Two Weeks of Meals

My friend has an amazing blog where she has posted a couple times about what her family's weekly meal plans look like. I was inspired by her idea to keep track of (and share) what she's cooking - along with discussions with other toddler moms who never know what to feed their young kids - so I decided to start posting what we're eating around here. Keeping a toddler well fed with a well-balanced menu is a challenge when I never know what he'll tolerate from day to day. (Some days Banner will eat anything and everything; other days most of what I make/cook/buy ends up on the floor.) Sam and I try very hard to a) provide a variety of foods for Banner and for us and b) eat dinner together so that we are all pretty much eating the same thing. Between creating a "House Menu" with our family favorites, searching "toddler meals" on Pinterest, and chatting with other moms about what they feed their families, creating dinner menus (and lunch, too) has become a bit easier - but it's still a chore. Sam and I have decided to start sitting down each week to examine our schedules for the week and make weekly meal plans around those schedules. Then, I'm better able to hit the aisles at the grocery store with a plan in place - AND it helps take my mind off of FOOD all the damn time! (I sometimes feel like my whole day revolves around feeding my kiddo - from breakfast to snack to lunch to snack to dinner!)

So, without further delay, I present the dinners we've had for the past two weeks. . . oh, and each meal ends with a "dessert" of some kind of fruit that Banner devours (peaches, strawberries, pear, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, cherries, grapes, blueberries, you name it - the boy loves fruit!):

Week 1:

• Crock-pot Taco Soup
• Chicken Pot Pie
• Lasagna & green beans
• Crock-pot Chicken & Stuffing
• Freebirds!
• Southwestern Turkey Meatloaf and oven-baked veggies
• Burgers and sweet potato fries

Week 2:

• Crock-pot carrots, baked potatoes, & steak
• Left-over lasagna (which I froze from last week) and oven-baked zucchini
• Teriyaki chicken & broccoli rice casserole
• Angel hair pasta with meatballs & oven-baked veggies
• Pizza night with friends (and Banner also had a carrot/apple puree)
• Chicken Enchiladas and zucchini muffins
• Chinese take-out with Grandma & Papa

 More meals coming soon!