About Sweetmama Editor
Nadine Silverthorne’s love of journaling began in Grade One with the entry, “I am the greatest dancer!” Two babies (and countless diaper changes) later, she has found her home away from home as editor of SweetMama. Don’t miss her humorous bi-weekly accounts of the joys and pains of working while raising them fabulous.
5-Day Meal Plan
Silver Spoons canada
(Sep.10.09)
If I had a Big Brother cam on me from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm, I would sort of look like the mom version of Jack Bauer racing against the clock. Forget the fact that I don't want to be the Last-Mom-at-Daycare (because you know that's a whole shwack of guilt), but then the whole "Ack! I gotta make dinner!" thing really adds to the feeling of "I am going to have a stroke right now."
This week, I've been doing a lot of night-before-prep. And it's saving me a lot of stress so I had to share the magic I've made this week.
Sunday: Shop:
Mild Italian sausages (My kids don't eat a whole sausage yet, so I bought four and made all the meals here. We eat too much meat as a society anyway. If you can't go veggie, using half the meat you're used to is a good way to get healthy.)
A bag of frozen, raw, peeled shrimp
Corn on the cob (2 for each member of the fam that eats a whole cob)
20 button mushrooms
2 red peppers
1 bunch carrots or bag of baby carrots
2 mangoes
Whole grain tortillas
Plain yogurt
Fresh seasonal fruit (to chop up and add to yogurt for dessert or breakfast)
Goat cheese or parmesan
Cheddar (pre-shredded if you need a time saver)
Tomato sauce (or make your own in advance)
Asian salad dressing
A bottle of wine
Monday: Mild Italian sausage on the BBQ with fresh corn on the side (about 15 minutes of cooking until dinner). Grill double the sausage you need. After dinner chop up the extra and set aside. Chop two red peppers (kinda chunky) and wash a batch of mushrooms. Boil some pasta, saute a third of the veggies (save some, you'll see why) and then mix the pasta, sausage and veg with tomato sauce and store for the next day.
Tuesday: Reheat the pasta after your mad dash home, sprinkle with your favourite cheese to freshen it up. (I chose goat cheese! Yum!)
Wednesday: Hump Day Quesadillas (a.k.a. fancy grilled cheese). Regular cheddar melted on a whole grain tortilla, cut into triangles and served with yogurt for dipping and veggies of choice on the side (I offered carrot sticks and red pepper slices, but avocado would do nicely here too).
Next day prep: Take a bag of frozen, raw, peeled shrimp out of the freezer and place in fridge to thaw.
Thursday: Saute shrimp in some soy/tamari, olive oil and garlic. Set aside. Dice two mangoes. Mix mangoes with half the cooked, slightly cooled shrimp, and half of the remaining chopped red pepper. Add Asian dressing of your choice (if your kids hate dressing, set some aside for them beforehand) and presto Mango Shrimp Salad.
Next day prep: Make kebabs on short skewers using remaining shrimp, mushrooms and red pepper. Refrigerate.
Friday: Reheating kebabs is optional. Serve with corn again. Crack open that bottle of wine and raise a glass to raising them fabulous. You've earned it.
Thought that was sweet? You'll enjoy: