Plan & Prep | April 10th - 16th

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I have been so happy the last few weeks to see better and better prices in the sale flyers for fresh produce and meats! As we make that transition from very early spring into spring (I should probably mention that it is forecasted to snow here in Maine today...), I too start to make that transition to meals focused more on what's available fresh, versus relying on the freezer. Due to that you'll probably start to see a bit more correlation between my meal preps and what we spent post!

Meal Plan & Prep

Meal Plan (Monday - Friday)

This week I wanted to share how I physically meal plan. Typically on Friday I start thinking about what we have in the fridge that should be used up, items in the pantry that are in excess, being ignored, or are close to their date, and what fresh items are on sale that week (sales for my area change either Friday or Sunday depending on the store).
My Meal Plan Sketch


On a piece of paper I make one column for fridge/fresh items, and one for pantry items, and list them out. Then based on those items I find 2-4 recipes that will help use up those items. Sometimes inspiration comes quickly based on regular favorites, but often I will take to google or Pinterest and start searching "chicken and mushrooms" or similar to give me ideas. I try to have at least one lunch dish for Ben, and two dinner dishes that provide planned overs for my lunches to get us started.

After I've picked a few recipes, I then make a prep list. This ensures I have everything ready to go for when I want to make the recipes later in the week. On Sundays I typically prep breakfasts, fresh vegetables & fruit, a dinner with planned-overs, and sometimes a separate dish for Ben's lunches. Then on Monday & Tuesdays I fill in with snack preps and a "fresh" dinner with planned overs to carry us through the rest of the week!

Breakfasts for the Week
  • Strawberry Coconut Overnight Oats
  • Granola Bars w/ Peanut Butter
  • Egg Cups w/ Turkey Bacon & Mushrooms
  • Cheese, Cracker, and Cucumber "launchable"
Lunches for the Week
  • Chicken, Bacon, & Broccoli Bake (inspired by this recipe)
  • Creamy Chicken Taquitos w/ Blue Corn Chips & Cucumbers
  • Leftover Mac & Cheese w/ Bacon (I made a mac & cheese for my Dad, and kept some for myself)
  • Leftover Creamy Beef & Shells w/ Broccoli
Dinners for the Week 
  • Monday - Creamy Beef & Shells w/ Broccoli
  • Tuesday - Creamy Chicken Taquitos Dip w/ Blue Corn Chips, Carrots, & Cucumbers
  • Wednesday - Beef Tacos w/ Carrots & Cucumbers
  • Thursday - Creamy Beef & Shells w/ Green Beans
  • Friday - Steak & Salmon w/ Garden Salads & French Bread, plus any leftover veggies
Snacks for the Week
  • Cumber Slices, Grapes, Goldfish, Cocoa Almonds
  • Also Available: carrots, popcorn, cheese sticks, nuts, pretzels, etc

Meal Prep for Breakfasts

Breakfast this week centered around using up fresh ingredients that had been lingering in the fridge - some sad looking mushrooms, a package of turkey bacon, eggs, and quick strawberry jam. From these ingredients I made egg cups and strawberry coconut overnight oats.

    "Quick Jam" is my favorite way to extend the life of fresh fruit - finely dice, let macerate with a             spoonful of sugar, and then bring to a boil over medium heat, cooking until slightly thickened.



To make egg cups, I started by sautéing just under half of an 8oz. carton of mushrooms with an onion, reserving 1/3 for the egg cups, and setting the rest aside for another recipe. While the mushrooms were cooking, I baked the turkey bacon in the oven until crisp and whisked together 5 eggs with a splash of milk. Once the bacon was done I crumbled a few slices in with the eggs, added the mushroom/onion mix, and poured the mixture into six greased silicone muffin cups, which were baked at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

To make the overnight oats, I started with my base recipe of 1/3c rolled oats, 1tsp chia seeds, 1tsp ground flax seed, a tiny pinch of salt, 1/3c milk, and 1/4 cup yogurt (optional). To that I added the strawberry quick jam, a few broken up walnuts, and shredded coconut.

Meal Prep for Lunches

Like breakfast, lunches this week were inspired by open perishable items - cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, turkey bacon, mushrooms, and green onions. Additionally, over the weekend I went through my small (but deep) pantry cabinet, and pulled out any items that I thought had been around a while, this included a small jar of alfredo sauce, ranch seasoning, and an open bag of blue corn chips. This week chicken and broccoli were also on sale, so it didn't take to much recipe searching to land on a chicken bacon ranch bake and creamy chicken taquito (dip)!



For the chicken bacon ranch bake, I used this recipe as a base, adding in the reserved onions and mushrooms from the egg cups, sliced green onions, a whole small head of broccoli, and subbing half a packet of ranch seasoning for the ranch dressing. I topped it with about one cup of shredded cheese in total.

Creamy Chicken Taquitos in dip form has also become a new favorite in our house, it's flexible and quick to pull together. I like to add sour cream, increase the spices a bit, and top with sharp cheddar cheese. We serve this with blue corn chips or in soft taco shells. Unfortunately the green salsa I wanted to use up had gone off, so I subbed some red salsa, it was still great!

Ingredient Prep for Dinners
This week's dinners involved very little meal prep for a change! I did shred a few miscellaneous blocks of cheese, and take ground beef out to defrost for a couple of recipes. Additionally, when I cut up the broccoli for the chicken bacon ranch bake, I trimmed the second head of broccoli into florets and stored in a silicone bag for a ready-to-steam side for a later dinner or lunch. None of the meals for this week involve much hands on time, and on Tuesday & Thursday we will have leftovers paired with a fresh vegetable side.

Snack Prep
For snacks this week, I focused on using up some yogurt cups we'd had for a while, plus grapes and cucumber slices. Additionally we had some goldfish still prepped from weeks prior. I don't purchase prep-portioned snack items as a general rule, instead every week or two I divide up a larger container into multiple small reusable containers and put them in a basket. This keeps the cost of snacks down, plus helps with portion control.

I hope you like the new format! What's on your menu for the week?

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