Meal Plan Week of 09/01/13-09/07/13

Happy Saturday to you all!

Boy am I ready for a long, holiday weekend! I hope you all enjoy the last weekend of the Summer and that your Fall is starting off right! I'll give fair warning - fall is my favorite time of the year. I love the cool evenings, warm days, turning leaves, pumpkins, apples, football, etc. I will promise you will start seeing a lot of fall-related recipes and posts. Here's this coming week's meal plan. Have a safe and happy Labor day weekend!

 

1	2	3	4	5	6	7
SUNDAY	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY
Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast
veggies	spinach	egg	poached egg	cereal	scrambled	apple
egg muffins	omelet	muffin	oatmeal	almond milk	egg	pancake
fruit	banana	berries	bananas	berries	cereal	sausage
tea	tea	tea	tea	tea	tea	tea
Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
grilled	blt	lettuce	leftovers	salad	chips	veggie
asparagus	wraps	wrap	salad	hummus	salsa	salad
shrimp	cheese	hummus	veggies	crackers	guacamole	fruit
water	water	water	water	water	water	water
Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner
spaghetti squash	stuffed	sweet potato	zucchini	leftover	roasted chicken	round steak
chard/mushrooms	acorn squash	Swiss chard	spaghetti	squash	fennel salad	salad
tomato sauce	salad	quesadillas	garlic bread	salad	asparagus	corn
water	water	water	water	water	water	water
Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack
smoothie	celery	smoothie	cheese	trailmix	nuts	cheese
veggies	nuts	trailmix	veggies	fruit	carrots	almonds
ice cream	pudding	cookies	apple nachos	cookies	parfait	ice cream

Meditteranean Salad

This little salad is a real treat. I love the mixture of the olives, peppers and cheese. They provide a nice salty mixture to the fresh salad blend. I basically took things I like to add to a deli sandwich and turned it to a light and refreshing salad. It is perfect for lunch by itself. This is just for one serving, but you can easily double or triple for more people. Enjoy!

1 cup mixed salad greens (I used spinach, romaine, red leaf, and arugula)

2 small pepperoncini peppers, from a jar, sliced into rings
3 kalamata olives, chopped
½ large tomato, chopped
1-2 oz of shredded chicken, cooked
1 Tbsp feta or blue cheese
1 tsp Greek dressing

• Put salad greens in a large cereal bowl. Add in peppers, olives, tomato and chicken. Top with cheese and drizzle over salad dressing. Serve immediately for best results.

Banana-Peanut Butter Milk Shake

We are always looking for some good deals. We even have my mom being more frugal. She found some almond milk on sale for $0.50 a carton. I will say that it was a deal. However it was set to expire the next day. I’ve heard freezing it is not a great idea but we tried it anyway. My husband also recently got me a “YoNanas” maker for Mother’s day. So I decided one evening to make a milk shake for our evening treat. It turned out great! Now I have a use for the several cartons of almond milk in my freezer!

1 half-gallon carton of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, frozen but slightly thawed

2 frozen bananas
½ cup peanut butter
chocolate syrup, if desired
whipped topping, if desired
cherries, if desired

• In a blender, combine almond milk, bananas and peanut butter. Blend until smooth, it will probably take several minutes.
• Pour into a glass and put a little whipped topping, chocolate syrup and a cherry on top. Throw in a straw and enjoy!
• Note: If you have a “YoNanas” maker, you can blend your bananas and then add to the blender.

Homemade Twix Bars

I have two favorite candy bars, Twix and Reese’s. Before my health problems, I would buy the bags of the bite size bars for holidays (Easter, Christmas, etc). I always had to buy two bags at least because I knew I would eat one bag before I could give them away. Of course, we don’t have candy at the house now. One day I decided we would have a little cheat day and I would make my own Twix bars. They turned out great! I will also give you a heads up – I will be posting homemade gluten free peanut butter cookies (similar to the Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties). Those are equally fantastic!

1 package of cookie mix (sugar or shortbread preferably – I used Bob’s Red Mill Shortbread)

¼ cup coconut oil
½ cup applesauce or yogurt
1 large egg
¼ cup water
¾ cup caramel sauce (store bought or made with ½ package of Kraft caramels, melted)
½ cup chocolate chips
1 Tbsp almond milk

• Mix together cookie mix, oil, applesauce, egg and water until mix is well combined and crumbly. It will look very dry – this is fine.
• In a greased 9x13 baking pan, press cookie dough until it covers the bottom of the pan. Try to make the cookie dough as level as possible in the bottom of the pan.
• Bake the cookie dough at 350°F for about 10 minutes or until just slightly browned along edges.
• While your cookie is baking, make your caramel sauce or just warm up over low heat in a saucepan. Once the cookie has finished baking, pour over caramel sauce. Let set for about 20 minutes.
• Melt chocolate chips and almond milk together either over the stove or in microwave according to your chocolate chip package instructions. Pour chocolate sauce over caramel cookie. Let this set for about 20 minutes.
• Cut into pieces and serve. Cover and refrigerate leftovers.
• NOTE: I froze my bars instead of letting them cool for 20 minutes. We also liked eating them cold.
• Also – you can bake your cookies according to package instructions if desired – I just lightened ours up a bit.
• This recipe will cover a 9x13 pan, but we ended up just using a 9x5 bread pan and also made some plain cookies, it all depends on how much you want to make!

Grilled Summer Squash

As I’ve mentioned before, we have a ridiculous amount of summer produce. I’m talking yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, etc. We love it. This is probably my absolute favorite way to cook and eat yellow squash. Since we are grilling all of the time, it is so easy to just throw it in a foil pack and let it cook outside. I won’t lie – my husband cooks it better. He has perfected the temperature and cooking time so it is still a little crispy but cooked just right.

1 small yellow squash, sliced into small slices

1 small zucchini, sliced into small slices
½ onion, sliced into rings or strips
1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
½ tsp garlic salt
1 Tbsp olive oil

• Get a long strip of foil, enough that will hold all of the squash.
• In a bowl, combine the squash slices, onion, seasonings and oil. Mix together until all vegetables are coated. Pour the mixture on the foil.
• Gather up to foil sides to make a little packet. Throw the packet on the grill at about 400°F and cook for about 10 minutes.
• You may want to check it periodically to make sure it isn’t burning. Leaving a little opening at the top of your packet will allow some steam to help cook the squash also.

Bean & Corn Nachos

My son loves nachos. However, he typically eats the tortilla chips or shells first and then eats the “nacho” part with a fork. However you eat it, this nacho mixture is great! We don’t eat too much dairy or cheese so we had to improvise in order to get enough ingredients in this dish. We also added the beans to give it a little more protein and fiber. You could also put this into a burrito and serve it that way instead of over chips.

1 can of cannellini beans, rinsed

1 cup of corn (we used fresh corn, but easily substitute a can of corn)
½ cup salsa
1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp salt
Zest from 1 lime
Juice from the same lime
¼ cup shredded cheese
1 avocado, diced
¼ cup diced green onions
Toppings if desired, salsa, sour cream, ranch, etc

• In a large skillet, combine beans, corn, salsa, cilantro, pepper and salt. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until mixture is warm.
• Add in lime juice and zest.
• Scoop this mixture over tortilla chips or onto a plate to dip from.
• Sprinkle cheese, avocado and onions over nachos.
• Top with whatever else you’d like. We like to add some more salsa and sour cream or yogurt.

Cinnamon Raisin French Toast with Bananas and Walnuts

I am not kidding when I say that this is the best French toast I have EVER made. And trust me – I’ve made a lot of French toast! For some reason, this is the first time I’ve attempted since going gluten free a few months ago. I had some bread I needed to use up quickly and this turned out to be the perfect way to not waste it! I’m thinking this may be on our regular menu for the fall…

6 slices of cinnamon raisin bread (either homemade GF or store bought)

2 eggs
½ cup milk (I used almond)
½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp coconut oil (or shortening)
1 over-ripe banana
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ cup walnuts, chopped
1 tsp honey or maple syrup

• Preheat griddle to 375°F and add coconut oil to griddle.
• Whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla and 1 tsp cinnamon in a medium sized bowl until combined. Dip both slices of bread into egg mixture.
• Place “battered” toast onto a hot griddle. Cook first side for about 10 minutes or until browned and crispy. Flip and cook the other side for about 5 minutes or until crispy and brown.
• While your toast is cooking, cut banana lengthwise in half. Then cut each half lengthwise to make four long slices of banana. Add banana slices to griddle and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon.
• Top bananas with walnuts and drizzle honey on and “fry” until slightly browned. Remove toast from griddle and put onto serving plate.
• Top each serving of French toast with the caramelized banana/walnut mixture. Serve with additional syrup if desired, but really these are sweet enough already.

Meal Plan Week 08/25/13-08/31/13

Good Afternoon!

Wow - the last week of August is sneaking up on us. Summer flew by! You may soon notice that my meal plans and recipes will be a little "lighter". I recently saw my doctor and have been put on a low-carb diet in addition to the low-fat, gluten-free diet I'm already on. It's going to be a struggle but I'm trying to get in a good mindset. I could never understand people's obsession with food, but I get it now. I can also totally understand why diets are so hard and rarely work. I have drastically changed my own diet to improve my health. I'm still now where I want to be but I can only hope that this new adjustment will help. Anyways - I will be adapting a lot of my recipes to better reflect this new change. Wish me luck! :)

25	26	27	28	29	30	31
SUNDAY	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY
Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast
egg muffins	egg muffins	oatmeal	scrambled	egg	scrm egg	baked
bacon	bacon	almond milk	eggs	toast	milk	eggs
fruit	fruit	berries	banana	fruit	smoothie	fruit
tea	tea	tea	tea	tea	tea	tea
Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
veggie	avocado	chicken	turkey	chicken	turkey	veggie
skewers	orange	cucumber	veggie	salad	veggies	mac &
cheese	chicken wrap	radish	rollup	cheese	wrap	cheese
water	water	water	water	water	water	water
Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner
turkey	shrimp	baked	pressure cook	quesadillas	bean	asparagus
meatballs	beets	sw potato	chicken	corn	salad	soup
spaghetti	salad	salmon	veggies	veggies	shrimp	bread
water	water	water	water	water	water	water
Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack
yogurt	trailmix	cheese	trailmix	guac dip	PB celery	veggies
almonds	carrots	grapes	peaches	veggies	trailmix	trailmix
red wine pears	ice cream	popcorn	PB celery	fruit pizza	ice cream	GF granola