When you live in a town house there are pros and cons. I don’t have to mow my lawn, worry about maintenance and it’s nice to know we’re surrounded by people that are quick to lend a hand. Especially the weeks when I’m on my own. The biggest drawbacks are the horribly small kitchen that I complain about daily and the teeny tiny yard. With two kids and a large dog it makes for a limited space to play.

So having a community garden as a yard extension has been my life saver. It’s a big safe space to explore that keeps us entertained for as long as I can find weeds to pull. The wonderful people at LaFF provided a huge tub of toys for the garden and my daughter happily eats dirt and anything within reach of her grubby hands. The membership and plot cost me a grand total of twelve dollars for the year and I would have spent quadruple that if I had known how much we would love having it.

We go down almost everyday when the weather is warm. I water the garden, weed, check on my veggies and all around feel pleased with my attempts at growing something. The kids dig in an unused plot, run, eat stuff and explore the garden. It’s such a great experience for them that also brings a whole new understanding of where food comes from. My son is so excited to try things and at home asks if vegetables came from the garden. The response “they came from a garden” is enough for him to happily bite into whatever it is.

If you have a community garden near you, check it out. It’s a fabulous place for kids, learning about gardening (I have no clue what I’m doing), and getting to know some people that like a little dirt under their nails:)

Here is what we ate this week.

Monday

Breakfast – Cereal and cut bananas
right now both my kids are on a cheerios kick

Lunch – BLT’s and tomato soup
I still haven’t come up with my own tomato soup recipe…one day

Dinner – Fish tacos
I seem to have this a lot on Mondays. I have the recipe on my Facebook page so come on over:)

Tuesday

Breakfast – Yogurt, fruit and granola

We are currently hooked on Liberte lemon yogurt

Lunch – Picky plates
An assortment of cheese, veggies, crackers and whatever other nibbly things are in the fridge

Dinner – Indian spiced sloppy joes
Indian flavours without too much spice and full of veggies

Wednesday

Breakfast – Whole wheat apple spice waffles
Super delicious and great toasted from frozen

Lunch – Ham sandwiches
Superstore has a great organic red fife sunflower bread that I am loving for sandwiches

Dinner – Chicken tacos
I use my own taco seasoning which is just a mix of cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and a little salt. Then load them up with chopped veggies, grated cheese, salsa and plain yogurt

Thursday

Breakfast – Fried egg sandwich
If I didn’t have kids I would probably just eat these

Lunch – Taco salad
I used the leftovers from dinner to make a salad for lunch

Dinner – Tomato, bacon and chard pasta
This is one of my favourite pastas and full of green healthiness from the chard

Friday

Breakfast – Cereal and strawberries
Yup, more cheerios

Lunch – Subway
We didn’t plan on it so when we decided on a last minute picnic at the community garden this was the easiest option

Dinner – BBQ chicken and veggies
My lovely parents had us over for dinner

Saturday

Breakfast – Whole wheat banana pancakes
Cut up bananas in pancakes makes them naturally sweet cutting down on syrup:)

Lunch – Hotdogs
I use a natural weiner with no preservatives or additives

Dinner – BBQ chicken pizza

My parents had enough leftover chicken for our pizza

Sunday

Breakfast – Scrambled eggs and toast with sliced tomatoes
Cottage cheese is an amazing addition to scrambled eggs. It makes them fluffy, cheesy and creamy all at the same time

Lunch – Leftovers
There’s always something hiding in the fridge

Dinner – Caramelized onion and bourbon burgers
A friend missed out when I made these the first time so I had to make them for her to appreciate

So that’s what we ate for the week. Hope this helps make feeding your family a little easier. If you’re curious how I write my meal plans  click HERE