MPM--Coasting

It seems funny to consider this month to be coasting...we're all about having the kids finish the school year strong (keeping up the spelling word streak) and there are so many events (baseball! gymnastics showcase! preschool graduation! field day!), "coasting" doesn't seem like the right word for May at all. But, last week was a glorious weather week, and we did lots of bike riding and introduced the idea of coasting to the kids (who, of course, loved it). And, my car is a hybrid, so it has a screen on it to show where energy is coming from (electric battery, engine, brakes) and going to (wheels, battery recharge), and the kids are newly fascinated by that. And they love that (wait for it: metaphor ahead) energy is created by coasting.

So May has felt like a bit of a victory lap for my blog. With the incredible rush of so many events, I've really cut down on the new-recipe trying and fancy-technique doing, and new-food introducing. It's time to hang back a bit and rediscover some old favorites, so I've mostly been using the ones listed on the side over there and loving it. That said, the chicken recipe is new this week, but it's a crockpot recipe so it doesn't add much work.

Monday: chicken with 40 cloves of garlic (from the slow cooker); CSA vegetables

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday

Wednesday: Freezer meal of some kind. I worked down a bunch of things over the weekend (always love the TJ's gnocchi, but the pad thai...not so much) and would like to keep going for the annual summer thaw.

Thursday: Leftovers. And if not...see below (chicken with mustard cream sauce...yum).

Friday: Take me out to the ball game...these "extra" May activities are fine by me when they get me out of a dinner.

The big food news from last week was the pork with mustard cream sauce. I didn't have the evaporated milk this time, but had cream leftover from Easter and, um, YUM. Don't be surprised to see me try this again next week with chicken, the sauce is SO good.

Also, a "coasting" way for me to get more fruit in to Mr. Beige Food Only: Mashables. This is not a paid endorsement (ha! I wish), just me sharing a parenting hack. It all started with Trader Joe's applesauce in a squeezer; now the mashables are fruit puree in a fun tube. I hate the fun tube part of it but am that desperate to get actual fruits and vegetables in to my son on a reliable basis. So here we are. (For the record, smoothies often, but do not always, work, so this has been a nice backup to the apple/banana routine we had going.)

Finally, on a bummer of a note...what are your "dinners from thin air?" You know--the night you just got back from the emergency room/unexpected extra innings/just longest day at work ever. Ours are soft pretzels, cheese, and applesauce; Trader Joe's mac & cheese and a salad or piece of fruit and of course spaghetti but there isn't always time. In summer, BLTs sometimes work. We're pulling together a list for a friend going through a rough time of dinners you don't necessarily want to do all the time, but in a pinch, they work. Cereal, of course. Anything I'm missing? Or, for a night with more time but little energy--what's your go-to meal?

Thanks! Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for more ideas around the web.