Ok, so who worked their meal plan last week?  I did, I did!  And I’m totally ready to kick this week’s ass and stick to a meal plan as well!

I print off the meal plan (template I use is here), fill it out and then stick it on the fridge.  I can add or switch around meals if I need to.  It’s very handy, plus I can make a shopping list right from the plan.

I want to go back to having a shopping list on my phone.  I used to use Springpad but they have closed up shop (I can’t even link to them, because they are totally gone) so now I need something else.  Does anyone use an app to create and maintain shopping lists?  I would love to hear your recommendations!

Alright, let’s get to the meals.

BREAKFAST:

 

Leftover roasted potatoes with spinach and onions.  I sauteed everything up in a skillet with a little lard and seasoned lightly with pepper, salt, and garlic powder.

YUM!  Definitely became a favorite! This would work with sweet potatoes too if you don’t eat white potatoes.

Braised kale with roasted red pepper chicken sausage.  The sausage is Al Fresca brand and is delicious! Minimal ingredients, no gluten, and no additives.  In a pan, I heated up some lard and cooked the sausages first.  I removed those and added in the kale with a little stock to help the kale cook down.  Once the kale was wilted, I added the sausage back in.  Seasoned with a little salt, pepper, and garlic powder (I should just start calling this my house seasoning!).  It was delicious and totally hit the spot!

I made a huge batch of it so that there would be leftovers for the next day.  I did use a full package of sausage and 2 large bunches of kale (stemmed, chopped).  This time I added a little parm on top for some tangy cheese bite.

Cubed sweet potato with onion and shredded carrot cooked in a skillet in some ghee and seasoned with chili powder.  I also cut up some breakfast sausage and added that to the mix.  Sadly this breakfast was completely unsatisfying and I was so bummed.  The sweet potato was taking forever to cook through and even after 30 minutes, it still was crunchy.  Ugh. The texture was completely off and left me disappointed.

I made a gorgeous veggie quiche with a grain free crust to chase the bad breakfast blues away.  The filling contained:

• 5 eggs scrambled with 1/2C Whole Milk
• Shredded Carrot
• 1/2 small Onion, chopped
• 2 Large handfuls of baby spinach, chopped
• 5 slices of crispy bacon, crumbled
• Dijon mustard
• Horseradish

The dijon and horseradish was whisked in with the eggs.  The carrots, onion, spinach, and bacon were added to a hot skillet and cooked in some ghee until the onions and spinach were soft.   I let the mixture cool and then added it to the scrambled eggs.  Poured it over the crust and baked for 1 hour at 400 degrees.

The crust was a recipe from Beyond Bacon (not an affiliate link) with a little modification on my end.  I used butter instead of lard.  The crust was perfect! I couldn’t roll it out but was able to form it in the pie pan with no issue.  It was the best tasting crust we have ever had and beats anything I’ve made with flour.  We will definitely be making this again!

Scramble eggs with Mexican rice (I’m working on perfecting my Mexican restaurant style rice. Getting close!), and chicken breakfast sausage links.

Leftover veggie quiche and chicken sausage.

LUNCH:

Two lunch/snacks!

Deviled eggs, carrots, and a huge bowl of nectarines.

Leftover pork chop (which you’ll see in a second), broccoli that was dipped in hummus, and a salad of cucumber and chopped tomato.  Pretty simple but totally satisfying.

DINNER:

Roasted up a whole chicken! (The chicken was prepared this way) Paired that with some parsnip mash.  I also made a pan sauce and thickened that with some arrowroot powder!  Arrowroot powder works the same way cornstarch does.  Mix it with a little water to make a slurry and then whisk that into the sauce.  As the sauce simmers, it will thicken up.

I liked the end result with the arrowroot powder.  It thickened the sauce but didn’t weight it down.  It also left the sauce clear and glossy while a roux can lighten the color of a sauce and cause it to be cloudy.  This sauce was way more pleasing to look at!

Leftovers with coleslaw!

Gigantic pork chops and a whole mess of sweet potato fries.  Chops were cooked in a cast iron skillet with lard and seasoned with salt, poultry seasoning, and tarragon.  A splash of stock was added and the chops were finished in the oven at 400 until the were done.

Basic sweet potato fries (peeled, sliced, oil, seasonings), also roasted at 400 until cooked and crispy.

I had some leftover pulled pork in the freezer so I heated that up and placed on lettuce wraps.  Mexican rice, and some roasted yellow squash.  The squash had oil, salt, and chili powder.  Roasted on a baking sheet at 400 until done.  About 10 minutes, squash cooks up quickly!

Pizza! Working on a yeast based grain free pizza dough.  Not quite where I want it to be but I’m getting close.  This was baked using a cookie sheet. It’s topped with sauce, moz, banana peppers, and spicy Italian sausage.

I used too much sauce so the pizza came out really dense!  Next time lighter on the sauce and the cheese.

Ending the week with a big salad, with fresh romaine and tomato that I purchased at the farmer’s market on Saturday.  Shredded carrot, hard boiled egg, and golden beets on top.  We used premade ranch dressing from Bolthouse Farms.

The beets I prepped for salads this week.  Super easy, peeled, chopped, boiled until they were tender.  Now they are ready to eat whenever I need them.

Not a bad week!

FOODS:

All eggs, chicken, pork from Jodar farms

Lettuce and tomatoes from the farmer’s market.

 

This past weekend was a huge indulge weekend because we attended the Colorado Brewer’s Festival.  Lots of beer and foods that I don’t normally eat. I’m feeling the effects and I’m ready to get back to normal eats this week.

Our anniversary is this week so there will be some special treats but kept in check.  We will be eating well, for sure!

How were your eats last week?