Food. And My Meal Plans.

Here are a couple of breakfast dishes that I have tried recently. This is overnight french toast from the Food Network website (specifically Paula Deen). Paula Deen doesn't know how to exclude half and half from her recipes. This included two cups of it!! My brain begins to short-circuit when I start counting the fat grams in two cups of half and half. Here's what my casserole looked like: I thought it was pretty tasty, but the family didn't devour it as I expected. So, there is an entire half casserole sitting in my freezer for when I'm feeling particularly lazy one morning...

And this, my dear friends, is Sunday Oatmeal from Barefoot Contessa's cookbook. I make a batch every week for Juliet - she eats it by the fist fulls and sometimes Colin and I comment about how she will founder if she is left to her own devices. Meaning: she eats a boatload of the food she likes. Here's what it looks like:

A bowl full of mush for sure, but healthy baby food as well.

I just discovered this website called The Joy of Baking and I feel like maybe I have been in a virtual cave, because I bet everyone else has been here already. I've drooled, I've stolen recipes and now I'm off to Winco, Trader Joe's and Costco (well, not all in one day - I do have three children!) to purchase the ingredients for the following meals/treats:

Spaghetti w/arugula, roasted peppers, prosciutto/bread

Potato Bar (broccoli/bacon bits/chives/sour cream/butter)

Tacos (including refried beans, salsa, sour cream, cheese)

Lasagna, spinach salad, bread

Calzones (from my bread maker)

Pasta and peas

Tortilla chip pie (from Kiwi magazine)

Breakfast bars

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Chai tea pancakes

Banana Muffins

Tecate Bread (from bread maker)

Blueberry Muffins

Have I mentioned how much I am loving my Bread Machine Lover's Cookbook? It makes my calzone dough and all my most recent bread doughs. I do a second rising on the counter and bake the breads in the oven for more authentic taste, but it really does all the hands on work for me.

Also, I have discovered that if I let my kids be involved in their meal, they tend to actually eat it. Imagine that. So I let them pick their toppings for calzones, pizzas and tacos.

And now we are set for a week of food!