Due to everyone in my family being sick for about a month, and my mother being in the hospital, we postponed family Christmas. Well, yesterday was the day! We had a great time with all 6 of our kids and our son in law. We ate, talked, watched old videos, and exchanged the gifts we had drawn names for. I didn’t take any pictures of the food! I was too busy living in the moment.
With being sick, and spending time at the hospital with my mother, we have been eating quick and easy meals. I do prefer to cook our meals from scratch. Sometimes, though, life gets in the way. I don’t think we should feel guilty or less than because we have to serve easy meals during certain seasons of our lives.
It’s ok to cook the spaghetti and top it with jarred sauce & frozen meatballs. Cooked of course, lol. Frozen fish, frozen chicken, and frozen potatoes make quick and easy meals as well. If you choose carefully, and serve lots of vegetables, you can keep the nutrition level up to an acceptable level. A big one for me was letting go of the homemade soup while we were sick and eating canned soup from the store. For the record, most of the Progresso soup flavors taste as good as homemade.
So I am planning, and serving, easy meals. I am also enlisting the help of my teenagers to prepare meals. One person can’t do everything. That is always a hard lesson for me to learn, though!
In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu
Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?
Saturday – quick & easy- Chicken Strips, tater tots, corn, peas
Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Family Christmas! – Shrimp cocktail, popcorn chicken, french fries, seasoned potato wedges, sugar snap peas
Monday – chicken or turkey – Lemon Pepper Oven Baked Chicken (I cooked a batch of this last month & have it in my freezer, just thaw and eat!), Alfredo noodles (made from a package mix), green beans
Tuesday – pizza/pasta – pizza, carrot & celery sticks, sugar snap peas
Wednesday – Taco Night- Venison Guisado (tacos) with all the fixings
Thursday – pork or beef – Beef roast with potatoes, onions carrots
Friday – venison – Venison steaks, mashed potatoes, corn
For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday