Meal Planning: Post 2

If I can ever get in a rhythm of being prepared enough to share my weekly meal plan in advance, I'd like to share it on Friday or Saturday so it can help my friends with their weekly meal plan.

As such, I had a work trip last week and this weekend has been busy SO I'm just now posting it today. Consider this my suggestions for your meal planning for NEXT week :) now, excuse me as I go preheat my oven for our Aldi pizza we are having for dinner tonight LOL, with a side of salad, of course!

NEW RECIPE IDEA: I have been trying to limit as much dairy and gluten in our meals as possible, because it is so readily available to eat at breakfast and snacktimes. As such, I tried out a completely dairy free pasta sauce last week and it was SO good! Cory didn't even add parmesan cheese to the top of it :) that's a sign that it's flavorful. Recipe to follow below but the picture is right here, yum!

On our meal plan docket for this week (doesn't mean they will happen but at least I have a plan ;) :

1. Pasta Bake with Ground Turkey & Pork Sausage + Salad
2. Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa + Crockpot Beans + Brown Rice
3. NEW! Baked Potatoes with Wild Mushroom Ragu + Pancetta Crisped Brussel Sprouts
4. Crock Pot! Beef Stew with Potatoes, Carrots and Onions + Salad 

Here are the links to all of the recipes and my special notes beside them :) 

1. Pasta Bake: see recipe below, as I made this one up. It's easy. NOTE: double up on this recipe & freeze the 2nd batch for a quick/easy weeknight dinner. 
2. Cilantro Lime Chicken (link); NOTE: recommends grilling chicken. You could also bake in the oven at 300 degrees for approximately 1 hour (check about 40 minutes into bake). 
3. NEW! Baked Potatoes with Wild Mushroom Ragu (link); NOTE: you can prepare the mushroom ragu in advance & heat when ready to serve; NOTE 2: you can cook your baked potatoes in a slow cooker all day! NOTE 3: if you don't go the slow-cooker route, the night before, you can prepare the baked potatoes in either foil to prepare for the oven OR a real quick route is cooking them in the oven until they're soft & finish in the 350 degree oven for about 20 more minutes to get them as close as possible, to oven-baked 
1. Garlic Prosciutto Brussel Sprouts (link) NOTE: I drizzled some balsamic vinegar on this, close to the end of cooking; NOTE 2: you may substitute any cured meat or bacon for prosciutto; NOTE 3: you may substitute olive oil for butter
4. Crock Pot! Beef Stew: NOTE: a slightly tedious stew prep & you need red wine but it is a special version of Beef Stew! NOTE 2: Prep this the night before, put into crock pot the morning you want to eat it on low. NOTE 3: this recipe truly does develop more flavor, if it's made 1 day in advance then reheated the next day. (link). 

Pasta Bake 

*this is a recipe you can make ahead of time, refrigerate & heat when you are ready to eat it

**this is a recipe I like to load up with vegetables because they become disguised in the sauce

For the bake:

STEP 1 Boil: 1 box of rigatoni or other pasta of your choice - tubular is best

STEP 2 Brown: 1 # of your choice of ground meat (italian sausage with casings removed, ground turkey/pork/chicken/beef)

STEP 3: Saute your diced (or in my case, food processor diced) vegetables:

1 T olive oil

1 T minced garlic

1/2 onion

*heat olive oil in a large skillet, add garlic and onion and cook til fragrant. Then, add remaining vegetables below (all which need to be diced in very small pieces or put through a food processor):

1 c carrots

1 yellow squash

1 zucchini

STEP 4: MIX your sauce with the following + already browned meat & sauteed vegetables:

28oz can of diced tomatoes

1 T Italian seasoning

1 t salt (or more if you prefer) 

1 t freshly ground pepper

STEP 5: MIX your sauce from step 4, your boiled noodles together and put into a casserole dish

STEP 6: bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until bubbling

OPTIONAL Steps - if youre not limiting cheese in your household:
1) you can mix 8oz of softened cream cheese with the mixture above for extra creaminess

2) you can top this dish with about 1 - 2 c of shredded mozzarella and about 1/4 c of parmesan cheese

Dairy-Free Yellow Squash Pasta Sauce:

*I baked Trader Joe's turkey meatballs and topped this pasta with the sauce

**always save about 1/4 of the water your pasta boiled in, to toss with the sauce (the starches help the sauce to stick to the pasta)

***this sauce may be made ahead and reheated on the night you want to serve it

****here's the link to the original recipe if you want to use cream instead of pumpkin puree & more chicken broth (link)

3 smallish-medium size yellow squash, diced 

1 c pumpkin (or butternut) squash puree

8oz of your choice of pasta (we tried out a brown rice rigatoni)

1 small onion, diced

1 T minced garlic

1/2 t dried oregano

pinch of nutmeg (less than 1/8 t)

salt, to taste

fresh ground pepper, to taste

3 T white wine

1/2 - 3/4 c chicken stock 

STEP 1: prepare your vegetables. Put 1 T olive oil in a large pan or skillet, when warm, add onion & garlic. Saute until fragrant

STEP 2: add your diced yellow squash to the onion/garlic mixture. Saute until tender. Add the wine. 

STEP 3: once vegetables are tender, puree in a blender to get as smooth as possible. If it's too thick, add a splash of chicken stock. Transfer back to the pan. 

*this is a good point to start boiling your water & cook your pasta

STEP 4: Add your pumpkin puree & chicken stock to the pan. Maintain heat. Continue to stir and let the sauce thicken. This is the part where I used my immersion blender to really get the sauce as smooth and creamy as possible (I was trying to imitate a creamy pasta sauce). Once you've done this, taste your sauce and ensure the right salt/pepper taste is present! Add the nutmeg at this step & stir into the sauce. 

STEP 5: drain your pasta, reserve 1/4 c of the water it was boiled in. Once drained, add the pasta back to the pot, add the water and then toss with as much of the sauce as you want! 

ENJOY!