Day 7: Our journey comes to an end....

Dinner was great.  The fish with the yogurt and cornflakes was wonderful but I think I made the coating a bit too think.  The vegetables were great and we had some left over broccoli so we added that to have some more.

Lunch today was ok.  I love lentils and I appreciated the freshness the zucchini and squash brought to the soup but it was a little bland....nothing that some Tabasco didn't help!

This week has been challenging but overall a fun and interesting.

• I appreciated so many great meals that were out of the box and now have me thinking about fresh healthy food in a new way.
• I loved how efficient the Chef was with so many of the veggies and ingredients - one recipe would call for 1/2 cabbage and another for 1/4 and then a 3rd for the last 1/4.  It made sure there was no waste which I really appreciated.  I want to incorporate this into my menu planning - so many times I waste veggies that I didn't finish - by planning better I can make sure to incorporate recipes that use it all.
• My family is constantly trying to eat this way - fresh, healthy and on a budget - and there are many recipes this week that will become Mosteller family recipes.

This has been a great week and I'd like to thank the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Chef Justin for keeping us feed well and happy this week!

Now Chef Justin...um, when do we get to cook for you?

Day 6: Cole Slaw the biggest hit of the week?!?! Who knew!

We moved things around a bit today because we headed out to Tallahassee's amazing Red Hills Horse Trials.  James cooked the peanut crusted french toast for us for breakfast this morning!  It was really good.  I think it could have been dipped a bit longer in the yummy french toast sauce but otherwise it was great!

The girls didn't particularly like the toast which surprised me. 

The other funny thing about breakfast was that Chef Justin had has mix jelly in with our vanilla yogurt to add a fruit flavor to it.  I did this earlier this week thinking I had come up with some brilliant idea and two days later it was on the menu!

Day 7 Lunch is PB&J and that was the plan for lunch but we ended up eating at the horse trials.  We'll do Day 6 lunch - lentil soup tomorrow.

Dinner tonight was the Chicken Pasta Bake with Cole Slaw.  The Chicken Bake was ok...a little bland.  I was worried that it would be dry because the recipe didn't call for adding any moisture - so I ended up adding about 3/4 a can of Cream of Mushroom soup. 

But the biggest surprise of the night was the cole slaw.  First the recipe was so amazingly simple and easy to prepare.  Although it did call for cider vinegar which was not on the original shopping list.  I happen to have some so it worked out fine.  The kids LOVED the slaw.  I mean ate it all and asked for more!  I never would have dreamed that they would have enjoyed raw vegetables with so little dressing but they absolutely did - it will become a new staple in our home!

Tomorrow is our last day!  Chef Justin - What in the world will we eat next week?

Day 5: Fajitas...but better I didn't cook them!

First true confessions....I did not partake in the PB&J for lunch today because my office had a lunch meeting..but I'm sure it would have been great!

Dinner was the best of the week because I got into the kitchen and it was done!  James took over the cooking tonight -which does not happen often!  It was great...I wish there had been more veggies in the meat mixture but you can't go wrong with fajitas!  They are almost as good as tacos!  I have to say with the two southwestern nights this week - I have missed guacamole - but I can only awesome the avacados would have broken the bank.

Day 5 - We felt like royalty!

Pancakes on a weekday!  Crazy but delicious!  And wildly enough we had enough time today.  Chef had has purchase whole wheat pancake mix and the only option was Hungry Jack Whole Wheat.  And they were great - but comparing nutrition labels these were unfortunately had no more nutritional value than a regular mix pancake.  I say this only to say that it is an absolute pet peeve of mine to when they try to dupe you into thinking that something is healthy - when it isn't.  But all that said... they were great!  (I added some pecans into mine!)

A personal note on our crazy plates you may see in pictures...they are picnic plates that were wedding gifts and for kids they are perfect because they can't break!

Day 4 - All of it and stewed cabbage......

Today has been a crazy day!
The breakfast was great.  I enjoy a good bowl of corn flakes and they were topped with bananas!  I forgot how good that was...  Again, I didn't go for the cooked apples but I mixed a teaspoon of blackberry jam in with my vanilla yogurt and it was great.  Instant blackberry yogurt!

Lunch was the casserole of the left over taco meat, macaroni, and cheese.  It was so incredibly easy to make that I LOVED that part and the taste was surprisingly good.  It was so simple that I didn't have high expectations but it was great.  It was a bit difficult to take it for lunch - we baked it in the morning which added to the craziness of getting out the door.

Dinner was really quite good.  The steak was so thin, that I kept hearing my father complaining that it didn't  possibly count as a steak.  But the flavor of the seasoning, I used Everglades Heat seasoning and Cavenders Greek seasoning, was great.  Cooking the stewed cabbage was entirely a leap of faith and pessimism is the nicest word to say what I was thinking when I prepared it!  But I have to say it was great, I mean so good that it will likely get added into a regular rotation of vegetables in our family! 

I love finding healthy foods that I have dismissed because of my percpetion of them, only to find out it is a delicious and great option for our family.  So thanks Chef for adding a new veggie into our family!

Day 3: TACO NIGHT!!!

Taco night is my favorite dinner night! In fact I would have tacos most every day if James would let us and these tacos did not disappoint!  It was such a unique take on tacos - we loved it.

The black beans call for 2 hours on the stove so instead I cooked them in the slow cooker all day on low and they were perfect for when we got home.  That saved some time.  I love brown rice but hate that it takes an hour.

The taco meat was so different with the slight crunch of zucchini and squash but it was a pleasant surprise.  The yogurt was a stretch for me but I followed directions and it was a really great addition.  It added a sweet/tartness that complimented the tacos.  We didn't tell the girls it was yogurt until AFTER dinner and they didn't believe us!  Harris even said..but mom I don't LIKE yogurt!

The only negative to the dish were the tortillas and I take responsibility for that.  I thought I bought two packages of a brand we know we like but I didn't realize that one of the packages was a different brand that turned out to be too dry.

All and all another successful dish by Chef Justin!

Day 3: Breakfast and Lunch

Lunch: PB & J
This is a classic I confess I never get tired of!  In addition, I love to find something to 'dip' my pretzels in - usually, it is just mustard.  But in the drawer of my office kitchen I found some random mustard packets and a spicy bbq sauce pack and mixed together it is a great 'dip' for my pretzels!

Breakfast:
What a hurried time in our house!  The menu called for honey dew but our family, especially our son Raines, loves cantaloupe.  For a dollar less we choose the cantaloupe and it was the first the scarfed up this morning.  So much so that when I took the last piece, my first piece, my 2 year old threw such a fit that I conceded - it was a wimp mom moment! 

The oatmeal was a mixed bag in our house.  My husband and middle daughter ate it up.  But my oldest and myself weren't on board.  I like oatmeal but this recipe called to top it with cinnamon apples.  While I like to think of myself as an adventurous eater - I'll be the first to admit that I don't eat cooked fruit, in any form (um...unless you count bananas foster!)

Anyway, instead of topping mine with the apples I thought I'd try to mimic Quaker's Maple and Brown Sugar oatmeal and failed miserably when I thought a touch of honey would work!  So by the time all was said and done I had lost my window for breakfast at home.