This is one area I am seeking advice, tips, and any other clues from my friends who have big families. Who manages the grocery shopping and meal planning? Around here it is a typical team effort, but it is still a challenge. Even after owning several cookbooks, joining a CSA box, having a farmer’s market a block away, and being a vegetarian since I was thirteen.

As I get older I have found I love a good taco, add a little cilantro and I am set. In this image I cooked black bean with zucchini, topped with a little cole slaw type salad (thanks to my friend Tina’s mom for the recipe) on a corn tortilla. This is my go-to meal for gluten free friends. My kids love when I set out the ingredients and make it family style. They will each eat two tacos (Henry had three).Any vegetarian house has to eat its share of pasta as well. We do wheat pasta with sauce or cheese. I love when I can fill a plate with salad and fruit and my kids are happy to eat up.We also have nights where the kids get to pick the meal. Paul loves a good tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. He wants this in his lunch but he doesn’t understand that a lunch box is better suited for non-heated items.
Other nights we have make your own pizza or a stir fry. My kids will eat veggies over noodles or rice most nights. Then there are nights where I go to Subway and am so grateful for the grace of the young girl making our sandwiches, as my children shout over me “peppers, spinach, avocado, and jalapenos.” I was in shock at the volume of their voices, while she was in shock that my kids would eat sandwiches with all those veggies. This week I had a 101 fever and my meal planning fell to the way side. But I am determined to get better. When the weather cools down I plan on busting out my crock pot and I have yet to make one “salad in a jar” for work (a recipe I found this summer). I wish Joe didn’t have class four nights a week, but I truly treasure sitting down with my family and eating food while talking.