After enjoying Mother’s Day brunch and some family time, here’s this week’s meal plan for all of you. Time is tight when it comes to making dinner so I’m checking the prep time on recipes for you. A recipe can be simple with few ingredients, but if it takes over an hour to cook on the stove, it may not be right for the weeknight menu plan. For more labor intensive options I’ll make a note of it going forward.
Dinner {GF= Gluten Free, P=Paleo, DF=Dairy Free, NF= Nut Free}
Meatless Monday: Black Bean and Quinoa Taco Lettuce Wraps, GF, DF, P. (recipe source)
Tuesday: Grilled Pesto Chicken and Tomato skewers (recipe) GF. Prep ahead for this one. Cook time is only 12 minutes, but you want to marinate the chicken in the pesto for a bit to enhance the flavor. Serve with brown rice. (note: kids often LOVE kabobs; they can be a fun way to introduce new flavors like pesto. We also had success with fish kabobs too.)
Wednesday: Veggie Noodle Bowl with Peanut Sauce (recipe) GF, DF.
Thursday: Rainbow Pizza (recipe), to save time we make the pizza on Naan bread. Offer new veggies and lots of color to kids and let them build their own pizza.
Friday: Fish tacos. This fish taco recipe is just gorgeous; save yourself some time and buy the precut coleslaw veggies. They are just as good. Skip/reduce the sriracha sauce for the kids. Add in to the grown-up’s serving!
Weekend: Balsamic Grilled Chicken with Strawberry Mint Salsa (recipe). We made it this over the weekend and the flavors worked so well together. On the side I served quinoa with 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh mint mixed in. The chicken is best marinated for a bit in balsamic vinegar, but the recipe truly could be a weeknight meal too.
Lunch
Superfood Quinoa Bowl- Vegan/GF recipe: make one batch of quinoa for the week and use it here and as a side with the Balsamic Chicken recipe.
Breakfast
Blueberry Coconut Baked Oatmeal GF, DF- make this recipe ahead of time and bake early in the morning. I may make it and serve it for lunch and then save the leftovers!
Homemade Granola- I’m going to start playing with this my favorite homemade granola recipe to remove the brown sugar and still make it unforgettable. Orange zest may be another add…stay tuned!
Snacks
Coconut Cashew Energy Balls, GF, DF- I’ve mentioned this recipe to so many friends it’s worth adding it to the menu again.
BONUS Recipe!
I remembered I had to add this Maple Oat Mixed Berry Crisp I made for a dinner party this weekend. It’s from Real Food Whole Life and it came out amazing. Our hosts couldn’t believe it was actually a healthy dessert! It’s also gluten-free and dairy-free.
p.s. Love and Lemons provides one of the recipes on the blog this week. Their new cookbook is gorgeous!
For more inspiration, see years of past dinner plans here, my Pinterest collection here, or OrgJunkie for a link-up of weekly meal plans.
