Keenan having fun riding Nonna’s Rocking Horse over the weekend!
We are all home again and ready to start the week (a short one, since we leave early Friday morning for a vacation with my family). Since we had no real food (fruits, veggies, eggs and milk) in our fridge, Keenan and I made a trip to the grocery store after his swim class this morning to stock-up (buying only enough to get us through the week). Keenan is my “Shopper Helper” as I call him, because he loves going to the store and helping me pick out our things and putting them in the cart. He also loves to hold onto the list for me. I enjoy taking him to the store, because it is a great learning experience for him and teaching moment for me. We talk about all of the different things that we see and how they can be prepared/cooked. How do you involve your kids at the grocery store? Do you find that involving your kids in picking-out fresh produce helps them to eat their veggies?
After getting home and unloading the groceries (which Keenan likes to help with; I hope it lasts!), I put together most of our dinner, so it will be ready when we get home from CrossFit (CF) tonight. We always end-up staying late at CF, so unless I prepare dinner ahead of time, it makes it challenging to get it ready quickly, so Keenan can go to bed on time (between 7:15 and 7:30 p.m.). On the menu for tonight is turkey meatloaf (mixed with feta cheese, fresh basil and sun-dried tomatoes), oven-baked sweet potato fries and sauteed spinach with onions, garlic and olive oil. For the meatloaf, I am cooking it in the crock pot which keeps it nice and moist! I put it on low, so it can cook all afternoon. Since our oven has a delay start function (which I recently discovered, thanks to my husband!), I prepped the sweet potatoes, placed them onto baking sheets and put them in the oven to start while we are at CF. The delay start function is AWESOME! I’ve been using it a lot lately, because it makes it easy to prep things ahead of time, like roasted veggies and potatoes (things that won’t spoil while sitting in the oven for a couple of hours) and have them ready when you get home. Just like a crock pot (which I have been using more lately, to save time at night), you can fix-it and forget about it! The only thing I need to do when we get home tonight is cook the spinach, which only takes 10 minutes, at most. How do you save time when making meals for your family?
Here are the recipes for my meatloaf and oven-baked sweet potato fries. They are both my creations!
Turkey Meatloaf in the Crock Pot: (serves 6)
Ingredients:
– 2 lbs ground turkey
– 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil)
– 1/4 cup fresh basil (chopped)
– 1/4 cup feta cheese
– 2 eggs
– 1/4 cup of ketchup
– 1 cup oatmeal
– 1/2 onion (finely chopped)
– 1/2 cup ground flax seed
– 1 clove of garlic (minced)
-1/2 teaspoon pepper
-1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
– pinch of salt
Directions:
1. Spray non-stick cooking spray or rub a small amount of olive oil on the bottom and sides of your crock pot (to prevent the meatloaf from sticking).
2. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Put all ingredients in crock pot and form a “loaf” shape.
4. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 hours. Serve warm and enjoy!
The turkey meatloaf before I set it to cook.
Oven-baked Sweet Potato Fries: (serves 3)
Ingredients:
– 3 medium-large sweet potatoes or yams
– 1/2 cup ground flax seed
– 1/4 cup olive oil
– 1 clove fresh garlic (minced)
– 1/2 teaspoon pepper
– 1/8 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon cumin
– 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
– 1 teaspoon all-purpose (no-salt) seasoning *I use Costco’s Kirkland brand
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If you have baking/cooking racks, place them onto 2 baking sheets (if you don’t have any racks, drizzle olive oil or spray non-stick cooking spray on each baking sheet).
2. Peel sweet potatoes, slice into wedges (or large steak fries size) and place into a large bowl.
3. Pour the rest of the ingredients on top of the sweet potatoes and mix well, to ensure each wedge is coated with an equal amount of seasoning.
4. Place sweet potatoes on baking sheets and bake for 25-35 minutes, until golden brown and crispy. Enjoy!
Ready to go into the oven!
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