Week 12 – March Magazine Week

Printable Version of Meal Plan

Magazine week again!  I like this one… makes meal planning fun on Sunday because I get to flip through my favorite magazines again.  It also take the pressure off having to photograph my meals… not my strength in case you haven’t noticed!

Recipe Quick Links:
Tuna Melt Calzones, Today’s Parent
Whole Wheat Pizza, 100 Days of Real Food
Beef Milanese, Canadian Living
Zesty Roasted Broccoli, Today’s Parent
Skillet Sweet Potatoes and Beans, Canadian Living
Stewed Kale & Lentils, Canadian Living
The Best Breakfast for Dinner Sandwich, Chatelaine

Week in Review

Sunday we were using up leftovers… I added it to the meal plan in case you have similar leftovers you’re trying to use up.  Havarti grilled cheese were using up the leftover havarti from the “lunchmate” lunch last week.  Hot turkeys were using up some of the turkey and gravy leftover from “Winter Favorites” week.  We made homefries too… mmmm….

Monday – Monday’s lunch was a slightly modified version of the Tuna Melt Calzones from Today’s Parent.  I substituted the frozen pizza crust for the whole wheat pizza dough recipe from 100 Days of Read Food.  These were really good!  The recipe also says they freeze well so this would be a great one to big batch ahead of time.  Supper was Beef Milanese which was really just panko crusted and fried beef strips.  The first couple of bites I was thinking that anything coated in panko and fried was a-ok with me.  About half way through though I started to find it too greasy.  Might be my fault – I went a little heavy on the oil.  The Zesty Roasted Broccoli however was delicious!  I added cauliflower as well.

Photo Source:  http://www.todaysparent.com

Tuesday – Tuesday’s lunch was calzones again but stuffed with pizza toppings this time.  They reminded me SO much of pizza burgers I use to eat ALL the time when I was in high school.  These would make a great school lunch.  Summer was just a simple pork chop that I didn’t do anything special to and a side of Skillet Sweet Potatoes and Beans.  If you precut your veggies the night before this side dish cooks up quick and was pretty tasty!

Wednesday – I had a green salad with chickpeas on the menu for Wednesday’s lunch but I just wasn’t feeling it.  I had this quinoa cakes recipe from Marin Mama Cooks on the brain but didn’t have a computer handy to look it up.  So I came up with this little number and I thought it was really good… reminded me a bit of Mac & Cheese.  Highly recommend!

Quinoa Mac & Cheese
Ingredients:

• 1/2cup quinoa – prepared as directed on package
• 1 egg, scrambled
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1 c shredded mozza
• 1 tbsp oil

Heat oil in skillet.  Mix remaining ingredients well and fry until cooked through and cheese is getting crispy.  Enjoy!

For supper we had Stewed Kale and Lentils.  I didn’t have golden raisins so I substituted diced dried apricots.  I’ve never had this with the raisins but I really liked the flavor the apricots added.  Dave looked at this and reluctantly headed to the table with his bowl.  He admitted later that it was much better than he anticipated.  I liked it but think it should definately be served with rice if making a meal out of it.  Or have it as a side.  It’s just a bit too much on its own.  Marin didn’t like it and left the table in tears.  She eventually came back and picked out the walnuts.

Photo Source: http://www.canadianliving.com 

Thursday – lunch was leftover lentils… with rice.  Much better!  Supper was not magazine inspired.  I decided to go with something simple and “safe”.  I pan-fried a few chicken cutlets and spread pesto on mine and Dave’s, served with a side salad.  No tears! 

Friday – Lunch was chicken salad on pita.  Again this was not magazine inspired.  I had actually just gotten my Epicure order and was anxious to try out my Mango Curry seasoning.  I mixed up the dip as recommended on the jar and mixed it with diced chicken, celery, grapes, apples and green onion.  Not bad!  If you don’t have mango curry epicure dip you could just mix a little curry powder with mayo and/or plain yogurt.  Supper was “The Best Breakfast for Supper Sandwich” from Chatelaine.  I don’t know about “the best” but anything with bacon is just fine in my books!



Photo Source:  http://www.chatelaine.com

As I type this up I realize we had a lot of greasy fried foods this week – even if they were home cooked I’m feeling the ‘blah’ that comes with that.  I’ll be lightening things up next week!