What's For Dinner? March Week 1

Craig did the grocery shopping last week and I had forgotten to add a butternut squash to the list. So I just called him and described what kind of squash I wanted over the phone. (In the past, I've even drawn a little sketch on the grocery list of the shape of a butternut squash. Haha! Which, then usually looks like I was doodling parts of the male anatomy in the margin of our shopping list! LOL) Anyway, I told him the color and shape and just said "get the biggest one they have". This is what he came home with... The 2L bottle is there for size comparison. :)
I have NEVER seen a squash that big. Not even from Fleitz Pumpkin Farm! But it was awesome. And you can bet I got a lot of squash cubes for the freezer and squash popsicles for both kids out of that baby. P.S. We love our new popsicle molds. My concern was that it would be difficult to get them out of the mold one at a time because the base is all one piece. But not so. They slide out very easily and they are the perfect size and shape for little hands and mouths.

These are a huge favorite with both kids.

On Saturday after our library trip, we stopped over to Nana & Papa's house to visit and see Mya & Stella who were there. Mom convinced us stay for lunch. (It wasn't that hard... I occasionally love not having to prepare and clean up a meal at my house... occasionally. ;)) She told me that she had a few options of leftovers for my lunch and suggested I try this pineapple salsa over spicy grilled pork chops. Umm... yes, please! Check out this lunch plate of mine! That's "leftovers" and I didn't even have to make it. I even got a salad with crunchy won ton strips on top! We may be swinging by Nana's house coincidentally around lunch time more often! ("Oh hey! I just thought we'd stop and say hello. Oh, look at the time. We better get home for lunch... What? You want to feed us again? No, no. I don't want to trouble you. Oh, okaaaay... But this time I'm doing the dishes for you.") Oops. Hi, mom. I forgot you read my blog on occasion. :)

So, back to Saturday. When the kids took nap after lunch at Nana's, I got to work making homemade oreos for our dinner with friends that evening. These are so good and really, pretty easy. I make the cookie dough up in the food processor (as I do with pie crust dough) because it is much better at distributing the butter and getting a perfect consistency to work with. Then I do the filling really easily in the stand mixer. Yummmmm!

We also had a really yummy collaborative dinner pulled together for our monthly "fight night" (UFC). I made the Chinese Chicken Salad that I've raved about here before and served it with lettuce leaves for wraps. Then my friend Julie brought the spinach pasta dish and Jill brought the steamed broccoli, which we dressed with a simple combination of soy sauce, orange juice, honey and sesame seeds. A perfect pairing with the flavor of the lettuce wraps. (Craig said he liked everything, but felt like we were eating rabbit food. He and his dad always say that about eating a lot of vegetables.) Then you can see my cookies in the background (I also had chocolate chip leftover) and Kelly brought apple crisp as well. A very tasty evening and nice change of pace (on occasion) from greasy pizza.

Also on the menu this week were:

- carrot pancakes and oatmeal in the crock pot for breakfasts

- cheeseburgers on the grill

- taco salad

- queasdillas (can you tell it's been a relaxed week? zero preparation following Saturday's meal)

Oh, and I tried a new quick bread that I have to share. It is FANTASTIC! Coconut-lemon loaf from Family Fun (winter 2009). The baking time ended up being waaaaay longer than the recipe said and it still could have been in a tad longer, I think. But the flavor is amazing - tastes kind of like a lemon danish.

I made this on Monday night since I really didn't have any difficult meals planned for this week and it has been addition to breakfast/lunch/snack. Great paired with some strawberries and a glass of milk.

At preschool, my mom says that the other teacher is always peeking in Will's lunch to see what I packed each day. :) So on this day I packed Will and each of his teacher's a piece of lemon bread. Will also got a cup of strawberries, some raw veggies and an ounce or so of raw almonds. He didn't eat the almonds at this lunch but he has been really into them lately. He ended up eating these along with his dinner on Tuesday night.

P.S. - For those of you that read my blog and plan to send your littles to my mom's preschool next fall, you do not have to pack their lunch. School gets out at noon and kids usually eat at home. But mom takes Will to and from school for us and he has to stick around after all the other kids leave while she cleans up the room a little. So he eats by himself at the table while the teachers close up for the day. Just FYI. But it's good practice for me and a nice transition into lunch packing to only have two days per week to worry about. Next year it will be three and then five for kindergarten!