Week 46 - The Favorite Food Diet

Printable Version of Meal Plan

The "diet" plan continues.  And by "diet" I mean we're making a conscience effort to eat healthy food in healthy amounts.  The last few weeks have been a success... My favorite pants are fitting perfectly.  So we continue.  After a couple of flops last week, I've added in some of our favorites.  Success!  Dave says that compared to last week this week was like eating on a cruise ship.  hahaha. 

Recipe Quick Links

Easy Overnight Oats, Marin Mama Cooks
Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken, Budget Bytes
Chickpea Burgers, Marin Mama Cooks
Kale Salad, Marin Mama Cooks
Creamy Pasta Bake, Simple Balance
Feta Stuffed Chicken, Chatelaine
Applesauce Muffins, Weelicious
Primal Fudge, Practical Paleo

Week in Review

Easy Overnight Oats - My new morning obsession continues.  Will be trying some new flavor combinations in the next few weeks.  yummm.....

Overnight Oats

Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken - I know I throw around the word favorite a lot but this truly is a tried, tested and true favorite in our house.  I served it on a bed of romaine lettuce with our favorite fixin's.  Ok, confession... we used a few nacho chips for scooping but it was Sunday!  Totally allowed!  The next day we had it with brown rice for lunch.  Note: I replace all the spices in the recipe with 2 Tbsp of Mexican Spice Blend.  That's always premixed in my cupboard making this quite possibly the easiest thing I make.

Fish w/ Golden Beets and Arugula Salad - Fish is becoming another family favorite and it seems the plainer we cook it the better.  This week I simply baked it with lemon juice and salt and pepper.  On the side we had boiled golden beets (these are soooo good!) and arugula salad.  In case you've missed it this is just arugula, a drizzle of both lemon juice and olive oil, shredded or shaved Parmesan and pepper.  A ridiculously fast and easy weeknight supper.  Marin loves fish.  A kid hit every time.

Chickpea Burgers - I'm in love with all things chickpea so these burgers are a hit in my books.  I didn't dress them up, just had them along side a kale salad on the first day and leftover stir-fry and rice on the second day.  The Kale Salad on day one was what's become my regular kale salad (from Marin Mama Cooks) with some shredded purple cabbage, leftover beets and pumpkin seeds added in.  Some goat cheese would have been awesome... I even had some, not sure why that didn't happen.
 
Baked Tofu with Peanut Dipping Sauce and Stir-Fry -  I really enjoyed this tofu, but then again anything dipped in this peanut dipping sauce is going to be good.  I made an Asian marinade and soaked slices of the tofu before baking at 400 for about 25min.  I made the marinade up as I went, not really measuring anything but I'll give you my best estimates:

Asian Marinade

• 2 Tbsp Soya Sauce & Sesame Oil
• 1 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp Honey & Lime Juice
• 1/2 tsp minced ginger (jarred)
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

The dipping sauce was a bit of a cheat but it was well worth it.  This accompanies a Recipe from the Life's on Fire Cookbook, but we use it for dipping our fingers various things:

Peanut Dipping Sauce (From the cookbook Life's on Fire)

• 1 1/2 Tbsp creamy Peanut Butter, softened in microwave for 20-30 seconds
• 1 tsp brown sugar (or honey)
• 1 Tbsp soya sauce
• 1/8 tsp cumin powder, cayenne pepper
•  Water to smooth

 
I tried to stick to an Asian theme for the stir-fry - purple cabbage, edamame (organic, frozen), onion, red pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, kale and the leftover marinade from the tofu.  Not sure if I've ever mentioned this but tofu was one of Marin's first foods.  I would just dice up firm tofu and toss it on her tray.  She loved it and still does.  I buy organic tofu - it's a little more expensive but still a cheap meal.

Creamy Pasta Bake - This is such an interesting combination of ingredients... pasta sauce, plain yogurt, peanut butter, nutritional yeast... I just had to try it.  And it was pretty darn tasty!  We had it for lunch twice but I wanted to try it out on Marin as well so she had it for supper on Thursday.  A big kid hit - she gobbled it up!  And I'm totally inspired by Wendy McCallum's story.  She left her job as a lawyer and went back to school to learn more about nutrition and real food.  She now has a successful blog, business and a cookbook (Real Food for Real Families) that I'm dying to check out.  Santa?  You listening?

Pork Tenderloin - I cooked two pork tenderloins at once and we had it two nights in a row.  Once with roasted vegetables and once with mashed (cauliflower, parsnip and golden beets).  I used the following marinade from the Crazy Plates cookbook.  The recipe says to marinate for 1 hour and bake at 350, uncovered for about 40 minutes.  I actually made only half the sauce and skipped the marinating step.  I would recommend marinating if you have the time but unless you want a lot of extra sauce I think cutting back works fine.

Marla's Maple Pork (from the cookbook Crazy Plates)

• 1/2 cup Maple Syrup
• 2 Tbsp each of Soya Sauce, Ketchup
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp Orange Zest
• 1 1/2 tsp each of curry powder, ground coriander
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Feta Stuffed Chicken and Greek Salsa - A Friday treat without the cheat!  We love this meal.  It's really just a bonus that it's actually pretty healthy.  The Greek Salsa is super easy to make.   Finely chop tomato, cucumber, red onion and anything else you choose (eg. peppers, zucchini, olives).  Add feta and toss with the Greek Dressing found on my handy printout.  mmm, mmm, mmm!

Greek Salsa

My muffin fix this week was leftover Applesauce Muffins from the freezer.  I don't think I did these justice when I mentioned them last week.  These are really good!!  You'd never know they have no oil.  We were also treating on the end of the batch of freezer chocolates I made weeks ago!  The recipe says it makes 10 but I broke them into small pieces so that they could be just a little quilt free treat.  Note, I also added unsweetened shredded coconut.


Hope you all had a great week!

Sandra

Week 42 - A Salad a Day Keeps the Doctor Away?

Printable Version of Meal Plan

I was really pumped that our gradual switch to a more "Real Food" diet would result in us slimming down with no real effort.  Unfortunately, that's not what's happening and I think it's that our sugar intake has actually increased because I see so many "healthy" recipes for baked goods that are just too tempting to not try.  Summer is also our most challenging season.  While there's an abundance of fresh produce available in the summer there's also an abundance of "junk" food.  So fall tends to be the time of year that I crave fruit and vegetables in copious amounts and that's where we are right now.  We ate A LOT of salad this week!  Luckily salad doesn't have to be boring... this might just be my favorite week so far.

Weekly Recap

Lasagna - I had Supper Club with the gals on Sunday night (at Two Doors Down on Barrington St. - Kale Caesar Salad highly recommended!!) so I made a super quick and easy lasagna for the fam before I left.  I used a jar of organic pasta sauce layered with uncooked lasagna noodles, cottage cheese (mixed with an egg and Parmesan cheese) and shredded mozzarella.  Because I didn't bother adding any meat I didn't have to cook anything.  I just assembled and put it in the fridge until they were ready to throw it in the oven.  We had leftovers for Monday lunch and put the rest in the freezer.  Love lasagna!!

Trout, Boiled Potatoes and Arugula Salad - This meal was a winner with everyone.  Dave in particular gave it a strong two thumbs up.  I baked the trout seasoned with just salt, pepper and fresh lemon juice.  Easy.  We had it with boiled potatoes (I don't know why but to me fish and boiled potatoes go together like PB & J) and our most favorite salad at the moment - arugula tossed with a drizzle of olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt & pepper and fresh shaved Parmesan.  We could eat this salad every day of the week! 

Kale Salad with Tahini-Lemon Dressing (Oh She Glows) - I wanted to give another Kale Salad a try and this one definitely did the trick as a meal on it's own.  I added bulgar to make it a bit more hearty.  Really liked this dressing.  You can't go wrong with any recipe from Oh She Glows - vegan or not!

Marinated Chicken w/ Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Carrots - I'm determined to keep trying Brussels sprouts until my family love them as much as I do!!  And until then... more for me!  I used to occasionally marinate chicken in either Italian or Basil Parmesan bottled dressings.  Lately I've been skipping that section of the grocery store and never have any on hand.  So when I saw this recipe for Italian Herb Dressing from My Whole Food Life I instantly thought of chicken.  I marinated for about 8 hours and then baked it in the oven.  It would have been better grilled for sure but it was too chilly outside for that.  Either way, this dressing was a good substitute for my old standard marinades.

Tuna Salad on Rye Crackers - New favorite lunch alert!!  I mixed a can of chunk white tuna (in water) with olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, feta, grape tomatoes and pepper.    We had it with Ryvita Rye Crackers that I worked out to be 1 Weight Watchers point per 2 crackers!!  Low point, full of flavor lunch!

Panko Tofu w/ Kale Salad - Two of my favorites come together!  Not surprising I enjoyed this meal.

Panko Crusted Tofu

Greek Quinoa Salad w/ Chickpeas - I realized this weekend that we haven't had this quinoa salad in ages!  If you're trying to introduce more quinoa into your diet I would consider this a good "starter" recipe.  Marin helped me make it and then had a bowl and declared 'Mommy, this is the best salad ever!'  She then asked for a second bowl saying 'mmm.... this salad is TOO good!' and then went on to ask for a third bowl!  Kid-friendly?  I think so!  I mix cooked and cooled quinoa with tomato, cucumber, red onion & feta.  Throw in some black olives if you like.  I add chickpeas or tofu if I'm making a meal out of it.  Stir that up with some Greek salad dressing - I recommend this one.  This salad will keep well for a couple of days so double it up! 

Marin's version of "Helping"

Greek Quinoa Salad

Pork Chops w/ Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Mash - This meal was simple, just a few ingredients and no recipe required so it makes for a good week night meal in that way.  I pan-fried the chops and simple boiled the sweet potato and cauliflower together until really soft and then mashed them with a little butter and milk.  Marin's not a fan of mashed anything so I gave her some frozen peas... sometimes you can't over-think things with kids!

Falafel & Tabbouleh - I've had this one on my list to try for ages and so happy I finally did!  Yummers!  Although I will say while the recipes are easy, this was still more effort than I typically like on a Thursday night.  But definitely worth trying, maybe just bump it up earlier in the week.

Falafel

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup - It's Friday!  Slow Cooker is on (hopefully!) and we'll be coming home to Taco Soup.  Can't wait!

This week was brought to you by a full 2 lb bag of lemons.  

Happy weekend everyone!

Sandra 

Week 33 - Freezer Makeover - Before

Printable Version of the Meal Plan

We were out of town last weekend for an overnight getaway with friends.  We had a blast at Upper Clements Park on Saturday and then took our time working our way back into the city on Sunday.  We didn't get home until suppertime and I was Tired (yes, with a capital T) so my plan was to get groceries Monday night.  However, at around 7pm I realized that I was donating blood Monday night... so I literally threw together a meal plan with the help of the awesome September issue of Canadian Living and reluctantly headed out the door to get some grub.

There was no real theme this week, my only goal was to fill our bellies with as little effort as possible.  But by mid-week I started to think about some of the back to school articles I've been reading.  I still have one year before Marin starts school but I've been working at a University pretty much since I left University so to me September is the real New Year... I always get excited for a fresh start!

In particular I was feeling inspired by a post from 100 Days of Real Food re freezable lunches.  I have a confession... I'm 33 weeks into my meal planning resolution but my cupboards, and especially my freezers, are a mess!  I'm not really one to freeze meals in advance or stash leftovers.  Instead I tend to cook my meals fresh and make enough for just the servings I require for that week.  But this whole idea of having a stockpile of things like soups, pizza dough and muffins in my freezer to make at least one easy lunch a week is really appealing!  I mean come on... freezing individual servings of soup in mason jars - brilliant!!  So in the spirit of back to school I'm cleaning out the freezers!  Think of it as my New 'School Year' Resolution. 

 

Freezer Makeover - Before

I can't believe I'm posting this because it's super embarrassing but here are the before pics...

Fridge Freezer - Before

Fridge Freezer Door - Before

Deep Freezer - Before

This project is apparently long overdue!!  I'll post after pictures next week... and now that I've put it out there I really have to follow through!  Eek!

Let's talk about the food...

Lasagna - This is note-worthy because it actually came from the freezer!  Before leaving town last weekend I realized I had 2 pieces of the 'Easiest Lasagna Ever!' frozen.  It was the best feeling in the world to know that I wouldn't have to make lunch on Sunday night.

Orange Chicken Salad - This was one of the life-saving recipes I found in Canadian Living last Sunday night.  Just what we needed after not eating the best for a couple of days.  I used the PC Organic Field Greens with Herbs Mix and added a little feta.  Marin was loving the feta and said excitedly "Mom, I have a great idea!  We can make the cheese crackers and add feta and mix it all together!!!  That's what I'm talking about!".  I think I have a little foodie on my hands.

Orange Chicken Salad

Tomato and Chickpea Salad - Another Canadian Living recipe.  I enjoyed and it was a very easy and packable lunch.

Grilled Steak and Salad - We marinated the steaks (see the Favorites/Salad Dressing & Spice Mix section) and grilled them.  To go with them I did up a foil pack with mushrooms, onions, zucchini and butter and made a super simple salad using the rest of the salad green & herb mix, tossing it with olive oil, lemon juice and honey.   A quick, easy meal that we could eat anytime!

Homemade Tortillas -  I'm (almost) speechless... I made whole wheat tortillas!!  I figured if corn tortillas were easy and worth the extra effort than flour tortillas were probably worth a try too.  I took the time to read the recipe and they actually sounded like a breeze to make.  I'll admit they take a bit of effort but they were far from difficult (thanks in big part to my KitchenAid Stand Mixer) and I think it's a recipe that will get quite easy once I make it a few more times.  And the results... totally worth the effort!!  For me the best part of eating at a good Mexican restaurant is the fresh, chewy tortillas... and now I can make them myself!!  We made a cheese quesadilla as a snack to test them when they were hot out of the pan and they were divine!  Then we had them as part of our lunch for the next 2 days (Quesadillas on Day 1 and Chef Salad Wraps on Day 2) and even on the second day they were perfect.  Plus... you can freeze them! Another item for my freezer! Hurrah!  This was the highlight of my week.

Fish Casserole - I had an idea in mind of what I wanted here.... I was thinking white fish, rice, creamy sauce and Frenches Fried Onions crumbled on top.  I couldn't find a recipe anywhere so I made one up.  I basically used a Scallop Potato recipe but with fish (I used cod) instead of potatoes.  Once the fish cooked I used a fork to break it up and added the rice and shredded mozzarella.  Once that was all bubbly I topped with the Frenches onions and put it back in the oven for a few minute.  The results - delicious!!  It was kind of like Cheesy Scallop Potatoes meets Green Bean Casserole.  Just what I was looking for.  Dave loved it too, Marin not so much.  You win some you lose some...

Fish Casserole

Slow Cooker Chicken Gyros (Recipe from Six Sisters' Stuff ) - Slow cooking in the summer is awesome - there is just nothing better than coming home on a hot day to a cooked meal.  I'm pretty excited to get home tonight to try this one out!


Now I'm off to clean my freezers!

Sandra

Week 31 - Lighten Up

Printable Version of Meal Plan

We're just back from a week at the cottage and arrived home Monday evening with grocery stores closed for the holiday.  So... I drew up my meal plan in the car knowing I wouldn't be able to get a grocery order until the next evening after work.  That made Tuesday a challange since the fridge was completely void of everything except for the odd jar of this or that.  Marin was starring into the fridge after daycare on Tuesday and declared 'Wow, we're out of A LOT of things!'.  We picked up bread and milk at a corner store and that got us by.  My main goal this week was to lighten things up... nine days of chips and sweets had me craving a good old salad!

I'm posting a regular Monday to Friday meal plan but for us this was actually Tuesday to Saturday.  We were so low on everything that I wanted to make sure we had enough to get us through the weekend.  And since I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things my post is again taking on a different format.  No grocery list and instead of "Quick Links" and "Week in Review" I'm trying out what I'll call "Meal Reviews", which will include all the appropriate links and any notes I think are worthwhile.  Who knows... this might stick.  Let me know what you think.

Meal Reviews

No-Cook Overnight Oats -- Have you tried this recipe yet??  I have my sister hooked - she loves it for camping.  Some of my favorite add-ins are mango, peaches, fresh figs, coconut and pumpkin seeds.  What are yours?  Note:  I make mine with Steel Cut Oats, even though the recipe says not to.  One of these days I'll try it with regular oats.

No-cook Overnight Oats

Slow Cooker Deli Style Chicken with Tomato & Zucchini - this was the perfect quick and light meal for the first night back from vacation.  First of all, the slow cooker takes no more than five minutes to prepare in the morning and then you come home to a fully cooked, delicious, moist chicken... and no need to turn on the oven on a hot summer day!  For a side we had slices of orange and red tomatoes and yellow zucchini, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic and a crack of salt and pepper.   Yum.

Whole Chicken in the Slow Cooker

Mexican Chicken Wraps - for lunch the next day I diced up the leftover chicken and made kind of a chicken salad with a mexican twist.  I added shredded cheese, mexican spice blend, lime juice and plain yogurt. I would have used salsa if I had it but I was out.  I packed some raw veggies to have on the side.

Grilled Steak with Arugula Salad - Loved this meal!!  Dave wasn't feeling well this night so I was on grill duty and I have to say... I did a bang up job.  I had picked up a couple of really nice striploin steaks so I let them speak for themselves adding just a little salt and pepper.  The salad was one my brother-in-law's partner introduced us to last week and this is totally going to become a regular thing.  Arugula, drizzle of olive oil and fresh lemon juice, crack of salt and pepper and shaved parmesan... that's it!  Simple and delicious.  And because this came together so quickly Marin wasn't quite ready to eat so I ate in peace, on the deck, drinking a spritzer while flipping through a magazine.  Aaaahhhhh... almost as relaxing as drinking my morning coffee on the deck at the cottage.

Chickpea and Avocado Salad - I had a pop-in on my Facebook Page from a fellow Maritime food blogger.  I went and checked out her blog (http://www.thefrillyapron.com) and my eye instantly caught a recipe for chickpea and avocado salad.  Chickpeas? Avocado? Yes, please!  Her post was very convincing that this salad was worth a try and that it was.  A very hearty, tasty and packable lunch.  And I totally agree with her that it's very customisable.  Start with the chickpeas, avocado and slaw mix and then go nuts (no pun intended) with whatever dressing and add-ins you feel like. 

Marinated Tofu, Greek Salsa and Tzatziki - had I been on the ball I could have prepped most of this meal the night before but I was not very on the ball this week.  C'est la vie.  I get home decently early in the summer so I whipped up some Greek dressing, marinated the tofu for about 20 minutes and then crisped them up in the frying pan with some olive oil.  I made a Greek salsa (tomato, cucumber, red onion, yellow zucchini, orange pepper, feta and dressing) with tzatziki on the side.  I don't typically enjoy homemade Tzatziki all that much but this recipe was a good one!  Greek food never disappoints in our house.  The salsa was so colorful I had to take a picture...

Greek Salsa

Cajun Shrimp and Orzo Salad & Indian Spiced Yogurt Marinated Chicken -- Because we're not actually following this plan Monday through Friday I haven't actually tried these recipes yet.  I am looking forward to them though!  Both are compliments of Canadian Living Magazine.  And if you don't subscribe you might want to pick up the September issue -- it's full of great recipes that I can't wait to try!


What are you all cooking up this summer?

Sandra

Week 25 - A little of this and a little of that...

Printable Version of Meal Plan and Grocery List

We were away on the weekend so I had planned to pick up just enough food to get us through Monday and then go for the main order Monday night.  But at the last minute I threw together a really quick meal plan and did a whole grocery order on Sunday.  I was able to make do with the food I bought but found I made a lot of adjustments to the plan this week, just to suit my taste buds and mood with the sun finally shining!!!  Could it really be??  Summer??

Recipe Quick Links

• Overnight Oats, Kath Eats
• Cauliflower Rice, Kalyn's Kitchen
• Salmon Cakes, Source Unknown
• Kale Salad, Marin Mama Cooks
• Honey Soy Marinade, Best Recipes
• Chinese Chicken Salad, Weelicious
• Breaded Pork Chops, All Recipes
• 7 Grain Pilaf & Orange Salad, Zoe Cuisine
• Chocolate Avocado Pudding, After Dinner Dance (This is a must try!)
• Chickpea Burgers, Marin Mama Cooks

 

Week in Review

Monday

Lunch - Ham, Havarti & Triscuit "Lunchable" with Veggies & Ranch Dip.  Feels like it's been awhile since I've made this type of lunch.  It was the perfect no-cook meal to throw together after being away for the weekend.

Supper - Salmon & Cauliflower Rice.  I've been seeing recipes for cauliflower rice everywhere lately and was pretty curious.  I've mashed, steamed and roasted cauliflower, I've tried the cauliflower pizza crust (really good!) and just like cauliflower in general so I was actually a tad disappointed with this recipe.  I might not have cooked the onions enough and I don't think I got the right consistency with the cauliflower either - it ended up being more of a puree as she cautions.  I also skipped the sumac because I was actually following a very similar Chatelaine version of this recipe.  The salmon was good though.  I just seasoned with salt, pepper and a spritz of lemon and then baked it in the oven at 375 until done.  I really enjoy salmon so sometimes find less is more.  Marin gobbles up fish too, it's always an easy sell.  I remember not liking fish as a kid so hopefully that doesn't change.

Tuesday

Breakfast - Overnight Oats!!!   I'm finding that opening the fridge in the morning to find a jar of this yumminess waiting for me is the perfect start to the day!  I'm hoping it's going to start motivating me to get up at 5:30 for run!




Overnight Oats

 

Lunch - Salmon Fishcakes & Kale Salad.  I had this Kale Salad on the menu for later in the week but it was on my mind since I watched Jackie's video tutorial over at Marin Mama Cooks so I just couldn't wait and bumped it up.  Go watch the video... I've made this salad a few times now and really love it but realized I wasn't massaging my kale enough.  Unfortunately around here you have to take what you can get with Kale and this week it wasn't the best but I still really enjoyed the salad.  Then I turned my leftover salmon into super easy fishcakes... I didn't follow a recipe.  The Bachelorette was on and I needed to get lunch made fast!  I mashed potatoes, added some of the leftover cauliflower rice & salmon, an egg, breadcrumbs, dill... measured nothing.  Formed them into patties, coated them in panko and fried them up.  If you're more of a recipe follower I have my favorite fishcake recipe typed out in the "Patty Cake" week.

Supper - Honey Soy Chicken Burgers with Asian Slaw.  This was a bit of a recipe shuffle too.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day so a barbecue was a must and burgers were on my mind.  I marinated the chicken cutlets and cooked them on the barbecue (well, Dave actually did that step).  Then served them up on toasted English Muffins with that yummy Peanut Dipping Sauce from last week.  I would have liked to have added lettuce and tomato but I wasn't planning on burgers so I didn't have any.  On the side I made the Weelicious Chinese Chicken Salad, without the chicken.

Wednesday

Lunch - Chinese Chicken Salad.  I chopped up the leftover chicken and threw it on the leftover Asian Slaw.  Easy.  Which freed up my evening on Tuesday to enjoy the sunshine!  Of course what I did instead was clean out the upstairs closet and a heavy box fell on my head... luckily I escaped with just a very minor injury!  I take this as a sign that I should clean less and cook more!  By the way... this chicken was delicious cold the next day!  I actually preferred this meal as leftovers.

Supper - Breaded Pork Chops with Veggies and Dip.  These pork chops are quick, easy and tasty too.  I had planned on roasted veggies but I got home late and was short on time so we had raw veggies and dip instead.   And for dessert - Chocolate Avocado Pudding.  Decadent!

Thursday

Lunch - 7 Grain Pilaf and Orange Salad.  I've made this before and I'll make it again!  The feta, the nuts, the fruit... mmm, mmm, mmm.  I was low on grains so I made this with all quinoa.  Bulgar would have added a nice texture.




Quinoa and Orange Salad

    

Supper - Chickpea Burgers & Greek Salad.  More from Marin Mama... sometimes I feel like her stalker but I get lost in her blog and have loved all the recipes I've tried.  This is at least my third batch of these burgers... so tasty!  And since we greeked them up with the Tzatziki I served them with a side of Greek salad.  I was actually wanting some lemon roasted potatoes but it was too warm to turn the oven on for 45 minutes. 

Friday

Lunch - Chickpea Burgers & Kale Salad.  Leftover Friday!

Supper - Spaghetti & Meatballs.  I'm getting the plan out early today because we're having Dave's family over for Spaghetti tonight.  This was a staple in thier house so we're looking forward to the feast.  Dave was making the meatballs this morning, I'm tossing up a big Caesar salad... some garlic bread and a DQ Ice Cream cake to celebrate all the June birthday's (2 brothers & 2 nephews).  It looks like the weather is going to cooperate so we can sit outside and maybe fit in a few games of Bocce and Washers too!

Happy weekend everyone!

Sandra

Week 9– Pinterest “Recipes to Try”

Printable Version of Meal Plan and Grocery List

My magazine inspired week inspired me to tackle my Pinterest “Recipes to Try” board – it was getting a bit out of control with almost 80 pins!  I’d like to say it’s smaller now but I think I went a little pin crazy this week and pinned more recipes than I tried.  I did find some new favorites though!

Recipe Quick Links:
Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup, Healthy Seasonal Recipes
Salmon Cakes, Healthful Pursuit
Brussels sprouts, beet and pomegranate salad, Chatelaine
Honey Lime Chicken Skewers, Kitchen Meets Girl
Chickpea Burgers, Marin Mama Cooks
Kale Salad, Marin Mama Cooks
Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken, 5 Dinners 1 Hour
Loaded Baked Potatoes, Easy Cookbook Recipes
Chocolate Cookies, The Spunky Coconut
Pop Tarts, 100 Days of Real Food
Whole Wheat Cheddar Crackers, Weelicious


Monday – Lunch was leftover Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup from Sunday night.  I picked this recipe on Sunday because I happened to have all the ingredients on hand.  I’ve mentioned before that we’re not big soup people but this one is a winner – so tasty!  Officially moved to my ‘Favorites’ board.  Supper was Salmon Cakes with Brussel Sprout, Beet and Pomegranate salad, both of which were… ok.  I didn’t have a pomegranate so I added a little Pom Wonderful juice to the salad dressing instead.  I wasn’t a huge fan of the dressing and think the salad would have been better if the beets & brussel sprouts had been roasted perhaps – just a little something to bring out a bit more flavor. For something so packed with ingredients I found it somewhat bland. Dave did like it though and he’s not typically a fan of brussel sprouts. I on the other hand LOVE brussel sprouts! I could steam a bowl and make a meal out of them.


Tuesday – If you’ve been following me you’re no stranger to the quinoa salad we had for lunch – have made something similar a few times already this year. I made this version on the weekend and liked it so much I made it again. Really like the addition of the kale and I used the greek dressing from Week 4.  Supper was Honey Lime Chicken, rice and some raw veggies to give our plates some color. The chicken was good, the marinade is full of flavor… I will say however that this is a grill recipe and would likely be much better cooked on the BBQ as opposed to using the Foreman as I did.  But I will definitely pull this one out come BBQ season! This would be a great marinade to add to chicken to toss in the freezer for an easy summer supper.  After supper for a treat I used up the almond pulp from the latest batch of almond milk to make these chocolate cookies. I made these a couple of weeks ago adding a little whole wheat flour – they were good but not great. This week I added a little coconut flour and coconut (as suggested by my sister who I now have hooked on homemade almond milk!) and they were really good!! I set aside half the batch to eat and half to make ice cream sandwiches… we ate those Wednesday night. OMG – so good! So now that I have a healthier cookie for my ice-cream sandwiches I have to find a healthier filling (currently using Dream Whip). Guess I’ll have to make more almond milk so I can continue experimenting!   

Wednesday – Lunch was tuna salad, veggies with dip and crackers. This is what I call “munchy lunch”. It’s nothing special but easy to throw together and always good.  But let’s not talk about lunch – supper was most definitely the highlight! A couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon this blog called Marin Mama Cooks. Of course, being “Marin’s Mama” I had to check it out and before I knew it I had spent an entire lunch break browsing this gorgeous site.  Her recipes all look delicious and are also super easy to follow because she documents each step with beautiful photography.  I tried the Chickpea Burgers and Kale Salad – both really good!  I knew I couldn’t even come close to doing this meal justice so I asked her permission to use this photo...  
Photo by Jacquelyn Grandy @ MarinMamaCooks   

Ingredients for this meal included chickpeas, cilantro, avocado, tzatziki…. seriously if I personalized the song ‘These are a Few of my Favorite Things’ these would all be in my list so it was no surprise I enjoyed it so much.  The kale salad is something I can see making quite often. Here’s a funny kale story – I’ve been trying to find kale for weeks, Marin has even been making special requests for green chippies.  Last week while at the grocery store I could see the kale from a distance and I said ‘Marin, guess what??? I see KALE!’ and we both literally cheered! We made green chippies as a snack last weekend.  As she was eating this salad she was saying ‘mmm….I love kale!’  I just love that I have a 4 year old who knows what kale is! So definitely try this meal and definitely check out Marin Mama Cooks… just make sure you have a good chunk of time before you do!  

Thursday – Dave didn’t need lunch so I got to enjoy the leftover chickpea burgers and kale salad!! The only thing better than leftovers for lunch is leftovers that I know are so darn yummy!  I think I actually ate early because the lemony goodness of the salad was calling my name and it was in fact better on day two.  But unfortunately supper, Honey Sesame Chicken, was a big disappointment.  And I was really looking forward to trying this one.  In fact I had it pinned twice I wanted to try it so bad!  I have to say though I don’t think it was through any fault of the recipe, it was just that 9 hours was far too long and the sauce burned. I’m keeping this one on my Recipes to Try board so that I can give it another shot and it might be time to invest in a slow-cooker with a timer so that I’m not limited to 8-10 hour recipes.   

Friday -- The plan shows leftover honey chicken but since ours was pretty much burned to a crisp that didn’t happen. We just ended up having hard-boiled eggs, veggies and dip and some whole wheat cheese crackers. The recipe refers to these as a homemade version of Goldfish crackers. I find them nothing like Goldfish but in fact much prefer them. Just 4 ingredients and if you have the right tools they are a cinch to make! 




Supper was inspired by this recipe for Loaded Baked Potatoes.  In reality I went a bit more ‘potato skins’ with this meal… I microwaved a couple of potatoes and cut them into rounds, brushed them with bacon fat and baked them until crispy.  Then I topped them with cheese and bacon, served with sour cream.  Not the healthiest meal we ate this week but pretty darn good just the same!

 



Sneak peek for next week - Winter Favorites!

Happy meal planning everyone!