I feel the need to apologize in advance for some of the odd (although delicious) flavors happening in this week's meal plan. I tried my hand at vegan feta cheese over the weekend. It's not finished culturing but so far it seems legit. I say all that to say that the recipe for the vegan feta called for sauerkraut juice... and now I have a whole jar of sauerkraut in my refrigerator that needs to be eaten. Lucky for me, I love the stuff. For those of you who don't, feel free to sub Friday's flatbread toppings with anything else you might have on hand.
Also, we went out for Mexican with Ryan's mom on Sunday and we had so much left over food that after I made my meal plan for this week, I actually decided to cross a couple of the meals off so that we could use up the leftovers. This is something I want to talk more in depth about in a separate blog post (or gosh it could even be a series) -- the idea of stretching the meals you eat out, by adding them to fresh ingredients and turning them into a whole extra meal later on in the week. We'll get there. For now, I've written out our made-over Mexican meals but have also given you the recipes from my original meal plan for this week.
Finally, I want to touch on something important. I find it extremely valuable to make a recipe over and over, if it's something your family loves. Eat it a few weeks in a row if you want! Commit it to memory. You'll find that the process of preparing the meal goes a lot faster when you don't have to look at the recipe. Don't feel like you have to come up with brand new, original or wow-worthy meals every single night. We certainly don't in our house. You'll see how that plays out this week, as you will be able to recognize a couple of these recipes from last week. We loved them. We still had some of the ingredients. Makes my life easier.
Now, for my kitchen inventory list after last week and the weekend:
Sauerkraut
Vegan feta cheese
Vegan garlic sauce (I've started just keeping this on-hand because it makes everything more delicious and lasts forever in the refrigerator)
Celery
Overcooked sun dried tomato beer bread (oops! But you'll see how I use it in my meal plan. Don't ever throw anything away!)
Beer - Did y'all know Saturday was national beer day?
Green onions
Radishes (the same ones from 2 weeks ago. They just don't go bad! And we don't eat them very fast)
2 Bell peppers
1 Red onion
Garbanzo bean flour
Rice
Fresh eggs from Ryan's mom's house
Cilantro
And here's the meal plan! Underlined (linked) recipes will take you directly to the recipes I use. And, as always, you can find them on my Weekly Meal Plan Recipes board on Pinterest. Otherwise, I'll list out my own recipes at the end of the post!
MONDAY
Gym at 4:30, then Ryan and I have a meeting at 7:30
Dinner (us): Mexican Buddha Bowl
Dinner (you): Roasted Buddha Bowl from last week (or use whatever veggies you have on-hand or have easy access to!)
The Buddha Bowl last week was so good we decided to add it to this week's meal plan again. For the Mexican version, I'm using black beans, subbing the quinoa for our leftover rice from the restaurant, putting some of our grilled chicken salad in the bowl, and adding in fresh tomatoes and our vegan garlic sauce and little salsa on top. This meal is made 100% in advance on Monday so that we can come home from the gym, eat, put the kids to bed, and run out the door for our meeting.
TUESDAY
I have a Rising Tide Society meeting and then Wine Club!
Dinner: Black Pepper Chicken from last week
Snack to bring to my meeting: Ottolenghi's Roasted Red onions with walnut salsa and goat cheese
WEDNESDAY
Yoga at 5:30 then Ryan has a meeting at 6:30
Dinner (us): Migas (made-over Mexican using the chips from the restaurant, which are scrambled with eggs and the rest of our Mexican leftovers plus a little cheese, salsa, and cilantro on top)
Dinner (you): Make the Roasted Red onions for dinner with a simple baby spinach and arugula salad. Healthy, light and deliciously satisfying)
THURSDAY
Ryan and the girls are going to Bible Study at 6:00, and I'm going to the LoveIt EVV launch party at 6:30
Dinner: Panzanella (made using my overcooked beer bread -- see, I told you I would find a way not to waste it!) Recipe below.
FRIDAY
Good Friday - I'm making hot cross buns in the morning with Julep to deliver to our friends and neighbors (look for that post this week!). Then we're headed to church at 6:00
Dinner: Sauerkraut pizza on grain free crust
OK, I know this one is a stretch. We have to use that sauerkraut somehow. I'm keeping it on this meal plan mostly because it opens up the floor for me to talk a tiny bit about the idea of Flatbread Friday. We kept it going for about three months straight and it was so much fun, especially as the weather warms up and you can cook pizzas on the grill. Either keep dough pre-made on hand, or buy naan at the grocery store. Use Fridays as a day to not only challenge yourself in the kitchen but use up your leftovers at the end of the week. See what kinds of interesting flavor combinations you can come up with on top of your flatbread each week! Maybe you'll find a new favorite pizza recipe.
Breakfasts/Lunches
• Grain-free granola and almond milk
• Oatmeal (with honey for the kids, with superfoods for me and Ry)
• Greek yogurt with strawberries and honey
• Smoothies (frozen broccoli stems that I saved from last week's broccoli and berries blended with coconut water, peanut butter and pea protein powder)
• Sprouted Kitchen Tuna Salad (I'll eat it with GF pretzel sticks)
RECIPES
Panzanella
Serves two
Ingredients:
3-4 Cups Day-old bread, cut into 1" cubes
English cucumber, cut in half length-wise and sliced into half moons
1 Cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 bell pepper, chopped into 1" pieces (I usually leave these out because Ryan doesn't like them)
1/2 Small red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
1 large handful baby spinach
1 small handful fresh basil leaves, torn (or cilantro if it's what you have -- cilantro makes an unexpected but excellent stand-in for basil in any Italian dish)
4 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 Cup feta cheese, cubed or crumbled
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Add 2 Tbsp of the olive oil to a large sauté pan set over medium heat. Add in the bread cubes and cook until golden brown and crisp.
Whisk together the remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt.
In a large bowl, add the chopped veggies and cooked bread cubes. Pour the dressing in a circle around the edges of the bowl, as to not douse any of the bread. Toss together. Add in the basil, feta, and a few grinds of black pepper, then toss once more. Taste again and adjust the seasoning, if necessary.
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