Well, another week flew right by!  I did pretty well on my meal plan for last week.  I had one minor change – I stayed at Real OC Daughter’s gym Monday night to watch her class, which meant we didn’t get home until 8 pm.  And I certainly wasn’t going to whip up the pasta at that point!  So, we scrounged together some leftovers from the weekend, added a side of sauteed broccoli, and pushed the past dish until Wednesday night.  Which meant I didn’t make the grilled chicken Wednesday night – less cooking for me!

My farm box last week had carrots, snap peas, romaine, cabbage, broccoli and oranges.  I used the broccoli Monday night – sauteed it in olive oil and garlic for about 2 minutes, then added a small amount of water to the bottom of the pan and put the lid on to steam.  Tuesday we enjoyed a modified coleslaw – chopped cabbage, carrot curls (made with veggie peeler), and snap peas dressed with olive oil and rice vinegar.  Wednesday we had a nice romaine salad with diced tomatoes, olives and a balsamic vinegairette, and Thursday I sauteed some onion and garlic in olive oil, added diced carrots and the remaining snap peas and cooked over low for about 5 minutes.  Friday night we used the rest of the lettuce and the tomatoes I had purchased for another salad.  We ate the oranges for snacks and with lunch.

So, here’s my plan for this week:

Monday – still trying to keep it meatless on Mondays, so I’ll go for huevos rancheros.  Throw some whole wheat tortillas into the oven to crisp them up, top with some super easy pinto beans from the freezer (canned beans work, too), jarred salsa, and a fried egg.  Then add some shredded cheese, avocado, and tomato – yum!

Tuesday – Grilled chicken and roasted veggies (whatever I’ve got), along with a batch of my mom’s Spanish rice that I didn’t get to make last week.

Wednesday – I’ll keep it easy for myself and cook up some ground turkey for turkey tacos.  Since I already have some tortillas, cheese, avocado and salsa on hand, this will be a snap!  A crisp green salad might be nice on the side, depending on what veggies I have on hand.

Thursday – My housecleaner will have come today, so I don’t want to do anything that will totally destroy the nice, clean kitchen (I want to give it at least 8 hours!).  Trader Joe’s chicken gyoza cooked up in my veggie steamer will be perfect!  (If you don’t have a veggie steamer, you can cook them on the stove, but they do splatter a bit, so be prepared).  I’ll also steam up some veggies along with the gyoza.  And for dipping sauce, I’ll mix a batch of 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp rice vinegar and 1 tsp sesame oil together.

Friday – Leftovers!  We’ll probably have rice bowls, with the Spanish rice, chicken or ground turkey, and any leftover veggies, topped with cheese and salsa.

A good friend and loyal reader was recently lamenting that she just can’t seem to get herself organized enough to plan her family’s meals for the week. She’d like to be more organized with her shopping and cooking, but her family is pretty particular about what she cooks, and she’s lost her motivation.  The funny thing was, she seemed to think I “have it together” when it comes to meal planning, and asked if I’d consider posting my weekly meal plan.  In truth, sometimes I do have it together, but most of the time, I really don’t.  There are plenty of nights we have bacon and eggs, leftover whatever I can throw together, or sandwiches for dinner. I try, but like moms everywhere, sometimes unexpected events come up, I don’t have time to get to the store, or I’m just plain wiped out. And even if I started the week with a plan, (usually it just floats around in my head along with all the other stuff), well, the plan gets changed.  Hmmm…kind of like parenting in general, right?

That being said, I’m going to try out posting my meal plans for a few weeks, and see how it goes.  I’ll throw them out to you, along with corresponding recipes, and if my plans change, I’ll let you know what I did instead.  But will you give me feedback, too?  Let me know if you try the meal plan, or even a single meal, how it went over with your family, whether you’d make it again, etc.  I love comments, because, well, they keep me motivated and satisfy my writer’s ego.

One thing to note – right now, we pick up a CSA farm box from our local farm on Mondays after school, and I never know what’s going to be in that box. Usually, it’s veggies that I use as my side dishes and fruit that we eat for snacks and dessert.  But sometimes, if there are a ton of vegetables in there, I might decide to make up a big pot of soup or batch of stir fry.  That’s one of those “unexpected” things that would make me change my weekly plan.

So here goes….my meal plan for the week ahead.

Monday:

Baked penne pasta with tofu, side of veggies

This meatless recipe is one of my favorites from a terrific cookbook, The Sneaky Chef.  We always try to eat vegetarian on Mondays because it’s healthy for our bodies AND our budget.  I will serve up a side of veggies, but it will depend on what comes home in our CSA farm box that we pick up from school Monday afternoon (hopefully something green).  The leftover pasta will be great in Real OC Daughter’s thermos throughout the week for lunch, and as quick lunch for me.  The recipe is available HERE (and the amazing cookbook is available in my Amazon store HERE).  Oh, and helpful hint…if you’re short on time, instead of making her “orange puree” recipe, just buy small jars of organic sweet potato and carrot baby foods to use instead.

Tuesday:

Turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes and veggies

I buy ground turkey in bulk at Costco and keep it in the freezer.  It comes in handy for all sorts of recipes, one of which is my turkey meatloaf (see recipe below). I also have some potatoes leftover from St. Patrick’s Day dinner last week just begging to be mashed up with some butter and salt.  Again, I’ll throw in something green from our farm basket, either steamed broccoli, or a crisp green salad, depending on what’s available.

Wednesday:

Grilled chicken, Mom’s Spanish Rice, and side of veggies

I also buy organic chicken breast at Costco and keep it in my freezer.  Tuesday night, I’ll take it out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to defrost.  Then Wednesday morning, I’ll toss it in a container with some Bernstein’s Italian dressing (also from Costco) as marinade.  By Wednesday night, it will be ready to toss on the grill (thanks, Real OC Dad!).  I will whip up a batch of my Mom’s awesome Spanish rice (get recipe HERE) and steam or roast a side of veggies to go along with it.

Thursday and Friday:

Leftovers

By Thursday, I’m getting tired out, and I won’t really feel like being in the kitchen for too long.  So, leftovers it is!  We’ll enjoy the meatloaf and some veggies Thursday night.  The grilled chicken and Spanish rice will be dinner Friday night, either in their original form, or, depending on what veggies I still have, thrown into a large stockpot with some chicken broth and cooked up as soup.  You can see my tips for making great soups at home HERE.

Good luck and healthy eating to you and your family!

Oh, and as promised, here’s my quick, easy recipe for making turkey meatloaf.  Feel free to add in additional finely chopped veggies – spinach, carrots, or celery all work great in this recipe – if you have them on hand.

Real OC Mom’s Turkey Meatloaf:

1 medium brown or sweet onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic

1 egg

1 cup bread crumbs

1/2 small can tomato paste

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 – 1.25 lb. package lean (not extra lean) ground turkey

ketchup

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.  Grease a loaf pan.

Combine first 7 ingredients in medium-sized mixing bowl.  Mix well.  Add ground turkey and mix lightly with fork.  Do not overmix or turkey will get tough.

Place mixture in loaf pan and form into loaf shape.

Bake in oven, tented with foil for approximately 40 minutes.  Remove foil and  drizzle ketchup over top of loaf.  Bake 10 minutes more.  Cut into center and ensure meat is thoroughly cooked.  Meatloaf will be slightly red due to tomato paste, so check texture of meat for doneness.

Slice and enjoy!