Another week... I guess you could call it the last official week of summer, although, I know many of you have been "back to school" already for a few weeks.  In Minnesota, school doesn't start until the Tuesday after Labor Day... and I don't have a child in school yet anyways, so it really doesn't effect our family.  We are definitely savoring the last few bits of summer, although secretly I'm looking forward to fall, as it's my favorite season!  I just wish it didn't lead to months and months of winter!
Savoring the season this week for us means using lots and lots of tomatoes out of our garden.  We have 3 regular tomato plants and 1 cherry tomato, and we've been swapping tomatoes with our neighbor who grew purple tomatoes, green tomatoes (yep they are ripe), and peach tomatoes.

I made a gorgeous marinated tomato salad last night, courtesy of the airing of Pioneer Woman's new cooking show

So on to this week's menu:
Grilled Hamburgers, Marinated Tomato Salad
Pesto Mozzarella Grilled Cheese, Pasta Salad
Blueberry Pancakes
Chicken Nachos with homemade salsa
Chicken Sausage, Peppers and Pasta

Last week Annie left a comment asking me: "As the new school year approaches, I wonder, what do you do for lunches and breakfast?"

Well... I don't have any kids in school, and my son gets fed breakfast and lunch at daycare, but I can definitely share what I do for breakfast/lunches normally. 

For breakfast I often have either an English muffin or a bagel thin with peanut butter or light cream cheese, and some sort of fruit (most of the time bananas - although I have hated them throughout my pregnancy).  I also mix this up sometimes with Greek Yogurt/Granola/Berries or oatmeal in the fall/winter.

Lunches are usually some sort of leftovers, as there are only really 3 of us (and one of us is 4, and doesn't eat that much), and most recipes make a minimum of 4 servings.  Sometimes we adapt leftovers, for instance last week on the weekend we made steak, so on Monday I made a steak quesadilla with leftover steak, shredded cheese, tortillas, and salsa for my lunch.  Or, I might make meatloaf on the weekend and do a meatloaf sandwich for lunch (one of my favorites). 

I also make sure there is plenty of fruit in our house.  I usually always have bananas, grapes, and apples on hand for lunches/snacks as those are the fruits "L" will eat right now.  I personally love melons in the summer, so I have been buying either a cantaloupe, watermelon, or honeydew each week, cutting into chunks, and taking with me for part of my lunch or a snack.

I also buy Havarti (pre-sliced) and cheddar cheese at Costco about once a month to have on hand for lunches/snacks.  One of my 4 year old's favorite lunches is what we call a "lunchable" - it consists of cheese cut up into slices/chunks, turkey pepperoni, pita chips or crackers, and a fruit (usually grapes these days).  I think this would be a great idea for those that need to pack a lunch. 

Good luck and happy back to school!