S- Pizza night. Sausage and mushroom, bacon and blue cheese.
M- Grilled chicken and asparagus, salad
T- Pulled pork sandwiches (Image and recipe from Just A Taste)
W- Chicken Nuggets
T- Fish tacos- we are taste testing some recipes from Healthy Habits Kitchen in Wellesley this week.
F- Pizza night
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans.
I love Sunday mornings when I get to catch a few minutes reading the latest Cooking Light. It’s such a great way to get my meal planning started off on the right foot. Sometimes I want to make everything new, but I realize that one new recipe a week is usually a good place to start.
This week I downloaded the Digimark App and scanned some of my favorite recipes from the magazine to instantly pull up the recipes on my phone. Then I pinned them to my Dinner board so that I can refer back to these new recipes next time I do my meal plan. It really is more efficient than dog earring half the magazine and then ripping pages out later. Note~ There are tons of great chicken breast recipes in the March issue of Cooking Light that I hope to make in future weeks.
Sunday- Burgers on the grill (yum!), spinach salad and coleslaw
Monday~ Chuck roast with sweet potatoes, onions and cinnamon in slow cooker. Egg noodles on the side
Tuesday~ CORN
Wednesday~ Parmesan Pine Nut Chicken Breasts, Green Beans and Rice
Thursday~ Omelets
Friday~ Pizza night
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans.
Today we were delighted with a personal delivery of the new Stonyfield Frozen Yogurt Pearls. They are part dessert and part the coolest thing in food technology. And they were delicious! Just ask how quickly Madison was wishing for a second one.
The frozen yogurt is encased in an edible skin, kind of like a grape. Except these skins are different flavors…strawberry, coconut, and yummy banana. Wiki Foods, a Cambridge based company, developed the technology to work with Stonyfield’s yogurt bonbon treat. Consider the treat to be Wikilicious!
What’s even cooler is the packaging. It is going to be plastic free. The wrapper is actually made from a wood by-product. Ultimately, the marketing team would love to see them sold alongside the gelato at Whole Food dessert bars, totally package free. At only 20 calories a pop, it’s a sweet treat that won’t tip the scales.
As of March 21st, you can find the new Pearls in four Boston area Whole Foods. For more details there is a great Boston Globe article sharing some additional details.
All opinions shared about Stonyfield and the new Frozen Yogurt Pearls are my own, or my kids. 😉
Hello March…won’t you let winter go already? Who’s ready for some spring weather and grilling on the menu? Me, me, me! But it looks like we will be waiting it out for another week so there’s some cozy crock pot dinners and of course, the traditional Saint Patrick’s Day menu planned for this week.
Sunday: Corned Beef and Cabbage with Carrots, Potatoes and Irish Soda Bread.
Monday: Saint Patrick’s Day leftovers!
Tuesday: Swordfish piccata, rice and roasted asparagus
Wednesday: Meatloaf, butternut squash and egg noodles
Thursday: Ham and cheese quiche with spinach
Friday: Pizza night with homemade dough! No pepperoni during Lent so we are doing lots of veggie pizzas with red peppers, broccoli, and mushrooms. Maybe a zucchini and feta one this week too.
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans.
Welcome to the first meal plan of 2014! Are you trying to get more organized this year and make meal planning a part of your routine? Each week I share our plans for family friendly, healthy recipes for dinner my hope it that it inspires some easy dinners for your family.
As we start the month of January, we have been trying to declutter everywhere. Including the kitchen and pantry. After the busyness of the holidays, it’s time to take stock of what we have to use up, and make room to refresh our real foods pantry. The deep freezer is also helping us save money this month as we use up some of our summer stash of tomato sauce , squash and our 1/4 of a cow.
Sunday~ Soy ginger scallops, steamed green beans and jasmine rice. {Madison got more scallops than anyone as she kept poaching them off of her parents plate.}
Monday~ Chickpea Stew with Apricots. Awesome slow-cooker dinner for Meatless Monday. I swap out the turnip for carrots which I usually have on hand. Serve over israeli couscous. I’ll also get to use up some of our tomato sauce for this recipe.
Tuesday~ Spaghetti and meat sauce. Peas on the side…the kids LOVE them frozen, but will not eat them cooked. Anyone else’s kids do this?
Wednesday~ Whole chicken in the slow cooker with carrots and potatoes. I love this meal as I get great stock out of making the dinner, then I save the carcass and make another batch of chicken broth overnight in the crock pot.
Wednesday Lunch we are making Pizza quesadillas from the Weelicious Lunch cookbook. It’s the one day we are all home for lunch so I’m trying to plan ahead a hot lunch.
Thursday~ Clean Out Refrigerator Night. Maybe use the chicken leftovers for chicken quesadillas.
Friday~ Family pizza night! Still enjoying our homemade pizza dough in the bread machine.
Lovely meatless meal in the slow cooker: Chickpea Apricot Stew from SimpleBites.net
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans. Weelicious is an affiliate link on amazon, if you buy it through my link, thanks!
As 2013 comes to a close, I like to review what blog posts were most popular among my readers. I write here to share our healthy living experiences in the hopes that others may find an idea, or two, to incorporate into their lifestyle. Below is a recap of the Top 10 Most Popular Posts on Random Recycling. What this doesn’t cover is what people say to me offline when they mention the blog. They often speak of our Meal Plans, making granola, wanting to try to make their own yogurt, and our craft projects. Hearing what friends and neighbors are being inspired by makes writing this blog worth it.
In the coming year, I see some changes ahead for this blog. As I try to simplify things, the time I spend here needs to be more meaningful. I am thankful for you, my readers, for gracing me with your time reading these posts. Your time is valuable and I understand there is a lot of digital distractions out there to keep us entertained. Going forward, there will be a bit less giveaways and more focus on healthy recipes, kids activities and just some fun, inspiring product reviews. The name Random Recycling really doesn’t reflect the current focus so maybe a blog name change is in order….any ideas?
Without further ado…here are the Top 10 posts of 2013.
Any of your favorites I missed? Cheers to a very Happy New Year’s to all of you!
Looking for an easy stovetop popcorn recipe? This is fast and you can use your own organic, GMO-free popping corn. It’s a lot less expensive than buying bags of organic popcorn from the store. We use this recipe and make it weekly for snacks, lunch boxes or family movie night.
*Some affiliate links are included in this post. If you make a purchase through the link, it helps support development of this site at no cost to you. Thanks!
This is the first meal plan that will use some of the cow we got delivered this weekend! More to come on that story, but it’s a quarter cow and all grass-fed. It’s amazing to see all the different cuts of meat we got…all ready to go in our deep freezer!
Sunday~ Chicken and Artichokes in slow cooker, egg noodles. This was a Wildtree Freezer meal and it was yummy!
Monday~ Spaghetti and meat sauce, steamed spinach for adults, raw spinach for kids.
Tuesday~ Lemon Chicken Stew. {New recipe} Doesn’t it look delicious??
Gorgeous Lemon Chicken Stew from FoodieCrush.com
Wednesday~ Chicken nuggets, corn and Annie’s shells
Thursday ~ Clean Out Refrigerator Night
Friday~ Pizza night!
For more inspiration, see my past menus here, or the Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of meal plans.
Some women get excited about new shoes. I get excited about new kitchen gadgets. The WonderBag is new to the U.S. and I was curious when asked to test it out. Our favorite pumpkin carving party was coming up and it gave me an opportunity to test out this latest gadget.
This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and WonderBag, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #WonderBag http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO
The WonderBag acts like a slow-cooker, but without using electricity. This fits two important needs in anyone’s kitchen.
The WonderBag allows me to use less energy in my kitchen, and I don’t have to worry about a hot slow-cooker on the counter and little hands accidentally touching it. For my experiment, I used it to make Butternut Squash Soup for a party. I was crunched for time so I was able to make most of the soup at home, pack it in the WonderBag, bring it to the party to let it finish cooking and finish it up with an immersion blender.
The WonderBag fits short handle pots best so be mindful of that. My large dutch oven wouldn’t fit, but my tall stockpot fit fine as it can hold up to a 9 quart pot. After I unpacked the soup, the temperature was 130 degrees after about three hours. (Yes, I am a kitchen gadget geek and packed a thermometer.) I wanted to make sure the food would stay a safe temperature and be ready to serve guests.
I would rather spend less time in the kitchen and more time with this guy.
Turns out, this new gadget is one with a cause. For every bag sold, one is donated to a family in need in Africa. Where water and energy resources are so scarce, this product can be life changing for families there. They can’t plug-in a crock-pot, so the WonderBag functions as a portable slow cooker without the use of additional fuel. An average African family can reduce their fuel usage by up to 30% using the WonderBag. The women creating the meal get more time with their families instead of standing by the fire to finish cooking their meals. Learn more about how eco-friendly the bag is by visiting the WonderBag Facebook page, plus get new recipe ideas.
The WonderBag is available now on Amazon, after quickly selling out. This would be a great holiday gift for someone who entertains often, needs a second slow cooker, and those who often tailgate or picnic. You can make chili in it, then easily bring it to the game piping hot. Plus, which each purchase a family in need also gets one.
The only negative thing for me is the size of the bag. It’s rather large, as it can hold up to a 9 quart pot. It’s not something I can easily keep in my kitchen, but I do plan to use it next time I’m bringing a stew to a potluck dinner.
I received the WonderBag to test out and share a recipe with you. All opinions shared here are my own. Amazon links are affiliate links. Learn more about how the WonderBag helps women and families worldwide by connecting with them via Twitter or Instagram.
A few weeks ago, I was surprised by an email from Pinterest that had my Lunch Love board featured in it. It is one of my favorite boards and it has helped me create lots of healthy lunches for my kids. I think it’s no coincidence that my Lunch Love board is a favorite, as packing lunches was what first clued me in to living a more sustainable lifestyle.
My daughter started at day care and I was packing lunches for the first time. First it was breast milk and baby food, and then toddler food. Suddenly, there seemed to be a lot more waste happening. I wanted to make a switch and thankfully, there were lots of other mom-based business offering products to help. Reusable bags, cute toddler sized lunch boxes and kid friendly glass containers were suddenly a normal part of our lunch packing routine. After this switch in our routine, I made other small changes at home. Cloth napkins, cloth diapers, less paper towels, composting and so on. One small step kept leading to another and I was happy about cutting down on the waste happening…that’s really how the name Random Recycling came to be. I wanted to try to cut down on the massive amount of waste/stuff that was coming into our home when we first started having kids. Now the blog clearly has a larger focus and family nutrition is a big part of it.
Izy and Oly Kids Cloth Napkins
Lunch Love can be a fun part of your routine too. Get your kids involved picking out lunches. Pick up a copy of Weelicious Lunches
To kick off my Lunch Love Celebration Week, here is a fun giveaway to enter. One winner will get the following:
Enter below using the Rafflecopter. Giveaway is open until midnight, Sat Sept 28th, 2013. Open to US residents only.
Join me on Thursday night as I chat with Danielle Shea Tan, a health coach who will walk us through how to pack a healthy lunch for our kids. She will have tips for picky eaters and we will talk about how to create the right balance between healthy choices and kids favorites. RSVP for this Google + hangout and we will be talking online at 8:30 pm EST. During the talk, I’ll be giving away one copy of Weelicious Lunches to someone who has RSVP’d! See you there!
I hope you continue to find inspiration on the Lunch Love board. And thank you Pinterest peeps for sharing it!
I was a partner this summer with Rock the Lunch Box where real moms shared their favorite lunches. Check out the site for loads of ideas and photos. I also received samples of the Izy and Oly napkins and Squooshi pouches so I could test them out first. My kids love both fun accessories in the lunch box! The Weelicious Lunch link to Amazon is an affiliate link, which means this site gets a little kick-back at no cost to you.
