The staff of Maturing Mama are a tight knit group of moms who love sharing motherhood tips and tricks with each other. We each come from other sides of the world but we have a place we communicate on- like a bridge closing the gap of oceans between us- WhatsApp.
We call it “the office”. It’s group chats for different departments of Maturing Mama, where we go to discuss tasks for the week and share our lives with one another.
It’s pretty cool because no matter the time of day you message the group chat, it’s guaranteed there is someone awake to chat with you because of the time difference.
The number one topic (unrelated to work) which we discuss is… What’s for dinner? The kids ask us and we ask each other.
Grocery shopping can be a night mare for the one person in the household everyone expects to know what to eat. It can also be the difference between gaining or losing a few pounds.
So we Maturing Mamas are going to let you all in on what’s for dinner in our homes. We are airing out our dirty laundry- for those like me that have items on the grocery list only for mommy and daddy ????
Here it is with an explanation of key meals for the week.
The key meal for my family this week was, Coconut Milk Chicken Alfredo.
I’m trying to lose weight without telling myself I’m losing weight- if you know what I mean. Yes, these are still damn quarantine pounds. Not to mention there are no gyms open in my area with childcare.
This method of weight loss is the same thing I did after giving birth. Simply substitute every unhealthy and high calorie ingredient for the latter. Hence coconut milk instead of Alfredo sauce.
Often times when I do these types of substitutions, there’s a chance my husband will give me an earful. He swears he can taste the difference in wholegrain pasta compared to regular pasta.
But I made him this wholegrain Chicken Alfredo pasta and he literally said, “This is the best pasta I’ve ever had!” I was shocked. He asked what was in it and I almost didn’t want to tell him in fear a reflex would kick in and he’d suddenly hate it.
I made the chicken breasts by first covering one side with sea salt, the juice of half a fresh lemon and then sprinkled dried garlic and herb seasoning.
This seasoning is one we always have in our home along side smoked paprika and Cajun seasoning. Those three seasonings in your pantry and you’re set to make a delicious meal every time- no excuses!
After cooking the chicken on a pan with a drizzle of olive oil I set aside 1/4 of it for tacos the next day. There’s two meals taken care of right there. (Cook smart not hard ????).
I then poured a full can of coconut milk over the chicken and added feta cheese, sea salt and more lemon. Threw in spinach to finish off and that was dinner!
The six yr old, Esperanza and my husband Jesiah took left overs to school and we ate the chicken in tacos the next day with a very easy Pico de Gallo. Literally just chop up a large tomato, throw chopped cilantro over top and squeeze half a lime on there.
You can then do a little buffet of condiments, like Greek Yogurt, avocado and lettuce alongside the Pico de Gallo.
Because I don’t like cooking every day I always get a frozen meal. Wings is an easy one. We’ve been watching Hot Ones on YouTube and that show just gets you in the mood for hot wings.
Of course we buy ones without spice and add our own. Which I honestly think is the best way to do it any way. I’m Carribean, so hot sauce needs to be delicious. I’m lucky to have a Canadian husband who has just as strong a love for delicious hot sauce like I do.
We love habanero hot sauce! If not that, then we get a jerk seasoning to toss our frozen chicken wings in before putting in the oven.
Add a side of Coleslaw to cool it down and it’s the perfect meal! Groceries this week was an absolute home run.
Not sure if you spotted that little category of foods just for mommy and daddy on our grocery list. Yes, rum! I’m Carribean after all. Plus I already have coconut milk, so add some canned pineapple juice and there’s a delicious Piña Colada, which has been my staple evening drink. Not every evening though these days. I’m trying to slow down on my week night drinking ????
But Piña Coladas are actually a pretty healthy drink too. Coconut milk, though high in fat, is actually good fat! And rum, much like wine is very good for you too. Do the research if you doubt me! (I’m not going to try to convince you. More rum for me if you don’t drink it ????).
We’d love to hear what your grocery list looks like! Do you have any “work smart not hard” ideas for meals? Share it in the comments here, Instagram or direct message us. We’d love to hear from you!
