Happy Monday! One of my big goals for 2018 was to get better about planning our meals. We were really on the ball last winter and spring and just knowing my plan for the week was so helpful in grocery shopping and saving my sanity. I loved not really having to think about dinner, because everything was set and I had what I needed from the store. That said, meal planning and prep takes some work, but I buckled down last weekend and put together our meal plan for the week. I shared it on Facebook for two reasons 1. To help anyone get some meal inspiration for their own meal planning and 2. To keep myself a little bit accountable.
Honestly, I felt so good getting it out of the way for the week and it made grocery shopping a breeze, because I knew what I needed to get instead of waffling over what to make for the week in the middle of the produce section. I know this probably sounds so stupid, but we had fallen off the meal planning track HARD. So anyway, I figured I would share today how it went, what we made, links to recipes and what I modified just in case anyone else needs a little inspiration 🙂 Plus, I typically get a ton of questions about what I’m making each night for dinner when I share the prep on Instagram stories, so for those that have asked repeatedly for me to share it somewhere they can reference…here you go! 🙂
Saturday – Black Bean Enchilada Skillet – We LOVE this recipe and in full disclosure, this photo is actually old. I totally dropped the ball and didn’t take a picture of the one we actually ate on Saturday. Whoops! In the photo you see I had followed the recipe to the letter (minus cilantro – GROSS!), but when I made it last week, I omitted the tortilla strips and subbed in Daiya Shreds.
Sunday РGreen Lentil Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper and Broccoli РNo recipe here other than the one I had in my head. Sorry! I took a box of green lentil pasta I found at Target on sale (Costco has it on occasion too) and cooked it normally. Then I took a jar of roasted red peppers (drained), 3/4 cup coconut milk and a head of roasted garlic and put it in my Vitamix + blended it on high. That is your sauce! In a large skillet (I love mine from AllCladРI have the 6 QT for anyone in the market!) saut̩ broccoli florets. When slightly cooked, add in pasta and sauce. Stir well. Let everything get hot and enjoy!
Monday – Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quinoa Bowls with Avocado Lime Sauce – I followed this recipe VERY LOOSELY. It’s a great base, but I made a good amount of swaps. First and foremost, there is no cilantro in anything I make (it tastes like straight up Dawn dish soap to me), so all of that was banished. I swapped in Trader Joe’s Chili Lime instead of using regular chili powder. I roasted my black beans on the stove with 1 chopped jalapeño for some extra spice. I used So Delicious Key Lime Dairy Free Yogurt instead of Greek yogurt and added in half an avocado to the sauce before blending it all in my Vitamix. I took the second half of avocado and added a few chunks to each of our bowls. Whew! Sorry – lots of modifications there, but I will say this was a dinner winner!
Tuesday – Shrimp Fried Cauliflower Rice – This is one of our favorite meals and it comes together so easily. There are a ton of different modifications you can do to make it your own. I typically add a bit more garlic powder (or roasted garlic if I have it), an extra egg and add a protein (shrimp or scallops). It’s so tasty! On this particular night, I skipped the carrots and added in bell pepper. I also swap in coconut aminos instead of soy sauce and forgo the sugar (no need!).
Wednesday – Big Ass Salad with Salmon – This one is pretty self explanatory. A huge salad with some salmon on top. I also roasted some sweet potatoes to add to it. We try to eat a huge salad at least once a week and it’s kind of fun to see what kind of toppings we can put on it to make it extra filling. Some of our favorites are: roasted vegetables, nuts, beans, corn, sometimes fruit and fish. Our hands-down favorite salad dressing (and marinade) can be found here. It’s made by a family from my hometown and man – it’s so flipping good! We usually have our parents ship it to us 🙂
Thursday – Zucchini Cauliflower Fritters – Ummm – we hit a roadblock. Thursday I felt sick all day. No matter what I did, I couldn’t shake the feeling of nausea and just plain exhaustion. I had plans to make this meal option a reality, but I’ll be  honest – I wanted something tried and true that I could basically cook in my sleep. No zoodling or ricing required! So, I turned to one of my favorite recipes…Enchilada Sweet Potatoes. This recipe is as easy as it gets and whenever I make it, we devour it. I subbed in Gardein Crumbles (my favorite plant based product to date), but followed everything else as is. Mine don’t look nearly as delicious as the recipe but…who cares!
Friday – Loaded Sweet Potato Fries – And here is where we really fell off the proverbial wagon LOL! The sweet potatoes I was going to use for my fries had been eaten on Thursday thanks to that change up, so I went in a whole other direction and we just had regular nachos with black beans and corn. I used leftover Daiya Shreds from Saturday and leftover lime SoDelicious yogurt for dipping. There was also leftover chicken from Dane’s lunches so I tossed that on, because I was determined to clean out our fridge and the pieces were big enough for me to pick off. Obviously we also enjoyed margaritas alongside the enormous nacho platter 🙂
And there you have it! For anyone who isn’t into meal planning or seeing what I ate, this post was probably a total snooze. I will say that I source most of my recipes from Pinterest, so be sure to follow me over there. Happy eating!
P.S. For those that were interested, did you like this post? Should I keep doing these? I always love input on the direction this blog can go so any feedback is always appreciated!
Pumpkin Cranberry Breakfast Cookies
Ted Lasso Biscuits
Buffalo Chicken Pasta