Meal Planning

Meal Planning!

I am writing this from my Whole30 perspective for this month, but the concept is absolutely something that can be used without W30 and I use a looser version of this plan in every day life.

(For one W30’er, one spouse who will W30 dinners, and one toddler who will still eat what we put in front of her)

Step 1: What does your week look like? 

At most, you’ll have 3 meals per day to plan. But do you have any:

·      Early Appointments so you need to prep a grab-n-go meal?

·      Late meetings so you need to prep extra “lunch” portions?

·      Events so you need to buy/pack extra snacks?

The first thing I do for meal planning is look at my week. I identify anything that would prevent/limit the standard kitchen or leftovers stance.

Step 2: The Meals! What looks good?

I don’t plan every day (Monday = Meatloaf, Tuesday = Taco salad, etc) because in general that just doesn’t work for me. I need some flexibility.

For Week 1, I need 6 dinners, 7 lunches, 4 breakfasts and 3 grab-n-go style breakfasts.

I usually start with dinners and I try to have a mix of prepped ahead, one pan meals, and a little more involved. Thanks to my W30 cookbooks and my past experience (and a little Pinterest) I came up with the following (in no particular order):

1.     Butternut Squash Soup with Poached Salmon (new recipe for us!)

2.     Sausage and Kale Soup (I have used nutpods in this, but unsweetened almond milk would also work)

3.     Sausage and veggie sheet pan

4.     Chicken and veggie sheet pan

5.     Taco Salad

6.     Cod with a citrus/avocado salad

I also try to pick dishes that can reused similar ingredients.

Once I have the meals picked, I figure out what will make good leftovers for lunches.

Both soups will make at least one extra serving and each of the sheet pan meals will make one extra serving. So that’s 4 lunches. For the remaining lunches, I will have the same thing: lettuce wrapped turkey burgers with mayo and pickles.

Breakfasts are harder for me, but I plan the following:

·      Breakfast bowl:

o   Mixed veggie roast

o   Fresh sautéed zucchini or spinach (pick one)

o   Egg or sausage (pick one)

·      Monkey bowl with a side of bacon

Step 3: The Prep

Once I have the meals for the week, I look at all the meals and figure out what I can and have to prep ahead. I commute at least 45 minutes each way so dinner has to be fast and easy. That only happens if I can dedicate part of Sunday to meal prep. My meal prep day has been the defining success or failure of my rounds.

For this week, I figured I can make the following on Sunday to simplify:

·      Chicken Broth

·      Butternut Squash Soup

·      Sausage and Kale Soup

·      Compliant Mayo

·      Grill the turkey burgers

·      Roast veggies for breakfast (sweet potatoes, Yukon potatoes, carrots, onions, beets)

·      Chop veggies for salads

The broth I can set up in the slow cooker in the morning (10 minutes of effort?). Each of the soups will take probably an hour. Cutting veggies for roasting and salads, maybe 30 minutes. The mayo takes longer to clean than to make. But it’s still a big part of my day. Hubs can run errands or have some one-on-one time with our toddler.

The meal planning itself is an evolving process. If something works really well, I will keep it in rotation (if these soups are great, I’ll make one Week 2 and another Week 3). And with Week 1, I keep it simple on purpose. Lots of repeats and lots of prep ahead because I need the successful moment to keep me through Week 2 (which is where I have flunked out). I keep notes on what sounds good during the week, and I use sticky notes in my compliant cookbooks. Most of my planning is on paper and I have a grocery app to use in the store.

In Case Of Emergencies: Even this simple meal plan may not go according to plan. So at the start of my Whole 30, I stock up on frozen cauliflower rice, compliant Aidell's sausage (not all flavors are okay), and frozen veggies. I can make a meal from just cauli rice and sausage in about 10 minutes. I always have RX Bars and Epic bars on hand too (in case of traffic, long meetings, spilled lunch, etc) to limit temptation to go off plan. Again - check the flavors, just like Larabars - not all flavors are compliant.

A note about Pinterest. For starters, I love Pinterest. I have found some wonderful Paleo bloggers on the site who post compliant meals or recipes that can be easily modified to be W30 compliant. But. Many recipes are marked Paleo or Whole 30 but are obviously not compliant. Be cautious and be knowledgeable. Just because someone else has called Paleo Pancakes “Whole 30 compliant” doesn’t mean that you don’t know the rules enough to know that it’s super SWYPO and off limits. Or people who, through good intentions, aren’t even aware of what Whole 30 really is and will post something with dairy or honey or quinoa. Don’t assume that the bloggers know better. You do.

I use Pinterest a lot – for parenting ideas, funnies, and recipes. I have a bunch of boards, and one just for Whole 30. Do you know about private boards? Well I have a private weekly board. And when I am going through W30 pins that I already have, I will simply pin again to my private board for the week. Then all my recipes are in one place, I don’t have to remember or search. Then at the end of the week, I just delete and start fresh.

Shakshuka!

Let’s talk travel recipes.

Last March, I went to Israel. I had some mind-blowing food. I was absolutely struck by the simplicity and intensity of the regional flavors. Even the flavor of the raw produce had a different (better?) flavor – more concentrated. I can’t really explain the difference. At breakfast we would be offered eggs, potatoes of some fashion, and a fresh salad bar. There was some canned fruit, but mostly fresh vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, salad, olives). I thought it was unusual to have fresh salad with my breakfast (but obviously I tried it). Basically it was like tasting cucumbers for the first time. My English skills are not advanced enough to appropriately describe the flavor explosion that happened in my mouth. And that seemed to happen with everything I tried.

About half-way through the trip, we stopped at our first market. There were baked goods and fresh produce and breads and olives and nuts and spices and ALL THE THINGS. All of them. It was like someone took Pike’s Place Market, put it on steroids, then put Bulked Up Pike’s Place on a flavor binge, and then rounded up Big Fat Pike’s Place’s fat friends and they all got together and staged a sit-in all over Israel. THAT much food. And things. And just… like whoa. (Did I mention I don’t really have the words?)

After visiting a few vendors, and completely gorging on outrageous baked goods (the highlight of the day being the fresh-from-the-oven chocolate rugalach. I could literally write a book on how good this pastry is, but it would be lots of “really really really really really really really good, like you don’t even know how really really really really really really really really really baller moist and delicious it is” and that gets boring in 1 sentence, let alone 200 pages) I set out on a spice mission. It was getting close to our meeting time to head back to the bus, but I happened upon our tour guide and another group leader having a snack just outside the plaza. First of all, the tour guide sent me back out IMMEDIATELY because I had failed to buy any za’atar. When I came back, I was able to try a bite of the left over shakshuka from our leader’s lunch. It was divine. I’d had baked eggs before, but never like this. And paired with the flavorful bread (of course it was flavorful) it was (not to be repetitive) a flavor explosion in MY MOUTH. Later on the bus, our fearless tour guide gave us his own personal recipe on making shakshuka at home. Believe you me, it did not take me almost 6 months to make this dish. In fact, it was one of the first things I made for myself during my stint of funemployment. But I did hoard the recipe and eat lots of it secretly under the table away from you because I didn’t want to admit how much this tomato-loathing Westerner had been shoveling this hand-over-fist. (…Oh and I kept eating it so fast I forgot to take pictures.)

Shakshuka is really a simple, rustic dish. In Israel it was on the menus for all times of day, but it seemed to be mostly a breakfast dish. I’ve eaten it at all times of day and am never mad at it. It’s savory enough to play with dinner - probably a flavor palate most of us Westerners are used to having with dinner. But it’s a great day starter – protein from eggs, fruits from the tomatoes, carbs from the dipping bread, and quick to throw together. The eggs poach right in the sauce, and it’s encouraged to eat directly from the pan it’s cooked in – family style! I recently made this for my family in California – I accommodated a large crowd by cooking the sauce on the stove, then putting it in a bake-ware pan and finishing the eggs in the oven. It took a little longer this way, but was easier than cooking in batches. Everyone, from my gluten-free little cousin, to my picky big cousins, enjoyed it.

Crusty bread is best to dip, but you could probably use just about anything. As a bread connoisseur, I recommend a French loaf or sourdough as your first pick. A focaccia or ciabatta would also be a great.

Shakshuka

Serves 3ish

Adapted from my Israeli tour guide

1 Tbls olive oil

1 Tbls butter

1 small onion, diced (yellow or sweet)

1 tsp salt (ish)

A few cloves of garlic, minced (more or less, depending on your taste. I like ALL OF IT)

28 oz can San Marzano crushed tomatoes (fresh tomatoes are great, too)

A few generous pinches of za’atar (available in exotic spice sections or Middle Eastern markets. Fresh parsley may be replaced)

6 eggs (the fresher, the better – I use farm fresh because I know a guy)

Feta, if you’re getting crazy

1.      Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and butter (you can use just olive oil if you prefer) and allow to heat up. Add the onion and salt and cook until the onion is translucent, but not yet browned.

2.      Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.

3.      Add the tomatoes and za’atar (or some parsley – be sure to reserve some). Stir, and then lower the heat to medium-low. Cook without a lid until the sauce reduces slightly. If it sputters, turn down the heat. If it reduces too quickly, losen it with a few spoonfuls of water. Season with salt and pepper.

4.      Add the 6 eggs evenly throughout the pan. Add a lid and cook 5-6 minutes, until the whites are set. You make cook longer if you aren’t wildly about loose yolks.

5.    When the eggs are set, remove from heat. Sprinkle a little feta (to taste) and some za’atar or parsley. Maybe a salad on the side. Enjoy!

Berry Week 2013 - PNW 75

Iiiittt'ssss.... BERRY WEEK!

I've always loved berries. Growing up, I would have thrown my brother over a cliff to take his share of straberries. He would have willinginly done me in for my share of devonshire cream. In the end, our cahoots and loittering would have been better matched except that we seemed to care more about the other failing than succeeding ourselves (ah, childhood).

As I've grown up, my love of berries hasn't waivered. While strawberries are still my favorite, my time in the northwest has cultivated a special love of blackberries. After my recent trip abroad, I already shared the magic that is tea-based simple syrup. As we started talking about berry week, and with a case of home-sickness after being out of town for most of June, I really wanted to play homage to the Pacific Northwest. It didn't take long for me to arrive at a Pacific Northwest version of a French 75.

French 75s are fantastic little treats that (like many things I've come to love) sounded terrible at first. The cocktail consists of gin and simple syrup mixed with champagne, finished with a lemon twist. Since initially hearing about this concoction, I remained weary until I was able to try some truly fantastic options at classy bars. By using a dry champagne, the sweetness of the syrup does not overpower. And also it turns out that I haven't met a glass of bubbles (in any form) that isn't my BFF. In this cocktail version, I substituted lemon for blackberry, and used some of the reserved simple syrup from the link above.

I've included two versions below - one more traditional style using just gin, and a second version substituting some of the gin for a tea-infused vodka I found while wandering around the liquor store. I thought the gin version was great - but the tea flavor was not as strong as I prefer. My favorite part about the vodka was that it added more tea flavor without sweetness. But even as I wrote out the recipe, the combination of vodka and gin sounded... terrible. It is not. And I didn't even get a hangover after drinking testing two whole cocktails. 

After having a little sip on this cocktail, don't forget to check out the other wonderful contributions (edible and drinkable!) for Berry Week!

Monday: Comfortably Domestic-Fresh Strawberry Pie / La Petite Pancake-Berry Sangria
Tuesday: Inside NanaBread's Head-Annie's Blackberry Cake / From My Sweet Heart-Summer Berry Terrine with Mascarpone Whipped Cream
Wednesday: Climbing Grier Mountain-Vanilla Gelato with Peach-Blueberry Compote & Honey Whipped Cream / Tenaciously Yours-Strawberry Smash
Thursday: Country Cleaver-Berry Sorbet Float / The Girly Girl Cooks-Strawberry-Rhubarb Stuffed French Toast
• Friday: Buffy and George-Black Raspberry & Cherry Pie with a Gluten-Free Crust/ Pineapple and Coconut with Blackberry Cobbler Ice Cream / The Grommom-Berry Crisp
Saturday: Munchin' in the Mitten-Cherry Clafoutis / Decadent Philistines Save the World-Raspberry Marshmallows (served two ways)

PNW 75
Makes 2 cocktails
3 blackberries
1 jigger earl grey simple syrup
1 jigger Tanqueray gin
1 jigger  Absolut Wild Tea vodka
Champagne

In a cocktail shaker, muddle 3 blackberries with some ice. Add in the syrup and two liquors. Top with ice and shake vigorously until the shaker is frosty on the outside. Strain the mixture between two cocktail glasses. Top with champagne (almost 1:1 ratio). Sit back, sip, enjoy. 
Repeat as needed following travel.

Mango ColeSlaw on Nom-rritos

I would apologize for not having a creative and witty post title, but then again... I'm not really sorry. I'm lowering expectations, and am excited enough that I managed to post twice this week, let alone added witicism. Sorry I'm not sorry.

If you read yesterday, you may be fresh out of ideas as to what to do with 3 lbs of freshly pulled pork shoulder. Here's just one idea. When I was roasting the pork, it was my second day back from a South American business trip, during which I enjoyed some absolutely tremendous fruits, including pineapple, citrus, and mango. My gawd the mangoes. I'm tardy to the mango party. They're my grandfather's favorite fruit, but he likes his fruit crunchy (practically his bananas, too), so I never quite got on the mango band-wagon.

Until South America. It's different fruit down there. Like Italy is the only place I enjoy tomatoes. I have since found better mangoes here, but they're still quite difficult to find. If you can find them, it turns out they're fantastic in cole slaw. With which I put on top of the pork and wrapped the whole thing in a tortilla. Nom-rrito.

While I'm not a huge fan of barbeque, my favorite part was always slapping the coleslaw onto my pulled pork sandwich. While this pulled pork is rather neutral - missing the sweetness of barbeque, and only seasoned with Cuban spices - I think the mango adds the South American flare I wanted.

Carnitas with Mango Cole Slaw


Pulled Pork 
Tortillas of your choice
1 bag coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots) (alternatively: 1/3 head of green cabbage and a few carrots - all shredded)
1 mango (peeled, sliced into matchsticks)
1/2 cup of your favorite coleslaw sauce (confession: I used a jar)
1 lime

1. Assemble coleslaw: in a large bowl, combine the coleslaw mix and mango. Add the coleslaw dressing. Cut the lime in half, and juice one half. Add the juice to the bowl, and combine everything. Add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Assemble the Nom-rrito: In each tortilla, add some pork (to taste) and top with coleslaw. Cut the remaining half of lime into wedges and squeeze onto each serving as desired.  

If you make the pork in advance, this is a really quick weeknight fix!

Easy weeknight gnocchi!

Before you read this, you should check out my guest post at WBACC - Wanna Be a Country Cleaver!

I cheat with gnocchi. Truth: I've never made gnocchi. But I love it. I've always wanted to make it. But let's be honest - after you've been working for 9 hours, have a hungry husband, and crying kitties, who wants to make gnocchi from scratch? Okay, another truth - sometimes I do crazy things. Gnocchi is not a crazy thing that I've done... I want to. Monday night is not the night. If it is your night to do crazy things like make gnocchi from scratch, then you deserve a medal. And then a foot rub and a nap. Because DANG.

Back to my story - I also like to take boring things from a jar, and make them taste-tacular by adding fresh ingredients. Because we're busy people! So I made a Bistro Gnocchi Bake! It dirtied two pans - but with a little patience, you could easily do it in one. And it took about 45 minutes (because there was some chopping and bake time).

Ingredients:

• 1 lb sausage (I used spicy chicken sausage - low fat!)
• 1/2 onion (or 1 large shallot) minced
• 3-4 stalks of celery, chopped
• 8 oz mushrooms, rough chopped
• Garlic
• 1 package of gnocchi (or, if you're like, super woman, a batch of homemade stuff)
• Jar of your favorite sauce (because we're being realistic here)
• Ricotta and/or shredded cheese for the finale

Start by putting a large pot to boil water for gnocchi. (If you are set on using one pan, cook the gnocchi completely in the pot, then set aside in the baking dish and use the large pot for the saucey goodness). Next - start browning the meat. When it's done, remove from pan (put on a plate) but leave the juice in the pan -  then you don't have to add oil for the veggies! In the hot, juicy pan (um... I'm not sure where this is going... oh! Now I remember)... In the hot pan, toss in garlic, onion, and celery. Salt it - because it's a good thing.

Remove the pretty veggies, and then quick sautee the mushrooms (I like mine firm because of the bake time, but you can adjust to your preference).

Yum!!

Is the water boiling yet? (wait, which order did you do?) If it is, add the gnocchi. Watch carefully - cook it just under the full time. Drain and add to a baking pan.

 

In the veggie pan, toss in your jar of sauce. Let it scrape up all the tasty bits from the veggies and meat. Better already! Then add back in the meat and all the veggies...

This is where my stove got wrecked a little messy because I underestimated my pan size... still good! Heat everything thoroughly. Season to taste with salt, pepper, any fresh herbs that you have growing on your porch...  I have none. But it was still good!! Now pour this tasty, tasty sauce all over the anxiously waiting gnocchi, and then dollop with some ricotta.

Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. And then, because your whole place will smell amazing, enjoy!!

*Chef's note: There are two of us. Based on the left-over count, I think this serves about 6 people*