October 2018 – Dogwood Dispatches

As a busy mom, my meal planning and prepping is constantly evolving. I find that it’s hard to prep too many days of the same meal at one time because I like variety in my meals. I’ve also spent whole Sundays cooking food for the week and then ended up making a frozen pizza for dinner because I’m so over being in the kitchen. What’s a girl to do?

For this week’s meal prep, I used three recipes to make enough food to both feed my family for Sunday dinner and prep four lunches for the week – two for me and two for my husband. Combined with a couple of salads and one meal out during the week, these meals will get us through the workweek eating healthy.

First, I prepped my sweet potatoes by dicing them into chunks about 1/2″ wide, then tossing them in vegetable oil and salt. I roasted them in a 450-degree oven while I went to work prepping my proteins. I cut a pound of chicken breasts into about 1″ chunks then tossed in oil and cajun seasoning before arranging them in one layer in a glass baking dish. Next, I peeled a pound of shrimp and placed them in one layer into a different glass baking dish, then drizzled with oil and topped with salt and pepper. I popped the two baking dishes into the oven and grabbed a couple heads of broccoli. I chopped the broccoli florets into small pieces, drizzled with some oil and sprinkles with salt and pepper, then into the oven they went!

While everything was cooking in the oven, I sliced my leftover broccoli stalks and made a quick slaw with some diced almonds, chopped grapes, 1/4 cup of mayo and 2 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar. I put a package of Green Giant zucchini noodles in the microwave to cook, then mixed up my sauce for the shrimp and zucchini noodles – 2 tbsp. mayo and 1 tsp. diced chipotle peppers in adobo.

Once everything was cooked, I packed up four lunch containers with a little bit of everything in each, then we enjoyed a delicious dinner from everything that was cooked. The kids enjoyed the cajun chicken, roasted sweet potatoes and the shrimp and zucchini noodles (they aren’t big on green vegetables – more roasted broccoli for us grownups!).

If you’ve read some of my posts about how I enter and win contests and sweepstakes, you’ve seen some of my trip wins. Being a “sweeper” as a hobby is definitely full of adventure, especially when winning involves my favorite thing: travel!

Recently I was notified that I was one of the lucky winners of the Lipton Brisk New York Comic Con sweepstakes. The prize was a three-night trip to New York to attend Comic Con, including flights, hotel, ground transportation, Comic Con tickets, some spending money and a gift bag. If you’re not familiar with a comic convention, or comic con, this is typically a multi-day event where various comic book authors and artists and other vendors come together to celebrate fandom of all types. San Diego Comic Con is the largest in the U.S., but New York’s annual event takes a close second. Expanding from its original focus on comics, NYCC offered panels from actors, actresses, writers, showrunners, authors and other people involved with some of the hottest movies, tv shows and books.

Over three days and a handful of different venues, my husband and I got to take in panels on some of our favorite shows and even see the first episodes from new seasons for some. We also visited the show floor, where there were plenty of vendors and interesting experiences, plus attendees dressed in their cosplay best. From independent artists creating graphic novels and comics, to hand-painted items to fragrance oils and vintage deadstock music memorabilia, there was plenty of shopping. NYCC was definitely an experience – it was crowded, but totally fun!