Menu and Challenge, Week of Jan 11 2010

Hello Friends!
The last couple of days have been rough... my sister was in a car accident and is still in the hospital. Driver was drunk (so was she) and hit a tree full on... no brake applied. She broke her left femur (completely in two) and had 1.5 feet of small intestine removed because the seatbelt squished her insides. She lost over a liter of blood and had multiple transfusions. She will be ok. I pray that it will be a wakeup call for her as the father of her five year old son now has custody of him and she'll really need to change things to get him back.

It is difficult to see a family member go through something like this. It is really, really difficult to see a child reap the consequences of his mother's poor choices. He will start the third new school of his kindergarten year this week. This is only one of many hard things that he has had to go through. I pray that his father can be a stable force in his life.

I am challenging myself this week to speak with loving words to my children every time I talk to them. It is a challenge... this morning my oldest boy grabbed the remote control and turned on his favorite morning show, when he wasn't fully ready for school yet (which is our "deal" - in order to watch tv before school ALL (school-aged) children must be fully dressed, breakfast finished, shoes on, backpacks ready to go, and teeth / hair brushed and ready to go) I said in a VERY loud voice "I DON'T THINK SO MISTER!" I had to catch myself and lovingly remind him that he had things to do before TV was permitted. I was intending to challenge myself with another physical challenge (I guess another week of teeth brushing / doing squats will have to do) but after what has happened this week with my sister and nephew; I just feel the need to do this.

If I were in an accident that kept me away from my children for any length of time, or worse, I need to know that I leave a legacy of LOVE. My kids know deep down that Mommy loves them. I just don't think that I do my best every day to demonstrate my love through loving words or actions. Yes, of course, I make their meals... listen to guided reading... review homework... kiss them goodnight... but I am challenging myself to go above the routines and LOVINGLY speak to my children. And of course with that comes attentive listening. I'm pretty poor in that category too. I hope you'll join me in this challenge if you think it could benefit you.

Here are the meals this week:

Sun: We had a late lunch after church, so I threw together this: Bowtie pasta with jarred alfredo sauce... I just made five strips of bacon and then cut the bacon in to little pieces and added it to the alfredo sauce -amazing how yummy it was- and served it with roasted broccoli. This fed the whole family and was so easy as well as cheap! The way I roast my broccoli is I cut it up, put it in a ziplock baggie with just a little olive oil (maybe a teaspoon) and shake it up to coat the broccoli... then put it on a cookie sheet, salt and pepper it, then bake it for 15 or 20 mins in a 425 oven.

Mon: Saucy Pork Chops, white rice, fresh green beans (steamed). Ingredients for Pork Chops:
2 T Butter, 1 onion sliced, 1 T flour (plus some salt and pepper), pork chops, 1 beer, (or you can use 1 cup chicken broth), 1 pinch of sugar, 2 T Dijon mustard. Saute onion with half the butter in pan, set aside, mix flour, salt and pepper and cover the meat with it (I shake it in a baggie), brown the meat, then add the onion and beer to the pan. Cook covered for 30 mins, take the pork chops out, stir mustard and sugar into the sauce, pour over the chops and serve.

Tues: Frittata. Recipezaar recipe: Vegetable Frittata Recipe #25253. Basically a few eggs and milk, plus some sauteed veggies, cheese, and cubes of bread baked for half an hour. Protein, calcium, and all the veggies in one dish.

Wed: Chicken Bryan with noodles and roasted brussel sprouts. I've not ever tasted this recipe (at Carrabbas or otherwise) but it looks very good. I am going to not use the full amount of butter and use chicken broth instead... Carrabba's Chicken Bryan Recipe #64356 Recipezaar.com. Roast the brussel sprouts like the broccoli above. (But pick the outer leaves off the brussel sprouts... don't be afraid, they are great!)

Thurs: Turkey tacos, guacamole, corn and black beans. Hubby has a meeting on Thursday so I am just doing tacos for the kids. I use the Jennie O pre-seasoned ground turkey meat. So incredibly easy.

Fri: Flat Iron Steak, baked potatoes, roasted butternut squash & shallots, sauteed spinach. Make a rub for the steak with equal parts (1 tsp) wasabi powder, dry mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, then half the amount of salt and pepper. If you don't have wasabi powder, don't go buy it as it's $11 a jar! I just had it already from another recipe. You can add chili powder if you have it, or leave it out all together. Then drizzle it with olive oil and grill (indoors if you have a grill pan). The roasted butternut squash is one squash peeled and cubed, and about 4 shallots with the papery skin removed and cut in half lengthwise. In a baggie, shake the squash and shallots with 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 tablespoons olive oil. Put on a cookie sheet and salt and pepper them... bake at 475 for 20 minutes. Really amazing taste.

Stay strong and love those kids!
Mecca