Mama’s Minutes and Meal Plan: 8/10/18

If you’ve been sniffing around MamaGourmand for awhile, you may have noticed my blog posts have gotten less personal. They’re now, more or less, sticking to the script.

Each post goes through basic recipe info, cook’s tips, step-by-step pictures, and the recipe itself. I do this because, well, it is a food blog, and I want you to have absolute success with every recipe.

Bummer is, it doesn’t really tap into my creative writing mojo.

It seems there are also readers who miss hearing about how my kids work me over daily and the Jedi mind tricks I use on them. Who knew? 🤷‍♀️

So here’s what I’m thinking of how you can HELP ME HELP YOU…

Every week (might be an aggressive order, but I’ll give it a solid effort) I’m going to get my creative spew on. I’ll keep you on the up and up on the Homefront.

In return for tuning into my life, I’ll share tips for running the ship and my weekly meal plan.

That’s right. You don’t have to think about what you are going to make next week! I’ll lay it out for you. Boo ya.

So, let’s get to it.

You know when you daydreamed about being a parent and envisioned having those special moments you loved as a child with your own kids?

Then you actually have kids and realize those “fun moments” suck big time when you’re the parent!

Four words: back to school shopping.

Have you ever witnessed a mom in the school supply aisle gaily pushing a shopping cart with kids in tow? No, because it’s Loch Ness monster of parenthood.

In actuality it’s a bunch of unruly kids grabbing every item clearly not on sale with mothers throwing elbows to get the last $.99 box of crayons.

Target sucks you in there with their glossy, well laid-out sales ads of cheap supplies. Then you get there and it’s like a bomb was detonated. Moms are walking around shell shocked, everything has been looted, and what remains is spewed everywhere. Hell on Earth.

How to Deal With Back to School Shopping Without Losing Your Shit in Public

Turns out Target (or Walmart’s) glossy ads remain well laid-out and organized online. Orders over $25 ship free (and if you’re not shelling out at least $25 for school supplies, we need to talk) and arrives conveniently on your doorstep a couple days later.

I took the kids school lists, tallied up what I needed of each item, and bought everything on Target.com. I was done in 20 minutes, and when else can you back to school shop while drinking wine at the same time?!

I know what you’re thinking…I’m way ahead of you, sista. Kids love back to school shopping and picking out their things.

Here’s where the Jedi mind tricks come in.

I opened the boxes on the kitchen floor and Elliot and I worked the SCHOOL SUPPLY STORE. Clara, Nolan, and Finn lined up behind the box “counter” with their lists, backpacks, and pencils to cross items off.

Orderly, they stepped up to the “window” and told Elliot one thing they needed. Elliot displayed the color options, they picked one, and moved to the back of the line.

I provided the color commentary. When they couldn’t decide fast enough, I’d shout, “No soup for you! Back of the line!” Or, I’d try to sign them up for our frequent shoppers program and tell them I had the kitchen wired with security cameras if they tried any funny business.

Good times all around and when else can you run a SCHOOL SUPPLY STORE while drinking?!

Next year I’m going to tell them to bring their piggy banks, tack on some convenience fees, and make some money off this racket. 🤫

Save This Weekly Meal Plan to Your Pinterest Dinner Board!

Monday: Lightened Tomato Ricotta Pasta Bake (Hands On: 15 minutes, Bake: 25 minutes), salad, garlic bread

Tuesday: (Slow Cooker) Best Ever BBQ Pulled Chicken sandwiches (Hands On: 10 minutes Slow Cooker: 5 hours), Cilantro Jalapeño Coleslaw (included in recipe), frozen French fries, fruit salad

Wednesday: Creamy Honey Mustard Salmon (Hands On: 20 minutes), Roasted Parmesan Rosemary Potatoes (Hands On: 10 minutes, Bake 40 minutes), frozen green beans. Start with potatoes first and then cook salmon last 20 minutes potatoes are in oven.

Thursday: Mexican Layered Frittata (Hands On: 20 minutes, Bake: 7 minutes), steamed rice, frozen corn

Friday: Make your own pizzas using Naan flatbread (for kids and hubby) and Socca Chickpea Flatbread (gluten free for me)

Weekend Baking: I’ve been dying to try this Lemon Lush From Scratch and after getting the kids off to school this week, I think we all deserve it. Doesn’t it look amazing?!

Save This Weekly Meal Plan to Your Pinterest Dinner Board!