Meg's Meal Planning

dinner

Vegetarian soup 

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Even though we are far from vegetarians, my husband and I both love this soup. It’s a one pot meal, packs plenty of flavor, and between the kale, sweet potato, butternut squash, and quinoa, you will feel full and satisfied! 

  

Vegetarian soup with kale and quinoa

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped 
  • 2 cups chopped butternut squash
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 4 cans  (14 1/2 oz) reduced sodium vegetable broth
  • 2 cans (15 oz) diced tomatoes
  • 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 cups chopped kale, ribs and stems removed
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Steps

  1. Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add onion and carrot and cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, sweet potato, butternut squash, and bay leaves. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
  2. Add the vegetable broth, tomatoes, and chickpeas. Stir in the quinoa and season with rosemary and thyme. Cook for 15 minutes or until quinoa is soft. Stir in the kale and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
 

This recipe was inspired from here 

Cooking with Hope

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Shrimp and pineapple tacos

  

This was a fun dish to cook with my sister and believe me, you will love cooking this too!  Who doesn’t love Mexican food!  The citrus from the pineapple shines through and pairs great with the cilantro and lime. Your taste buds will thank you! 

Shrimp and Pineapple Tacos

  
Ingredients

  • 10-12 shrimp, peeled and deveined 
  • 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, more to garnish with
  • Salt
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Lime zest
  • 1/2 cup pineapple, chopped
  • 1/2 avocado, chopped
  • 4 mini flour taco shells

Steps

  1. Heat lightly sprayed skillet over medium heat, Season shrimp in medium bowl with salt, lime juice, and cilantro.  Cook until pink
  2. Meanwhile heat taco shells according to the package
  3. Lay shrimp in the center of the taco shell and top with pineapple, avocado, and lime zest

Click here to to read about Cooking with Hope- Margherita Pizza and Pesto Pizza with Spicy Chicken Sausage and Sun Dried Tomatoes  and Cooking with Hope- A Birthday Celebration. 

Week of July 26th

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What a week of great meals! After returning from vacation, it takes a while to get back into the swing of things. This past week helped to reestablish my routines and start eating healthy again. 

  
Monday-Chicken sausage kebobs with green pepper, cherry tomatoes, and pineapple and tomato, spinach, and basil risotto. 

Chicken Sausage Kebobs with Green Pepper, Cherry Tomatoes, and Pineapple

Ingredients

  • 2 Chicken sausage links, sliced into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 bell pepper, cut into 1 inch squares
  • 1 package cherry tomatoes
  • Pineapple cut into 1 inch squares
  • 5 wooden skewer sticks, soaked for 30 minutes

Steps

  1. Prepare all your ingredients. We didn’t cook the chicken sausage ahead of time on the stove, but it would be a good idea since some pieces fell off theskewer 
  2. Place in order on the skewer – chicken sausage, pepper, tomatoe, pineapple, repeat. Don’t overcrowd them – leave a little space in between each item
  3. Grill for 10-15 minues until the veggies start to get some grill marks

Tuesday-Cobb salad. I pretty much only make this in the summer, especially on the hottest, most humid days of the summer.  It’s super easy to throw together and tastes delicious! 

Cobb Salad

Ingredients

  • 1-2 hard boiled eggs, sliced and chopped
  • 1 avocado, sliced and chopped
  • 3-4 slices of bacon, cooked
  • 1 large tomato, chopped 
  • Feta cheese
  • Romaine lettuce
  • Your choice of salad dressing  

Steps

  1. Add lettuce to a large bowl 
  2. Add all other ingredients and your choice of dressing!

Wednesday–Gnocchi with zucchni ribbons and cherry tomatoes – A perfect summer meal! Calling this a light meal seems like an oxymoron since it’s gnocchi, but that’s exactly how I would describe it! Try it for yourself and see what you think!

Thursday–Lemon basil grilled pork chops with a Caprese salad! I have so much fresh basil in my garden I need to start using it up! This dinner was great since both items called for basil! 

Caprese Salad with a Balsamic Drizzle

Ingredients

  • Two large tomatoes, sliced
  • 1 ball fresh mozzarella sliced
  • Handful fresh basil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar 

Steps

  1. Slice tomatoes and lay on large platter, cover, salt them and let sit 10-15 minutes, drain the juices
  2. Slice mozzarella and add to platter, tucking behind a tomato, top with fresh basil and add pepper to taste
  3. In a small mixing bowl, add olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, and salt. Stir together and pour over tomatoes

Friday-Cooking with Hope – A Birthday Celebration! Quinoa Fiesta Enchilada Bake. My sister loves this recipe, so in honor of her birthday today, we are making her favorite meal together! Separate post coming soon! 

Shopping List

  • Servings: 2 people/meal
  • Print

  • 3-4 boneless pork chops
  • Fresh basil – 1 cup for pork chops and handful for Caprese salad
  • Five large tomatoes – 2 for Caprese salad, 2 for the risotto, 1 for the cobb salad
  • Fresh mozzarella
  • Two chicken apple sausage links
  • Cherry tomatoes – for the chicken sausage kebobs and the gnocchi pasta
  • Zucchini
  • 1 package gnocchi 
  • Fresh parsley
  • One large green bell pepper
  • Pineapple – cut into cubes for the kebobs
  • 3/4 cup Risotto
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 1 bag of lettuce
  • 1-2 hard boiled eggs
  • 3-4 slices of bacon, cooked
  • 2 Avocados – 1 for the cobb salad and 1 for the quinoa enchilada bake 
  • Feta cheese
  • 1 4 oz can diced green chiles
  • Fresh cilantro
  • Shredded mexican cheese 
  • Scallions

Pantry items

  • Salt and pepper
  • Olive oil
  • Balsamic vinegar 
  • Lemon juice 
  • Butter
  • Shallots
  • Garlic
  • Ground nutmeg
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Quinoa
  • Tomato sauce
  • Chicken broth – for the risotto and quinoa bake 
  • Cumin
  • Chipotle en adobo sauce or hot sauce
  • Black beans
  • Fresh or frozen corn

Week of June 21st

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This was my third week doing a CSA. This week I recieved arugula, romaine lettuce, sugar snap peas, bok choy, and cherries.  Click here to see everything I made with these items. 

Monday– Soup with asian noodles, steak, mushrooms, and bok choy. My second time cooking with bok choy, and this recipe did not disappoint. I don’t normally make soup in the summer, but I made an exception for this. The flavors blended great together! And there was enough left over to enjoy another night! See wha else I made with bok choy. Click here! 

Tuesday– Turkey burgers stuffed with gorgonzola cheese, topped off with mushrooms. The cheese made every bite good! We had left over mushrooms in the fridge from Monday night’s dinner, so I sautéed them on the stove and added them to the burger.

Wednesday– Ground turkey tacos with black bean and corn salsa. I used the leftover ears from last week’s friends BBQ. I cut them off the cob, added black beans, avocado, fresh cilantro, and tomatoes. Seasoned with olive oil, lime juice, and salt. I made the salad up in advance on Sunday but didn’t add the avocado until I was ready to serve it.

Black Bean and corn salsa

  • 3/4 can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • Two ears cooked corn, corn cut off cobb
  • 1-2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
  • 2-3 pieces green onion
  • Fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • Lime juice to taste
  • Olive oil to taste
  • Salt

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, stir until blended, serve immediately. (If making in advance, don’t add the avocado until ready to be served).  

Thursday– Left over bok choy soup! Sorry no new idea tonight! Sometimes ya just gotta go with the leftovers!

Friday– Blueberry chicken with side of grilled snap peas. Another one of those Say What Meals?!?!?! I had to convince my husband to give it a shot. The broken down blueberries makes for a nice summery dinner dish! 

  

The next two weeks will be very busy! I’m celebrating my one-year wedding anniversary, welcoming my sister home from Australia, and going on vacation! So I’m taking the next two weeks off from blogging about my meal plans. But be sure to follow me on Instagram at megsmealplanning to view pictures of my food adventures for the next two weeks! See you all again on July 12th! 

Kale- two ways

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This post is tied to Pork Tenderloin- two ways. All recipes can be found under the week of May 24th. 

 I used kale to make two dinners this week, but actually used it for breakfast and lunch too! I made a green smoothie in my Nutribullet consisting of kale, banana, apple, blueberries, and ground flax seed twice for breakfast and had a kale salad seasoned with lemon-garlic dressing for lunch. And I still had left over kale, so we’ll use it again for another dinner for next week! 

 The first kale dinner I made was a kale, shrimp, and sweet potato salad. I know, it sounds a little strange! My husband was very skeptical of the combination and I’ll admit I was a little too! But it all ended up blending so well together!  I have recently tried a lot of kale and sweet potato combinations. Click here for my super salad recipe with kale, sweet potato, quinoa, black beans, and avocado. I’m loving this combo! The second dinner I made this week with spaghetti with kale, lemon, and garlic. 

 Kale, Sweet Potato, and Shrimp Salad 

  
 This salad served two people; you can make it larger if you have more mouths to feed, or make a smaller version for a delicious lunch! I followed this recipe, but didn’t add the kale in the skillet at the end. I don’t like it wilted. Instead, I sprinkled it with salt, drizzled olive oil over it and seasoned the shrimp, because unless it’s shrimp cocktail, who wants plain, boring shrimp! 

 
Ingredients

  • 2  cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 cup onion, diced
  • Red pepper flakes to taste
  • Kale leaves, rinsed and chopped into bite size pieces
  • Olive oil for drizzle
  • 1 sweet potato, diced
  • 10-12 pieces of uncooked shrimp
  • Fresh cilantro
  • Lime juice
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Season shrimp with lime juice, fresh cilantro, and salt and pepper, set aside 
  2. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium high heat
  3. Add onions and red pepper flakes, cook until soft
  4. Add garlic, cook 30 seconds
  5. Add sweet potato, cook 10-15 minutes
  6. Add shrimp, cook until pink
  7. Season kale with salt and olive oil, massaging kale in hands 
  8. Serve skillet mixture over kale

 

Spaghetti with Kale, Lemon, and Garlic

For the second dinner with kale, I made a pasta dish, inspired by this recipe.  It was light and refreshing and had a little kick to it! 

  

Ingredients    Servings- 2

  • 2 gloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 box spaghetti
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 cups kale, finely chopped
  • Pinch red pepper
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Juice from 1/2 a lemon
  • Grated parmesan cheese
  1. Cook pasta according to package
  2. Meanwhile, chop garlic and kale
  3. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat and add kale, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Cook 5 minutes,stirring
  4. Drain pasta and add to skillet
  5. Turn heat to low and add lemon juice and parmesan cheese, stir until all blended

 

 

Chicken sausage quinoa stuffed peppers

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This is one of my “go-to” recipes, like I mentioned in my meal planning tips.  It’s also a great recipe to add whatever you have in your fridge. I’ve used rice instead of quinoa before. You can also add any kind of dried fruit, cheese, or vegetables too!  This recipe is enough for two peppers and it gives you a little extra for lunch the next day! PERFECT! That’s two meals with one pot!

 

 

 

Chop your apple and hollow out the peppers. Bake peppers at 350 degeres for 30 minutes

 

 

You only need to use 1 sausage link for two peppers. Freeze the rest for a future dinner!

 

 

First saute sausage, then add apples and cranberries

 

 

Add cooked quinoa

 

 

Add sausage mixture to peppers

  Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup quinoa
  • 1 cup low sodium chicken broth 
  • 2 large bell peppers, red, yellow, or orange
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 chicken apple sausage, sliced thin
  • 1/4 cup chopped red apple
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  1. Prepare quinoa as directed, substituting chicken broth for water. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Cut top of peppers off, remove seeds and veins, and rub peppers with olive oil. Place in baking pan and cook for 30 minutes
  3. Meanwhile, heat remaining olive oil in skillet over medium heat and saute sausage until lightly browned
  4. Add apple and cranberries; cook and stir until fruit is softened, about 5 minutes
  5. Stir in cooked quinoa and heat through
  6. Fill peppers with sausage mixture

Fried rice with leftover Mother’s Day ham

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Yesterday was an amazing day celebrating our moms with plenty of food!  For the Mother’s Day recap, click here. After everyone went back for seconds or thirds, there was still some leftovers, which I was secretly hoping for so it would give me a night off from cooking this week! So after packing up a to-go box for my brothers, I had about 6 slices of ham left over. Perfect!  That’s enough to reheat one night for dinner for the hubs and me, and it left me with just enough to make fried rice for lunch!

At first I thought ham in fried rice would be a little strange, but who cares! Fried rice is one of those great versatile meals that you can add just about any leftover protein – chicken, steak, shrimp, etc. – and make a full meal out of it.  It has all three components – protein, startch, and vegetables. If you use brown rice and low sodium soy sauce, it gets even healthier! YAY! I didn’t have any peas, so I used brocolli instead.

 

 

Chop garlic, carrots, and broccoli

 

 

Cook veggies in frying pan

 

 

Push veggies to side, add egg , and scramble

 

 

Add cooked rice and ham, heat through

 

Ingredients                            Serving size – 2      Prep time – 15 mins     Cook time – 20 mins

  • 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
  • Sesame oil
  • 1/2 cup carrots, shredded or chopped into tiny pieces
  • 1/2 cup raw broccoli, chopped into tiny pieces
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup brown rice
  • 2 slices cooked ham – or any type of protein

1. Cook rice according to packaged directions

2. While rice is cooking, heat large frying pan over medium-low heat. Add 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil to pan. Then add garlic, carrots, and broccoli. Cook until tender, about 5 mins, stirring frequently.

2. Push veggie mixture over to the side of the pan and add another 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil.  Add the egg and scramble it

3. Mix veggie mixture into eggs and add cooked rice, soy sauce, and ham. Turn heat to low and allow to cook until heated through.

Perfect lunch serving for me and hubby!