Ever have one of those days where the kitchen was the last place you want to be? Yup, I had one of those on Thursday. I avoided it all morning in lieu of getting my laundry done and then my kiddo decided he did not need a nap and that blew my whole afternoon. Because he can entertain himself when he’s well rested, but crabby and tired is a different story!

Breakfast started as usual. Same time, same place. I ended up making some cheesy omelets from our farm fresh eggs and added some oranges in for a side. Then we left the kitchen and didn’t look back until snack time. In which we consumed green peppers and carrots along with an organic ranch dip. Alright, so I didn’t eat the peppers. Honestly I can’t stand them uncooked and by themselves. On a sandwich, yes. On pizza, yes. Plain? No way. But my toddler likes them so I make sure to offer them up every now and again. No reason he should get mom’s weird food aversions.

For lunch I got to have the last leftover burrito from the other night.And as I found out later that night, it was much to my husbands dismay! It definitely has been way to long since I’ve made them and they were so much better with our own taco seasoning and our own shells. We really can’t seem to get enough. For lunch I added in some chopped avocado (which was thoroughly dismissed by the little man) and some lettuce to make sure we got in some veggies and good fats. Although, the beef we use is a good fat in and of itself. We recently switched to a grass fed beef so not only is it healthier for us, it’s a bit leaner too.

I realized toady how much I’d been able to eat leftovers this week. Normally we don’t have more then what I send my hubby to work with, so it’s been kind of nice to not have to come up with something new every day. And on the subject of my husband, I’ve also noticed I’ve left out his meals each day as well as the first thing I do each morning! We both normally wake at 6am and I get to packing his lunch while he readys for work. Each day I pack him something to eat on the way in (granola bar, muffin, zucchini bread, etc.) and the I pack him a meat sandwich (leftover roast turkey, chicken, sometimes actual lunch meat, or tuns) and a peanut butter sandwich for his 2 ten minute breaks. He then usually gets some leftovers for lunch along with a piece of fruit or some celery and peanut butter. Everything I do pack has to be quick to prepare since he gets only 10 minutes for break and 30 minutes for lunch (and that includes time to cleanup. He’s a semi trailer mechanic so they tend to get a bit dirty!). And while I try to send him with more produce, he usually doesn’t have time to eat it, or ends up playing the “I don’t like it” game. So for now his meals tend to be a bit carb heavy.

And then like I said earlier, my toddler decided not to take a nap and instead played for 3 hours in his crib. (His bedroom is upstairs so I normally wait until he nods off before I start banging around in the kitchen, cause then he just wants to know whats going on!) So I pretty much stayed downstairs the entire time, got caught up on laundry, paying bills, and finished a couple product reviews I’d been working on. When I finally went to get him up, I found out why he wasn’t sleeping. He had somehow jimmied his diaper, his pants and his socks off and was sitting there with a bare bum. Silly kid!

Once redressed, we grabbed a banana and an oatmeal raisin cookie for a snack. And then proceeded to be crabby for the rest of the afternoon. What a fabulous afternoon that was!

Since I didn’t have much time or energy to fix a complete meal, I decided to make some spaghetti. Quick, easy, and we love it. I’ve even played around with a few recipes and came up with my own sauce. At first I was quite scared to do so. Because my husband is extremely picky over his sauce. Ragu Old World Style is all he’d ever let me buy! Here’s my version of it that goes over well.

Donielle’s Spaghetti Sauce
30 ounces tomato sauce
1 Tbsp sugar (or honey to make it healthier)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp parmasean cheese
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
dash of basil and oregano
1 bay leaf (you take this out before you serve!)

I also brown up a half pound of ground beef or venison first and then add in all the sauce ingredients before I let it simmer for about 10 minutes or while the pasta boils. And I serve it over an organic pasta. I’d really like to try brown rice pasta one of these days. as it’s supposed to be healthier and easier to digest, but each week I grocery shop I either run out of money first or totally forget. But it is on my “to try” list!

And wouldn’t you know, I actually cleaned up the kitchen after dinner. I’m thinking I need to invite you all in more often!

Thanks Donielle for opening your kitchen to us this week. Don’t forget to stop by Donielle’s blog, Raising Peanuts. If you are interesting in participating in the Kitchen of the Week series email us at 3moms@happytobeathome.net.

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