MENU - SECOND HALF OF MARCH 2012

We'll be starting the following menu tomorrow, but I wanted to share a few new recipes from the last menu.

creamy kale salad - I want my kids to see that I'm willing to eat foods I'm not crazy about and this salad includes two such ingredients - avocados and beets. You know what? It actually tasted pretty good! The avocado is blended into the dressing and the beets were fine. I'd never eaten raw kale before, always having it baked into chips or cooked in some other dish, and it wasn't too bad.

grilled asparagus with lemon cheese sauce - We made this tonight and it was delicious. I looooove asparagus, Tim's fine with it, and none of the kids are particularly crazy about it. Until tonight, that is. Naomi had one spear and said she liked it and all the rest got polished off by the rest of us. Usually I get about 75% of the asparagus I make, but not tonight. They all liked this a lot!

quinoa patties - I have a couple quinoa recipes I like, but thought I'd give this one a try. Silas and I loved them, which is impressive when you realize that he doesn't like feta. The rest of the fam was neutral or unimpressed, but Silas actually liked them enough to ask if he could have them with his birthday dinner.

white chocolate, cherry, almond cookies - Oh my! These are soft and tasty. A friend suggested replacing the vanilla with almond extract, which I'm going to do next time. I think I'll also toast the almonds to bring out the flavor a little more. As is, they add more texture than flavor. And I'll probably try them with regular chocolate chips. But these are absolutely wonderful as is!

Ok, now for what's ahead of us.

BREAKFASTS
smoothies or fruit x2
oatmeal with brown sugar, milk, raisins, and energy mix as optional toppings x8
baked oatmeal (prep the previous night)
pumpkin pancakes
apple buttermilk bran muffins (from the batter made on the last menu)
buttermilk cinnamon bread

DINNERS
leftovers x2
tacos x2
new recipe (not good enough to make again)/rice/Mexican chicken
lentil bean chili/rice
chicken salad sandwiches/carrots and celery
pot pie/salad
lemon tomato pasta with feta/oven roasted broccoli
pasta with ricotta/peas and corn
spinach enchiladas/crockpot beans
Jen's chicken/coleslaw/champ
cracked wheat & rice pilaf/veggie stir fry
baked potatoes/peas and corn

DESSERTS
plum buckle
soft ginger cookies