Here’s the last installment in our “Week with the Leakes” series where we took the time to photograph and record every single thing we ate for a week. In case you missed the first few posts check out what we ate for breakfast, lunch, and snacks…also if you haven’t already be sure to read our disclaimer about the entire series.
Our dinners for the week…
Sunday Family Dinner: Sauteed wild-caught halibut (using whole-wheat flour/butter/lemon/white wine), whole-wheat homemade fettuccine alfredo, salad with local spinach & greens, local strawberries, local goat cheese, toasted almonds and homemade balsamic vinaigrette. The kids had whole milk and the adults had water and white wine.
Monday Family Dinner (family-style): A local pork tenderloin marinated in teriyaki sauce and grilled, quinoa mixed with avocado/toasted almonds/soy sauce/cilantro, and raw local sugar snap peas. The girls had whole milk and the adults had water…oh and the children were not big fans of the peas (hard to chew).
Tuesday Family Dinner: Quesadillas made with cheese, onion, green bell pepper, mashed sweet potato, and leftover diced local pork tenderloin. We topped it with homemade guacamole, homemade pico de gallo, organic sour cream, and fresh cilantro. The kids had whole milk and the adults had water along with some rare weeknight margaritas (pictured below)!
Wednesday Dinner (Lisa and Kids): Leftover fettuccine alfredo with frozen peas (I confess, there were no peas in mine :)) and a salad with local spinach, local goat cheese, toasted almonds, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette. One kid had parmesan cheese instead of goat cheese because she doesn’t like goat cheese. The kids had whole milk with dinner and the adults had water and then red wine later on…for “dessert.”
Wednesday Dinner (Jason): A leftover quesadilla triangle, leftover quinoa, sauteed kale, and a salad with local spinach, pear, toasted almonds, local goat cheese, homegrown sprouts, and balsamic vinaigrette. He went back for an extra serving of kale not pictured here.
Thursday Dinner: Our first attempt at red beans and (brown) rice! We used celery, onion, green bell pepper, and organic bacon to flavor the beans. I thought the kids might hate it, but they actually ate some without complaining. No recipe to share yet…we still need to tweak it a bit :). The kids had whole milk and the adults had water. We probably should have eaten something else that was green aside from the veggies in the beans, but I guess we got a little lazy.
Friday Appetizers (we were invited to a friends’ house for dinner): Jason and I tried a little bit of everything, which included carrots, raw broccoli, hummus, olives, and peppers stuffed with mozzarella/prosciutto. The girls each had one piece of broccoli with hummus (lovingly given to them by their mom :)).
Friday Kids’ Dinner (at our friends’ house): All four kids made their own whole-grain pizza (using Deliciously Organic’s whole-grain pizza crust recipe…FYI – we have a whole-wheat pizza crust recipe as well). The toppings our girls used were sauce, cheese, pineapple, ham, and pepperoni and this picture was obviously taken before they were baked in the oven. I have no idea if any of the meat was organic, but I did not ask or worry about it since we were guests at someone else’s house. The kids had milk to drink.
Friday Adult Dinner (at our friends’ house): The adult pizzas were on the same whole-grain crust as the kids’ pizzas and the first one in the picture was “cheese-less” with a bunch of veggies including caramelized red onions, roasted red bell pepper, mushrooms, and kale (inspired by a Trader Joe’s pizza combo). We topped that pizza with a little fresh Parmesan cheese and it was super yummy! I will have to try that at home. The other pizza was equally as delicious and topped with red sauce, chorizo, manchego cheese, and kale. We had water, wine, and Jason had a couple beers. It was so nice getting a break from our own kitchen especially for a meal as delicious as this!
Saturday Kid Dinner: We were planning to have a family dinner together at home, but my husband was out with the kids later than planned (working on Mother’s Day stuff! :) ) so there was a last minute decision to get them some brown rice sushi from Earth Fare for dinner. This blurry picture was clearly taken near the end, but they each had their own package – one with brown rice veggie sushi and the other with brown rice avocado sushi. Both girls drank whole milk with their dinner. To see how we got our pickier daughter to start eating sushi in the first place check out the story on our homemade sushi recipe.
Saturday Adult Dinner: So as a result my husband and I ended up having an unplanned (and rare!) dinner alone together after the kids were in bed. It was really nice for a change. :) He had picked out a chantrelle mushroom taco recipe from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Everyday Cookbook and while it was a very unique flavor for tacos, it was really good. We had the filling in our own homemade corn tortillas and we were fighting over the leftovers the next day…even the kids! We both had water and wine to drink with dinner.
And these were our treats for the week…
Sunday Treat (the kids only): The girls went to a birthday party together on Sunday afternoon and each had a piece of the birthday cake. They said they also had some other stuff like a handful of goldfish and a little bit of pizza (I was not there the whole time so I am just taking their word for it).
Tuesday Dessert (everyone): Our 7-year-old picked out a “mango ice” recipe she really wanted to make one night, which happened to call for a lot of sugar (when mangoes are already so sweet!). So I modified it to where we basically ended up making our peach sorbet recipe except we substituted mango for the peaches. We topped it with fresh mint leaves from our garden that were lovingly ripped off the plant by our 5-year-old.
Other Weekday Treats (the kids only – no picture): Both my daughters had pieces of cake at school during the week for another child’s birthday (in addition to the cake from the party above). Junk food at school/parties/events is a pretty common thing for us, which is why I don’t give the kids very many treats at home because I feel like they get plenty of it regardless. I also learned this week (since I was asking for our “Week with the Leakes” project!) that my first grader has been sampling other kids’ morning snacks including a bite of a pop tart, a couple Doritos, a curly Cheeto, and some other stuff. More on that later in another post.
Adult Weekday Treats: Okay, so the cat is out of the bag…my husband and I are not scared to have a bite (or two) of 85% dark chocolate paired with a handful of some roasted/salted nuts (or sometimes peanut butter or even a granola chunk) after dinner. We occasionally have this after lunch, too. :) Our kids of course like this combo as well, but Jason and I are usually the only ones that eat it….maybe that’s because I sort of “sneak” into the pantry to get it when the kids aren’t looking. Just telling the full and honest truth here!
Friday Dessert (kids only): Since we were having dinner at a friend’s house on Friday I asked what I could contribute to the dinner, and the hostess said dessert for the kids. Since my kids already had two pieces of birthday cake that week I actually didn’t even want them to have any more dessert so I did my best to think of something I could bring that would be sort of an innocent treat (I didn’t want to be the party pooper and not grant the hostess’s request!). So I settled on the pictured homemade apple juice popsicles, which the kids shared with their friends and enjoyed. :)
A Week with the Leakes: Afternoon Snacks
I eat a lot more food than your pictures show. I like to eat the way you do, but can’t figure out how to cut down on the quantity of food. Do you have any suggestions on how to eat less food?
Hi there, Jennifer. It comes down to what your belly is used to in the short term but long term, your belly and body will let you know it can adapt well to smaller, reasonable portions. A good stratedgy for filling satisfied is to eat a big green salad with meals and drink a large glass of water before meals.
I’m excited to try some of the homemade snack ideas you listed here. My family eats mostly real food because that’s how I was raised, but I want to make even more foods at home.
One thing I’m curious about – I know that ways of eating that label some foods as “bad” and some as “good” can lead kids to attach some guilt and worry to eating. As someone who grew up with a mom and sister who had eating disorders, I know how harmful those attitudes can be. How do you teach your kids about healthy food while also not causing them to panic or feel guilty about the “junk” foods they eat occasionally? My kids are preschoolers, so I don’t have to worry about outside influences yet, but I’m curious how you deal with tricky food conversations without causing guilt or shame in your kids?
Hello Hannah. This post will help: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/07/24/being-polite-vs-honoring-your-values/.
As I am reading this post I am feeling a bit of relief at the meals that Lisa has shared. It made me realize that eating healthy and eating on a budget doesn’t have to include elaborate meals and can be very simply. I was raised on Steak, potatoes, and veggie on the side and so was my husband. We are working on being happy with simpler meals, mostly due to budget restrictions when choosing healthy versus elaborate. Anyway, thank you for sharing!
We’ve been eating “real food” exclusively (sounds so strange to say that) for a week now, and I’m finding that I’m eating waaaaaaay less, and feeling no hunger pangs.
I’m pretty sure when we feed ourselves the “fake food”, our appetite says “I need more food, I’m still hungry.” So we pile on more sugar and chemicals and who knows what.
Real food satisfies. I can just imagine my body saying “AHHHHHHHHH, that’s the ticket” after a meal of real food. Sounds so simple.
When I saw your beans, I wanted to share something we have recently hit upon as a “junk meal/snack”
Make your fav crockpot red or pinto beans…Mine are 1 lb dry beans soaked overnight. Drained and then cooked in the crockpot in 28 ozs tomatoes/sauce/diced. Combo of chicken and beef broths to cover. Add one chopped green pepper, 1 chopped onion, 3-4 stalks chopped celery, 2-3 chopped carrots I also added one chopped jalapeno pepper…or to taste. I also added about 1-2 tsp liquid smoke. This was supposed to be served with corn bread. Come dinner non of us were really interested. I ended up pouring about 3 cups of this mix into my food processor with approx. 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese. This created the most wonderful bean dip. I made up some home made corn chips… served this with sour cream and finally diced tomato. We all LOVED this… I still had much of the crock pot of original beans left for the next evening with salad and corn bread as planned. This was CHEAP, healthy, gluten free…The beans could easily have been spiced up more with cumin, cilantro, chili etc.
I was wondering how your kids react to the junk when they get it at school, do they seem to bounce off the walls more, are the sugar crashes worse?
Hi Karen. Mine don’t necessarily seem more hyper, but, 2 of mine get terrible stomach aches. I try and use those as a “teachable moment” to make them realize how they feel when they eat that sort of “food”. Jill
Hi! I am so inspired by the way you feed your family – and yourself. I can’t imagine my daughter eating any of this. She is such a picky eater. Any suggestions?
Also – how do you have the time to prepare and cook these emails.
Hi Amy. Here are two posts about picky eaters you might find interesting…https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/09/09/real-food-tips-12-ways-to-deal-with-a-picky-eater/ and https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/06/04/why-are-kids-so-picky/. And, here is a post about how much time Lisa spends in the kitchen that you might find interesting…https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/06/25/how-much-time-i-spend-kitchen/. Best of luck. Jill
I love this series on what your family ate for a week. It’s really helpful. I’m new to your page so I may have missed this, but can I ask for your reasoning on whole milk? I’m just curious and hear so many different things on milk. My husband and oldest son drink 1% milk and my youngest is breastfed with a small amount of almond milk and I drink almond milk. Thanks so much! Thanks for all the effort you put into this for the rest of us!
Hi Julie. Here is the post where we discuss full fat dairy…https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/04/15/mini-pledge-week-6-no-low-fat-lite-or-nonfat-food-products/. Jill
I have been reading your site for a couple months and am slowly trying to get my family over to a more/mostly whole foods diet. I just laughed out loud when I read part of this post as my husbands new favorite treat/snack/dessert is a handful of peanuts with a couple hershey kisses. He is not a fan of dark chocolateor other nuts but I am still trying and glad to know I am on the right track.
Are the portions pictured above, the actual portions your family consume? They seem SO small!
Hi Sarah. Yes, we’ve found we become full much more quickly now eating real food. You should check out these posts…https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/04/29/mini-pledge-week-8-stop-eating-when-you-feel-full/ and https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/06/24/not-cleaning-your-plate/. Jill
For beans, have you tried just cooking them with an onion and some salt? That is all we do and we LOVE pinto beans this way! We put toppings like salsa and sour cream and cheese on top. But you don’t have too! Put these on top of some brown rice and and have a salad on the side and there you go! Thanks for sharing all your meals with us for a week! I know it was a lot of work! :)
Mm, loving all the red beans and rice tips you got! I would have to second the mashing some up idea. Add a little water (or broth, ideally) after you mash some up. I add in LOTS of garlic, along with onion, celery, and bell pepper. I use a seasoning called Tony Chachere’s… supper yummy. If you aren’t down with Tony’s, I recommend Liz’s seasoning tips above. I love when I can get a really good smoked venison sausage. Really hits the spot!
I have been eating red beans and rice my entire life (I’m originally from Louisiana) and looking at yours and wondering if you used dried beans or canned? I always use dried (you can soak them or do a fast boil). Also spices are really key, I use ham steak (cubed) and smoked sausage (sliced up) in mine (not sure how the meat will translate in a real food plan, I have seen lots of sausage at trader joes but haven’t read any labels). Also season with 1 cup onions, 1/2 cup bell pepper, 1/2 cup celery, salt, cayenne pepper, garlic, 1tsp dried thyme, 3-4 bay leaves and black pepper. The ham adds all the salt I want so I skip that all together and everything else I season to taste. I sautee the sausage, ham, onions etc (everything but the beans) for a few minutes then add the beans, fill pot with water, bring it all to a boil, then reduce it to low for 2-3 hours. Stirring occasionally, I also smash some of my beans against the side of the pot near the end to get a nice thickness to the sauce. Serve over rice ! Yum!
We used dried beans, but I could use some advice so thank you!
love your website!!! i was wondering what brand of dark chocolate you buy? I LOVE dark chocolate and almonds!
Thank you! I just used your comment as an excuse to go check the brand name and take a little bite while I was at it :) It’s Green and Black’s Organic Dark Chocolate (85% dark).
How did you make your apple juice popsicles? By the way, I loved your “Week with the Leakes” post!
I am so glad you liked the series! I just poured 1-ingredient organic apple juice into some plastic molds I got at Target…pretty simple!
Looks great! I’m curious about portion sizes, too. If your kids ask for more, do they get more? Do you snack and f & v’s in between meals if you/they still feel hungry? My hubbs and I have hefty appetites (for healthy foods, though) and can’t help but think some of those meals look like snacks for us, but we also run quite a bit. Hope your Memorial Day is great! Thanks for doing what you do.
Yes, my kids definitely get more if they are still hungry. I will try to influence them to eat more green beans before they get more potatoes (or something like that), but they sometimes have 2nd or (in the case of our 5 year old) even 3rd helpings depending on what we are eating. Also, did you see the snack post? This covers all the snacks each of us had that same week: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/05/22/a-week-with-the-leakes-afternoon-snacks/ Trust me – no one goes hungry around here. We simply aim to eat until we feel full…that’s all really!
After a week long cruise and eating like a pig, I so look forward to getting back to real food. And to defend your alcohol consumption, alcohol is healthy in moderation. For the heart and the nerves. My husband is a family practice physician, and is health conscious, and we both enjoy a drink after work. He has a glass of wine and I like a good dark beer. I make a choice either a drink or dessert and I usually choose the beer since I don’t have a sweet tooth.
This all looks delicious! I wanna try those pizzas sometime soon.
I would love to see you do a post on ‘phantom’ trans fat that is found in many of the processed foods in stores. The FDA allows companies to list anything at 0g as long as it is under 1g (so, if its .7g or .3g, its technically ‘0g’ to them). There are companies out there selling products, advertising them with 0g of trans fat on the front, that actually have partially-hydrogenated oils in them. If you need help getting more information on this, feel free to email me. ~ Amanda
First- great dinners, love your recipes! Secondly, it’s a shame your kids get that stuff at school. My son’s school has them eat a fresh fruit or veggie for snack- no utensils or dips can be used. And they don’t have treats at school for kids b-days. On holidays they will be sent home with a piece of candy. And he was just telling me that his class got a reward day and I asked what they got thinking it would have been some type of treat, yet it was extra recess with the vice- principal, and he was so happy about that! Hopefully one day all schools will implement this stuff!
Our team loves to hear that there are schools out there doing stuff like this. Hopefully it will become the “norm” at more schools. Congrats to your school for already doing so many great things.
OMG! That is the best idea ever! EXTRA RECESS for a reward! It seems so simple and yet…! I agree, more schools should follow the example of your son’s school.
How long, on average, do you spend on meal prep each day?
Hmmm…I’ve honestly never added it up, but I can tell you it’s different every day. Some days it might be very little if we are eating leftovers for dinner, and we have plenty of granola/bread/etc. on hand. Other days could be a couple hours if we are low on a couple of things and also making a full dinner from scratch. If I am in the kitchen “stocking up” on some basic recipes I usually try to do a couple extra things all at once so I can have a day or two off in-between.