Monday Meals Recap

You may have zero interest in this, but if you're like me and are always looking for meal ideas (especially during the week) I thought it might be fun and helpful to share a recap of our meals for the week. I thought I'd attempt to post a recap on Monday's of our meal plan from the previous week with notes on how it went; hits, misses, good, the bad and the ugly etc. Please note this is a welcome invitation for your ideas/suggestion etc; I'd love comments with your favorite meals this week too. Let's help each other out!

One of my big goals for this year is to stay on top of weekly meal planning as much as I can and also stick to a budget. Doing a bigger grocery haul at the beginning of the week and limiting subsequent trips is definitely a big piece of that. This week we did a majority of our shopping at Trader Joe's. Also important to note that while I plan the meals out by the day, I don't box myself in. I plan so we have the groceries on hand, but like most of you, we have a busy schedule and switch the meals around as need be 
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Monday

Pork Tenderloin was on the menu for Monday. The tenderloin was just over $5 at Trader Joes' which is a huge save. I used this Fig Balsamic Roasted Pork Tenderloin recipe form Skinny Taste and it was delicious. I served it with a sheet of roasted veggies (Brussel sprouts, squash, onion & rainbow carrots) which is my go-to side. I just cut up what I have for veggies, and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment baking paper. I give the veggies a good drizzle of olive oil or avocado oil and then season with camp mix. My husband and I loved the meal, my little one ate it and my older ones tried it/tolerated it. Note that I served them cut/cold veggies. 

Tuesday 

The Slow Cooker Beef and Pepper Soup from Paleo Leap is a staple for us. It's tried and true; it's my husband's favorite and most everyone else in the house enjoys it too. I don't usually cook two full meals, but in full disclosure when I was growing the meat I cooked up extra and set it aside and made tacos for the kids. These love Taco Tuesday and I already had tortillas, and seasoning so it was super easy. 

Wednesday 

The boys had hockey practice so I made my steak and cheese stuffed peppers in the afternoon and then popped them in the oven right after practice. I don't have a recipe written out, but I use steak tips and cut them up into inch pieces seasoned with Montreal steak seasoning and pan sear them until they are cooked medium rare. I then sauté in a green pepper and sweet onion chopped. I splash in a little Worcestershire  sauce and then set the mixture aside. I slice green peppers in half clean them out and wash them then par boil them a bit. I then place them on a lined cookie sheet and put some provolone cheese inside the pepper then add some meat filling then top with more provolone cheese. I heat them in the oven for about 15 minutes or so until the cheese is melted etc. This is a quick rundown, I'll try to post more about these soon. These are always a hit in our house. One of my kiddos eats the entire thing and the others eat the filling out :-)
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Thursday 

Roasted chicken is a favorite and always a good go-to option. I try to make a whole chicken when I know there's an afternoon that I'll be home for a couple hours. I don't do anything really fancy just butter, seasoning and lemon - similar to this recipe. This week I just served it with steamed green beans and cauliflower mash from TJ's. My kids didn't touch the mash and only 2/3 ate the beans but they love the chicken and I love the leftover veggies :-). 
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Friday

Friday my husband got a sitter and went out to dinner with friends. We went to Scales and it so was delicious! If you're local or visiting and looking for a great meal, definitely add it to your list. Meanwhile the kiddos had their favorite quesadillas from Bruce's Burritos. 
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Saturday

My older boys had a hockey tournament on Saturday. With the impending weather the games were crammed into Saturday, so it was a long day at the rink. Take out for the win on the way home! :-) Also, I did a big kitchen clean-out this week (more on that in another post), but I found and organized all kinds of gift cards, including one for Pat's Pizza (yay)!

Sunday 

What a snowy Sunday it was! I'm not going to lie, I love a good snow storm. There's something peaceful (okay for a few hours at least) about everything being cancelled and nowhere to be etc. My husband bought local Hake at Harbor Fish Market on Friday night so I wanted to be sure to keep that up ASAP. My kids have all tried this for now adamantly don't like it, so I cooked them some chicken fingers we had in the freezer :-). I paired our fish with roasted broccoli and cauliflower that we had on hand as well as asparagus which 2/3 will eat. Fresh Hake is super light and buttery on its own so I just cooked it with butter, lemon, salt + pepper and garlic - simple and yummy!

Sorry if this is totally uninteresting :-) I love sharing meal ideas as I tend  have the same things on repeat, so hoping you'll share too!  Thanks as always for stopping by!
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XX
​Rebecca