Week 19 -- May Magazine Week/Quick Weeknight Meals

Printable Version of Meal Plan and Grocery List

I wanted to concentrate on quick weeknight meals this week.  The weather is so nice these days I've been wanting to maximize outdoor time in the evenings.  Canadian Living and Chatelaine both have monthly quick & easy recipes so that’s where I started my hunt for meal ideas.

Recipe Quick Links

• Orange Glazed Pork Chops and Hazelnut Green Beans, Canadian Living 
• Tofu Noodle Stir-fry, Canadian Living
• Salmon Cakes, Source Unknown (see Tuesday on Week 14)
• Fruity Creamy Crostini, Chatelaine (Sept 2012)
• Very Berry Muffins, Weelicious

Week in Review

Monday

Lunch – No lunches.  I had lunch plans and was out Sunday night for supper club with the girls (Brooklyn Warehouse – excellent!) so I passed on packing a lunch for Dave and took the night off.  I finished off a bottle of wine and watched the season finale of Amazing Race instead.

Supper – Pork Chops with Hazelnut Green Beans.  This meal was quick, on the table in under 30 minutes.  It was also easy in that it didn’t require any advanced cooking skills.  However, it did require a bit of chopping, measuring, tending to… and for me that coincided with Marin wanting a movie and snack and to tell me all kinds of important things.  And to be honest I don’t think the sauce for the pork chops added much to the meal.  The green beans were good, always nice to have a new way to dress them up.  Marin found them too ‘spicy’ though (garlic). 

Orange Glazed Pork Chops with Hazelnut Green Beans. 
Photo by Ryan Brook/TC Media via http://www.canadianliving.com

Tuesday

Lunch – Tofu Noodle Stir-Fry.  Again this meal was quick and easy to prepare but required constant hands on time.  No biggie because I was making it in the evening when I was happy to be cooking but keep that in mind if you’re preparing it for a supper.   I wouldn’t rant and rave about this dish, I’ve made Asian salads and stirfrys I prefer.  But it was good.  I typically use peanuts, the cashews were treat.

Tofu Noodle Salad
Photo by Ryan Brook/TC Media via http://www.canadianliving.com

Supper – Springtime Colorburst Chicken Salad.  This was the winner this week.  Dave and I both really loved it.  This is another quick, yet hands on meal but at a more relaxed pace than the Pork Chops.  I got the chicken on the grill and then Dave arrived home just in time to keep an eye on that.  Then I poured a glass of wine and assembled the salad.  It was a really nice light meal.   Unfortunately Chatelaine appears to have started putting some recipes in a protected area on their website (you need an account to log in).  So I’m copying out the recipe but unfortunately this might be one of the last Chatelaine featured recipes.

Springtime Colorburst Salad

·         Pound the thickest part of 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts until they are even thickness.  Brush with 1 tsp of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill on medium heat.  Let stand for 5 minutes and then slice into strips.

·         Dressing – whisk ¼ cup of olive oil with 3 Tbsp of lemon juice, 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard (I would start with 1 Tbsp and then adjust to taste), ¼ tsp sugar

·         Arrange salad with arugula (I used spring mix), chicken, thin slices of beet, shallots (used green onion) and radish, segments of naval oranges,  slices of avocado and sprinkle of pepitas (pumpkin seeds).  Drizzle with dressing.

Springtime Colorburst Salad
Photo by Roberto Caruso via http://www.chatelaine.com

Wednesday

Lunch -- Asian Stir-Fry.  Leftovers.  Since I had no lunch to prepare Tuesday night I made a batch of Very Berry Muffins.  They are "berry" good!

Supper – McHappy Day!  Yup, you read that right.  We went to McDonald’s for supper.  It was beautiful outside, I was late getting home and it was McHappy Day… so I juggled the menu around and we headed over to support Ronald McDonald House.  And I’ll gladly admit I enjoyed every bite!

Thursday

Lunch – Steak Salad.  This was part of the juggle.  Steak was on the menu for Wednesday night and I wanted to grill it while it was nice out because the forecast was calling for rain, rain, and more rain in the days ahead.  So we grilled the steak and threw it on a salad for lunch.

Supper – Salmon Cakes and Zucchini Fingers.  This is not the first time I’ve had these salmon cakes on the menu.   I’ve tried a few salmon cake recipes and I keep coming back to this one.  What I really love is that it’s easily prepared ahead of time so it makes for a great week night meal.   For the zucchini – I sliced it into fingers, dipped each finger in egg (slightly whisked) and then panko and baked at 450 for about 20 minutes.  I threw a few mushrooms on too – prepared the same way.  The zucchini was good with the dip from the salmon cake recipe.

Friday  

Lunch – Ham & Cheese “Lunchmate”.  One of my all-time favorite lunches!  Ham slices (I buy Maple Leaf Naturals), Havarti cheese, Triscuit's (low-sodium to offset at least a little bit of the sodium in the ham!) and lots of veggies and dip.  This is a quick to prepare lunch and I just really enjoy it. 

Supper – Fruity Creamy Crostini & Salad.  I thought this looked like an easy supper that would fit the “Convenience Food Friday” bill.    It was definately easy, took less than 20 minutes to throw together and I have to say it was pretty good too.  For the salad I did mixed greens and herbs, beets, plums, pumpkin seeds and leftover dressing from the spring salad.  The crostini would make a great appetizer for a dinner party or potluck.

Fruity, Creamy Crostini
Photo by Roberto Caruso via http://www.chatelaine.com

Week 15 - A Second Helping of Kid-Friendly Meals

Printable Version of Meal Plan and Grocery List

My Kid-Friendly week back in February was a hit – both at my house and on the blog.  I can see from my stats that this is the week that has the most hits and is found the most by Google searches.  Which isn’t surprising, feeding kids can be a challenge!  Most parents I know also loathe packing school lunches.  I’m still looking forward to that by the way… again you can file away that you must tell me “I told you so” the first time I complain about it.

Kid friendly food is all about making food fun and appealing… so really it's everyone friendly!   Again I had so many ideas I couldn’t fit them all in… I have to file away the ideas that didn’t make it for the next instalment.  This week is doubling as April Magazine Week.  The April issue of Today’s Parent had a one week meal plan that’s worth checking out!

One important consideration in school lunches is packaging.  At supper club this past weekend we had a chat about reusable containers that are easy enough for little hands to open.  Thought I’d pass on this idea – I’ve been making reusable snack bags.  They’re great for ‘dry’ snacks (crackers, trail mix, etc… ) but I’ve also used them for fruit and veggies.   I’m a beginner sewer with a basic sewing machine so trust me when I say that if I can make these – so can you!  Here’s a picture of some of mine (aren’t they fun!?) and a tutorial if you’re feeling “crafty”.  

 

Recipe Quick Links:

• Kale& Spinach Smoothie, Marin Mama Cooks

• CrispyLemon Roast Chicken, Today’s Parent

• VeggieNuggets, Weelicious

• KaleChips, 100 Days of Real Food

• Frittata, Today’s Parent

• HeartyTuscan Soup, Chatelaine
• Steak Frites, Canadian Living

Week in Review

Monday

Lunch – BTC Sandwich (Bacon Tomato and Cheddar).  We’re not big sandwich people but sandwiches are easily packable for school lunch so I decided to kick off with that.  I got a really nice 12 Grain Bread and topped it with mayo, crispy bacon, thin slices of tomato and Cheddar cheese.   It took everything in me not to eat this right away.  Unfortunately, as suspected the tomato made the bread soggy.  But I think this is still manageable, I would just wrap the tomato and bacon separately and assemble on site.  And if a microwave is available you could zap the bacon for a few seconds and this would actually be really good!

Supper – Leftover Lasagna.  I automatically think of adding lasagna to Kid-Friendly week because it was one my favorites growing up.  And you can easily get multiple meals out it so it’s also a working mom friendly meal!  Typically I’d make a Caesar to go with it but since we didn’t have anything to prepare when we got home I thought it would be fun to try out a new green smoothie recipe (Kale & Pineapple from Marin Mama Cooks).  Seriously – you gotta try it!  As you can see it was good to the last drop!

Lasagna

1)      Brown ground beef in large saucepan.  Add jar of pasta sauce and ½ jar full of water.  Simmer.

2)      Mix 500ml container of cottage cheese (I like Lasagna style) with ¼ cup of grated Parmesan and 1 egg.

3)      Shred cheese (mozza)

4)      Layer in rectangle pan – sauce, noodles (I use whole wheat and don’t precook them), sauce, ½ of the cottage cheese, sprinkle of mozza, noodles, sauce, remainder of cottage cheese, noodles, sauce, remainder of cheese.

5)      Back at 375, covered for 40 min.  Remove foil and bake another 5 minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes.

Note:  You can also layer the lasagna in a slow-cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours. 

Tuesday

Lunch – Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas.  Quesadillas are a great lunch option, quick to throw together, travel well, eaten reheated or cold and can be filled with just about anything.  I went spinach and mushroom today – a little feta would not have been wrong.  Mushrooms are most definitely kid friendly in our house but I can see where this particular combo might not be every kid’s first choice.  See Thursday for another option or use whatever your favorites are.  To make a quesadilla – prep your fillings (ie. shred the cheese, cook and dice the chicken, sauté the veggies, or rinse the beans).  Spray one side of a tortilla with oil, place in a frying pan sprinkle cheese on one half of the tortillas, top with fillings and then more cheese.  Fold over and cook each side until crispy and cheese melts.  Cut in triangles and enjoy!  We dipped this one in sour cream.

Supper --  Lemon Roast Chicken, Weelicious Veggie Nuggets & Kale Chips.   This meal was underwhelming and ironically the nuggets were probably the most "kid targeted" item this week, yet the one thing my kid did not want to eat.  The chicken was good, we typically have boneless, skinless breasts so skin-on chicken thighs were nice for a change and the gravy was good.  The kale chips were gobbled up but the nuggets were not a hit with anyone.  Mostly me, because I found them a pain to make on top of not really thinking they were anything special.  If you have a child who hates veggies but loves nuggets then perhaps this will do the trick.  The other problem with this meal was that all three items needed to be baked in the oven but at different temps and for different time so it was a bit of nightmare to coordinate – not very well planned!  OOPS!  I would make the chicken again but with different sides and perhaps on a weekend since it needed 45 minutes to cook so made for a late weeknight supper.

Wednesday

Lunch – Caprese Salad.  I love this lunch and I’m surprised this is the first time I’m making it this year.  So simple… diced chicken, cherry tomatoes, bocconcini and pesto.  I think kids would find the bocconcini fun and they have a very mild flavor.  This is also pretty weight watchers friendly – watch your serving sizes but you should be able to pack a satisfying bowl for about 8 points.   Easy to pack, travels well, eaten cold.  Perfect!  I also made a “trail mix” with cheerios, pumpkin seeds and chocolate chips which made a nice little afternoon treat.

Supper – Frittata and Turnip Fries.  The frittata was quick and easy to make and pretty tasty.  It got an “mmmm… yummy eggs” from the little one at the table.  The turnip fries were a little under done but if you are patient and leave them roast until they get crispy they are a tasty treat and a fun finger food for kids.  I just cut the turnip into fry shape (of buy them already pre-cut), boil for a few minutes and then toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 450 until they crisp up.  I find the time it takes varies… but plan for at least 30 minutes.

Thursday

Lunch – Chicken Quesadillas.  For this version I sautéed some red pepper with diced chicken breast (leftover from Wednesday’s lunch) and a sprinkle of Mexican spice mix.  I used a tex-mex pre-shredded cheese mix.  I love buying pre-shredded cheese when it’s on sale, saves a step and we eat it less on impulse.  If I buy a block of cheese with the intention of using it later in the week most likely it’ll be gone by the time I need it.

Supper – Hearty Tuscan Soup.  I debated this one because as I’ve mentioned before we’re not really “soup people”.  But it’s been unseasonable cold here and Marin has a bug she can’t seem to shake so a nice bowl of soup sounded pretty good.  This was excellent – so glad I tried it!  I actually used Tofu instead of the navy beans.  This would be really low Weight Watchers points if you skipped the croutons.  The croutons were my favorite part though…

Photo by Robert Caruso via Today's Parent



Friday

Lunch – Leftovers!  I packed the croutons separately so they would be nice and crunchy. 

Supper – Date night!  You’re on your own.  But if you’re looking for ideas we have Steak Frites on the menu for the weekend!  This is from Canadian Living.  It’s really just steak and homefries but what caught my eye was the aioli.

For some great school lunch ideas ‘Like’ 100 Days of Real Food and Weelicious on Facebook.  They both post daily what they packed for school lunches.

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!

Week 8–February Magazine Week

Printable Version of Meal Plan and Grocery List

I have a confession – I’m a bit of a magazine addict.  I subscribe to three – Chatelaine, Canadian Living and Today’s Parent and I flip through each of them quickly so that I can devour the food pages.  I always dog ear pages with recipes I want to try but then they get tossed in the magazine rack and I sometimes forget to go back to them.  So, I thought a monthly magazine week was in order!   So consider this your test kitchen!

Recipe Quick Links:
Salmon & Cauliflower Colcannon, Canadian Living
Sesame Beef Salad, Canadian Living
Maple Cider Chicken and Nutty Quinoa, Chatelaine
Healthier Refried Beans, Today’s Parent

Monday – We never did get to the egg salad this weekend so it got carried over to lunch on Monday.  I packed Wisecrackers (Costco) and veggies and ranch dip.  Not a bad little “munchy lunch”.  Supper was Salmon and Colcannon (Canadian Living).  Admittedly I had no idea what Colcannon was (fyi, it’s a traditional Irish dish made from potato and kale)  This meal was ok… I’d give it a 3/5 – I really liked how creamy the Colcannon was but I found the leeks were a bit overpowering.  This was my first time cooking with leeks so perhaps I didn’t cook them enough or used too much for the recipe.  I also used frozen kale since I couldn’t find fresh and I substituted trout for the salmon since it was cheaper.  Salmon, fresh kale and less leeks would likely have bumped this up to a 4/5.


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

Tuesday – I often use leftover salmon in salads for next day lunch and always enjoy it, so I made extra trout for a pasta salad.  I made a dressing using lemon juice, olive oil and grated parmesan.  Have to tell you…. not good.  The trout was really “fishy”.  I choked it down but Dave admitted he chucked it and went to the food court.  Like I said, I’ve done this kind of thing before, not really sure what made this one such a flop – either the trout or the dressing or both.  And supper was another flop… what a day!  We made Sesame Beef Salad from Canadian Living.  I’d only give this a 2/5 at best.  First, I much prefer a marinated and grilled steak over a pan-fried one (although I will say it was tender) -- I’d say save your beef for the BBQ and substitute tofu – cheaper too!  And the dressing for the noodles, while easy, was not as good as other sesame dressings I’ve tried.  I think cutting back on the rice vinegar would help.  Or just make my Pad Thai recipe from Week 1 instead!


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

Wednesday – Since the noodles were a flop Tuesday I didn’t have leftovers as planned.  Then I got pretty lazy on the couch and almost didn’t pack a lunch at all, but at the last minute I decided to make an easy Greek Couscous.  Couscous cooks up in 5 minutes so it’s a good no-fuss option when you’re feeling too tired to cook.  I added Kraft Greek dressing, cucumber, red pepper, green olives (I prefer them over black) and chickpeas.  Definitely an improvement over Tuesday’s lunch, was just missing a little feta which I was unfortunately out of.  Supper was Maple Cider Chicken with Nutty Quinoa.  This was good, I really enjoyed the chicken, very moist.  This meal is really filling but I did miss having a veggie.  I’d serve it next time with something like steamed brocolli.  Overall a 4/5.


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

Thursday – We had just enough chicken leftover to make one lunch which worked out perfectly because I was home with a sick Marin. So Dave took the chicken and I just had an English Muffin with peanut butter and apple slices.  Supper was a slow cooker refried beans recipe.  This wasn’t my first time making refried beans in the slow cooker and the only difference between this recipe and the one I normally make (this one from 100 Days of Real Food) is that you fry the onions first and you spice with cayenne instead of a jalapeno.  Both versions are very similar although I’d say this one had a little less kick.  Both versions I found dried out a bit so don’t be shy with the water and if they do happen to dry out just add a little water when you mash.  Either way this recipe is a winner and WAY better than canned – in fact not even comparable.  So even if you’re not a fan of canned refried beans I’d say give this a shot.  We typically have this meal with corn tortillas and the regular fixin’s but this time we did the nachos as suggested in the magazine.  Again, either way, you can’t go wrong.  Mexican is always a hit in this house so obviously a 5/5.  Yummy!


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

Friday – I had the day off so I didn’t pack lunches.  Supper was leftovers.  Gotta love easy days!


While there were a few misses this week it’s always fun to try new recipes – never know when you’re going to find a gem!  It was also a super cheap week – I spend less than $120 in groceries and that included $20 in chicken for the freezer.