Happy New Year!! Wow, week 52??? Did I really just write that? So I did it... I meal planned faithfully for 52 weeks!! The benefits for me personally have been well worth it - time saved, money saved, new recipes found, healthier diet, etc, etc. And I really don't think I would have stuck with it without the blog to keep me accountable. But more on that in my next post which will be a year in review wrap up and what's up for the blog 2014.
For this week I wanted to finish off with one last meal plan. This week was a bit "off" for us given that we only had two work days and had more social gatherings than a typical week. But I've filled in the blanks to leave you with a full week of healthy meals since most of you are now trying to kick off the New Year on the right foot. I can tell because my stats this week spiked on January 1st and were mostly from Google searches for 'healthy meal plans' :-)
Recipe Quick Links
Easy Overnight Oatmeal, Marin Mama Cooks
Salmon Cakes, Source Unknown
Kale Salad, Original - Week 50
Feta & Spinach Casserole, Kalyn's Kitchen
Fish Sticks, Attach of the Hungry Monster
Chia Jam, Eat Good 4 Life
Thai Chicken Pizza, The Hopeless Housewife
Since we didn't follow this meal plan exactly I can't really do a week in review. So I'm going to highlight my favorite recipe from the week - Thai Chicken Pizza. I've been loving pizza this year. Last year for Christmas Santa brought me a KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Dave and I were both a little apprehensive about having one in the house thinking it would only increase our cake and cookie intake. And it has... but what I'm loving it for the most is dough. I've made biscuits, tortillas, naan, pretzels, and pizza dough... lots and lots of pizza dough. Prior to owning the KitchenAid I had never made my own pizza dough. On pizza night we would either order out (greasy), buy frozen (cardboard) or buy the pre-made crusts (meh). But now I make our own which is quick, easy and so much better! If you don't own a stand mixer I would highly recommend buying one. They are a bit pricey but I seriously don't know how I got by without one. I use it almost daily.
I typically make the Whole Wheat Crust from 100 Days of Real Food. I like to divide it so that we can make individual pizzas - pizza party supper is fun!
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| Personalized Pizza Supper |
I've also made pizza and tuna calzones for lunches - delicious!
Pizza dough can be divided into single servings and frozen either before or after baking. I prefer to shape the dough into personal sized pizza rounds and bake them prior to freezing. This makes for super quick lunches for nights that I'm feeling lazy. And lately I've been thinking about using pizza dough to make cheesy bread sticks to dip in pizza sauce. Wouldn't that be a fun lunch?! I'll let you know how they turn out.
This week we had Thai Chicken Pizza which was a nice change from the classic pepperoni. If you like peanut sauces you will love this pizza. I made this no-rise pizza crust, using a 50/50 mix of white and whole wheat flour, to speed things up a bit and it turned out great. This may become my new go-to crust. I topped it with chicken, red onion and carrot and garnished with chopped peanuts, fresh cilantro, green onion and a spritz of fresh lime. It wasn't a quick weeknight meal but much of the prep could have been done the night before. Plus we had leftovers for the next days lunch so it was well worth the effort!
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| Thai Chicken Pizza |
Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2014!
Sandra
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