What We Are Eating This Week (Week of 6/29/15)

This is a sample of how I often plan the week.  I write down what I have on hand (either full meal or specific ingredients), then I plan out meals to make from those items, then I write down what I need to buy.  From there, I transfer my list into my Kroger app.  It's my favorite for grocery shopping!  It keeps my list all sorted by category, I can keep my store coupons in there, and I can also add items directly from the weekly ad.

I pretty much cleaned out the fridge this past week, so for inspiration this week, I decided to use another technique.  Sometimes I will take either a cookbook or food magazine and pick all my recipes from there.  It's nice to just need one guide for all of the week's meals.

This week I'm using an Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine from January/February 2015.  I really like this magazine.  It's always full of fun recipes and information.  Rachael Ray was the first TV cook I watched and she taught me so much.  I love her creativity and casual approach.  She does a lot more pasta and cheese than I eat, but she has some great ideas!  Here are the recipes I plan to make:

These adorable mini meat loaves with customizable mix-ins. I think I'll let the kids choose how to flavor their own!

Roasted Pork Chops with Green Beans and Potatoes-one pan means less mess!

For lunch-Korean Style Rice Bowls. I'll use brown rice instead of jasmine and may do grilled chicken instead an egg.

Beef and Kale Stri Fry-will use brown rice, honey instead of sugar

For breakfast, lunch, or snacks, I will try this Avocado Smash or this White Bean Smash on top of Ezekiel bread and have either an egg or grilled chicken on the side.

Looks like a delicious week!  I hope that helps with your meal planning! 

Chicken with Zucchini Noodles and Avocado Cream Sauce

I had some friends over for lunch the other day and decided to make them something with zucchini noodles.  As I always do when I have company, I chose to make a recipe I've never made before, and didn't even follow a recipe, just used a few as a guide.  I don't know why I do this, but it usually works out just fine.  The end result was really good!  Creamy from the avocado, tangy from the lemon juice, nutritious from the zucchini, and filling from the chicken!  I will definitely make this again! When I do make it again, I will add a photo. We ate it so fast I didn't get a picture!

Chicken with Zucchini Noodles and Avocado Cream Sauce

Serves 4

2 cups cooked and diced chicken
4 medium sized zucchini
1 small avocado
1 clove of garlic
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup plain greek yogurt

1. Prepare the avocado cream sauce.  In a food processor, pulse the garlic clove a few times to break it down.  Add the avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, greek yogurt, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Puree until the mixture is well combined and creamy.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add olive oil.  If your chicken is cold, add the chicken and saute 2-3 minutes until heated through.  While the chicken is cooking, prepare your zucchini noodles.  I use a Vegetti, but you could use a food processor with the correct attachment, or a vegetable peeler and make strips.

3. Once the chicken is heated thoroughly, remove from the pan and add more olive oil to the pan.  Increase the heat to high.  Saute the zucchini noodles for 3-5 minutes.

4, Combine the chicken, zucchini noodles, and avocado sauce and serve!

I hope you enjoy this recipe.  Let me know if you tried it!

Cinnamon Apple Crunch

Last night after dinner I was really craving something sweet, but I'm really trying to be good since I'm going to Hawaii next week.  I thought about what I had eaten during the day and realized I was a little low on fruit.  I decided to create something to satisfy my sweet tooth and man, it was yummy!

Cinnamon Apple Crunch

1 small apple (I used a golden delicious)
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp peanut butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup quick oats, uncooked

Heat the coconut oil in a small skillet over medium high heat.  Slice the apples thinly and spread out in an even layer in the warm pan.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.  Once the apples have cooked a few minutes and begin to soften, flip them individually.  Pour oats over the top and drizzle with peanut butter.  After about 2 minutes, turn up the heat and stir continuously until everything is well combined, and apples are soft.  Try not to burn your mouth, it's hard to wait until the apples are cool enough to eat!

21 Day Fix Equivalents:
1 purple
1 yellow
2 tsp

This recipe would be easy to modify as well. If you don't have any yellow containers left or are trying to stay away from grains, pecans would be great instead of the oats.  You could also leave out the peanut butter and do a small drizzle of honey instead. Either way, it's delicious and fast and I will definitely make it again!

What We Are Eating This Week (6/1)

It's time for my weekly meal plan!  In case you are wondering how I come up with this, here is my method.  

1. Look in the fridge and see what I still have on hand

2. Shop sales at the store

3. Find/create recipes using those things

That seems to be the most cost effective way I've found.  I definitely find recipes ahead of time and shop specifically for those at times, but it's not always the case.  Sometimes I don't even know I'm going to the store until 20 minutes before it's time to go.  That leaves me little time to plan!  So, I usually just load up on produce, lean meat, whole grains, and canned items like tomatoes and beans.  Those provide a good base for just about any recipe.

This week we are having...

Roasted Chicken and Vegetables 

(will prep this Sunday and use for lunches during the week)

Flank Steak Stir-Fry with Veggies

Beef Fried Rice

Salmon Teriyaki Skewers

(will sub honey for the brown sugar and add green bell peppers)

Also, these recipes are more of a guideline.  I usually tweak things a little to either make them cleaner or fit ingredients I have on hand.  Either way, at least I have a plan!  What are you cooking this week?

Snack Time: Greek Yogurt

One my favorite snacks is Greek yogurt.  It is a staple on my grocery list each week.  There are so many ways to prepare it, so it never gets boring.  The high protein content makes it a great choice to keep us full and buying plain keeps us from overloading on sugar.  Besides a healthy snack or breakfast, it also makes a great topping in the place of sour cream!  You can also make chicken salad with it instead of mayo.  Try it!  I promise you won't miss the taste of mayo and your body definitely won't miss all the artificial ingredients in mayo!

Here are a few of my favorite variations of Greek yogurt:

Greek yogurt with stevia, flax meal, and frozen raspberries

Greek yogurt with peanut butter, stevia, and slivered almonds

Today I tried it with stevia, cinnamon, and chopped apples.  It was delicious!

What's your favorite variation?

What We Are Eating This Week (5/24)

It's time for the next edition of what we are eating this week!  We actually didn't eat everything that I prepped last weekend, so I don't have to plan as many meals.  I'll add a couple suggestions  in case you need a couple more ideas!


Skirt Steak Fajitas

Spicy Chickpea Veggie Burgers

A few of my favorite recipes you need to try:

Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato Skins

Chicken Bacon "Alfredo"

Almond Chicken Soup with Sweet Potato and Collards (I use kale)

Let me know if you try any of these recipes and what you think!  

My Review of Hello Fresh

Overall, I was really pleased with Hello Fresh.  The recipes were very easy to follow and the flavors were out of the ordinary but not too wild. I like that I have recipe cards now that I can use again. All of the ingredients were clean, so it was easy to eat healthy meals using this service. I will definitely do it again!

Meal 1 was chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes with a kale and couscous salad. The chicken was really good, not a huge fan of raw kale. A little too strong of a taste for me! Sara liked all of it though and ate the whole meal which almost never happens. 

Meal 2 was baked salmon with brown rice and a tangelo and avocado arugula salad. This meal was delicious, super easy to prepare, and very flavorful. It actually came with quinoa but Gonzalo has requested no more quinoa so I made brown rice.  I will definitely make this again. 

Meal 3 was mustard pork chops with roasted green beans and crispy potato cakes. This was also really really good! The mustard sauce had a shallot which I love and the potato cakes were something different I wouldn't usually make. Gonzalo and I devoured it all. 

Here's the recipe for the salmon:

Oven Roasted Salmon with Avocado, Tangelo, & Quinoa (or brown rice) Salad

2 salmon fillets

1/2 cup brown rice or quinoa

4 cups baby arugula 

1 avocado

2 T white wine vinegar 

1 tangelo 

2 scallions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare brown rice or quinoa according to package directions using water or vegetable stock. Meanwhile, zest the tangelo, then peel it with your hands. Slice the tangelo into thin rounds, then into half moons. Remove any seeds. 

Rub salmon fillets with 1/2 T olive oil, half of the tangelo zest, salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast in the oven 8-10 minutes, until flaky and opaque. 

Meanwhile, halve and pit the avocado and thinly slice. Slice the scallions, keeping greens and whites separate. 

Make the vinaigrette: mix remaining tangelo zest with 2 T white wine vinegar and 2 T olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Toss half the vinaigrette with the cooked brown rice, season with salt and pepper and set aside. 

Toss the arugula, tangelo segments, scallion whites, and avocado with the remaining vinaigrette. 

Serve arugula salad atop a mound of brown rice. Top with the salmon and sprinkle with scallion greens. Enjoy!

If you want to try it out, use this link to get $40 off your first order! https://www.hellofresh.com/?c=LKWLVH