What's for dinner?

Hopefully I can keep up with each day. Mainly to hold myself accountable to the goals, of making sure I have dinner for my family each night.

Talking is second nature to me, and I am one of this people that shares too much. Steve once told me, "Nobody cares what you ate for breakfast."

I replied, "I care what people eat for breakfast!" Lol

So here goes the download of each nights dinner...

Friday February 21st.

Cute Amy (one of Aubrey's best friends) had a fundraising spaghetti dinner for Weber State Women's Soccer Team. Soccer players are great cooks. It was wonderful!

Saturday February 22nd.

I did not use Citrus Pear, everyone was in and out of the house. Auzzy had been throwing up all night, and had spent 2 days in bed, so I wasn't sure how many needed to eat. We ended up cooking the meals I have on hand.

Hamburgers are always in the freezer. I buy the big Costco bags of 24. I also have chicken patties, and salmon always ready to cook.

 I had wanted some salmon for lunch the day before, so I had my cedar plank soaking in water ready to use. Steve usually cooks salmon on our smoker when we have it. But occasionally if we only cook for 1 or 2, I use the cedar plank. We had 1 hamburger patty and 1/2 salmon left over. Auzzy didn't eat. It was eaten later in the night as a snack. No leftovers by the end of the day! Yay!




Sunday February 23.

We went overboard! I cooked 2 Citrus Pear meals. Josh chose pulled pork for dinner. I wasn't sure how many were coming for dinner, so I cooked an extra pork roast with B-que sauce. Steve has recently bought a new cooking toy, a Sous vide. So he cooked 2 chuck roasts. I also made pasta salad (Josh's favorite).

This was the crockpot containing the 2 meals of pulled pork from Citrus Pear.

We had 3 crockpots going, and only 4 of us for dinner! I ended up taking the pork roast with B-que sauce over to my Dad's so my sister's family could eat it. Also my nephew Jeremy wanted all the leftovers for nachos. Made me happy it was eaten, and I didn't have to throw it away!

The Citrus Pear pulled pork is probably the best I've ever tasted. Soooo good! We still have 2 chuck roasts cooked in the fridge. I'll have to figure out how to use it. Yikes.

I tried Citrus Pear! Trying to downsize our meals...

February 20, 2020 Thursday . 

Day 1 of Citrus Pear!

Citrus Pear is a business where you can make 20 frozen dinners in 2 hours. You prep the meals with the help of Citrus Pear employees in a local grocery store. You can choose 2 different options, a regular meal size (family of 6-8), or a small family size (3-4 people.)

Steve and I have 6 children, 3 still live at home. I throw away food ALL THE TIME! I'm used to cooking for more, and have never downsized our meals as the kids left home. As a result, we eat more than we used to, and we ALWAYS have leftovers which we eventually throw away. This is why I chose the small family size.

I was worried at first because I only saw 1 and 1/4 chicken breast when I threw the frozen meal into the crockpot. The recipe was for creamy Lemon Chicken. Normally when I cook I will use 1 chicken breast per person, and we normally have 5 for dinner. This is a picture of the meal after it was cooked, and before I had shredded it. (The sauce was in the crockpot still.)

After I shredded the chicken, the amount looked larger and I felt a little better.

I sent a group text for a dinner time. If they want dinner...come at 5:40. 

5:40 came and only 2 had come to dinner

Josh and I!

At 5:45 everyone else showed up. Kirsten brought her friend Andy, and I was a little concerned if we'd have enough food. Normally, we would have plenty, and I was doubting this new plan. 6 people for dinner on a small meal.

I had left over rice that I reheated. (About 8 cups cooked white rice.) The lemon flavor was strong, and everyone loved it like that except for Kirsten. She asked me to only use 1/2 a lemon if I made it again. Everyone else at the table disagreed. 

I served dinner with a choice of buttered white, or buttered wheat bread. Everyone was satisfied and happy. Steve had 2 helpings, and I put about 3/4 cup of rice and the leftover sauce in a small container to put in a thermos for Kirsten's school lunch the next day. NO LEFTOVERS! Exactly the amount that we needed!

 We had a busy night. Steve had a meeting at 7, Kirsten and I had basketball at 6, then a dance concert at 7. Josh had basketball also, and Auzzy had been feeling sick, and stayed home. (Which helped the food to stretch, he only wanted a small serving.) No one ate later, which is a good indicator that there was enough.

I believe what made it stretch was the strong lemon flavor. You didn't need as much sauce, broccoli, and chicken with the rice because of it.

Day 1 of trying a Citrus Pear frozen dinner was a success!