Sunday Prep Club #7
A plan for feeding your family this week
It’s Sunday friends, and I’m here to save you from some planning if you need a hand. The goal is simple: decide dinner once, so you’re not starting from scratch every night after a long day.
I wasn’t expecting to have to dive back into making soft, mushy foods for my kids after the baby stage, but my daughter has a very loose tooth that is hanging on and making meal times challenging. So this week I’m trying a rotation of foods that are loose-tooth friendly, but still interesting and delicious for the rest of the family.
I’m also mixing in a ‘breakfast for dinner’ because eggs are soft, and the concept is such a crowd pleaser, it’s a no-brainer. My daughter often asks me when we are going to have dinner for breakfast, and I just laugh, because aren’t mornings busy enough without having to make a steak?
This Week’s Dinner Plan
Monday: Chicken caprese bowls
Tuesday: Classic risotto
Wednesday: Cucumber, avocado and edamame salad with smoked salmon
Thursday: Eggs and avocado, breakfast for dinner
Friday: Spaghetti bolognese
How It Comes Together
Chicken caprese bowls
Season chicken with pesto sauce (or just salt and pepper) and bake. Chop tomatoes and drizzle them with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Serve sliced chicken and tomatoes on top of cooked rice. Top with mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and greens. Drizzle with a balsamic glaze, if using - this makes it!
Classic risotto
Risotto is not the fastest dinner to come to the table, but it’s not complicated. Sauté onion and garlic, stir in the arborio rice, and slowly add heated broth, in batches, to the pan, and stir. You need about 4 cups of broth for 1 cup of rice. When it’s almost done cooking (you want it to be al dente, just like pasta), turn off the heat and add the last bit of broth and add a generous handful (or two) of parmesan cheese, a big pinch of salt and fresh cracked pepper. Serve it with any leftover chicken and greens to make a simple salad.
Cucumber, avocado and edamame salad with smoked salmon
In a bowl, add soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and oil to make your dressing. Add chopped cucumber, avocado and edamame (shelled). Stir in chopped green onion and sesame seeds (if you want). Serve over cooked quinoa with smoked salmon.
Eggs and avocado, breakfast for dinner
Scrambled eggs (or cooked any way you like) served with a side of avocado and sourdough toast. Simple, easy, delicious. If you want, feel free to add a side of bacon.
Spaghetti bolognese
On a Friday, this recipe is not about simmering all day for flavor, this about getting my family fed quickly so I can be done for the week. Brown ground beef with garlic and oregano, stir in a jar of sauce. Boil your pasta. Add a bit of pasta water to your sauce before draining your noodles. Mix them both together. Top with parmesan cheese.
Notes:
Because I’m catering to a loose-tooth this week, there are a lot of soft grains this week. The Caprese bowls would also be a good salad if you wanted to skip the rice - both are good options.
I use my rice cooker, an older version of this 3-cup one, to cook all grains. The ‘set it and forget it’ feature helps make preparing dinner less chaotic. If you have one, use it this week to make the rice and the quinoa
If you want to follow ste-by-step instructions for risotto, here’s a Classic risotto recipe with more precise directions. If the night is too chaotic, I’ll skip opening the wine and just added some extra broth (or water) if the risotto needs more cooking liquid.
Grocery List
Produce
tomatoes
basil
greens (like arugula)
cucumber
avocado
garlic
ginger
green onion
Protein
eggs
chicken breast
smoked salmon
ground beef
Dairy
fresh mozzarella
parmesan cheese
Pantry / Freezer
pesto
balsamic glaze
arborio rice
chicken broth
Tajin seasoning
edamame (shelled)
sourdough bread
spaghetti
pasta sauce
Pantry Staples (you’re out of):
rice
balsamic vinegar
quinoa
salad dressing: soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey, oil
Optional Sunday Prep
This week’s dinners are pretty simple, so there isn’t really anything to prep in advance. So spend get your groceries and then spend some time outside ☀️
Cooking for Kids
Cucumber, avocado and edamame are some of my kids favorite vegetables, so this salad is an easy way to serve them the foods they want (separate and plain) and then mix them all together with the dressing for an adult touch. Eating quinoa with kids definitely means sweeping under the table after dinner. Sorry in advance!
Scrambled eggs is a great meal to teach your kid to make. That way they can make their own breakfast, lunch or dinner (with a little supervision). But seriously, scrambled eggs are a staple, so it’s a good place to start if you don’t know where. And, if they master how to crack eggs on their own (including how to use the shell to pick up any shell that fell in), it gives them good ownership of a good task when cooking and baking with them.
Tuesday Teaser: Family Cooking Night
On Tuesday, we’re making the Risotto for a loose tooth on Instagram and TikTok @jl_osmar
Before kids, making risotto used to be a calming ritual: pour a glass of wine and slowly stir the pot to creamy perfection. This experience will not be that, but we will try to be patient and get to a soft, creamy risotto as the perfect comfort food for the wiggly tooth worries. We’ll share:
How the kids help
All the stirring
And a few tips
Cook along if you want.
Just watch if you don’t.
Either way, dinner still gets made.
