Surviving Spring Break

I have to say that while I am sorry to see Spring Break come to an end (I will HATE my alarm going off at 5:15 tomorrow morning)  I am not going to miss doubled meal preparation!  Having the whole family home for a week meant that I was in charge of not just 7 dinners a week, but lunches and an occasional breakfast as well.    We managed to make it through most of the week without resorting to restaurant fare.  YEA for us!

The week looked something like this:
Saturday -  Lunch - picked up frozen tangerine beef @ costco - added stir fried asparagus.  Dinner -   Meat loaf and mashed potatoes at the request of the kids.
Sunday -Baked banana bread for breakfast.  I don't remember lunch, but the kids were at Youth Group so Russ and I ordered BBQ Chicken pizza.  It wasn't as good as I had hoped.  So much for a night of not cooking!
Monday -  Dijon pork chops and potato salad (thank you, Russ, for cooking since I was at work all day)
Tuesday - Dinner - Beef rouladen (German beef rolled with mustard, onions & a pickle.  Slow cooked)  Served with toasted barley with garlic.
Wednesday - Dinner -
Thursday -  Lunch - KFC because we were running errands....  Dinner - Spanakopita
Friday - Pork roast on the grill, corn (TJ's roasted corn is the best!), applesauce.
Saturday - Lunch    Dinner - Lemon/herbed turkey tenderloins, grilled asparagus with strawberries for dessert.
Sunday - Lunch - chicken salad or green salad.  Dinner - left overs!

This week I will try Curried chicken in the crock pot, fish tacos, and Wyatt's bbq beef rolls.  (another of the kids' favorites)  I'll post that recipe for those of you who follow and have little ones.  I think Wyatt started making it when he was about 10 years old.

Wyatt's BBQ Beef Rolls
Brown a pound or so of ground beef.  Add BBQ sauce and stir it together like sloppy joe's.  Unroll a package of Pillsbury crescent rolls and flatten them together on a cookie sheet so there is one large rectangle.  Add the meat, chopped onions and shredded cheese (cheddar or mozzarella) .  I have added green peas or thawed chopped spinach, but the kids prefer it without.  Top with a second can of crescent rolls, pinching to seal the edges.  You can sprinkle the top with poppy or sesame seeds.  Bake until golden brown.  The kids still inhale this!

But they also have more mature taste buds and love the spanakopita as well.

Spanakopita
1 pkg frozen phyllo dough, thawed.  Layer 6 or so layers into a baking pan, brushing at least every other layer with either melted butter or olive oil.  Mix together 1 lb frozen, chopped spinach (thawed and excess water squeezed out), 1 c feta cheese, 1 chopped onion, 1 TB dill weed, 1 c either cottage cheese or ricotta, 3 minced cloves of garlic and 2 beaten eggs.  Add on top of the phyllo layers.  Add another 6layers of  phyllo on top.  Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown (30-40 minutes). 

Enjoy your week!