Meal Planning

You guys, guess what?!?!?! On Monday I created a meal plan for Hubs and me, for two weeks - and we are FIVE FOR FIVE! Translation: We're on day 5, and we've cooked each meal on the plan for the past 5 days! I've cooked two and Hubs (incredible man that he is) has cooked three. This is a really big deal - it means we're getting this thing down! "This thing meaning" being adults and planning ahead and cooking real dinners every night - finally! ;)

This written plan wasn't for anyone outside my household to see, but I figured this post wouldn't be complete without it. I know it's a bad quality photo and scribbly notes - you can deal with it :)

Next Monday is a big day - we're going to try Arborio rice in a risotto! Haven't had rice since January.
If all goes well, we'll have it again with the curry stir fry on Thursday. We'll see...

Week 1
Monday: Grass fed beef hamburgers with grilled onions and mushrooms, guacamole, baked sweet potato fries

Tuesday: Slow cooked clam and vegetable chowder [Recipe coming...]

Wednesday: White Wine Oven Roasted (organic free-range) Chicken

Thursday: Alaskan cod "tacos" with broccoli slaw and avocado dressing [Recipe coming...]

Friday: (Repeat Monday) Grass fed beef hamburgers with grilled onions and mushrooms, guacamole, baked sweet potato fries

Saturday: Slow cooked boneless pork roast "carnitas" (freeze leftovers)

Sunday: Tangy Asian Chicken & Mushroom Soup


Week 2
Monday: Asparagus Mushroom Shrimp Risotto

Tuesday: Salmon croquettes

Wednesday: Leftover pork carnitas from freezer OR Slow cooked Beef Bourguignon

Thursday: Slow cooked Spicy Coconut Chicken

Friday: Shrimp Ginataan Curry with rice [Recipe coming!]

Saturday: Grilled Salmon

Sunday: Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Designer Salads

The plan is made up of mostly favorite, "stand-by" dishes that we love. That's partly why I haven't posted any new recipes lately - we've been eating the same dishes over and over. (Well that and I've been under the weather a lot, so no exciting cooking or blogging for me. And I've been spending my time enjoying my baby girl-who is growing up too fast!) But there are two new-to-me recipes on the plan, and I'll post them eventually if they work out. They both involve shrimp... yum!

There's not much to this post; it's not rocket science or anything brilliant I'm reinventing here. But I am very excited that this meal planning stuff is finally working for us. I've tried before and it didn't work out so well. Probably because I bit off more than I could chew. That leads into...

One tip I have for you is to make a plan of all or almost all tried and true recipes. You can't plan a week or a month with a new recipe every day -especially with an infant at home, a full time job, family extracurriculars, or anything else like that- and expect to succeed. If you want to try meal planning, choose recipes and foods that you're familiar with and dishes you can cook fairly quickly by experience. You can throw in one or two new ones to keep things exciting, but don't overwhelm yourself.

Another tip is to keep your budget and your pantry/refrigerator stock in mind. Take a look around at what you have before you start planning. Write down a different protein for each day and structure your meal around that - if you're concerned about preventing allergies, rotate your proteins in a four day cycle. For example, we are doing this and cooked grass fed beef burgers on Monday, clam soup on Tuesday, roast free range chicken on Wednesday, Alaskan cod on Thursday, then beef burgers again today and so on...

If you're at all like me, you have a limited food budget and it can sometimes be a challenge to make it to payday without running out of fresh food. Another great feature of this meal planning is no worry of running out of food to cook...

So here's another tip: plan according to what you can afford, or what you have on hand hiding in the back of the freezer or the corner of the pantry. This is where my clam soup on Tuesday came from - I had eight cans of chopped clams in the back of my cupboard! When you plan this way, everything is intentional and you'll need less so you'll in turn spend less.
Once you have that done, make an ingredients shopping list for the two weeks' worth of recipes. I did this, leaving off the usual basics we always have around like spices and oils, and frozen items like the Alaskan salmon and cod I purchased last week:

Everything is checked off but the pork, because it's the one thing I have to wait
 until the Saturday Farmers' market to purchase

Twice now I've looked over my list shown above - once on Tuesday and once today - to make sure we have what we need for the following couple days' recipes.

My final tip is to plan ahead by making a shopping list and make sure you've got your core ingredients ready when you need them. If you go to the farmers' market on the weekend, buy up only what you'll use in the next few days. Then mid-week you can go to the local produce stand, a mid-week farmers market or the grocery store and buy up the next few days' worth of ingredients. When you go to the grocery store, buy your frozen veggies and meats and fish in multiple packs, so you have plenty to use and they'll keep in the freezer until you need them. Frozen vegetables are preserved right off the field and go great in slow cooker recipes or soups, or steamed as a side dish. Thaw the proteins a day or two ahead, so each evening all you have to do is cook and eat!

One last suggestion: I am thinking that a great way to meal plan is to create lots of weeks of plans; four seems ideal. You can identify each week with a letter, for example I have created weeks "A" and "B". Then create two more, "C" and "D," and keep those weeks of meals and rotate them in different order each month. You will be able to successfully cook and eat healthy meals that fit your family's needs, while taking the stress out of dinner time, and staying within your food budget. You'll be able to get your food spending down to a very predictable amount, and that is pretty cool for financial health!

If you have any meal planning tips, go on and share them below. Happy planning, shopping, cooking and eating! :)

Slow Cooked Carnitas (Roast Pork) with Two Fresh Salsas

The hubs and I just finished an incredible dinner. Our house smells like Chipotle - no, actually it smells BETTER than Chipotle. And coming from me (#1 fan) that is a high compliment! If you don't have a freakish allergy to garlic (my new problem), go there. I know you'll like it. They serve real food fresh, fast and made to order, all while keeping integrity in mind by using sustainably raised meats from great farmers and local produce when available. Chipotle rocks.

Okay, back to our dinner. Tonight I made a Carnitas-style pork roast from a boneless pork leg roast I got at the farmers' market. The pig it came from was raised on a farm literally right over the hill from our home. The pigs roam a 40 acre area and eat good feed plus all the grubs, worms and whatnot that they find in the wooded area they wander. I have to say, it was the best pork I've ever had! It is true: Happy animals make yummy meat. It feels great to support local farmers. Do you have a farmers' market where you live? Check out this website to find out: Local Harvest

mmm... carnitas...

This roast is super easy, I made it in my 6 quart slow cooker in six hours after just five minutes of prep. The meat cooks until it is fork tender and shreds easily, and you can use it for whatever you like. We made burrito bowls and they turned out delicious. Give this a try, it is really simple and the whole meal tastes like it took a lot more effort and time!

Paleo Note: We did eat Pinto beans with this (legumes = not Paleo) and obviously the dish is nightshade heavy with the tomatoes, tomatillos and chiles (nightshades are not allowed on Paleo Autoimmune Protocol) but Hubs and I decided to try it and see how it goes. I used to not be able to go a day without tomato salsa or spaghetti sauce, chile-based hot sauce, or both, and this was the first taste of legumes and salsa I've had since January. I'd say I've been doing great! :)

*UPDATE 3 days post-meal: I will make the pork roast again, as the flavor was fabulous and it couldn't have been easier. But the beans will be omitted, and probably the salsas as well. I've been having increasing enthesitis pain as the week goes on, and I am drawing a direct connection between this meal and my pain level! I'm not bummed; now I know to continue the way I was eating, as my gut is not healthy enough to eat those foods at this point. 
Have you ever had an experience re-introducing a food and learned from it? That's all we can do, right? Make a note of it and move forward :)

What you need:

for Carnitas Pork Roast-

1/2 pound or about 1 cup dried Pinto beans, soaked overnight (or longer, changing water at least once) and rinsed well

2.5-3 pound sustainably raised pork roast (I used a boneless leg roast. You could use an arm, shoulder or sirloin as well)
7 cups water or homemade chicken bone broth
1 whole yellow onion, chopped
1 TB salt
1/2 TB smoked paprika
1 TB cumin
1/2 TB oregano
1/2 TB crushed red pepper
1 4 oz can chopped green chiles or 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

for Pico de Gallo-
1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/4 white onion, minced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
Juice of 2 limes
Sea salt to taste

for Salsa Verde-
2 lbs tomatillos, husked, washed and quartered
3-4 medium jalapenos, washed, halved and seeded
2 cups minced onion
2 TB cilantro leaves
Sea salt to taste

What you do:

For Carnitas Pork Roast-
Put all ingredients into slow cooker insert. Start with the beans, then add pork, broth, onion, and so on.
Cover and set to "high" for 5 hours.
After 5 hours, check to see if beans are tender. If needed, put lid back on and continue to cook.
(I let it cook for 30 minutes longer, and then removed the lid and cooked for another 30 minutes. This was 6 total hours of cooking time.)
Remove the pork roast from the slow cooker to a plate, and let it cool for a bit. While it cools, strain the liquid out and pour the beans and onions into a serving bowl or storage container.
After the meat has cooled a bit, shred it into bite size pieces with two forks. Put into a serving bowl or storage container.



While the meat is still cooking, or after you've prepared it and set it aside, make your salsas.

For Pico de Gallo (recipe paraphrased from Carla Hall and Clinton Kelly on The Chew)-
Toss the tomatoes, onion, cilantro and jalapeno in a bowl until mixed well. Taste and add salt as needed (as little as 1/4 tsp was enough for us). Set aside.



For Salsa Verde (recipe paraphrased from Carla Hall and Clinton Kelly on The Chew)-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your ingredients (wash, seed, chop). Arrange tomatillo quarters and jalapeno halves in a glass baking dish and roast for 25-30 minutes, stirring once or twice during roast time. You will know they are ready when tomatillos are tender and juices and seeds are visible in bottom of dish. Remove dish from oven and let cool- this is important because you'll be swirling them around at high speeds and don't want to cause burns!



Scoop roasted tomatillos and jalapenos from baking dish into food processor bowl. Add onion



and cilantro, securely attach the lid and start pulsing. Make sure all large chunks are processed, and pulse until it reaches a texture you like. Taste and add salt as needed (used 1 tsp here).

Now you have the components to make your burrito bowls- or perhaps a "taco salad!"

For burrito bowls, grab a plate and layer about one cup of shredded pork, half cup Pinto beans, Pico de Gallo and Salsa Verde. That's it! To make a Fajita Burrito Bowl, saute sliced onion and bell pepper until crisp tender, and add to your plate before the salsas.

I know this doesn't look great. But in daylight it would photograph much better, and the taste is still fabulous!

 (Thanks to the slow cooker) this meal only takes one hour or less of actual preparation and cooking. And it is seriously on the same level as a fresh Tex-Mex restaurant quality Carnitas dish, but it's better because you know where all of your ingredients came from, and what quality they are. Which is important, because you are what you eat, and you are what your food eats ;)