Monday January 16, 2012: Meal Plan

M:

breakfast and lunch today were catch-as-catch-can/leftover affairs

snack:  almonds

Dinner:
chicken breasts baked w/coconut oil, cranberries, & a little honey
green salad w/vinegar & oil dressing
sauteed diced butternut squash & onion

T:

start pork roast in crockpot in a.m. 

breakfast:
kids: oatmeal leftover bagel/cream cheese
me:  scrambled eggs hard-boiled eggs (boiled 5, ate 2, put others in fridge for later)

lunch:
chicken breasts from last night's dinner
one kid:  pbj

snacks:  almonds, decaf coffee w/almond milk

dinner: 

pork roast rubbed w/cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, sage, coriander
unsweetened applesauce
leftover butternut squash

W:

breakfast:
oatmeal (kids);  eggs (adults)

lunch: leftover pork
start beef stew

dinner:  
beef stew
salad w/vinegar&oil dressing

Note:  chicken stretched to two lunches, so leftover pork is for dinner, w/green beans & caramelized onions & applesauce. Starting stew tonight to feed us through lunch & dinner tomorrow, when we're on the go.

Th:
breakfast:  oatmeal/eggs

lunch:
sandwiches (kids), hardboiled eggs or leftover chicken (me -- there's a tiny piece left) + fruit& nuts
dinner:  beef stew

Stew recipe: 

(modification of a recipe from Melissa Joulwan's Well Fed)

2 lbs beef stew meat
2 medium onions, diced
3 parsnips, sliced into bite-sized chunks
3 carrots, ditto
garlic to taste
1 large can diced tomatoes with juice
dash balsamic vinegar
coconut oil for searing meat (recipe called for 3 TB, but I didn't measure that carefully)
liberal sprinklings of salt & pepper, + cinnamon, clove, coriander, sage
a dash of cayenne pepper
a little water to keep it from cooking dry


Sear meat in large skillet, dosing it well with salt and pepper,  and transfer to crockpot. Add vegetables and seasonings. Pour on tomatoes and add some water to make it stewy but not soupy. Stir everything, put lid on crockpot, turn it on low (to cook overnight) or high (to cook in an afternoon), and leave it. Inhale delicious smells for hours on end. 

This was a HUGE hit with everyone. Requests for a repeat performance.

  
F:

breakfast:  oatmeal/eggs
lunch:  sandwiches (kids), ? for me Well-Fed spinach-egg muffins
dinner:  grownups out to dinner @ college;  cheese pizza for kids

Sat:
breakfast: oatmeal/eggs
eating with friends