How to Boil Water: A Week of Dinners

When I was pregnant with Addison, I decided that I wanted to be healthy. I wanted to eat healthy. I wanted to make sure she ate healthy after she was born and eating table foods. I wanted to be giving her the right nutrients when she was still breastfeeding. I was more or less forced into healthy eating once I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, but with the increased risk of diabetes later in life I wanted to maintain a healthy eating lifestyle. Addison had a lot going against her. There was family history on both sides of diabetes and high cholesterol and high blood pressure. So I wanted to do everything in my power to start her off well in life. I wanted her to get used to eating fruits and vegetables.

And overall I think I have done well. She loves fish and broccoli. She won't even touch gummy snacks. She has never had anything to drink other than milk and water. She eats healthy all around. But we eat healthy. I cook dinner almost every night with just a few exceptions. Every Friday is pizza night. We have Papa Johns every other Friday and the other Fridays I make homemade pizza. We eat out maybe two times a month but otherwise we are eating in and I'm cooking. It's definitely a lot of cooking. It takes a lot of patience and I certainly get burnt out but I manage.

I know other families don't do things the way we do, and I have always felt that everyone has to do what works for them. We just find that eating out a lot is expensive and we seem to feel better with me cooking. I also choose to cook everything from scratch. We do very little processed foods. Part of that comes from the fact that I have learned to love cooking, so I don't mind spending extra time to make the pizza dough and sauce or make the pasta sauce. Yes I believe it is healthier to not eat so much processed foods, but I don't shame anyone who does. I get not having the time to do everything from scratch. I get heating to cook - I was once in that boat myself. Even though I do cook a lot of things from scratch, I do use processed foods as well. Sometimes it is just easier.

All that being said, I thought I would share a typical week of dinners for us.

Sunday: Cheesy Ravioli with Sausage + Texas Toast

Monday: Baked Parmesan Fish + Glazed Carrots + Crescents

Tuesday: All-American Mini Meatloaves + Buttery Peas

Wednesday: Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Cutlets + Broccoli Rabe with Garlic, Lemon, and Parmesan

Thursday: Pan-Seared Halibut and Potatoes Papa Johns

Friday: Homemade Pizza

Saturday: Portobello Panini

Sunday: Baked Gnocchi with Tomato and Basil + Texas Toast

So that was what we ate last week. Some we liked better than others. Thursday we ended up with Papa Johns because I pretty much ruined dinner and burnt myself in the process, so I called it. After a horrible day, I gave up, called the hubs, and asked we decided on pizza. It was just one of those days.

So there you have it. Except for the pizza (both nights) and the Baked Parmesan Fish, they were all new recipes. And now here we go again. Another week of meals. It's never-ending. But it is what it is. Back to cooking!