A better name for this post might be “the zucchini and green bean meal plan,” as our fridge is overflowing with both at the moment! Our garden is about to hit peak production and we’re just trying to use everything up. We also have tomatoes and strawberries in plenty, but those are easy to munch on and never last long in this house.
Also I know I talk about this WAY too much but what has happened to stock photo websites? I was looking through “summer vegetable” photos for this post and every other image is AI. Even when you filter for authentic photos, you get so much AI. Ick. Luckily I took about 100000 pictures of food in college, so I guess I’ll shop my own library for the forseeable future! The above photo is from a summer brunch at my dad’s house in 2016. He has an eye for composition–I was simply the photographer.
A Kid-Friendly Late Summer Meal Plan
Here’s a snapshot of a recent week of dinners in our house:
- Monday: Zucchini pizza casserole (a new-to-us fantastic recipe!) + a simple garden salad
- Tuesday: Leftover oven-baked burgers on gluten-free buns + all the toppings–sliced tomato, avocado, pickles, sliced cheddar and various condiments
- Wednesday: Leftover casserole from Monday + salad
- Thursday: Oven-baked salmon, boiled new potatoes + garden green beans (frozen haricots verts have a similar flavor/texture to garden beans)
- Friday: Leftover salmon, potatoes + zucchini parmesan
- Saturday: Chicken pesto pasta + green beans
- Sunday: Simple turkey chili with toppings
We generally make double batches on weekend days and don’t cook on Monday or Tuesday, although it doesn’t always work out that way if people have BIG appetites 🙂
We try to alternate meals that I know the kids love–burgers and pesto pasta for example–with things they’re less fond of, like chili or casserole. We don’t make different meals for the kids if they don’t like what’s served. If we were cooking for only adults, I’d try more new things, but as it is, I like my kids generally well-nourished. Although my second child often decides he hates something he loved last week so… you do what you can!
Breakfasts, Lunches & Snacks
We still eat mostly microwaved oatmeal, baked oatmeal (this zucchini oatmeal recipe helps with the garden hauls) and occasionally muffins with yogurt or eggs for breakfasts. This muffin recipe is a recent favorite find, and this zucchini bread recipe is our favorite gluten-free one. Like I said, it’s all zucchini all the time in our house recently! I eat a big bowl of oatmeal with chia, fruit and nut butter + a couple scrambled eggs every morning. Fueling up for breastfeeding is hard work.
Lunches for the grownups are usually either (1) leftovers, (2) this smoothie with a scoop of desiccated liver (I swear you can’t taste it!) or (3) tuna salad with crackers or on gluten-free toast. My oldest also loves tuna salad and the smoothie, but the youngers don’t.
My kids usually eat a smorgasbord with a couple of proteins–deli meat, meat sticks, cheese, hummus, or nuts; crackers or sprouted grain toast; a fruit + a veg on the side. They also love mashed avocado and cheese on English muffins. We don’t do a lot of scrambled egg lunches in the hot weather. I don’t feel like turning on the stove!
Snacktime is truly a free-for-all in our house this summer. Oldest helps himself to whatever he feels like (within healthy parameters), second pretty much always feels like banana or piece of cheese, and third is a total wildcard who is often disinterested in snacking lately. We’ve officially aged out of the “Mama prepares three identical healthy snack bowls” days. A little bittersweet, but I’m also not complaining 😛
What’s in your late summer meal plan? Is it getting cooler yet where you are? I am SO looking forward to fall foods. We’re growing pumpkins this year and I’m hoping we get a couple to make and freeze our own pumpkin puree!
xx Claire