Meal Plan Week 14

For the Meal Plan Week 14, we are mixing the weekend meals up a bit by moving the big family meal to Saturday due to the kids’ extracurricular activities.The meals this week will be easy and quick for the most part or pretty hands off as we have lots planned with the kids as they are now out of school. 

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• Meal Plan Week 14
• Meal Plan Week 14 In-Depth and Top Tips
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Meal Plan Week 14

Meal Plan Week 14 In-Depth and Top Tips

Monday

Breakfast for dinner

The kids have been loving the vegan “egg” yolks.

Yolk recipe from It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken. We will have it with slices of gluten free toast from Carbonaut or Little Northern Bakery. The fake yolk is like a soft boiled yolk so we dip the toast in it. 

Serving it with baked tomatoes ½ a Roma each that has been coated in olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper and baked for 20 mins at 400°F. 

We will fry up (or bake some bacon). Bacon is usually baked it at 350°F on a cookie sheet with sides and an oven safe rack that the bacon sits on. Cooked for 10-13 minutes a side and flipped very carefully or cooked until crispy. When done drain the bacon on paper towel to crisp

it up. 

A banana or cut up apple slices on the plate to round out the meal.

Top Tip:

The “egg” yolk uses nutritional yeast. It can be something that is not safe for everyone on a top 8 free diet. We had to search long and hard for one kind that is gluten free. Brewers yeast is not gluten free as it is made from beer and barley. Nutritional yeast is usually made from sugar cane and beets according to the CleanSimpleGreen Blog. 

Tuesday

Garlic Thyme Chicken and a Salad

The salad will have lettuce, some fruit like strawberries, blueberries, or apples. Pumpkin seeds without the casing (or pepitas), onions, celery or whatever veggies are available for the salad. 

The Garlic Thyme chicken breasts will be cooked as per our recipe and sliced or cubed. The dressing will probably be oil and vinegar. The kids are really into infused oils and vinegars. We check them for safe ingredients and mix them for each person to customise their dinner. 

Top Tip:

We buy our produce from discount produce sellers. They often sell in flats of fruit or vegetables. From what we understand the produce is overstock that the larger grocery chains turn down delivery on as they have too much in store that needs to be sold first. 

The other available produce is often what we call “ugly” fruit or seconds. They are not picture perfect and are frequently not sold in regular grocers but are perfectly fine to eat. They just don’t look beautiful. 

What is available varies every time we are there but for a family of 6 we cut our produce bills in half from shopping at Costco for all our produce to the discount produce stores. We have a lot in our area and get their flyers every week. We check the food well for mould before we buy it. 

This is how we afford so many meals with fresh food. 

Wednesday

BLAT Sandwiches and potato salad 

Bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato sandwiches. 

On Monday we will cook extra bacon so we can quickly make dinner. A bit of Mama Yo! or Hellman’s Mayo on the toasted bread and the BLAT layers. 

A side of Egg Free potato salad for each person and an easy meal is made!

Top Tip:

This is a great dinner for a picnic when made ahead and packed to go. 

Thursday

Sausages, Sauerkraut, and Packet Potatoes

We will be cooking the sausages on the barbecue but they can be pan fried. We buy local sausages that are safe for us from our local butcher. There are commercial brands like Applegate and Johnsonville that make sausages we can eat. Check the ingredients and with the manufacturer to see if they are safe. 

The sauerkraut is one we make ourselves and can. We use fermentation rather than a wine sauerkraut. 

A couple of times a year we buy green cabbage when it is on sale and soak it in a salt water brine for a week then water bathe it in canning jars to store it for the rest of the year. We use one head of green cabbage (napa, savoy, green, whatever is cheapest is what we choose).

Finely slice the cabbage using a knife, a mandolin (I personally hate these), or a food processor. Wash the cabbage and place it in a huge 8L jar with 8-10 cloves of garlic peeled and trimmed place through out.

Mix 2 tbsps of salt to 6 cups of warm water until the salt has dissolved. Pour this brine over the cabbage until it has covered the cabbage completely. We use a glass weight to hold one large piece of cabbage down that presses the shredded cabbage under the brine level.

Cover with a coffee filter that has been secured with an elastic and let it sit out of the direct sun but not in the fridge for 5-7 days. Check it every day to make sure the cabbage is below the brine level or it will moulder. When fully fermented put it in the fridge for 14 days or prep it for canning. 

Top Tip:

The packet potatoes are sliced potatoes tossed in olive oil with a sliced onion. Sprinkled with salt, pepper, and dill, thyme, rosemary, or oregano. Wrap in an aluminium foil packet and placed on the BBQ for 30-40 mins on the top rack for indirect heat. 

Friday

Burgers and Leftover Potato Salad or Packet Potatoes

We LOVE our barbecue in the summer so we will be making burgers, again. It is a staple for us in the warm summer months. 

To help and ease the rise in food prices we will be using up any of the potato salad or packet potatoes that are left over from the two previous nights. They can both be eaten cold. 

Top Tip:

The Costco or Keg burgers are pretty plain and safe for us. Always check the ingredients and with the manufacturers to make sure they are safe for you. The buns we use are the Little Northern Bakehouse ones. 

Saturday

Pulled Beef and Chips

This week we are going to do our traditional Sunday meal on Saturday as we have soccer games on Sunday that will make a large meal tough. We are going to use our Gluten Free Pulled Pork but with beef. There was a smoking deal on beef so we bought a few roasts. We will be doing it in the slow cooker so we can set it and have some family time. 

The chips are our usual fries. Peeled and sliced russet potatoes soaked for 30 mins in cold salted water. Then parboiled for 3-4 mins, drained and left to steam in a colander in the pot so the water steams off. Then tossed in a bit of olive oil and air fried for 28 minutes at 380°F. Shaking them every 5 mins to get them all cooked. We usually do 2 batches as we have a large family. 

Top Tip:

Buying meat on sale and using tougher cuts of meat is a great way to save money and still have meat at dinner. With food prices rising and top 8 free foods traditionally costing more using tricks to make the tougher cheaper cuts easier to eat are needed. Another great trick is to add lentils or beans to ground meat to stretch it or marinade lower priced cuts to help tenderise them. 

Sunday 

Leftover Pulled Beef on Rice

We will be heating up the pulled beef on the stove and with it adding a cut up red pepper, a few snow peas, and baby corn. Add a bit of water to the mix of veggies and beef (¼-½ cup) depending on how much is left over. Cover and heat on medium heat for 3-5 mins. Then cook uncovered stirring often. 

Top Tip:

Add any stir fry style veggies that are favourites or safe. They can be fresh or frozen just cooked until warmed through. 

We Love Feedback!

Did you make any of the meals we did let us know? What is on your meal plan this week? Drop a comment on this post or tag us on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok.

• Vegan Lemon Meringue Pie - GF/DF/EF, Top 8 & 9 Free
• Gluten Free Tabouli (Tabbouleh) - GF/DF, Vegan, Top 9 Free
• Tomato Free Pasta Sauce - GF/DF, Top 9 Free
• Mashed Oven Roasted Acorn Squash - GF/DF, Top 9 Free, Vegan
• Gluten Free Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb - GF/DF, Top 8

We have to remind everyone that we are not medical professionals or dietitians, so these meal plans are not balanced for nutrition, they are for information purposes only. Please discuss any dietary concerns, changes, or proper meal plans with your medical team.

Always check the labels for any products to make sure they are right for you. We also encourage you to contact the manufacturers in addition to checking that the process of manufacturing is also safe for you, and that there aren’t shared lines. One product or ingredients may be safe for one person but not another. Always check the products and ingredients before purchasing.