This week’s meal plan was made slightly easier by hiccups in last week’s plan. On Thursday we went to a friend’s house for dinner at the last minute, so that night’s meal was pushed out to this week. On Friday I was sick and my husband fed the kids leftovers, so Friday’s meal was pushed to Saturday, and Saturday’s to Sunday.

Sunday: Roast Chicken and Root Vegetables, salad

I like making real sit-down significant meals on Sunday evenings. I think it sets a good tone for the week ahead. Roast chicken is so simple, but so good.

Monday: Pasta with Sausage and Spinach

This is one of my favorite meals. The kids try to pick out the spinach, but I know they get some. You can make it with any sausage you have on hand, really. Sometimes I used chicken sausage with sun-dried tomato and basil; sometimes I use sweet Italian sausage.

Tuesday: the ever exciting leftovers, salad

We have leftover chicken, leftover pizza and leftover macaroni and cheese from last week. Surely we can get through some of this. I really don’t like to waste food.

Wednesday: BBQ chicken rollups for the kids, pasta with potatoes and rosemary for the parents.

(See below for recipes.)

Wednesday is a tricky night at our house. Alfs needs to be at choir practice at 6:30PM, and my husband doesn’t get home until 7:00PM-ish, so I feed the kids first, and my husband and I eat later. The rollups are oh, so simple: warmed tortillas, chicken from Sunday’s roast chicken, some shredded cheddar, and a little BBQ sauce. That’s it.

The pasta with potatoes and rosemary is also a favorite of mine. The kids think they don’t like potatoes (unless it’s in French fry format), so I save this recipe for when my husband are eating as a couple.

Thursday: Hot dogs and bratwurst, baby carrots, salad.

The hot dogs are Sunshine’s request. A simple, quick meal.

Friday: Pasta with Pancetta, salad

(See below for the recipe.)

This is Woody’s request. It’s a family favorite, although we do not make it frequently because it’s a tad high in fat an calories. But dang it, it’s good. The entire ingredient list is pasta, olive oil, pancetta, tomatoes, heavy cream, and Parmesan.

Saturday: Burgers, cheesy pasta

(See below for the recipe.)

This was Alfs’ request. We’ll perk up the burgers with some bacon, avocado, and so on. The cheesy pasta we make with it is a super-easy husband-created family favorite.

BBQ Chicken Rollups

Leftover chicken of any kind, for example a home-roasted chicken or a store bought rotisserie chicken
Tortillas, warmed in the oven
Cheddar or jack cheese, shredded, or a mix of the two
Barbeque sauce

Spread a little barbeque sauce in the warmed tortilla. Lay down some chicken pieces. Sprinkle with cheese. Wrap. Eat.

Pasta with Potatoes and Rosemary

Linguine or other long pasta
2 or 3 potatoes, julienned. I prefer Yukon Gold.
3-5 tbsp olive oil
1-2 shallots, minced
3-5 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
Kosher salt

Cook the pasta and potatoes together until the pasta is al dente and the potatoes tender. Meanwhile, sauté the shallots and rosemary in 3 tbsp of olive oil, taking care not to let the shallots brown. Drain the pasta and potatoes, and toss with the shallot rosemary mixture, adding a touch more olive oil if necessary. Sprinkle generously with kosher salt (it really needs the salt).

Pasta with Pancetta

Pasta shape
1 tbsp olive oil
Pancetta, an inch or so cut off a log, then chopped into about 1/8 inch dice
Tomatoes, four or so, seeded and chopped
1 cup cream, can be heavy or light, but NOT half and half or milk. Must be cream.
1/4 c freshly grated Parmesan.

Sauté the pancetta in the olive oil for about five minutes, until the fat in the pancetta starts to render. Add the tomatoes, reduce the heat and let simmer about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the pasta. Add the cream to the tomato-pancetta mixture and bring it to a simmer for about five minutes, stirring all the while. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce, making sure it all gets mixed up well. Serve with Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Cheesy Pasta

Orzo, about 1/2 pound
3 tbsp butter
Fresh grated Parmesan or Romano to taste.

Cook the orzo until al dente. Drain. Add the butter and stir until it’s melted. Then start adding the cheese, stirring as you go, until it looks good to you.

There are times when my kids don’t like a thing about dinner as much as I have tried to accommodate all tastes. They whine and complain and poke at their food until finally I get annoyed enough to dismiss them.

On nights like this, I worry about the kids getting all the nutrients they need. Oh, I know it’s a bit unnecessary because over the course of a few days they do pretty well, but I can’t help it. I’m a mom, after all. Worrying is in the job description.

Fruit: Anytime, all the time
Invariably, within an hour or two the child is saying, “Mom, I’m hungry.” And I pipe in with my usual refrain, “Have a piece of fruit.” Fruit is a required part of lunches and dinners at our house. After the main part of the meal, the children are reminded to pick a piece of fresh fruit before they are excused.

Clearly, we eat quite a bit of fresh fruit in this house. On days and weeks the kids seem to eat nothing else, they at least eat fruit. Phew, phew, and phew. Apples, oranges, and bananas. Grapes and pears. Peaches, nectarines, and plums. Kiwis, strawberries, blueberries, and cherries. Even mangoes and papayas when they go on special.

When I do the grocery shopping, I consider the market visit a success when the final total is almost half fresh fruit and produce. I consider it my personal challenge, even. I look for entrée recipes, too, that include fruit in some way. The kids love the sweet element, of course. I love that it’s getting all of us to eat the same thing without (much) complaint. There’s a berry chicken recipe we love that uses preserves for the cooking, but I try to garnish is with some of the fresh berries - when in season and reasonably priced.

Diverse fruit options
There have been weeks that the kids have eaten through all the fresh fruit in four or five days and we’re too busy to get to the market until our regular shopping day. For those times, dried and canned fruit is part of my backup stash of things – we make regular runs to Trader Joe’s for dried items. Freeze-dried mangosteen…yum!

The fruit requirement is one of those parenting things that I actually think I did right. Some days I think it might be the only thing!

Berry Chicken

1 small jar of berry preserves – strawberry, blackberry, or raspberry
1 8-oz can of tomato sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp or so dried thyme
1 tsp or so ground ginger
Chicken – breast pieces, thighs, drumsticks, wings, skin on or skin off, boneless or bone in. Your call.
Fresh berries to garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a bowl, combine the preserves, tomato sauce, vinegar, thyme and ginger. Whisk together well.

Roll each chicken piece in the sauce, then place in a shallow baking dish. Pour the rest of the sauce over the chicken.

Bake 50 to 60 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Server with rice or egg noodles.

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