Meal Inspiration // January 3-9
German pancakes, orange sesame broccoli, root vegetable beef stew, spaghetti buffet, herb-roasted acorn squash, and chunky monkeys!
We’ve got some fun and yummy meals this week that use a lot of the same ingredients in order to simplify shopping and shrink your grocery budget. Enjoy!
Here’s the overview:
Breakfast: German Pancakes
Lunch: Orange-Sesame Broccoli
Dinners: Beef Stew with Root Vegetables, Spaghetti Buffet, Herb-Roasted Acorn Squash
Treat: Chunky Monkeys
Exercise, Story Prompt, Grocery List
Breakfast
German Pancakes
If you get stressed out flipping pancakes, this recipe adapted from Cooking Classy is for you. It’s also quite amusing to watch the giant pancake puff up in the oven. 😏
(If you have a round cast-iron pan, you should try a more official “Dutch Baby” recipe like this one.)
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Melt 3 Tbsp butter and swirl it around the dish.
In a blender, combine four large eggs, 1 cup whole milk, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 Tbsp sugar, and 1 1/4 cup flour. Blend only about 5-10 seconds.
Pour batter into the dish and bake for 15-18 mins. (Broil for the last minute to make it golden if you need to!)
Optional: Top with orange slices and a dusting of powdered sugar.
Slice up and serve warm with syrup! (Or simmer some orange juice until it makes a sauce! See this recipe.)
Lunch
Orange Sesame Broccoli
If you don’t think you like broccoli, maybe it’s because you’ve just never had it prepared in a way that you like. Try this recipe adapted from Food.com. If you’re iffy on the orange sauce idea, just try sautéing broccoli with salt and a significant amount of fresh garlic.
Heat some olive oil on medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add broccoli florets (fresh or frozen are fine.) Stir occasionally.
Mince some fresh ginger if you have it, and sliver some garlic to add to the broccoli. Cook until veggies are tender, even better…crispy. Add sesame oil for
In a small bowl, combine orange juice (fresh-squeezed or from the store) with soy sauce in the small bowl. Pour it into the broccoli pan and cook for about thirty seconds.
Serve with sesame seeds (optional), garnish with orange peel and zest, and enjoy!
Dinners
Beef Stew with Root Vegetables
A hearty stew is a great chance to get comfortable with seasonal vegetables you might not usually cook. This recipe is for the instant pot if you have one, but you can easily find a different one otherwise. This recipe is adapted from Feasting at Home.
Turn on the saute setting.
Pat cubed chuck roast with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper.
Saute the beef in olive oil and add fresh garlic and onions or shallots.
Add balsamic vinaigrette and/or red wine, a can of whole tomatoes, beef broth, fresh thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper.
Prepare whatever root vegetables you want: parsnip, turnip, carrots, potatoes. Cut them into 2” chunks. You don’t need to peel them.
Cook at high pressure for 30 minutes. Release pressure manually or naturally.
Garnish with fresh thyme and serve!
Spaghetti Buffet
January 4th is National Spaghetti Day, and Strega Nona is a whimsical story by Tomie de Paola about a magical Italian woman and a bottomless pot of pasta. Let’s do a spaghetti buffet to celebrate! (See this post by Alice’s Wonderland for specific recipes and ideas!)
Simply make a big pot of spaghetti in salted water and set out various things that might go well as toppings, and let your kids pick what they want! Some recommended toppings: marinara sauce, butter, parmesan, bacon pieces or crumbled sausage, roasted broccoli, fresh herbs, roasted garlic. And maybe a small bowl of candy if you want to pay homage to Buddy the Elf 😉
Here’s one way to order your cooking that will also help you prep for acorn squash below later in the week:
Heat a pan on medium-high and crumble ground sausage into it.
Once it’s brown and crispy, scoop out half the sausage and put it in a small serving bowl. Set aside the rest for another recipe, such as herb-roasted acorn squash or sprinkling on sweet potatoes. Don’t wash the pan yet.
On a different burner, start boiling water for spaghetti. Add salt to the water. While waiting, slice up some fresh garlic.
Add spaghetti into the water, and cut up fresh herbs. (Herb scissors are great.)
In the pan with rendered fat from the sausage, heat to medium and cook the garlic until brown. Then add broccoli and/or brussel sprouts. Let them get a little crispy and brown.
Drain pasta and stir in butter to keep it from sticking.
If you cooked two different kinds of vegetables and kept them separate in the pan, you can easily scoop out the broccoli into a serving bowl. Add some balsamic vinaigrette and/or balsamic glaze to the brussel sprouts and toss them around for a little. Then scoop them out into a serving bowl.
Set out whatever else you need for the buffet!
Herb-Roasted Acorn Squash
It’s healthy. It’s in season. It’s delicious. Very few people—especially kids—will get excited about acorn squash, but this recipe adapted from The Real Food Dieticians might surprise you.
Preheat oven to 400.
Optional: Saute some crumbled sausage in a pan.
Cut your acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Then slice into 1/2 inch crescent slices and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
In a bowl, stir together freshly grated parmesan, melted butter, garlic, salt, pepper, and herbs or dried herbs (such as thyme, rosemary, oregano, etc. or Herbs de Provence mix.)
Cover the acorn squash with the parmesan mix. (Top with the crumbled sausage, if you did that step.)
Bake for about 25 minutes, until tender and browned. Garnish with some fresh herbs and enjoy!
Treat
Chunky Monkey Bites
Sure, this is a cold dessert that we should probably wait to recommend until the summer, but, well, it’s just so yummy. The peanut butter idea from Living Well Mom makes this little treat extra good.
Peel bananas and cut them into coins. Lay them out on a lined cookie sheet and freeze for at least ten minutes.
Make little sandwiches by spreading peanut butter between two banana coins. Freeze for at least ten minutes.
Heat chocolate chips and some coconut oil or butter in a microwave-safe bowl until melted.
Dip the cold bananas in the chocolate, roll with toppings if desired, and chill in the fridge until ready to be eaten. Enjoy!
Exercise
This 15-minute groove dance workout is a fun way to work your full range of motion.
Challenge yourself with this 10-minute yoga workout with a speedy “fire flow.” Don’t be frustrated if you can’t keep up; just keep moving!
Story Prompt
Tell a story or draw a picture about accidentally sledding into a portal to another world. I’d love to hear the stories your family comes up with :)
Shopping List
If there’s a more helpful way to format this newsletter, let me know! But hopefully saving this to your phone will be a good reference when you’re at the store?
As always, we would love to see photos of the yummy meals you made! You can reply to this email or tag @family.scripts on Instagram! See you tomorrow with the main newsletter!