Menu Monday: Nourishing Body and Soul

 

This week I relied on a premade meal plan from Life in theLofthouse to help me decide my meals, and then I tweaked the recipes to make them align with our ingredient choices (as needed…some already did). And then of course I got off track immediately. See below. 😊

Monday: Sloppy Joes and Steamed Broccoli

What I Loved: This was not the plan for this day, but yet another change in my schedule meant I didn’t get to be home to prepare the intended meal. For me, sloppy joes have become one of the easiest sub-in meals to pull together. As long as I have ground turkey on hand, I always have the full scope of ingredients to make this on the fly. I paired it with a slice of homemade bread and some steamed broccoli, and it was a great meal with leftovers for lunch the next day!

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Taco Soup

What I Loved: I had a church meeting at night, so I chose a slow cooker meal for this day so it could be hot and ready when Ryan and each needed to eat – at different times and in different places. It had good flavor and other than browning the meat ahead of assembly, it was a very fast meal to put together.

What I Changed: I used ground turkey instead of beef (cost) and Great Northern beans instead of black beans, because I discovered my only black bean can had a dent in it. Boo. (I normally keep several cans on hand because we use a lot of black beans in our dishes, but we were in sore need of a grocery haul, so I didn’t have a supply). I also used my own, homemade taco seasoning, rather than buying a packet. I also added a spoonful of Greek Yogurt to my bowl for creaminess and protein!

Wednesday: Pasta Primavera and Lemon Bars

What I Changed About the Pasta: I used angel hair palmini noodles instead of standard pasta and almond milk instead of heavy cream. It didn’t get as creamy as it might have, but I still thought it had good flavor. I used canned carrots and frozen broccoli for speed/ease, and I added cubed ham because I realized there wasn’t any meat!

What I Loved: I made this ahead of church and we ate it after. Ryan said he really liked it, so that’s a win for me. It was colorful and filling!

What I Didn’t Love About the Lemon Bars: All of it. I had never made lemon bars before, and I made them for Ryan to take to GriefShare. They were a disaster. They didn’t set up right. I am normally a good cook and have no idea what I did wrong. Anyone have a winner lemon bar recipe??

Thursday: Leftover Pasta Primavera

What I Loved: What I loved most of all was that I didn’t have anything to do with this meal. Ha! I was so sick and told Ryan all the leftovers in the fridge were his, because after the flu, I had no desire to see any of those meals ever again. He kindly ate upstairs so I didn’t have to smell any food.

Friday: Pizza King Date Night

What I Loved: Ryan and I had such grand plans of a long date day out in Fort Wayne – for a conference, for shopping, and for dinner out. And then…flu. I was feeling better by Friday night, so Ryan picked up Pizza King. If you’re not from around here and don’t know about Pizza King, it tends to be a less greasy pizza, and it’s cut in little squares, so I was able to eat just a tiny bit. We ate at home and I looked terrible, but it was a date night!

Saturday: BBQ Pulled Pork and Salad – with Razzleberry Pie for Pi Day!

What I Loved: We had small group before the high school musical, and we all pitched in together on food. We had BBQ pulled pork and tossed salad – and we celebrated Pi Day with some Razzleberry pie! I had tiny helpings of each and felt full – but good – after them! (Note: We took the salad and didn't know what we were taking until about 4 hours before the event, so it was buy-a-bagged-salad-and-add-some-avocado for the win. It doesn't always have to be super homemade!)

Sunday: Chicken Pot Pie Soup

What I Loved: While I was sick, Ryan brought me some cans of chicken pot pie soup to eat without meal prep stress. I had one can left, so I had it for dinner. It has really good flavor, and I think I will miss soup days when I get back to meal prepping.

Thank you for attending the weirdest week of meals ever.