Categories
Food Meal Plan

5 Delicious Family Meals From Around the World to Add to Your Meal Plan

If you are a globe-trotting family, you can expect your family’s tastes to change more often. You can keep things interesting by adding meals from around the world to your regular meal plan. Here are five family meals you can try in your home today. 

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Spaghetti Bolognese

Spaghetti bolognese is a classic recipe from Italy enjoyed by families for generations. No wonder. Spaghetti bolognese is simple and delicious.

Whether you can’t think of something to make for the family or you want to combine the traditional with the modern, look to spaghetti bolognese recipes for the answer. You can level up your spag bol by adding some olives, chili, and parmesan.

Sukiyaki from Japan is one of the Best Meals From Around the World

There are many mysterious things about the country of Japan, including the customs, the culture, the festivals, and the food. You have to see it to appreciate it. But you can delve into the culture from the comfort of your home with a famous Japanese family meal called sukiyaki. 

Sukiyaki is a hot pot meal, a little bit like a stew, but with a difference. The hot pot contains slices of beef, tofu, and vegetables warmed up and flavored with soy sauce and mirin. In Japan, locals crack an egg on top of the stew and cook it on the surface.

Kofta Kebabs 

Kofta is a loan word from Urdu that means pounded meat. Families in Turkey have enjoyed Kofta kebabs for generations. You can make them using meatballs on a skewer and covered in a delicious sauce coating for flavor.

You can make meatballs for kofta kebabs from any meat, but traditionally, people make them from beef or lamb. Try lamb kofta for your next family meal. Kebabs are super for a special occasion or a summer BBQ. 

Tacos al Pastor 

If you want to treat your family to a global food experience, you can’t ignore the food of South America. Famed for its rice, wraps, and meats, Mexico and other nations in the region have a way of creating delicious food from simple ingredients. Don’t miss tasty tacos al pastor.

Like the gyros in the Mediterranean, you can make tacos al pastor with spit-roasted meat carved off and placed into a wrap with vegetables, sauces, and rice. Since you probably don’t have a spit-roaster in your kitchen, you can grill or BBQ the meat for an authentic family meal.

Butter Chicken 

You could feed your family with butter chicken from India. Families from North India have enjoyed this dish for generations. It consists of marinated chicken, yogurt and spices, cream, and curry. Serve it with nan bread.

Recap: Meals From Around the World

Your family will love these meals, and they’ll help your kids get a taste of food from other places. Do you have any favorite meals from around the world? Leave a comment and let us know. 🙂

Categories
Big kid fun Family Activities Teenager Toddler and Preschool Age Fun

How to Host the Perfect Sleepover & Movie Night

Nevaeh wanted to have a sleepover for her 14th birthday and we decided to do homemade pizzas, a bonfire, and a movie night.

The first step was to figure out what to have for dinner and what snacks to have.

We decided on homemade pizzas so the girls could choose their own toppings and have as much (or as little) cheese and sauce as they wanted. This option was definitely a hit. They loved making them and everyone thought the pizzas were delicious. Even my toddlers had fun making their own pizzas! It was fun for all of us and that’s always a plus.

We used Jiffy pizza crust mix. It was super inexpensive and soo delicious. It was actually really sticky when I was trying to flatten it out so I was worried it wouldn’t work well but it did! It turned out perfectly. It doesn’t make enough dough for one “large” pizza, but two girls were able to share one. We used Meijer pizza sauce, pepperoni, Tennessee Pride sausage, yellow pepper, and mozzarella cheese. You can buy whatever toppings your family wants. We decided bacon and banana pepper would have been a good addition so we’ll be getting those next time.

After dinner we went outside for a bon fire and s’mores. Again, everyone had fun and loves s’mores so it was another one that even the littles enjoyed.

 

The girls played in the yard for a while when the s’mores were gone and while they played and Chris put the fire out, I started preparing the movie snacks!

We did popcorn with mix-ins and that was so much fun. I prefer my popcorn plain but the kids loved adding yummy stuff to theirs.

We did cheerios, mini marshmallows, pretzels, mnm’s, and a couple popcorn seasonings (nacho cheddar and caramel corn). Everyone got their own bowl of popcorn and then added stuff in. You could do other things like chocolate chips, gummy bears, golden grahams, or any other treat.

We also put candy and drinks in small bins for each girl. The girls chose to put a napkin in one side of their bin and just put their popcorn in there (and hot Cheetos once the popcorn was gone).

After one movie the girls went out to the backyard and played hide and seek (it’s so dark out there!). Then they played some games and watched more movies. They all said they had so much fun, so I’d it was a success. 😉

 

Do you have any popcorn mix-ins you prefer that I didn’t include? Pizza toppings? Movie night snacks? Drop a comment and tell me about it! 🙂

 

Categories
Meal Plan

Meal Plan 5/21-6/3 (With Link to FREE Printable)

Today is meal plan Saturday. Sounds like fun but not really… who really enjoys meal planning? Not me, but it has to be done.

I use a meal plan printable that I created myself. It is perfect for the way I meal plan and is so easy to read and use. Feel free to download it for free!

Mon: Chicken Fried Rice
Tues: Leftovers/anything – we do this on some baseball nights when we won’t be getting home until late. We keep little things in the freezer and pantry for the kids to have for dinner when we don’t actually have time to cook, or they can eat leftovers from the day before.
Wed: Brinner (breakfast for dinner) – I’m planning on chocolate chip pancakes, sausage, and assorted fruit.
Thurs: 7 Can Soup
Fri: Hamburgers with Brussel sprouts and fried potatoes
Sat: Sylas’ choice (it’s his birthday this day)
Sun: Pizza night with the in-laws
Mon: Spinach Artichoke Ravioli Bake
Tues: Leftovers/Anything
Wed: Taco Casserole
Thurs: BLT with avocado
Fri: Pizza Quesadillas 
Sat: Oven Baked Meatball Sandwiches
Sun: Pizza night with the in-laws

I just want to point out that when I say “pizza night with the in-laws” we don’t literally eat pizza every time. We go to Chris’ parents’ house and they order from Pizza Hut. We do sandwiches, pasta, salads, wings… whatever we’re feeling that day. I realize that it sounds like we eat a TON of pizza.

What is on your meal plan for the week?

Categories
Recipe

Easy Oven Baked Green Beans

We have been working on our green bean recipe for almost 5 years now. We started buying only fresh green beans and have slowly adapted our recipe over the years. Well, a couple months ago we finally got it. They are perfect. So delicious, covered in butter (don’t judge), not too soft and not too crispy. I can never stop eating them.

Oh, and it’s SO EASY. I’m not kidding. Try it. 😉

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 lb. green beans trimmed and washed
  • Water
  • Salt
  • 1/2 Cup Butter
  • Pepper
  • Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Cut the ends off of the green beans.
  3. Soak green beans in lightly salted water for 1 hour.
  4. Drain water and place green beans in an oven-safe glass dish. The one I use is 8 inches and about 4 inches high.
  5. Cut a stick of butter into 1 tablespoon pieces and then divide evenly over the top of the green beans.
  6. Generously sprinkle salt, pepper, and Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning over the top.
  7. Cover and bake for 45 minutes.
  8. Remove from oven, remove the lid, and stir the green beans.

Let me know what you think!!

Categories
Meal Plan

Meal Plan 5/7 – 5/21

Every two weeks I spend my Saturday morning drinking coffee and making a meal plan for the next two weeks. My meal plans start on Monday, but I do all my grocery shopping on Sunday.

I use a meal plan printable that I created myself. It is perfect for the way I meal plan and is so easy to read and use. Feel free to download it for free!

Anyhow, here is our meal plan.

Mon: Skilled Pork Chops with Fried Potatoes
Tues: Leftovers/anything – we do this on some baseball nights when we won’t be getting home until late. We keep little things in the freezer and pantry for the kids to have for dinner when we don’t actually have time to cook, or they can eat leftovers from the day before.
Wed: Baked Ziti with Ricotta and garlic bread
Thurs: Bean burritos with tortilla chips
Fri: Fried chicken, potato salad, and green beans
Sat: Ribs, corn on the cob, and macaroni salad
Sun: Pizza
Mon: Brinner (Breakfast for dinner).
Tues: Crockpot chicken tacos
Wed: Chicken taco stuffed potatoes
Thurs: Crockpot Philly cheese steak
Fri: Pesto and mozzarella grilled cheese with tomato soup
Sat: Beer bratwursts and corn on the cob
Sun: Pizza

We love to cook on the grill when it’s nice out so both Saturdays will be food cooked on the grill. Corn on the cob is also something we have ALL THE TIME in the summer, and the recipe I linked to is one I’ve literally been using for YEARS. It’s sooooo good. Try it out!

I’m on a hunt for a yummy tomato soup recipe that is easy and doesn’t require a million ingredients. If you know of any, please let me know!! I’ll be forever grateful. 🙂

What is on your meal plan for the week?

Categories
Meal Plan Printables

Meal Plan with Printable

So, before I began meal planning, we would have nothing in the house for dinner. I’m not even kidding. Chris or I would be running to the store on our lunch breaks or after work to pick up something quick to cook. Since this is how we did it, we rarely had anything new and exciting for dinner. We were just grabbing simple things that we could grab and go. OR, even worse, we were just grabbing fast food on our way home. It was awful. We were spending way more money than we should have been, wasting time, and not really enjoying our meals.

Once I began meal planning, things changed. We hardly ever eat fast food anymore and we all enjoy dinner more. I plan dinners for two weeks, do my grocery shopping during the weekend, and then we are all set for the next two weeks.

When I meal plan for breakfast and lunch it’s pretty simple and honestly, we hardly ever have what is actually on the plan for these meals. I only put it on the plan so I know what food to buy and have an idea of what options we have. We always have eggs, bread, ingredients for pancakes, bagels, lunch meat, frozen pizza (on days we need a quick lunch), PB&J, on hand anyway so we stick with this most times. On the weekends our breakfasts get a little fancier because we have more time. During the week Chris, Peyton, and Nevaeh have to leave for work and school pretty early so we do quick stuff. My toddlers are so easy when it comes to breakfast… Sylas always wants Honey Bunches of Oats (in our house these are known as Honey and Boats since Sylas couldn’t say the whole thing when he first started eating them a couple years ago) and a banana, and JoJo always wants eggs, toast, milk, and a banana. Liam eats whatever is put in front of him, so it varies.

Anyhow… back to my meal plan.

So, the way that I do it is super simple.

  • Make a list of the meals you plan to have. Don’t bother writing the ingredients out just yet. Simply make a list of however many meals you are planning for. I do two weeks at a time, so 14 meals. We do eat leftovers once a week, but I still put “leftovers” on the list just so I don’t get confused thinking I missed two days.
  • Plan for events and late nights. If you have big kids who have sporting events or school activities, make sure you think about that when you are planning your meals. You will want to plan a crockpot meal or a leftover night on those nights. Peyton has baseball on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we normally do a crockpot meal on Tuesdays and leftovers on Thursdays.
  • Write the ingredients for one meal at a time. I don’t look at all the meals that include one pound of chicken and then write, “3 pounds of chicken” on my list. I only look at one meal at a time and write out the ingredients for only that meal. It seems tedious, but I find that I stay more organized and don’t miss ingredients or add too many of a certain thing to the grocery list. I do this on a piece of scrap paper or on the back of the printable (included below) and add the ingredients to the grocery list on my printable later.
  • Check your pantry. Sometimes I forget what I have on hand and I hate wasting money. Nothing irritates me more than buying something and then discovering the exact ingredient is already in my pantry at home. I learned my lesson quickly here. Once my list is finished, I go through my cupboards and pantry and cross any items off the list that I already have.
  • Re-write the ingredients in an organized way. So now that you have all the ingredients written out separately and you crossed off any items you already have, it’s time to organize. The way that I do this is by imagining my grocery store and starting in the back of the store. Anything that is in the back, I put at the beginning of my list. I go through all the individualized ingredient lists for meals and THEN I combine all the ingredients. This is where the “3 pounds of chicken” gets written instead of “1 pound of chicken”. I visually work my way to the front of the store, writing my list in the order that I will shop. This organized list gets written on the printable.
  • Check your meal plan each night. Don’t mess up your meal plan and be stuck with fast food for dinner because you forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer!! Can you tell we eat a lot of chicken? It’s been my example every time. LOL. But seriously, this has happened to me more times than I’d like to admit. I start getting my ingredients out to make dinner only to realize I never took the frozen meat out of the freezer the night before. UGH. Then I have to do the “call of shame” to my husband and tell him we have nothing for dinner. Oops.

 

I didn’t get a picture of my Meal Plan list filled out before I tossed it (I clearly wasn’t thinking), but I’ll share a list of the dinners I have planned for the next two weeks.

Mon: Slow Cooker Potato Soup – This is the best potato soup recipe I have EVER tried and I have tried a bunch of them. I do leave the bacon out, however.
Tues: Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells – When I made this before, I thought it has too much spinach so I am going to put less spinach this time.
Wed: 30-min Garlic Parmesan Pasta With Crispy Chicken
Thurs: Leftovers
Fri: Tacos
Sat: Taco Stuffed Potatoes
Sun: Pizza
Mon: Stuffing Topped Pork Chops
Tues: Chicken Enchilada Soup
Wed: Corn Chowder
Thurs: Leftovers
Fri: Ham and Turkey Club Sliders
Sat: Chicken Fried Rice – One of my husband’s FAVORITE recipes. He takes the leftovers to work with him every time.
Sun: Pizza

 

Every recipe for this current meal plan we have tried before and loved EXCEPT the corn chowder. That is the only recipe we haven’t tried yet. For the Taco Stuffed Potatoes, we use taco leftovers from the day before. We have also tried it with chicken tacos and it is just as delicious (if not MORE delicious).

 

Meal Plan Printable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meal Plan Printable in color

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meal Plan Printable Vaeh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tell me what is on your meal plan for the week! I’d like to see your yummy ideas. Oh, and tell me which version of the Meal Plan printable you downloaded. I couldn’t decide which one was the cutest!