A Month Of Meals

Posted on February 19, 2015 at 6:00 am

By Kim Harshberger

I have received quite a few questions about what my family eats each week since my post about meal planning was published. I realize how hard it can be to get started or even keep up with meal planning. I also know that the weeks I slack off and get out of the habit of planning ahead are even more stressful than if I had just gotten it done.

So today I thought I would share with you a month’s worth of my personal meal plans. I have typed these up so they are easy to read, but I normally write my plans each week in pencil so that I can easily erase and make changes if needed. Keep scrolling past the images and you will find links and notes for some of the recipes I have used.

Breakfasts

You will notice my family doesn’t have much variety when it comes to our breakfasts. That was one of the hardest meals to figure out when we went gluten free. Most of the variety comes from making each dish a little different from week to week. Smoothies might be strawberry-banana one week, then ginger-orange-blueberry the next. Same for the oatmeal; I let my girls decide what flavors they want to add to their oatmeal each week. Scrambled eggs versus sunny side up… you get the idea.

• Pumpkin Pie oatmeal – This is one of the many flavors my girls have tried and now love. If I am going to send oatmeal for lunch, this is the recipe I make. With a pat of butter and some chopped pecans on top, it’s more like dessert than lunch!
• Pancakes – We don’t like the flavor bananas give these, so I replace them with applesauce. These usually pop up for a special weekend treat, but they more frequently get used for mini pancakes on our breakfast-for-lunch Fridays.

Lunches

The lunches outlined are what I pack for the girls each day. I usually bring leftovers, but if there aren’t any, I pack something similar to what I had planned for lunch.

• Flax bread – This makes a whole cookie sheet of bread. We use this for sandwiches and most recently even had it as toast for breakfast.
• Spinach dip – My kids found the raw garlic in this recipe a little too pungent, so I replaced it with powered garlic for a happy medium. We dip gluten free crackers in this recipe along with raw veggies.
• Fried rice – I originally used this recipe but have since tailored this to suit my family’s taste. I typically use a mix of rice and quinoa, add a couple more eggs, and a drizzle of my secret ingredient… toasted sesame oil. The girls love getting this in a thermos for lunch.

Dinners

This is where I put in the most of my effort each week. If I plan my dinners well, they will spill over into my lunches for the week and sometimes even my breakfasts. It has taken me a little bit to figure out not to plan too many new recipes for weeknight cooking. I now save my experimenting for the weekends or earlier in the week.

• Broccoli cheese soup – This is one of the easiest and more delicious soups I have made. The whole family loves this flavor. Just make sure you use an extra sharp, good-quality cheddar for this. It’s worth it!
• Cornbread – I prefer to make these as muffins and freeze for popping into lunches.
• Brussels sprouts au gratin –I thought it was tasty but a bit labor intensive for a side dish.
• One pan sausage and potato bake – Easy and delicious!
• Mexican Quinoa skillet – This is one of the quickest dinners I have in my lineup. It’s ready and on the table in less than 30 minutes.
• Mexican Pizza
• Alfredo sauce – We love this decadent sauce on top of grilled meat and roasted cauliflower.

I hope that helps you get started, or gives you some ideas to keep you going. Feel free to post questions or comments and I will be sure to respond!

Tags: cooking, food, recipe review, recipes