This week’s meal roundup!

Oh boy!  This week whizzed by at top speed and here we are at Saturday!  The princesses and I kept ourselves busy this week with some new projects taking place over at Grammy and Papa’s (my mom and dad) house.  Two or three days a week we’ll be going over to take care of…

3 baby chicks (pictures to come)…and

Roxy (a little Welsh pony)…

Giving “Roxy” her first bath in her new home…

 And giving her lots and lots of lovin’! Just the right size for riding!

Feelin’ like a real cowgirl!

  My proud little princess cowgirl riding all by herself!

The hubs is getting in on the horse riding action!

On another note…Things have been a little hairy around the home front as the hubs and I deal with more church stuff.  Between the meetings, e-mails and phone calls I’ve found myself a bit anxious and out of sorts, but trying hard to rest in the Lord because I know He is in control.  I’ve been meditating on these verses in particular all week… “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6-7

Has this road been challenging? Yes!  Is it worth it? Yes, because what we are doing is all for God’s glory and not our own!  And amidst all the busyness it’s been important for us to not lose sight of our family time too, so we took a “family time out” yesterday.  We had a lovely brunch at the Fig Tree Cafe in Pacific Beach and then made our way to the San Diego Zoo for the rest of the day. 

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Since things have been so hectic and because I have felt like I may be losing my mind at moments throughout the day, I threw together an easy week of meals.  Here are some highlights of our “good eats” this week!

Black Bean Burgers

  The perfect topping for my Creamy Kale Salad

BLT Egg “Pie”

 The hubs and princesses love their “egg pies” so I was excited when I came across this version at And Love It Too!  The fam gave it two thumbs up and are already asking for it again!

I made a few adaptations to the original recipe…subbed extra virgin olive oil for the “bacon grease” (just couldn’t bring myself to do it!), used a combo of kale and spinach for the greens, only used 4 eggs + 1 cup milk, and used about 6 organic cherry tomatoes in place of the 1 large. 

Veggie Sloppy Joes

Kale Salad with Creamy Citrus Dressing

Creamy Citrus Dressing

Yields about 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup plain nonfat organic yogurt

1 small shallot, finely minced

1 tsp orange zest

2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp tumeric

1/8 tsp smoked paprika

sea salt

fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Combine all dressing ingredients together and whisk until thoroughly combined.  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

This dressing tastes so fresh and was especially delightful when massaged into some kale for a salad.  You could use it on any of your favorite summer salads!

Panini’s

I don’t have a Panini Press, but using our George Foreman Grill seems to get the job done (even leaves some grill marks on the bread)!

Now it’s time to fill up this week’s menu…getting there!  Excited to share some new recipes with you this week!  My Lara Bar “makeovers” are almost done.  Unfortunately I only have a mini food processor and the dates just work it, so I have to be careful and work in small batches.  I decided to give my processor a break and use the remainder of the dates in a fun little muffin! 

Blessings,

J’lene