Meal Planning + What We Ate Last Week

I’m back again! This post was pretty well received last week, so I’m here again to share what we did for meal planning, recipes we used and how they were modified to fit into what we like and don’t like. I’ll be honest – meal planning is a bit of work on the front end of things (figuring out what recipes to try, making a grocery list, etc.) BUT – we have saved money, had less food waste and the best part – no stress at dinner time. It’s like the work is already done and there is honestly no price tag for my sanity in that regard. As always – just real life iPhone photos, no fact staging or lighting 😉 So let’s dive right in to this week’s edition of meal planning + what we ate last week!

I actually didn’t end up meal plan until Sunday, so not as many meals this week, but lots of new recipes were tried and I even did my first ever one pot meal (spoiler alert: it worked), which I’ve always been super hesitant about. One thing I really love about meal planning is that it gives me the opportunity to actually make and attempt all the recipes I pin and save on Pinterest. Now, let’s eat!

Sunday – Potato Avocado Toast With Poached Eggs – One thing is for certain in this house – we love eggs. We also love avocado toast. So, when I saw this fun twist on traditional avocado toast, I knew I wanted to test it out. I used this recipe to work off of and added lime zest for on top. I didn’t have chives, so I used onions instead. I also didn’t make two eggs per potato patty, because that seemed like overkill to me. We LOVED this one and would highly recommend it – SO FILLING!

Monday – Blackened Shrimp Salad – This recipe was actually inspired way back when we ate a week of salads! We fell hard for the blackened shrimp salad and it had been a little while since I put it together. I really love this recipe, because it can kind of be modified into exactly what you like by adding or subtracting. I nixed the asparagus yet again (for the same reason – no skinny spears at the store) and used Silk yogurt for the dressing base. We obviously really like it 🙂

Tuesday – Fried Cauliflower Rice with Salmon – Arguably one of our favorites of the week. I just baked a filet of salmon like I normally do with some lemon juice, lime juice and agave and then made cauliflower rice from last week’s recipe, but subbed in shelled edamame since I didn’t have peas. The salmon stayed in the oven a little bit too long since we were installing turf grass out back, so it was more like blackened salmon, LOL, but it was SO good!

Wednesday – Vegetable Coconut Curry – I’ve been making this recipe ever since we got back from Thailand, or at least some variation of it. My tried and true basic recipe can be found here, but I always modify it depending on what I have/don’t have on hand. On this particular night I had broccoli, sweet potatoes and onions. I also had a boat load of garlic, lemongrass, limes and chili garlic sauce. The end result was SO GOOD! We paired it with rice. It’s a staple in our house, so obviously we will make it again 😉 If you like curry, I also recommend my Spicy Peanut Vegetarian Curry!

Thursday – Basil and Tomato Green Lentil Pasta – When I went to the store, they didn’t have the lentil pasta on sale like they had the week before, so I had to make a game day decision in the pasta aisle about what I was going to do. I went with a gluten free thin spaghetti and wound up doing something a bit different than the plan, but still had the same ingredients. I use this recipe and it was my first time attempting a “one pot” meal. No, not instant pot. One pot on the stove. I didn’t know how mixing it all together would be, but it turned out delicious! The noodles look kind of crazy, because welcome to gluten free spaghetti, LOL! Nonetheless – we both really liked it and would definitely make it again!

Friday – Buffalo Cauliflower Salad – Like last week, by Friday we had fallen off the wagon and really didn’t have any interest in eating salad. We snacked on chips and queso (holy stomachache – but SO GOOD) and drank homemade margaritas and called it a night. No photos, I’m sorry!

Last week’s meal plan included a few recipes that I’m so happy I got a chance to test out. I have enjoyed putting this meal planning + what we ate posts together, so I’m going to try to stick with it. That is, if you like them, of course 😉 What sorts of menu items would you like to see me add?