The idea behind posting meal plans weekly was to demonstrate what a real mom does to manage providing her family with healthy meals. There is a very real mom behind these plans, with a real family, and real demands. And right now, that real mom is real tired and not particularly interested in cooking.

Simple meal planning to push through a cooking rut

Whether or not I am interested in cooking, the family needs to eat, so here I am, again planning for the week. Sigh. I’m trying to keep meals simple to push through this rut.

Last week had a glitch. We ended up having pizza at the birthday party, so the makings of the ham and cheese panini are still about. And since we haven’t been out to dinner in weeks, we’ll go out to a local family friendly restaurant on Saturday night.

Recipes with an asterisk are included below.

Sunday: Grilled marinated London broil, grilled vegetables, salad, egg noodles.

London broil is on sale this week at the market, so I picked up a bottle of a favorite marinade and dinner was a breeze.

Monday: Strawberry chicken*, rice pilaf, steamed cauliflower, salad.

Chicken legs and thighs are also on sale at the market, so time to make this family favorite again. This recipe is easy to scale up or down depending on your crowd.

Tuesday: Baseball night. Ham and cheese panini at the field.

Carrots and yogurt to round out the picnic.

Wednesday: Baseball night. Leftovers for the kids before the game. Pasta with potatoes and rosemary for the parents later in the evening.

I also picked up a couple of artichokes to steam.

Thursday: Cheese ravioli with red sauce and meatballs, salad.

After a couple of baseball nights, a simple meal.

Friday: Baseball night. Buttermilk marinated fried chicken.

Fried chicken is a great picnic food. We tend to make it a fair bit in the summer. I use Alton Brown’s recipe which isn’t too heavy with a variation. Instead of paprika, cayenne, and garlic in the dredge, I use ground sage. We’ll round out the meal with carrots and yogurt and other snacky bits.

Saturday: Out to dinner.

We’ve not gone out to dinner too often in the last couple of years because it tended to mean more effort to manage the three kids than time enjoying a meal out. It’s getting better though. My oldest wants to go out for Indian food this night. We’ll see what we feel like at the time.

Strawberry Chicken

8 to 10 ounce jar of strawberry preserves (blackberry and raspberry also work)
8 oz can tomato sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp chili powder (optional)
Chicken parts
scallions, sliced thin

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.

In a small bowl, combine preserves, tomato sauce, vinegar, ginger and chili powder. Whisk together well. Place the chicken a in a shallow baking dish. Pour the sauce over the chicken, and bake uncovered about 45 minutes, basting occasionally.

Serve garnished with scallions. Great over egg noodles or rice pilaf.

PointsandPrizes.com Keyword: GARNISH worth 50 points good through 05/25/08.
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