A Baker's Dozen: Daily Life in a Large Family

Large Family Meal Plans

Day 1

Day 1

Day 2

Day 2

I call these photos: Too Many Brothers.

Tucker (6) had a run in with Mordecai's head just as Jubilee's birthday party began. In the last picture (sorry for the blur it was taken on my phone and he didn't want to stay still) you can see the bruising extends down past his cheek bone. Chuck had him ice it immediately, and this is still what it looks like. Ow.

Today is day three, but since I he's still sleeping I don't have a photo of it yet. You know what I do have though? 

This!

This is the black eye Tucker got on Christmas day, 2008 when he crashed into a table in the living room. And just look at that sweet brown eyed, curly haired toddler. Where did he go?

*sigh*

Here are this week's meal plans...planned by the lovely Adalia and Tilly...enjoy!

Monday- Lettuce Wraps and rice 

I made these lettuce wraps last week, but used chicken breasts. It worked out fine. About half my kids loved them. The other half will just have to learn to love them.

Tuesday- Chicken Curry, rice, veggies

Wednesday- Chicken and broccoli stir fry

Thursday- Thanksgiving

Friday- red beans and rice

And by the way...Pinterest has been inspiring all kinds of cooking in my house. Last week I made four recipes from my recipe board and we loved all of them. The others were: Beef Broccoli (seriously as good as any Chinese restaurant...only better because I know exactly what I put in it), sliced baked potatoes (well worth the slight extra effort) and Bacon, Egg and Toast Cups.

Large Family Meal Plans

Me- two years old.

Does this photo look like Apollo, or what? My dad has taken on the incredible task of transferring decades old slides into digital files. Expect to see more of these types of photos in the future...

Tomorrow will be two weeks of no coffee for me. Two! I haven't gone that long without coffee ever in my adult life.

I'm on call for a birth. Always fun. Always stressful. 

Tomorrow will be two weeks since Chuck began juicing and exercising every day and I'm so proud of him. He's lost 18 pounds! And even more incredible, he ran three miles the other day on the hilly terrain of our road. Go Chuck!

And now for some meal plans. With Chuck not eating dinner (he's juicing instead) and me trying to eat a plant based diet, these are lighter on the meats and heavier on the plants.

Monday: Stir fry. I made the most delicious stir fry the other day. I fried red peppers, broccoli, onions, carrots, garlic and cabbage in a bit of sesame oil and added soy sauce, a bit of curry and ginger and some asian hot sauce. It was so incredibly delicious. You ought to try it.

Tuesday: Chicken soup. I may just do chicken noodle, or chicken with barley, or may get all wild and crazy and and try a tortilla soup with a mexican flair.

Wednesday: Pizza. I won't eat this, obviously, so I'll probably have a giant salad instead.

Thursday: Red beans and rice.

Friday: Beef stew.

Large Family Meal Plans

...along with pictures from our annual trip to Stoney Ridge Farm. Tilly's camera battery died about 2 minutes into our visit...when I saw how upset she was, I handed over my camera. So the photos today are compliments of Tilly. Here are links to our visits in: 2006 and 2007.

The dashing Hezekiah. 

Look a group shot including me! Thanks, Sarah.

My sweet baby, Apollo.

Jubilee and Hezekiah

Tilly...I guess Adalia must have taken this one.

Adalia

Judah

Adalia and her new friend.

Kalina

Sunday: taco salad

Monday: Chili (I never actually made it last week)

Tuesday: stir fry and rice

Wednesday: red beans and rice

Thursday: Spaghetti

Friday: Oops...put chicken on the list, but never asked Chuck to buy one! And for those of you who asked, cooking chicken in the crockpot is the easiest meal ever. I start with a whole chicken, remove the innards (ewwww), plop it in, toss in some garlic and onions and cook. It is always tender and juicy, with plenty of drippings for gravy if you're that ambitious (I rarely am). When the meal is over, I put the carcass back in, cover with water and make stock.

 

Large Family Meal Plans

Yesterday we had some great friends over after church. The best thing about Greg and Merriann is, they're the kind of friends who are 100% comfortable in our home. Greg usually comes witg a stack of board games (always a hit with the big kids) and sometimes come with the makings for dessert...like they did yesterday. While Merriann and I minded the little ones (and Chuck played with Greg's iPad) Greg and the big kids made caramel apples and peanut brittle.

Oh- and they have really cute kids, which is always a bonus!

Did I mention they brought lunch too? See why I like these guys so much?

Greg complained that I've been skimping on the photos on my blog lately...he thinks I need to add more...

Hi, Apollo!

Ah, but I guess we were talking about meal plans...so here they are:

Monday: spaghetti and salad

Tuesday: spicy red beans and rice

Wednesday: whole chicken (in crockpot), veggies, potato wedges

Thursday: homemade baked beans, rice, cornbread

Friday: chili

 

Thankfully, Apollo didn't notice the lack of caramel on his apple!

 

Large Family Meal Plans

Monday: Beef Barley Stew and fresh bread

Tuesday: Meatballs, rice, salad

Wednesday: Spicy Red Beans and Rice (with corn torillas, cheese, olives, etc)

Thursday: Tacos and Refried Beans

Friday: Chicken Curry

Saturday: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

{Large Family} Weekly Meal Plans

Apollo 15 months old. By the  way, this is the same shirt he wore in his seven month pictures, but he has finally (sort of) outgrown it so off to the consignment store it goes.

Back in the day I used to post weekly meal plans here on my blog. In fact, I have "weekly meal plans" catagory. And then one day I stopped. Mainly because I stopped making meal plans. Denial, I suppose...but the reality is my chidlren insist on eating day after day...so I am going to make an effort to post our weekly meal plans here again.

Monday- cornmeal pancakes and honey butter

                sandwiches and fruit

                pulled pork sandwiches/coleslaw/potato wedges

Tuesday- oatmeal

                pizza crescents (our crescent rolls filled with pepperoni, olives and cheese)

                spaghetti, foccacia bread, salad

Wedensday- eggs and tortillas

                    bean burritoes

                    chicken (maybe soup, maybe cooked in the crockpot)

Thursday- oatmeal

                mac and cheese (homemade)

                pizza

Friday- muffins

                sandwiches/fruit

                I guess I got stuck...

 

For more inspiration check out this blog: This Week for Dinner. And feel free to add a link to you meal plans in the comments. I'd love more ideas...

 

Large Family Meal Plans

This is an outtake from yesterday's session, but too cute not to share. If you haven't already checked out the Scarlet Stitch website, you really should. Their clothes are unique and adorable!

It's probably been a couple of years since I posted weekly meal plans, but with Apollo's health issues, I've been devoting more time to meal plans, so I figured I may as well share them with you!

Monday: 

    Breakfast- pancakes

    Lunch- sandwiches, fruit and veggies

    Dinner- Spaghetti, foccacia bread, salad

Tuesday:

    Breakfast- oatmeal 

    Lunch- homemade mac and cheese

    Dinner- Chalupa with all the fixings

Wednesday:

    Breakfast- eggs and tortillas

    Lunch- fried rice and veggies

    Dinner- Chicken curry, rice, salad

Thursday:

    Breakfast- oatmeal

    Lunch- sandwiches, fruit and veggies

    Dinner- Spicy Red Beans and Rice

Friday: 

    Breakfast- homemade muffins and fruit

    Lunch- bean burritoes

    Dinner- Homemade Pizza, salad

We eat a ton of salad here...and my children consume large quantities of it. Tilly is in charge of breakfast, so she will pick the muffin recipe. The chicken curry recipe is from Fix, Freeze, Feast, and if you don't already own it, you really need to purchase a copy. For the red beans, I simply soak 4 cups of kidney beans over night, then cook in the crockpot on high until they are done. I add: onion, garlic, green chilis, hot sauce, and anything else I feel inspired by. I chop sausage or ground beef and add a bit of that. We eat copious amounts of raw fruit and veggies (didn't feel the need to name them all here). Snacks are either fruits and veggies, popcorn, or raw nuts. 

I hope you have a great weekend!

The Return of Meal Plans

Tilly age 11

In a moment of inspiration, I actually threw together meal plans for this week. I used to do this every weekend and my stress level is tangibly lower when I do. But since I hate cooking and thinking about cooking, I've fallen into a habit of skipping this step...and I always regret it.

So here it goes:

Monday- ham, potatoes, salad

Tuesday- tacos, refried beans, chips, rice

Wednesday- split pea soup, cornbread

Thursday- white chicken chili, rice, chips

Friday- cheese steaks, potato wedges, mixed veggies

Have a great Monday!

Meal Plans

Tilly, age 10

Are you sick of my photography yet? Sorry,  but it's been the thing I've been spending my "free time" on lately. Sewing, reading and other pursuits have been pushed aside in favor of learning more about photography. Several of you noticed the watermark on my latest batch of photos. I am very seriously considering launching a business later this year and am trying to decide between Little Earthling Photography (Tilly's idea and I love it...but am afraid it sounds as if I only take pictures of little earthlings...though newborns are my favorite) and just Earthling Photography. So, why don't you leave a comment and vote on one of the two. Your prize? Umm...I  may just choose your choice. Cool, huh?

Meal Plans (because my week just always seems to go better with these in place).

Monday:

breakfast- pancakes

lunch- baked beans and rice

dinner- taco salad

Tuesday:  

breakfast- oatmeal and Cream of Wheat

lunch- homemade macaroni and cheese 

dinner-meatloaf, salad, rice, potatoes 

Wednesday:

breakfast- eggs, hashbrowns, toast

lunch- homemade rice-a-roni

dinner- chicken noodle soup w/ homemade noodles, homemade bread

Thursday:

breakfast- oatmeal and Cream of Wheat

lunch- baked potatoes

dinner-ginger beef, rice, mixed vegetables

Friday:

breakfast- granola

lunch- red beans and rice

dinner-spaghetti, salad, foccacia bread

Getting It Together

Avi, age 3

Summer is rapidly making its exit. School will start for us next week (and yes, I'll tell you about those coveted colored tiles). We have a busy week ahead with Den Day for my Cub Scouts, dental appointments (for the children!) and getting into the new routine of home school.

Despite my frantic organizing, decluttering and planning, I don't feel nearly as prepared as I would like. My living room wall never got painted. My storage room never got sorted out (needs to be done in warm weather). Other various projects have been left undone.

But life marches on, and my troops still need to be fed. So here's our menu for the week (in no particular order):

Red Beans and Rice

Taco soup, crescent rolls and rice

Chicken Enchiladas, refried beans, rice

Baked Bow-Tie Pasta, Salad, Foccacia bread

Mixed Bean soup, homemade bread, rice