Week 18, Day 1

Breakfast: Jason made burritos for Cress and I.  Phyllis and Dai microwaved oatmeal.  Or JAson did it for them.  They left the milk out when they left for school - again.

Lunch: PBJ's but I took potato soup.  Jason took

Dinner: swim try-outs continue to make dinner tough.  Sandwiches with soup for an option afterward.

Prep Ahead: apricot popsicles.  I blended two quarts of canned apricots.  Not a lot, just a little blended. I made four push-up styles ones, 5 of the old Tupperware ones like my mom had - but my kids have lost one whole part, and two others don't have the lid/stick combos so we use regular popsicle sticks.  Then I have another one that does regular popsicles with star sticks - one of which broke so we use a popsicle stick there, too.  Then I have four that have a little sippy at the bottom designed to catch melting bits.

Shopping day - I got to go alone in the evening.  Hit Fresco and Costco out by my dad's so I could stop in and wish him a happy birthday.

Fresco:
Radishes (2 bunches)	$0.67
Bell Peppers (4)	$2.02
Jicama	$0.33
Onions	$1.40
Cucumbers (6)	$2.00
Apples	$2.99
Baby Bananas	$0.99
Zucchini	$1.67
	$12.07

Costco
Mangoes	$5.49
Milk	$6.69
Tomatoes	$3.99
Grape Tomaotes	$4.99
Raisins	$5.99
Whipping Cream	$5.69
Garlic	$3.79
English Cucumbmers	$3.49
Eggs	$7.29
Canned Chicken	$10.99
Peanut Butter	$9.99
Lunch Meat	$9.99
Flour Tortillas	$2.99
Salsa	$6.98
Cottage Cheese	$4.99
Chicken Boullion	$3.79
Canned Pineapple	$4.99
Conditioner	$7.60
Q-Tips	$9.78
	$119.50
Total	$131.57

Week 17, Day 7

Breakfast: Jason shared his cold cereal with Cress.  He had less than a bowl left for himself but he will get more at work I am certain - after he drops the car off at the shop.  Dai and Phyllis had oatmeal.  I had cold cereal after they left.

When Phyllis came out this morning, she asked, "What's for breakfast?" and I replied "Oatmeal."  She asked if that was in both pans on the stove.

No - one was potato, garbanzo and corn soup.  I think the girls liked having warm soup after the pool yesterday (the sandwich was before swim.)  It is a little more peppery this time.  I took some to Heather and she liked it but she had never seen the black garbanzo beans before.  She thinks her daughter, Alex, probably thought they were black beans.  I told her that I told Alex what they were, but maybe.

Lunch: peanut butter sandwiches for Cressida, Phyllis and Jason with regular produce.  Phyllis is even having honey on them recently.  Odd for her.  And she had an orange yesterday and is having one today, also odd for her.  Dai is having oatmeal for lunch.  I love that she is excited about that and it makes my life easy.

Dinner:  PBJ sandwiches for the girls before swim.  Jason has a burritos with fresh gringa beans.  I had potato soup.  Phyllis had soup.

Prep Ahead: I also started gringa beans this morning - and am adding the leftover london broil, finely diced - and added some fresh tomatoes that were getting older, some frozen corn and the remainder of the cilantro. I like using up the bits and pieces.  This will be good for jason who prefers burritos but will also help me because we won't go through as much bread - burritos are reasonable dinners, too, because they are quick and portable like sandwiches.

I also made a cream cheese bread for afterschool snack.  It didn't blend up quite right but the fam still ate half a loaf for after school snack.  Jason said he thought I should try it again because it was good - so I did and added a little extra water partway through after checking on it and seeing it looking lumpy still even though I brought the cheese to room temperature.  Maybe I should use half a cup of milk rather than the thir it calls for in the future?  This is from one of the bread machine books Shellie gave me way back in 2003 - and, yes, I used the bread maker.

I also made two loaves of sandwich bread using our regular recipe.  I started it here and it did its first rise here, then I took it to Heather Castro's where I had to go for an Activity Days planning meeting, to finish it.  Jason sliced and froze them this evening.

I am also making white bean and ham soup.  My family has never had that before but I think it will be well received.  I think if everyone has soup and sandwiches, we will go through  lot of soup. Otherwise our fridge will be overly full for a bit.  

Week 17, Day 6

Breakfast: burritos - thank goodness for JAson.  My day to drive so he gets it all ready for us to take on our drive.  He also makes me a hot drink to go.

Lunch: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - even fort JAson.  though he took salad, too.  The girls didthe regular produce thing.  I took a salad.

Dinner: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  With swim this week, I have to have Cress there at 5, Phyllis there at 5:30 and Dai there at 6;15 - eating a real meal isn't an option.  Dai and Cressida both had leftover potato soup when they got home, too.  Alex Castro came home after swim with us since Alex had a soccer game that night.  Even she ate some.

Jason and I bought and ate cold cereal at night, too.

I need bread - either buy the cheap at Grocery Outlet or make it.  JAson says he likes homemade better but understand the allure of convenient store bought bread.  It is nice of him to be flexible, but I also wouldn't mind him just wanting the good stuff.  Sometimes he is too understanding.  

Week 17, Day 5

Breakfast: on dad's boat - Dai and Cress had cold cereal, I had a fat breakfast burritos fro mthe yacht club.  Phyllis and JAson had breakfast burritos like normal at home because she had a tournament.  She was sad to miss the boat activities today, but I heard she had fun at her volleyball tournament.

Lunch: we had Subway sandwiches on the boat and JAson and Phyllis had tournament food.

Dinner: I made potato soup with corn, garbanzo beans and potatoes.  Also salt and pepper and chicken broth.  Very basic, but decent.  See how easily we go meatless?  I see some blog's and such do a "Meatless Monday."  Like something they think about and plan.  We do it the other way - planning the meat.  

Week 17, Day 4

Crazy day/weekend - so forgive us eating out - again

Breakfast: burritos

Lunch: Taco Bell.  After Chinese, Cress and Dai and I headed to my dafd's boat, Wind Song in Alameda.  My GPS in my phone was on the fritz and so it took longer than it should have and Alameda is largely residential so I was concerned about taking an alternate route to find fast good so I just went to the boat.  There, Dad said that he had lunch stuff - but that was turkey hot dogs and some old, stale buns.  So, I texted Jason to bring us food - Dad declined us bringing food for he and Susan (but Susan wasn't around when he did so I think she might have felt that it was rude.)

Dinner: My dad had originally said he would make spaghetti and could we bring salad and garlic bread. So we brought our lettuce and figured we would get the other salad fixings and bread at the grocery store.  Then my dad said he was doing chicken and dumplings instead.  He said we probably didn't need the salad, but could still use regular bread.  I told him we were having salad but I could certainly get french bread.   We made the salad in one of their pans (on the boat there are fewer dish options) and Susan said it was really big.  There was maybe a bowl left in the end.  Good salad eaters.  The dumplings were really good - better than I recall them being usually.

Week 17, Day 3

Breakfast: egg burritos for Jason and Cress.  Egg scramble for me (trying to do WW again) and fried eggs and toast for Dai and Phyllis - they even cooked them themselves.

Lunches: PBJ for Cress and Jason, produce for Cress, salad for Jason,  Boiled egg and bread for Dai, leftover Taco Bell burrito for Phyllis, produce for both, of course

Dinner: London broil roast, oven-roasted red potatoes, steamed broccoli

When I pulled the roast out of the fridge, where it had been marinating, Dai exclaimed, "Oh, meat day!"  Technically we had a chicken taco salad recently, but it is the idea we have more or less - to do a meat day on Friday or Saturday- because without an effort, we don't necessarily have meat for dinner every week.  

Week 17, Day 2

Breakfast: oatmeal

Lunch: egg salad for Cress (yes, I told JAson she doesn't like it but he said she could tell him herself on their fieldtrip), boiled eggs and some saltine crackers for the girls.  Produce as always, of course.

Dinner: Taco Bell.

That morning, I ripped my right thumbnail off in the shower.  Not all the way but a lot.  It was swollen and sore and holding things hurts, etc.  So, even though I had made garbanzo beans as part of the planned dinner, we didn't end up using them.

We got our CSA but we didn't prep it at all.

Week 17, Day 1

Breakfast: egg burritos - Jason has made me nopales con huevos lately but they just don't taste right - I used to eat it all the time.  I have no idea why.  maybe missing the tomatoes?

Lunches: egg salad sandwiches - Dai loves, Cress not so much apparently.

Dinner: Pancakes.  Daitarih made them.  I as helping Phyllis clean her room (much crying and I was really quite angry) when Jason got home.  I heard him say to Dai, "But maybe she has a plan.  Let's check first."  I knew he was referring to me and a dinner plan.  I said I didn't and Dai offered to make pancakes.  She and Jason worked on it together.

I have been totally not doing WW.  Time to get focused.

Week 16, Day 7

Breakfast: oatmeal, but we emptied the last of the bag into our canister from the freezer yesterday - need to buy more

Lunch: Jason took a burrito with taco beans and a salad, Cress and Phyllis have a turkey sandwich with a mandarin, an apple and a CSA carrot, Daitarih has a PBJ with the same produce.  I ate fast food that I grabbed on my way to work with only about 15 minutes to spare to eat it at work - because I got my nails done.  (PS - got them longer than usual - will probably not do again.  Go back to short.)  Yes, I had salad in the fridge but not time to go home and get it before going to work.

As a side note, Sue Albertson, one of the yard duties asked, "Are you eating junk food?"  When I replied yes, she said she had never seen me do that before - which isn't strictly true, of course.  But it makes you think - whether it is food, honesty, modesty, etc.  - people are watching!!

Dinner - chicken taco salad.  Seriously I love meal salads.  So glad my kids do, too.

I made a layered taco salad.  Lettuce, olives, chicken, tomatoes, corn, cheese, repeat.  Then Jason, Phyllis and Cress all asked, "Where are the beans?"  But it was one at a time over half an hour or so.  Then Phyllis asked, "Why are you so stressed?"  I snapped, "Because everyone keeps asking about the beans instead of just trying what I have provided.  Have a little faith that I am not feeding you only salad."

Prep ahead: bread - I have put it off long enough.  I really like that recipe.

Week 16, Day 6

Breakfast: oatmeal, except I had leftover pizza

Lunch:  McD's - kids got double cheeseburgers with extra pickles and I tried a new burger

Dinner: Potato leek soup - we got a leek from the CSA but I needed two for the recipe.  I also lightened it up - it called for 1 cup of butter and 2 cups of cream.  Don't get me wrong, we totally add good quality fats when a recipe really needs them but I have made a lot of soups, so I know it doesn't.  I used half the butter and substituted milk for half the cream (essentially like using half and half for the cream, right?)

And salad with grilled chicken.  Originally, that was my plan and two of the kids wanted that instead of soup, so we did both - Cress and Dai didn't have soup.

We had mangoes with cinnamon for dessert.

Prep ahead: green salad dressing - Dai made it almost entirely by herself!

Shopping:

Nob Hill:
Leek $1.73

Week 16, Day 5

EASTER SUNDAY

Breakfast: cold cereal and donuts (Larry and Lisa bought them)

Lunch: sandwiches on bread from Sister Seamons at church.

Snack: popcorn while watching movies

Dinner: Turkey sandwiches

Week 16, Day 4

Breakfast: cold cereal and donuts - Larry got it

Lunch:  turkey sandwiches and CSA artichoke

Dinner: Bogey's pizza as a family after gardening work

Week 16, Day 3 - Friday

Breakfast - breakfast burritos for the girls (no school) and we had been blowing eggs for Easter crafts. Hence the burritos.

Lunch: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - used up the last of the Costco jam and opened a CSA raspberry jam.  Phyllis no longer seems to like banana jam.  She is back to peanut butter only.

Dinner: Larry and Lisa came over.  They took the kids to see Rio 2 so I made them something to eat before going.  Using more blown eggs parts (stored in fridge, of course!) I gave Phyllis a breakfast burrito and Dai and Cress had toad-in-the-holes but with more scrambled than fried egg centers. Everyone had CSA broccoli with dinner, too.  Then grandpa and grandma got them popcorn at the movie, and took them to Taco Bell where they all had the Doritos tacos.  They all liked them, it seems. Jason and i went to a Vietnamese place before our movie, "Captain America 2."

Week 15, Day 3 - Week 16, Day 2 - catch up

Breakfast: Oatmeal - even Jason ate with us.

I actually made breakfast because today is picture day for Cress and I don't have to be at work until 11, so I got up and did lunches and breakfast.  Jason stayed to eat with us, because he has an all-day class today and will be there a little late.  Even still, he got in an hour and half before it began.  He likes getting in early - it lets him leave earlier in good conscience - and I think avoids the chaos here.

Lunches: crackers with peanut butter today and broccoli, celery, cauliflower and dip.  Everyone got the same thing today.

Dinner: no idea - this is really late (I typed the rest early)

Some brief notes, as best I can recall, butI am doing this quite a bit after the fact

Saturday - Jason and I went to dinner at a place called Cooking Papa's - a place about which I had heard rave reviews - part of our date night.  The girls had hot dogs and french fries with Heather Castro, who babysat them for said date night.  We supplied hot dog buns for our kids and the french fries - Heather did the hot dogs and her kids' buns.  Jason and I went to Half Moon Bay to see "The Dixie Swim Club" (great play), where we stopped at a fruit stand and I got peaches - oh, so good!

Sunday - hamburgers (Dai's request when I asked what meat were we s

Tuesday - chicken salad sandwiches on leftover hot dog buns

Wednesday - Sweet Tomatoes as a family for dinner

Thursday - taco salads

Shopping: I went out late in the evening and took Dai.  WE didn't get home until 9, but there is no school afterwards.  The other two stayed home with Jason and went to bed.  It was pleasant to be with her only.  When we got home, she was helpful with unpacking and all that, too.

Costco:
Garbage Bags	$16.30
Paper Towels	$16.30
Tortilla Chips	$3.99
Tomaotes	$3.99
Sour Cream	$4.39
Shredded Cheese	$15.49
Eggs (10 dozen)	$19.78
Cherry tomaotes	$5.99
Chicken Breasts	$19.99
Red Potatoes	$5.49	(buy at Grocery Outlet next time – smaller bag, better price per pound)
Egg Whites	$8.69
Mandarins	$6.99
Ziplocks – gallon size	$13.04
	$140.43
Grocery Outlet:
Bread – 2 loaves	$1.98
Milk	$3.29
Mangoes – 5	$2.50
Apples	$1.99
Alcohol	$1.08
Pepperoni	$1.98
Olives – 5 cans	$3.95
Split Peas	$0.99
gum	$0.99
Granola Bars	$9.99
	$28.74

Week 15, Day 2

My diet is going badly this week - I usually start out fine

Breakfast: oatmeal for Cress and the other two made themselves eggs.  i went to bed at 10:30 last night I didn't get up until 11:30 AM.  When Jason was doing Cress by himself, he thought it was because I took my NyQuil at 10:30 last night instead of 8 like I have been doing the last few days.  I am so grateful the girls could make their own breakfasts and lunches.

Lunch: crackers with either cream cheese or  peanut butter, pretty usual produce options.

Dinner: New England boiled dinner.  Phyllis asked if James would know this dish.  He was born in America but his family is from England.  Even he has an accent.  I exp;ained New ENgland was an American area.  We had ice-cream with chocolate sauce (uyes, Nestle's bottle) for dessert.  Dai didn't eat after gym at all - but she had a big snack before hand.

Today is the first day of CSA, too.

Prep Ahead: Jason sauteed the greens - mizuna, chard and kale.  I chopped onions, celery and broccoli for my breakfast scrambles.  

Week 15, Day 1

Man - this isn't exciting

Breakfast: oatmeal

Lunch: peanut butter or cream cheese on crackers - regular produce options

Dinner: taco salads - I made the beans yesterday, but, well, we didn't eat them.  I asked Jason to get vanilla ice-cream as well and had some for dessert with the homemade caramel, but it wasn't that great, to be honest, on ice-cream.

Shopping;
Lucky - ice-cream $4.49

Week 14, Day 7

Breakfast: oatmeal

Lunch: peanut butter or cream cheese on crackers

Dinner: McDonald's as I ate everything anyway - we might as well just go out in style

Shopping:
McD's  20.05

Week 14, Day 6

Breakfast: the girls had oatmeal.  I had a scramble and Jason ate at work.

Lunch: I packed a salad and two apples for lunch since I am doing yard duty again.  The girls had PBJ's with veggies and cake-sicles.  Jason had the last of the split pea soup.

Dinner: grilled chicken on green salads.   We also warmed up the remaining steak - Dai loved that but Phyllis not so much.  Jason cooked up the green beans and I grilled onions.

Shopping:

Costco:
Mandarins – 5 lbs	$6.99
Romaine lettuce – 6 heads	$3.59
Celery – 4 heads	$2.99
Grape tomatoes	$5.99
Carrots – 5 lbs	$4.79
Bananas	$1.39
Onions – 10 pounds	$5.29
	$31.03
Foodmaxx:
Green beans – 6 cans	$3.54
94% FF Popcorn	$5.49
Dishwasher Detergent – 2 boxes	$6.50
Regular Microwave Popcorn	$5.94
	$21.47

I think that is the bulk of what we need for the week.  I even have a bit leftover, but I am sure things will come up.

Week 14, Day 5 - Sun

Breakfast: Jason made burritos for he and Phyllis.  Dai made them for she and Cress and I had a scramble.  Jason had to leave bright and early with Phyllis for the first volleyball tournament of the season

Lunch: Carl's Jr.  I bought Dai and Cress each a cheeseburger.  I got an Original Six Dollar Burger and split it in half.  After the tournament, Jason ate the other half.  Phyllis ate what the team brought.

We also came home wit ha veggie tray from the tournament.  Cress and Phyllis rode home with Dad - Phyllis had also brought a leftover PBJ.  Half the tray and the sandwich were gone before Jason got home.  All but the tomatoes went before the end of the day.  Phyllis also brought home six cookies (I had two, everyone else had one) and a container of popcorn which the girls devoured before dinner.

Dinner: My cold was in full gear so we did not go to my dad's for dinner as planned.  Jason made burritos for the girls and him.  I ate some crackers and cheese to eat something, but nothing really sounded great.  

Week 14, Day 4 - Sat

Breakfast: oatmeal - the leftovers from yesterday.  We had a gallon of milk that was past it's sell-by date and we hadn't opened it yet, so that is why the switch to oatmeal this week.

Lunch: leftover split pea soup

While watching Epic as a family, we ate the last of the Klondike Bars.

Dinner: Two New York steaks (about a pound of meat - and some was still leftover) instant mashed potatoes (Cress asked if they were real, and after messing with her about "define real" we confessed to instant and she replied "Then they aren't real!") and steamed broccoli

Jason made roll bread in the bread maker (it hasn't been used in a while) and then divided them up and cooked 24 rolls.  Then he made a dozen ham sandwiches for his volleyball team tomorrow and Phyllis's.  First tournament is tomorrow.

I made some gringa beans but forgot to check it was sealed so it boiled off the water and we had to do it again.  Jason then cooked in it down on the stove top so it is a better consistency for burritos.  

Week 14, Day 3 - Fri

Breakfast: oatmeal: Phyllis was eager to make it on her own again today after yesterday, but this time she did the wrong ratios, so we added water to make up for some of it, but it was a lot and we had plans so kind of an early day so we had a lot leftover

Because we had to leave early, I offered Phyllis McDonald's when she first offered to make oatmeal (plus Dai was at Heather's so it would only be us three) and asked her if she wanted mcDonalds' or oatmeal.  She said, "Both."  I said that it was one or the other not both and she opted for oatmeal because "McDonald's doesn't keep me full very long."  That's our girl!

I ate half a bagel with cream cheese at Heather's because I didn't get my own breakfast.

Lunch: Taco Bell in Monterey.  Our plans were to go to Monterey Bay Aquarium with the Castros today and earlier in the week, Alex had wanted Taco Bell so Heather told her to wait until Friday when she already planned to buy lunch.  It worked well.  I got a ten pack and we ate some of it there and then at the Aquarium, we went outside near the end and each girl had another item - burritos and soft tacos travel pretty well.

Dinner: We ate at the Tervalons.  They made salad, roasted butternut squash and homemade pasta with bolognaise sauce.  We were responsible for dessert - since I only got back from Monterey at 5 PM, we bought Klondike Bars.

Shopping:
Safeway  
Klondike Bars    5.98

Week 14, Day 2 - Th

Breakfast: oatmeal and I had a scramble.  Phyllis made the oatmeal on the stove top for the first time.

Lunch: We packed a lunch for our trip to Pinnacles National Monument.  We had PBJ's, string cheese, fresh veggies and some remnant snap pea crisps Heather Castro gave us and some leftover cheese whales (think off-brand Goldfish)

I took one of my salads again and ate a string cheese.

Dinner: taco salad - so easy when you get the beans from yesterday

Week 14, Day 1

Breakfast: Jason ate at work, I ate a scramble and the kids had oatmeal.  Dai made it on the stove top all by herself.

Lunch: We had a picnic at Rodin Sculpture Garden up at Stanford.  They had PBJ's on rainbow bread and I had a salad with my white dressing (I am now out and need more) and parmesan cheese.  We all had veggies sticks - celery, carrots and jicama (Cress was so happy about that one as we used to have it a lot but haven't lately because my girls got done with it after awhile) - and some mini bell peppers and strong cheese.  I took cake-sicles for the girls' dessert.

Jason had leftover split pea soup and carrot sticks that I had cut up for him yesterday.

For snack we had popcorn.  Phyllis had a ham sandwich on the last of the ciabatta before gymnastics since we would have dinner while she was gone.

Dinner: Taco salad

Prep ahead: chopped up a container of celery, carrots and jicama for lunch packing

Shopping:

Whole Foods:
Pero 4.99  (they no longer carry Roma)

Costco:
Grape tomatoes   5.99

Week 13, Day 7

Breakfast:  I had a scramble, everyone else had ham and cheese omelets.  We had Gilly for breakfast - she like the ham and cheese but not the outside.  Cressida didn't like the ham.  Cut up apples, mandarin oranges (fresh) and bananas.

Lunch: quesadillas made on corn tortillas with leftover taco black beans.  Garnished with sour cream. Gilly ate only a half.

Dinner: split pea soup and cream biscuits with chocolate pots de creme for dessert

Make Ahead: We made funfetti cake-sicles.  I don't do the stick in them and decorating them but they are little and handy ways to pack cake.  We did the egg white only variety for the funfetti cake to keep it white, which meant I had four leftover egg-yolks.  Daisy the dog, loves them on her dinner, but four seemed wasteful.  We made lemon brownies next - those were pretty good.  I took some to Heather Castro and she and her daughter, Alex, seemed to think they were great.

Then I looked for uses for four egg yolks and found the chocolate pots e creme.  It made six - we gave one to Heather Castro when she dropped off her kids so that she could go to cooking group.  When she got back she immediately started grilling Jason on what was in them.  She was a little surprised that it was me, not him.  However, as delightful as they were, they were 14 weight watchers points.  Between those and a cream biscuit - I basically used up all my points for the day.

Shopping: I needed potatoes for my split pea soup so I went to the store with all four kids (Gilly McWilliams was with us) and so I also got them a Twix bar - and they each got half a cookie bar.

Nob Hill:
Potatoes    3.99
Twix         1.18
                 5.17

Lucky
White flour  5.99