Week Six Meals

Making It Easy for Mom

I'm just a mom on a budget, trying to keep my family healthy.  

"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't-you're right!" Henry Ford

Featured Food:  Baked Potato Bar

During Lent we don’t eat meat on Fridays, so I have gotten creative with what we do eat.  My husband makes a baked potato by rolling it in olive oil and kosher salt.  Bake it at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes (make sure you poke some holes in it too).  Then I put out a lot of toppings including olives, cheese, green onions, sour cream, butter, and if you are eating meat, bacon bits.  This is a super filling meal that has good fats, carbohydrates and fiber.  

Snack Ideas for Kids
-Carrots (my kids love the big ones, and they are cheaper)
-Cucumber strips
-Apples with almond butter

Grocery List
Produce
-2 bags of organic apples
-Bag of organic pears
-Bag of clementines
-Bunch of bananas
-Bag of organic carrots
-2 cucumbers (for snacks)
-Large container of fresh organic spinach
-Large container of organic spring mix
-8 avocados
-1 organic orange pepper
-1 organic yellow pepper
-1 organic green pepper
-4 red onions
-Bunch of garlic
-2 limes
-2 bunches of organic green onions
-Bunch of organic fresh cilantro
-1 yellow onion
-8 medium sized organic tomatoes
-1 lemon
-3 jalapenos
-4 large organic baking potatoes
-1 large head of broccoli

Meat
-2 packs of bacon
-Jimmy Dean natural sausage
-6 organic chicken breasts
-Package of lunch meat
-4lbs grass fed ground beef

Cold Stuff
-Box of Van's Waffles
-Butter
-Probugs yogurt for the kids with breakfast. I buy 14 a week.
-3 packages of sprouted grain corn tortillas
-2 bags of organic Mexican shredded cheese
-Container of cream cheese
-Container of organic sour cream

Dry Stuff
-Bag of organic beans
-Bag of gluten free noodles
-Box of Mary's Gone Cracker
-1 large can organic tomato sauce
-1 small can organic tomato sauce
-2 cans organic kidney beans
-1 box organic quinoa
-1 box organic chicken stock
-Bag of almond accents

Check your Pantry
-Almond Butter
-Olive oil
-Coconut oil
-Salt
-Pepper
-Garlic Powder
-Onion Powder
-Paprika
-Soy Sauce
-Gluten free flour
-Chili powder
-Cumin
-Oregano
-Tabasco

Breakfast:  My son’s teacher told me that after five weeks of eating real food, her first grade son now wakes up and looks forward to breakfast.  In fact she made him Van’s waffles one morning, and he was kind of disappointed wanting his eggs. It feels good to feel good; even our smallest people understand that.

Option 1:  Eggs with veggies, sausage or bacon cooked in butter or coconut oil

Option 2: Protein shake or Van’s waffles

Sunday: Make a pot of organic pinto beans
Boil water with about 1 Tbsp of kosher salt.  When the water is boiling, add the beans.  When the beans begin to boil, transfer all the contents of this pot to the crock pot.  Cook on high 4-6 hours.  Remember you can save your bacon grease to refry your beans in it.


Also make a fruit salad. For some unexplainable reason, my daughter loves to have a fruit salad as her fruit choice. I make one fruit salad that lasts for two days.

Monday:
Breakfast: Option 1 with Probugs yogurt

Lunch:  Bean tostadas
Take some sprouted grain corn tacos and brush them with olive oil. Put them in the oven at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes or until they are crunchy like a tostada. Then cover them with some refried beans, cheese, lettuce and avocados.

Have some fruit salad on the side  

Dinner:  Salt and Pepper Chicken with Noodles

Okay so take your 2-3 chicken breasts and cut them into large cubes.  Make a flour mixture of some gluten free flour mixed with kosher salt and black pepper, and if you'd like garlic powder and onion powder.  Sometimes I even use paprika too. Dip your cubes in that and fry in small amount of olive oil or coconut oil.  DO NOT cover; I learned this the hard way; hence my capitals.  Then when the chicken is almost done, add the red onion slices and pepper slices.  I used orange and yellow peppers with a yellow onion.  Also press 4 cloves of garlic and add that into the mix.

While the chicken is cooking, boil some water with a splash of olive oil.  When the water is boiling, add your noodles and cook until soft.  In a separate pan, melt some butter with some pressed garlic.  When the noodles are done, put them in the pan with the butter and garlic and mix it all up.  Now you have some Olive Garden style garlic pasta, but much healthier.  You can make a small spinach salad with olives and red onion too.  My kids are really into the squeezed lime, olive oil, salt and pepper dressing.

Tuesday:
Breakfast:  Option 1 with Probugs yogurt

Lunch: Meat roll-ups
Use about 5-6 pieces of meat and roll each one up with some cream cheese.  Sometimes I put green onions in the cream cheese too.  I like to eat these with Mary's Gone Crackers.  Make sure to eat some fruit too.  

Dinner: Tacos and Refried Beans

Brown 1-2 lbs of ground beef.  When it’s brown, sprinkle some gluten free flour into it.   Not a lot, like two tablespoons.  Then add some garlic powder, onion powder, dried or fresh cilantro, salt and pepper.  Add a little water just to make it seem to have a little gravy.

I use sprouted grain corn tortillas as the shell for the tacos. I top my tacos with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and sour cream.

Refry beans on the side.

Make a fruit salad.

Wednesday:
Breakfast:  Option 1 with Probugs yogurt

Lunch:  Salad with meat and/or hard boiled eggs
You can choose what to put in your salad, spinach, avocado, red onion, etc..., but also add your hard boiled eggs, and some lunch meat.  Top it with some shredded cheese.  If you like almond accents, add a few of these too.  Eat some fruit too.  

Dinner:  Chili
This recipe is from Nutritional Weight and Wellness' collection.  I love this Chili so much and it's very easy to make.  I have simplified their recipe a little.

Brown and drain 2lbs of ground beef.  Chop and saute in a little olive oil one yellow onion, one green pepper, and two cloves of garlic.  After your veggies are sauteed, put in your ground beef, 2 Tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp Tabasco, 6 medium fresh diced tomatoes, and one large can organic tomato sauce.  I also add 1-2 cans on kidney beans and out it all in the crock pot on low all day.  Then you can serve it with olives, sour cream, and green onions on top.  This would be a great recipe to make some sprouted grain corn chips and avocado cups on the side.  


Thursday:
Breakfast:  Option 1 with Probugs yogurt

Lunch: Leftover chili and some fruit

Dinner: Pollo a la Plancha

In the morning, prepare your guacamole and chicken. To make guacamole, cut up 1/4 red onion, 3 jalapenos, 1 clove garlic, add 3 avacados, one cubed tomato, some kosher salt and squeezed lemon juice. A secret to keep your guacamole from turning brown is to put your avocado seeds back in the guacamole. Next hammer out 2-3 chicken breasts and marinate in the fridge all day in a little soy sauce (just enough that it is absorbed by the chicken and the chicken is light brown) with garlic powder and onion powder.
When you get home fry the chicken breasts in some olive oil and top with guacamole.  

I would also make some quinoa.  Put a little olive oil and some kosher salt and fry one cup of quiona.  When it's light brown, add one small can of tomato sauce into a measuring cup and fill the rest of the recommended liquid with chicken stock.  Cook the recommended time.

Friday:  We are Catholic, so no meat during Lent on Fridays.  
Breakfast:  Option 2

Lunch: Salad

A great time to use up all your veggies and lettuce.  Pour some nuts and avocados on that salad too.  You can also add a hard boiled egg and some cheese.  

Dinner: Baked Potato Bar with Broccoli and Fruit Salad
Make a baked potato by rolling it in olive oil and kosher salt.  Baking it at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes (make sure you poke some holes in it too).  Then I put out a lot of toppings including olives, cheese, green onions, sour cream, butter, and if you are eating meat, bacon bits.  

Steam broccoli and add either cheese or butter. Use up the rest of your fruit in a fruit salad too.