraps in the freezer, of which some of that stock will become a simple vegetable soup for dinner tomorrow. Sunday is still a question mark, but chances are it will be soup leftovers.