Dinners This Week
Chicken is the main protein this week, with one night of fish and two nights with no meat. As usual all recipes are gluten free and dairy free. We don’t have the usual variety of fresh vegetables, but hopefully I made up for it with a variety of ethnic flavors to keep things interesting.
It’s late winter here in the Mid-Atlantic and it’s a tough time of year for produce. But Spring is coming and soon you will see an abundance of early Spring veggies in our recipes.
Sunday
A nice bowl of healthy comfort food, this fettuccine bolognese recipes uses GF pasta and chicken sausage instead of the usual rich ingredients. While lightened up it still retains the great flavor of the Italian original.
Tossed Salad (optional)
- Buy a pre-bagged salad from the supermarket or make your own from scratch, whatever you have time for.
Monday
Tuesday
Tonight’s baked chicken breast recipe has become a staple in our meal planning. Its versatility and ability to be reused throughout the week makes it an invaluable part of our building-block-based meal planning approach.
Super Easy Baked Chicken Breasts
- Make extra and save it for Thursday night’s Pozole recipe.
Wednesday
Tuna Melts
- Use a high quality whole grain or seed bread. 3 slices will do for one can of tuna. Double the recipe if you need more.
- Mix 1 can of (drained) water packed albacore tuna fish with 1 Tablespoon minced onion, 2 Tablespoons minced celery, and 2-3 tablespoons of dairy-free mayonnaise, along with some salt and pepper. Let sit for about 1/2 hour if you have time.
- Other possible add-ins: fresh parsley, 1 tsp mustard, pinch dried dill weed, lemon juice, chopped dill pickles
- Spread about 1/3rd of the tuna on a slice of bread and top with a slice of tomato and then sprinkle a tablespoon of shredded cheese of your choice (dairy free is a good option as well).
- Put in pre-heated broiler for about a minute.
- Serve with pickles, baby carrots, celery sticks, and/or olives.
Slaw Salad
- For the slaw salad you can just pour a bag of pre-chopped slaw mix into a bowl, add some optional almond slices or pigniolia nuts, toss with 1-2 tablespoons of Italian vinaigrette or leftover basil pesto vinaigrette from yesterday, and serve. Presto!
Thursday
Take the leftover chicken from Tuesday, add a few simple ingredients, heat it all up in a pan and you’re done. Wow, how much easier could life be?
Friday
I made up this recipe last week, inspired by a delicious looking picture in Cooking Light magazine. Check it out, I think you’ll like it — it’s vegan and filling!
Shopping List
Purchase organic, GMO-free if at all possible.
Produce
- 1 yellow onion (Sun, Wed)
- 10 oz package button or cremini mushrooms (Sun)
- 2 bags of premixed salad (Sun)
- or 1 head of lettuce, 1 cucumber, and tomatoes to make your own
- 6 oz edamame beans (refrigerator or freezer section) (Mon)
- 2 bunches scallions (Mon, Fri)
- Cilantro (Mon, Fri)
- 1 lb fresh green beans (Tue)
- 1 pt Cherry or grape tomatoes (Tue)
- 1 lemon or use bottled lemon juice (Tue)
- Celery (Wed)
- Bunch carrots (Wed, Fri)
- 1 large tomato for slicing (Wed)
- 3-4 lbs mixed firm vegetables (Sun)
- 1 bag of pre-chopped slaw salad mix
- 16 oz salsa fresca or pico de gallo (Thu)
- 1 green apple (Fri)
Healthy Packaged Foods
- Tomato paste (Sun)
- 2 x 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes (Sun)
- 1 jar thai peanut sauce (Mon)
- 1 small jar basil pesto (Tue)
- 1 can water-packed albacore tunafish (Wed)
- Dairy-free mayonnaise (Wed)
- Dill pickles (Mt. Olive is awesome!) (Wed)
- 1 quart container organic chicken stock (Thu)
- 1 can hominy (Thu)
- 1 can light coconut milk (Fri)
- Mint chutney (optional) (Fri)
Meats and Dairy
- 1 lb Italian-flavored chicken sausage, uncooked (Sun)
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (Tue)
- shredded cheese such as cheddar or dairy-free mozarella
- 1 container plain greek yogurt (optional) (Fri)
Bakery & Pantry
- 6 oz GF or whole wheat fettuccini (Sun)
- 8 oz rice noodles (Mon)
- Peanuts (optional) (Mon, Fri)
- Whole grain bakery bread or GF bread, sliced (Wed)
- Sliced almonds (Wed)
- Millet flour (Fri)
- 3 cups garbanzo beans (Fri)
- Brown rice (Fri)
Staples
- Olive oil
- Garlic salt
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Seasoning Blends
- White wine vinegar
- Salt
- Pepper
- Curry powder, mild
- Garam masala (optional)
Breakfast and Lunch
If there are only two of you the meal plan will generate enough leftovers for you to take them for lunch at least one or two days. If your meals have to stretch to 3 or more people, the easiest thing is to double one or two of your recipes during the week, and save the extra in lunch size containers. Mark them with the date you made them and put the oldest ones in the front of the refrigerator. Eat or freeze them within 4 days.
Take a look at this post on how to automate breakfast and lunch to review the variety of options available for easy healthy breakfast and lunch meals.
Talk to us!
Did you find an error? Tweak any recipes? Skip or swap any? C’mon over to the Facebook Community and tell us about it.