Here's what a real Earth family ate for dinners: some complicated recipes, some easier ones, some convenience foods, hardly any take-out. Bonus rant about Ree Drummond!
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Drowning in Veggies? 5 Steps for Using a CSA Farm Share
It’s dinnertime on a Wednesday, and you’ve just been handed 10 pounds of fresh, organic, locally-grown, assorted vegetables! You’re eager to get some of them onto your family’s plates tonight and make sure you use every bit as wisely as you can before next week—when another load of vegetables will arrive—and you never know what … Continue reading Drowning in Veggies? 5 Steps for Using a CSA Farm Share
A Really Real-Life Meal Plan
When life gets hectic, it's tempting to quit spending time on food preparation and just live on junk from the convenience store. The trouble with that approach is that it deprives your body of nutrients and gives it extra fat and salt to process, at just the time when you most need your body to … Continue reading A Really Real-Life Meal Plan
A Real-Life Menu (early summer)
I was recently asked by a reader to share what one of my family's meal plans really looks like. I've previously described how I plan the menu even though Daniel cooks our weeknight meals, how from June through November I'm planning around the vegetables we receive from our share in a local organic farm, how … Continue reading A Real-Life Menu (early summer)
Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (winter, with a baby)
A pesco-vegetarian is someone who eats no meat except fish. That’s what we do when we’re at home and most of the time when we eat in other places. Our 8-month-old daughter, Lydia, is abstaining from cow's milk until after her first birthday, because I have some family history of dairy allergies that may have … Continue reading Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (winter, with a baby)
Four Weeks of Mostly Meatless Dinners (February)
I'm not using the term "pesco-vegetarian" in the title like I have for many of my other multi-week meal plans because I think "meatless" is the more common word people are searching for in Lent. My family eats no meat at home except occasional fish--which does not count as "meat" in many fasting plans, for … Continue reading Four Weeks of Mostly Meatless Dinners (February)
Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (summer)
A pesco-vegetarian is someone who eats no meat except fish. That’s what we do when we’re at home and most of the time when we eat in other places. Here’s what we ate for dinner for four weeks in July and August. Normally I plan our menu up to a week in advance and do … Continue reading Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (summer)
Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (early spring)
A pesco-vegetarian is someone who eats no meat except fish. That’s what we do when we’re at home and most of the time when we eat in other places. Here's what we ate for dinner (plus weekend lunches) for four weeks in March and April, including Easter, trying to make the most of seasonal produce … Continue reading Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (early spring)
Four Weeks of Mostly Vegetarian Dinners (winter)
I've posted several accounts of our family meals that are all-vegetarian or include a little fish. That's the way we eat normally, and it's the way we ate during most of this four-week period, but this was one of the rare times when we purchased some chicken to eat at home and ordered some in … Continue reading Four Weeks of Mostly Vegetarian Dinners (winter)
Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (late autumn)
Here is what we made for dinner (and a few lunches) the past four weeks, using many vegetables and mushrooms from our community-supported agriculture share in a farm here in Pennsylvania. I hope it gives you some new ideas for meals based around the local foods of the season! I plan our menu a few … Continue reading Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (late autumn)
Three Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners for Early Autumn
A pesco-vegetarian is someone who eats no meat except fish. That’s what we do when we’re at home and most of the time when we eat in other places. Here is what we made for dinner (and a few lunches) the past three weeks, using many vegetables and mushrooms from our community-supported agriculture share in … Continue reading Three Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners for Early Autumn
Three Weeks of Vegetarian Dinners for Late Spring
I've previously posted four September/October weeks and four January/February weeks of my family's pesco-vegetarian menu, including a few seafood meals among the vegetarian ones. In these three weeks in May and June, we did not include any seafood in the meals we made at home, so this meal plan is vegetarian. However, we ate in … Continue reading Three Weeks of Vegetarian Dinners for Late Spring
Four MORE Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (winter)
A pesco-vegetarian is someone who eats no meat except fish. That's my family's policy when we're at home. Four weeks of our dinner menus made a popular post, so I'm posting another four weeks. I hope these are helpful to other people who want to eat less meat but aren't sure what to eat instead! … Continue reading Four MORE Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (winter)
Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (early autumn)
A pesco-vegetarian is someone who eats no meat except fish. That's what we do when we're at home and most of the time when we eat in other places. Last week I explained my family's approach to menu planning, which is that I write the menu and do the weekend cooking, while Daniel cooks weeknight … Continue reading Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (early autumn)
Two Weeks of Meatless Menus for Late Winter
It's Lent, which means that a lot of omnivores are keeping meatless Fridays, and some have given up meat for the whole six weeks. Daniel and I used to eat a lot more meat than we do now, and giving up meat for Lent in 2002 was one of the biggest steps in our journey. … Continue reading Two Weeks of Meatless Menus for Late Winter
Speedy Sushi and menu planning with a six-year-old
The obvious solution was to have Nicholas work with me on the menu plan. A side benefit is that he's more likely to eat meals he planned. I know that it usually works better to get him involved in what I want to do than to try to keep him occupied somehow so I can do it, yet sometimes assumptions like, "Children don't like to do that sort of thing," creep in and talk me out of even trying!
The Earthling's Handbook 