Day 1: Stone Soup
Day 2: Lentils with cilantro lime vinaigrette, Corn muffins, Pepper slices
Day 3: Pork chops with apples, Sauteed kale
Day 4: Homemade pizza, Tossed salad with carrots and olives
Day 5: Egg salad sandwiches with radish, Carrot sticks
Day 6: Chicken Caesar salad, Fruit smoothie
Day 7: Pesto salmon, Steamed broccoli, Orange slices
Notes:
- If you haven’t heard the tale of Stone Soup I highly recommend you read it and share with your kids (if you have them). It is a tale with lessons of caring for others and gathering to share a meal. We have our own stone, hand picked from our yard (and scrubbed well) that we have been using to make Stone Soup for years. The soup is super hearty and a great way to get your kids to eat all sorts of vegetables. Meat is optional. Check out the story here and then go out and find your own magical stone!
- With Easter this weekend, we’ll be hard boiling some eggs. It’s a perfect time for egg salad!
- Baseball and soccer seasons have started and that means late night practices and games. In order to continue home cooked meals, I have to be prepared. Bake some chicken ahead and you can easily throw together a salad and pour over store bought Caesar dressing for a quick weeknight meal. The cilantro lime vinaigrette can also be made ahead and stored in the fridge for a few days. Muffins can be made in advance and frozen and they make great grab and go bites. Make a double batch for future lunches and suppers. And as usual, I plan to freeze half of the Stone Soup to enjoy on another busy night.
Green Tip of the Week: Does your grocery store list the place of origin for all produce? It is often posted on the price sign or on the sticker directly on the fruit or vegetable. Some stores are now even listing the number of miles that the produce traveled to get to you. I challenge you to start looking for this information as you are shopping and try to buy items that are made or produced as close to your home as possible. A lot of the times, the closer the place of origin is to you, the cheaper the product is. If you live in California or nearby, this is likely a lot easier this time of year compared to my home state of Wisconsin. But, my general rule of thumb when I can’t get my produce directly from a local farm is to at least try to stick to items produced within the United States. I do make exceptions for bananas and avocados (we all have our limits). If there is something that is coming from farther away, then I try to make a substitution. Apples for pears (I can only find pears from Argentina right now!), broccoli for cauliflower, you get the idea. If you have already mastered produce, then try making a note of where other items that you shop for are produced.
