Meal Plan - Week 5
WEEK 5 - Meal 1
Photo credit: budgetbytes.com
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Serving Size: 8
Ingredients:
4 medium zucchini (6-7" long)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1⁄2 lb. Italian sausage (mild, hot, or sweet)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1⁄2 cup plain bread crumbs
1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend (or whatever type of cheese you like)
24 oz. jar pasta sauce
NOTES & TIPS:
Use some of the deliciously fresh zucchini during the summer to make this impressive, yet easy to prepare, dinner!
Sausage: The type and quality of sausage will make this dish good or GREAT! I made these last week and used Farmer’s Sausage (that was the flavour description) and the spices were all wrong. Do yourself a favour and grab some good quality Italian flavoured sausage. My favourite come from a local farm in the Tatamagouche area called Ebbett’s Meadow Brook Farm , which I purchase at Stirling’s Farm Market here in Truro.
Cheese: Instead of bagged cheese I used a mix of Parmesan I grated myself and some grated block cheddar I had on hand. Delicious!
Bread Crumbs: These are really easy to make. I use whatever oldish/stale bread I have laying around and grate it with my box grater. Toasting the bread slightly before grating will firm it up so it crumbles easily. Try it!
WEEK 5 - Meal 2
Photo credit: gimmiesomeoven.com
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Serving Size: 6
Ingredients:
1 cup (dry) quinoa
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 (14-ounce or 414 ml) jars pizza sauce
2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese (or whatever cheese you enjoy)
2-3 cups of your favourite pizza toppings
(pepperoni, diced green peppers, diced button mushrooms, and thinly-sliced red onions)
FOR SERVING (optional)
grated Parmesan cheese & crushed red peppers
NOTES & TIPS:
Pizza in a bowl is a great option if you’re reducing gluten or carbohydrate intake in general AND/OR, if you’re trying to increase your vegetable intake: covered in sauce and cheese, everything tastes delicious! These bowls are a dinner winner for kids too as they can make their own!
Pizza Sauce: The pizza sauce I normally buy comes in small 7.5 oz. (213 ml) jar so I need way more sauce for this recipe than when I normally make pizza on crust. It’s worth it though because these saucy bowls are tasty! Sometimes I even use a bit of pasta sauce if I have any sitting in the fridge. Do what tastes good!
WEEK 5 - Meal 3
Photo credit: annabelkarmen.com
Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Serving Size: 8
Ingredients:
150 gr. Salmon fillets
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp olive oil
OPTIONAL
hot rice, for serving
NOTES & TIPS:
This recipe is on a site that requires the reader to create a free account. HOWEVER , when you search for the recipe in Google, the ingredients pop up in the website description. Cooking directions do not, but luckily it’s pretty easy to tell when fish is cooked.
The actual recipe requires a bit more work with the marinade after you’ve removed the salmon, but turns out well even if you don’t do the extra sauce.
This recipe is also included in the baby food book titled First Meals - Fast, healthy, and fun foods for infants and toddlers (Canadian Edition) by Annabel Karmel .
These salmon skewers are a favourite in our home. I don’t usually bother with the skewers and just lay the cubes flat to bake on parchment paper and flip accordingly.
Sizing up Portions: Since everyone in our house LOVES these salmon bites I make more than 150 grams worth! I usually bake about 650-700 grams of salmon at a time (about 1.5 lbs) so I make 4.5 times the amount of required marinade.
WEEK 5 - Meal 4
Photo credit: barefeetinthekitchen.com
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Serving Size: 4
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp sesame oil (or whatever you’ve got)
454 gr. (1 lb.) ground beef
3-4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger , cut into tiny matchsticks
1⁄4 cup light brown sugar (I used dark)
2 tsp cornstarch
1⁄3 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)
2-3 tsp chili paste
1⁄4 tsp kosher salt, adjust to taste
Optional: 1 cup frozen peas
3 green onions, sliced thin
NOTES & TIPS:
This is an easy weeknight dinner meal that comes together in a flash and makes everyone happy. It also tastes amazing as lunch the next day!
Peas : definitely add the peas to improve the healthiness of this meal.
Soy Sauce: Low sodium soy sauce is the way to go here because this meal is on the salty side.
* Modification: The next time I make this I’ll add a variety of veggies (and plenty of them) to cut the salt and richness of the dish. As a salad topping it’s perfect, but as a main dish served with rice, I found it very overwhelming.
WEEK 5 - Meal 5
Thrown Together Dinner
*an AWESOME SAUCE original
ALTERNATE TRENDY TITLE: It's been an AWESOME week, dinner bowl
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Serving Size: 6
Ingredients:
Leftover Cheater Korean Beef ( from Wk5 Day4) and/or Salmon Skewers (from Wk5 Day3)
EASY SAUTÉED CORN
4 ears of fresh corn, cut off the cob
1 - 2 tsp (or to taste) smoked paprika (or whatever spice you enjoy)
1 Tbsp olive oil or whatever type of oil you have (sesame, walnut, grapeseed... the different flavoured oil will alter/enhance this dish)
SMASHED NEW POTATOES
6-8 small, new potatoes (or however many you like to eat)
1 Tbsp butter (or to taste)
STEAMED BROCCOLI
1 small head of broccoli, rinsed and cut into florets
Optional: shredded cheddar, salt & pepper
Add in whatever else you have on hand and you’re on your way to an easy dinner winner
INSTRUCTIONS:
CORN: add corn, olive oil and paprika to a pan (or pot) and saute (cook) until warm.
POTATOES : bring a pot of water to a boil, add potatoes and cook until a fork can be inserted easily. Drain, smash with fork, serve with butter.
BROCCOLI: bring a pot of water to a boil, add broccoli to steamer basket and steam for about 5 minutes. Strain and top with shredded cheese (if you like).
NOTES & TIPS:
Ever get to the end of the week and feel like you have no energy for anything? Including dinner? Thrown together dinner is your answer! Using any leftovers and whatever random items you have laying around it’s an end of the week winner. I always have vegetables that are on the brink of going bad and this is how I use them up! PLUS, you have the added benefit of saving the $30+ you would’ve spent on takeout pizza!
Corn: here are 3 ways to easily remove the corn from the cob with minimal mess. I use method 2, but the bundt pan idea is genius! http://www.thekitchn.com/3-mess-free-ways-to-cut-corn-off-the-cob-221103
Olive Oil: do you have any of those beautiful bottles of infused oil filled with herbs and spices? This corn dish is the time to use it! I scored a bottle of INTENSO evoo (Sensations brand by Compliments) from Sobeys (50% off!!!) that is described as “Robust, complex flavour with a bold peppery bitterness.” It was perfect on this corn mixture and got compliments from adults and children !!!