My youngest daughter (the nine year old) is a self-proclaimed vegetarian. Her diet consists mostly of fruits and vegetables, but Emmalynn will also eat eggs, very plain, unseasoned chicken, pasta and cheese. When we point out that she does occasionally eat chicken, she will proclaim “I am mostly vegetarian but sometimes I will eat chicken. ONLY SOMETIMES!”
Planning dinners can be difficult with such a picky herbivore; although Emmalynn is the reason why I began incorporating protein rich-smoothies into breakfast every morning and more meatless meals in to our weekly dinner menu. Obviously, adopting a vegetarian diet can be beneficial, but truthfully, more meatless meals on the menu save me from having to make two separate dinners each night.
Given that Emmalynn loves fruit and all types of berries, she is always the kid to beg me to take her to a u-pick farm. This month, the blueberries came into season and of course, like clockwork, she begged me to take her blueberry picking.
Bright and early this morning before the rain rolled in, the entire family went blueberry picking. Besides being such a great family bonding time, u-pick opportunities provide a true from the farm to the table experience.
In addition to being my little vegetarian, Emmalynn is also my little chef. As she picked the largest, juiciest berries, she concocted recipes and menus. “We need to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast and all blueberry smoothies! Oh and we’ll need some blueberry sauce to go with the pancakes!”
Yes, our menu this week will consist of lots of blueberry meals as well as a few simple vegetarian meals. Since Dad will be traveling again all this week and he doesn’t like Sweet Tomatoes, my little vegetarian begged me to take her to her favorite restaurant for dinner this week.
If all it takes is a few bushels of blueberries and Sweet Tomatoes to keep my vegetarian little chef happy and healthy and eating, I’ll happy oblige.
Per Emmalynn’s request, there will be blueberry yogurt parfaits, blueberry smoothies and blueberry pancakes with blueberry sauce for breakfast this week. As for dinner, here what’s on this week’s dinner menu:
Sunday – Asian-Inspired Turkey Burgers with Asian-Style Broccoli Slaw
Meatless Monday – Black Beans and Rice with Healthy Baked Plantains and a Mixed Greens Salad
Tuesday – Greek Salad Sandwiches with “No Potato” Cauliflower Salad
Wednesday – Dinner at Sweet Tomatoes
Thursday – Black Bean Pepper Jack Quesadillas with Mixed Greens Salad
Friday – Blueberry Pizza with Whipped Ricotta and Caramelized Shallots
What recipes are you pinning and planning? What’s on your dinner menu this week?
YUM!!! I looooooooveeee blueberries! <3
Picking blueberries is a favorite of mine and I can’t wait to go this month!
We love it too! Better hurry, though! The u-pick is almost over at BlueYouth!
I almost went to Keel and Curleys’ blueberry festival this past weekend, but ran out of time…is the place you all went in Odessa?
Yes, this is the farm off of Gunn Highway. BlueYouth said the blueberries would be available for maybe another week, but to call to make sure. The berries were about $5 a pound.
I love Blueyouth but haven’t made it there yet this year. I need to before they are no longer available. I pick way more than I could ever eat in a week and freeze the remainder for everything from smoothies to muffins and of course a refreshing summer libation with muddled blueberries, vodka and mint 🙂
The farm may have blueberries for another week, but advised guests to call before visiting the farm. They also have a public FB group where they share the berry status. Blackberries will be ready to pick soon! We also pick way too many, but my kids will eat tons! I also freeze them for the winter months when blueberries are so expensive. BTW…that cocktail sounds AMAZING!
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