Meal Plan
Menu ideas for a healthy weekly meal plan, paleo and allergy-friendly.
Oy. Can we just take a minute to talk about how cruel a no-nap day + staying up late for Halloween + daylight savings all falling on the same day is? Happy 4:45 wake up to me. Moving on…
Truth: I rarely meal plan when it’s just me and KB holding down the fort.
The husband travels extremely frequently for work and cooking “real” meals seems pointless for just the two of us. That doesn’t mean I don’t cook, but I feel less pressure for something that requires a recipe or advanced planning. {Most of the time if he’s gone I make some form of veggie noodle dish since he might think I was trying to starve him if I fed him only veggies.}
But but but… he’s unofficially done traveling for the year. Enter dancing emoticon GIF thingy here. While it’s still his busy season at work, he managed to fit in his most important travel prior to November so that he wouldn’t be out of town whenever baby number 2 decides to make an appearance. {Side note: he was out of state when I went into labor 3.5 weeks early with KB.}
So he’s mostly-officially home now and it’s back to cooking real dinners. Most nights anyways, ahem, cough cough.
On the agenda:
{photo credits to linked recipes}
Monday // Meatless Monday
Quinoa with Butternut Squash, Cranberries, & Pecans – it’s supposed to be a side dish but I think it looks like a great entrée, packed with fall flavors.
Tuesday
Tuna Cakes with Jalapeno Mustard Dipping Sauce {paleo} – basically grown up fish sticks but better.
Wednesday
Roasted Chicken with Red Wine – if I can’t drink it, might as well eat it.
Thursday
Pistachio Crusted Chicken –yum.
Friday
Chicken Avocado Burgers – Fridays are a good burger day, although I’ll probably swap it out with turkey since the husband will roll his eyes so hard they’ll get stuck if I feed him chicken three days in a row. {As a former vegetarian it’s hard to think outside the chicken box.}
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What are you chowing down on this week?
For more meal ideas: here, here and here.
Meal Plan
Oh hey, have you heard? It’s raining. A lot. Everywhere. Definitely here.
While the effects of the hurricane didn’t come inland as far as they’d projected, it was definitely a soaking, sopping, windy, wet weekend that required hibernating indoors and cranking up a fire for the first time in our new house.
Soccer was cancelled for the 18th time in a row {ok, 2nd} and I still don’t own a raincoat. Also, am I the only person in the world who loathes their Hunter rain boots? That’s why I don’t usually jump on trends…
Since we were stuck indoors anyways {outside of a few puddle-frolicks}, I took the opportunity to hang a bunch of shelves and pictures that have just been sitting around since we moved in waiting for me to decide where to put them. I stopped over thinking it and just put a bunch of holes in the freshly-painted walls and decided to live with it. I just need to find curtains for the baby’s nursery and I can claim partial-doneness {and let’s be honest, that’s about as done as I get anything}. We might have played a round or two of toilet paper bowling turned toilet paper dodgeball…
Now despite my desire to live on nothing but chili and soup alone, I should probably not overdose on those before it actually gets cold. For the record, I like it cold, just not also soaking wet. So here’s the line up for this week’s menu, after I deleted a fourth {and fifth} bowl of chili.
Monday // Meatless Monday
Burrito bowls with black beans, fajita veggies, cilantro lime rice, and guac. I usually use homemade salsa roja and roasted corn salsa, but I think I’m feeling the jarred variety this week. {So good with this copy-cat Moe’s queso blanco – dairy-free queso blanco version too!}
Tuesday
Thai Chicken Meatballs. I’m a sucker for peanut sauce.
Wednesday
Homemade pizzas. {We use Daiya cheese & Bob’s Red Mill Pizza Crust mix to make them gluten free and dairy free.}
Thursday
Southwestern potato skins. Minus the cheese and sour cream. {This is the part where the husband groans and I threaten he can deal or starve. I’m such a loving wife.}
Friday
Out 
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I also really want to make these gluten-free vegan chocolate chip bagels. Ok, my three year old really wants me to make them, and I feel almost ambitious enough to oblige. I’m nervous though, I’ve made regular whole grain bagels and I’ve made gluten-free dough- I can’t imagine working with gluten-free dough well enough to make circles and have them hold up to boiling… Anybody tried it? Also, it’s worth noting that pumpkin cream cheese is the best ever, and I don’t like cream cheese.
Also, I ‘scoped for the first time. {That’s what the cool kids are calling it.} I feel safe telling you this because it’s been over 24 hours and it’s gone foreverrrrr. {*crosses fingers and hope I’ve done math right.*} Do you use Periscope? Share your profile in the comments so I can come stalk you I mean follow you.
For more meal ideas: here and here.
What are you eating this week?
Meal Plan, Other
Preschool has only been in session for two weeks and already it’s completely thrown off my days. This is the first year KB hasn’t gone to school on Mondays, so my week is completely thrown off right from the start. We’re usually up for a few hours before I realize, oh! It’s Monday! Maybe I’ll catch on by the end of the year…
With the tease of cool weather we had in the mornings last week I though we were on the cusp of fall, but NC’s not quite ready to make the leap. I’d hope to squeeze in an apple-picking trip in between volunteering at the preschool consignment sale and KB’s first soccer practice {!!}, but that wasn’t the case. Just shy of 90 degrees didn’t quite feel like apple-picking weather, and I heard the apples were pretty picked over anyways.
While I was hoping for an all-things-apple packed meal plan for the week, I guess I’ll have to hold off on that just a little while longer. Hopefully we can still get our hands on some freshly picked apples this season.
Instead, here’s what’s on the menu this week. I think for once we might all actually be home more evenings than not, which makes meal planning a lot easier!
{photo credits to links below}
Monday // Meatless Monday
Black Bean Pineapple Enchiladas
Tuesday
Mahi mahi with Crispy Roasted Potatoes {<– mahi from the freezer section at Costco – SO GOOD. I think it’s called Sea Salt Garlic Mahi Mahi or something similar. Makes everyone think you worked really hard in the kitchen. Shh I won’t tell.}
Wednesday
Slow Cooker Vegetable Korma {paleo, vegetarian}
Thursday
Brussels Sprouts Cranberry Quinoa Salad {vegetarian}
Friday
Crockpot Baked Potatoes with Smashed Chili Beans {because I really want to believe fall is coming…and Fridays are for being lazy in the kitchen.}
Weekend
Whatever’s left over.
Also… definitely making this sometime this week because why not?! –>>Paleo Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
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Anything good on your meal plan this week?
More meal plan ideas.
