I feel like a slug.  The past few weekends I have not done a lot of cooking.  Instead I took the easy way out and we did take out.  But more on that later.

Originally, my plan here was to have one of the boys cook each Friday.  But with school starting my plans often get messed up as I try to get everyone back on schedule, sign more syllabuses than I can count, and get used to getting up at the crack of dawn to make sandwiches.  So this whole week was a bit… off, if you will.

Even though school didn’t start until Wednesday, we couldn’t do our traditional back to school cookout the night before because Roy and Hayden had football practice!  So, we did it on Monday instead.  Roy did burgers on the grill, and we had a little accident (which is unusual for him!). We lost a burger!  Right through the grates into the hot coals!  We did try to save it with a rinse, but sadly none of the kids were interested in a soggy hamburger.  Kids… so picky!

On Wednesday, I did a Texas Chili in the crockpot.  Chili is big in our house, and normally we make it the traditional way.  2.5 pounds of ground beef, some tomatoes, beans, some seasonings, a little of this, a little of that… and in the crockpot it goes, but this time I decided to try something different-using cubed sirloin beef.  The recipe was simple-basically brown the beef in a pot after tossing it with a bit of brown sugar and salt… then throw everything in the crockpot.  This recipe actually called for 1 1/2 cups of chili powder!  I actually doubled this recipe to feed my crew, so the recipe is written for four using 3/4 cups.  This was from September’s issue of Food Network Magazine.  It was tasty, but it won’t replace my go to recipe anytime soon.

I think this is actually one question I get asked a lot-what’s dinnertime like at your house?  If everyone is home, I won’t lie… recipes need to be doubled, sometimes tripled to feed everyone, and no, I am not talking about huge portions either.  Roy and the boys are growing active boys-though I don’t think Roy is growing anymore, he is active- and they like to eat.  Though I try to use healthy ingredients and serve a vegetable at each dinner.  But over the years, I have learned to cut costs, stock up on meat at Costco, use coupons, and try to shop in season, but food is still our biggest expense.

Ok. I’ll save the tips and venting for later.  This was supposed to be about Dinner with the Crew.  Tonight I am making Roy’s favorite dish-we call it the Chicken Ring, which is actually a recipe from “The Pampered Chef” that I changed up a bit.  Basically, it is chicken salad (with some dried cranberries and walnuts) wrapped in crescent rolls that have been laid out in the shape of a wreath.  I serve it with corn and mashed potatoes, though tonight Roy wants homemade mashed potatoes, and since he offered to make them, who am I to argue!

Tomorrow, Corey is making a chicken stir fry, but more on that next Friday.

I thought that I would do this every Friday.  Cooking for a large family is fun, if not challenging, messy and expensive at times!  Sometimes, things are a big, old failure, and other times I really hit it out of the ball park.  Some days, I am just too lazy to do much, so we have ‘free for all days!’ And that is just as it sounds, whatever you can find is yours!  And once in awhile, we just pile everyone in the car, and head out to find something to eat.

Yesterday, Friday, we had errands to run, so we made plans to take Corey, Addi, Hayden and Dean to Pei Wei Asian Diner.  Roy has taken me there a few times, and I just love it!  It’s good, fresh tasting, reasonably priced Asian fast food.  It isn’t like your standard Chinese buffet (though we have one of those we really like as well!)-this is food made to order.  Generous portions, and good prices make this a new family favorite!  Roy got the same thing he always gets-Honey Seared Chicken.  I went for something new-Mongolian Beef (Really tasty!  The sauce had the right amount of sweetness, and there was a lot of beef!).  Corey was a bit adventurous and got the Japanese Chile Ramen (a little spicy, but he wolfed the entire bowl down!) and for the little guys we got the kid’s honey seared chicken, and Addi got the Chicken Lo Mein.  Along with drinks and a side of Edamame, we spent less than $45 dollars!  The food was filling, had generous amounts of veggies, and we got our choice of white or brown rice.  I highly recommend this place if you have one near you.

After lunch, we ran to Costco and don’t even get me started on how much we spend in that place!  We didn’t even get any electronics… just food!  (ok, I did get two magazines and some books for the younger boys) I won’t say how much we dropped, but let’s just say my car payment for the Prius is less….

Well, we picked up Joe, and the kids were getting hungry… again!  I won’t lie.  After running errands all day (finding Crocs for Dean was tough!), I didn’t feel like cooking.  I didn’t even feel like heating anything up… so we headed to Qdoba.  I love their Guacamole!  I got my usual Poblano Pesto Naked Burrito, with a side of Guac and chips.  Addi and Joe actually shared one of their new Nacho platters, and let me tell you… PLENTIFUL!  Even for the both of them!  Corey and Roy got the Signature Queso burritos, though Roy’s had chicken and Corey’s had beef.  Hayden had a taco kid’s meal and Dean had the chicken nachos kid’s meals.  Both the kid’s meals were very nice size portions, and I always leave their full.  We have their loyalty card, and that saved us about $7, or a free burrito!  We didn’t leave hungry and for a family of seven we spent less than $40… works for me!

I will be the first to admit that I am trying to save money these days, but once in awhile, I just don’t feel like cooking, so the kids get a treat.  Both of the places we visited yesterday are family friendly and very reasonable. 

Seven Thumbs Up!