Hello January. We are jumping back into our family routines after a long break from the cold. School and activities are in full swing and this week marked my return to meal planning. After doing it for 3 years, I realize it is the #1 way for me to make sure we are eating healthy foods. I create the menu of dinners, write out the grocery list and make sure we follow it so we don’t waste any food. This year, I’m trying to plan more of our breakfast/lunch/snacks. These make up a big bulk of our diet so it only makes sense to put a little more thought into what will fill the most active part of our day.
I used to write out our meal plan on Sunday and then type it up on the blog to share. I’m shifting around the timing a bit as I am making a big effort to stay offline over the weekends. You can expect to see the meal plans towards the later part of the week so you can make your own plans over the weekend and get some meal prep done on Sunday too. That’s another goal this year…chopping veggies on a Sunday is a great way to get ahead of dinner prep and lunch box needs.
As you read through some of the January magazines and blog articles, you may have noticed many new ideas happening in the healthy food world. Juicing is out and “souping” is in. Focus on Pulse foods. Butter and eggs are no longer on the naughty list. There is a lot to digest and I’ll dig into some of these ideas in the coming weeks.
On to the menu…
Dinners
- Chicken sausage and broccoli rabe. (recipe) This turned out great and I swapped out the penne pasta for faro that has more protein. Told the kids it was “oatmeal” for dinner.
- Shrimp stir fry with snow peas and salad. Topped this with a homemade citrus dressing.
- Mushroom and chicken marsala. Bigger focus on the veggies instead of the meat in this revised recipe.
- Meatballs in slow cooker for busy nights, paired with multigrain spaghetti and spinach salad.
- Sweet and sour chicken (recipe) with brown rice and peas
- Chili…because the Patriots are in the playoffs and we can’t mess with tradition.
Lunches
- Tunafish prepped in advance and served on crackers or multigrain bread “thins”
- Ham and cheese cubes
- Spinach salad with almonds, cheese, tomatoes and leftover green beans.
- Pomegranate-farrow salad (use up leftover faro!) (recipe)
- Cauliflower soup (recipe per my friend’s suggestion)
Breakfast
- Greek Yogurt topped with fruit and farro (if you still have any, or with Grape Nuts) (image/inspiration source)
- Veggie-eggy scramble (recipe)
- Find milk I can make yogurt with in Canada…haven’t been successful so I’m making a trip to Whole Foods to spend some time finding the right one.
Snacks
- Celery with peanut butter (seed butter or cream cheese)
- Almonds
- Multigrain waffle with a dollop of ricotta or greek yogurt
- Guacamole and a few chips
- Hummus and veggies
You can find more of what recipes I’m saving over on my Pinterest board here, and see which meals actually make the cut to my Instagram feed here. Hope this list gets you started on a healthy new year trend!
For more inspiration, see three years of past dinner plan here, my Pinterest board here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of weekly meal plans. All images from Ricardo magazine. Some affiliate links included.
I was just thinking of breaking the faro out of the cabinet but had no idea what I was going to do with it. Thanks for the inspirational ideas!