Meals on Purpose (Menu 6/22-6/28)

After a lovely date with my husband, that in part was like a yearly review from my supervisor,  I have a new perspective on life. I have always been a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl...it's hard to do that when you have four kids and don't sleep for more than four hours at a time, thanks to the Empress. I was a stressed out hot mess. The cute coffee delivery guy doesn't like seeing me stressed and he put down some ground rules that I am trying to follow. (The rules were just his ideas to help, he is not an ogre though he does occasionally remind me of Shrek.) One of them is that I care about the kitchen again, I've been avoiding it because that's where we keep the dirty dishes...

 I realized what part of my problem was as we were sitting in Olive Garden for the first time in over a year. There was so much MORE to the meal than the food. Soft lighting, quiet music, a pretty table, cloth napkins, and actual conversation.

LIGHT-BULB MOMENT!

Our meals and sitting down to eat them need to be a priority and on purpose. We NEED to stop going out to eat so much and I need to stop eating everything in sight! ;) I am trying not to be a glutton. When you love food as much as I do that's HARD!! My new rules for eating but not being controlled by food are pretty simple.

1. One cup of coffee a day. That's half of what I think I "need." Don't worry the tea isn't going anywhere yet.
2. One serving per meal. Suddenly having sides at a meal is important again because that serving of casserole isn't enough!
3. One dessert every other day. They are worth the wait and should feel special NOT mandatory.
4. No snacks, except on Sunday morning in between services because we are at church from 8:30am until 1pm.
5. No eating after 8pm. Bye bye late night snacking. Oh, that's sooo hard for me!!
6. Eat at the table with the family whenever physically possible.
7. Take a bite and enjoy it, every single time. Do not just shovel it in to fill some black hole in my gullet! I actually take a bite and put down my fork and chew slowly. Yes, I feel weird, yes my kids make fun of me. Yes, I did have to sit on my hands last night instead of eating like a farm hand...I'm learning.

This is how menu planning looks at my house. :)

Breakfast (fruit on the side and milk to drink)
PB oatmeal
Toad in a hole (egg cooked inside a piece of toast)
Boiled Eggs, english muffin
Apple Pancakes
Frittata Muffins
Cornmeal mush, sausage links

Lunch
Boiled eggs, celery with dip, grapes
fruit and granola yogurt parfait
Apples and peanut butter "nachos"
cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches and strawberries with maple yogurt sauce
Ramen (my kids are STOKED for fridays lunch! lol!!)
Grilled cheese and tomato soup
Dump Chicken in the crockpot over rice (This was Sunday's meal and I forgot what I threw into the chicken...peppers, onions, curry, garlic, and jam I think?)

Dinner
Smoked Sausage with onion and pepper over cauliflower garlic rice
BBQ pork sandwiches, corn
Sweet n Sour Not Meatballs over rice (My meatballs totally fell apart!)
Dinner at the in laws! (no cooking but no air conditioning there either...)
BLT with optional avocado spread and carmelized brussel sprouts
Ravioli with marinated tomatoes and creamed spinach (my birthday meal)
Hawaiian Burgers and grilled butternut squash

Desserts
Kettle Corn
Nutella Mouse with strawberries
Nutella pudding (I kinda love nutella!)
something else...haven't decided yet! 

  So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31