Meal Plan Week 21

For our meal plan week 21 we are still trying to find meals where we do not need to make the house any hotter than it is. With our area under a heat advisory for at least the next 9-10 days we are trying our best to stay as cool as possible. This means we will be using our air fryer, slow cooker, and barbecue as much as possible to avoid turning on the oven. The sides will be a fair amount of salads. We found a site called Eighty Recipes with ideas for a wider variety of salads. Most of the recipes need adapting to our allergies but it gives us a great starting point for keeping our side dishes varied.

Meal Plan Week 21

Meal Plan Week 21 In-Depth and Top Tips

Monday

Roast Pork in Pickle Brine, Packet Potatoes, and BBQ'd Corn on the Cob

To make the pickle roast pork, soak a pork tenderloin in the leftover brine from safe pickles for 2-24 hours. If you do not have pickle brine it can be made. Use a small handful of fresh dill or 1-2 tablespoons of dried dill, 4 crushed peppercorns, ½ C of vinegar wither white distilled or apple cider vinegar, 1 cup of warm water, 3 crushed garlic cloves, and 3 tablespoons of kosher salt. Dissolve the salt in warm water, let it cool fully and add to the other ingredients. Use as you would the leftover pickle brine. check out our Roast Pork in Pickle Brine for the full recipe.

The packet potatoes are sliced potatoes tossed in olive oil with a sliced onion. Sprinkled with salt, pepper, and an herb such as 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. 

Top Tip:

To grill the corn remove all the silk but keep the husks. Soak the corn in cold water for 1 hour and then grill. This will help the husks from drying out and igniting. Pull the husks back from the cob for cooking. The husks still need to be watched. Grill the corn for 10 mins, turning often. Coat with dairy free butter-like spread. Salt and pepper, fold the husks down to keep the corn warm until serving.

Alternatively, this recipe for air fryer corn ribs are one of our favourite sides.

Tuesday

Leftover Pork Sandwiches and Pear and Rocket Salad

On Gluten Free buns from Little Northern Bakehouse we will put cold sliced roast pork from last night's dinner. We will top it with apple slices and fig jam. We may add a slice of Daiya Sliced dairy free cheese, as well.

This meal will be perfect for one of our last picnic dinners this year. We will make the salads ahead and keep the dressing on the side. Bring bowls for the salad. The sandwiches will be made and packed for our late summer dinner al fresco.

Top Tip:

We will use the recipe we found in the Eighty Recipes collection number 14 is the Pear and Rocket Salad to go with our pork sandwiches. The only thing we need to substitute is the mustard as we have an allergy to it. We will replace it with a pinch of turmeric mixed with creamed horseradish (it is dairy free, just grated and whipped).

Wednesday

Shredded Beef Tacos in the Slow Cooker

We have a 3 -4 lbs beef roast in the freezer we will be thawing to use in this dish. It was not a great cut and was too tough to make a good roast dinner from so slow cooking it in a 24 oz jar of salsa and 7 Tbsps of taco seasoning will make it very tender. For the seasoning we have our blend listed in the recipe. If the roast isn't fully covered with the store bought salsa we will fill the jar half full with water and shake it to get the rest of the bots out of the jar and into the slow cooker. Let it cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours. This slow cooker taco recipe of ours calls for chicken but we use it with pork, chicken, and beef.

When done, shred the beef with two forks in the slow cooker. If there is a lot of fat on the roast we will trim it off and use a paper towel to skim the rest of it off the sauce. After shredding mux it all well in the slow cooker to absorb the sauce and it is ready for dinner.

Top Tip:

We prefer hard shelled corn tacos in our house but there are many options for soft gluten free tacos. They are often made from rice and are delicate, make sure to heat them to make them more pliable.

We prefer the store brand from Save-on-Foods in Western Canada as they hit our price point and fold the best in our experience but Western Family brand foods may not be available all over North America. Siete has lots of soft taco options that are available online to order if they are not in a store near you. They were not a huge hit here as we found they crumbled and were tough but they worked in a pinch for us.

Thursday

Nacho Dogs and a Fruit Salad

Those of you that have followed our meal plans for a while know that one of Rob's favourite meals is chilli cheese dogs. Not too long ago he made a nacho dog for lunch and loved it so the whole family is trying them for dinner. 

It is pretty much just a hot dog Applegate are safe for us on a bun. We use the Little Northern Bakehouse buns. Topped with either shredded dairy free cheese like Daiya, Follow Your Heart, or Violife or the Daiya cheese sauce. Then sprinkled with nacho toppings like sliced and diced olives, onions, tomatoes, jalapenos, and bell peppers. The hotdogs are BBQ'd then the creation is built and broiled to slightly melt the cheese.

I have a feeling this will be a knife and fork hot dog rather than a hands on type of meal.

Top Tip:

Dice up any safe fruit and toss it with a squeeze of lime, a pinch of chopped fresh mint, and a drizzle of honey or maple syrup. We use fruits like peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, apples, bananas, and mandarin oranges depending on what is on sale and in season.

Friday

Taco Salad Made From Leftovers

If there is little beef left over for this taco salad from leftovers meal stretch the meat by adding cooked black beans to the meat. It will add protein without high costs for the meal. Use up leftover topping from the nacho dogs and shredded beef tacos will also help to cut costs and the amount of prep for this dinner. Our kids like to use a pico de gallo, homemade guacamole, or mild salsa as the dressing. 

Top Tip:

For a fun twist make this salad in a small bag or bowl half full of top 8 free corn chips. This is also called walking tacos and is a really popular camping recipe. 

Saturday

Root Beer Ribs in Root Beer BBQ Sauce and Grilled Caesar Salad

We will boil the ribs on the stove and will make the house a bit hot. If you have a smoker the ribs can be cooked on that instead but we do not have one. The ribs will be finished on the barbecue with the bbq sauce.

Split romaine hearts in half and crush with olive oil, sprinkle on salt and pepper. Grill on the barbecue for 2 mins on each side. Serve warm with a drizzle of top 8 free caesar dressing and a sprinkle of dairy free parm like cheese. The Violife, Daiya, or Follow your Heart brands of top 8 free parm may be suitable choices.

Top Tip:

For a top 8 free caesar salad dressing our favourites are The President's Choice vegan plant based dressing, Mother Raw vegan Caesar, or Boccalino.

Sunday 

Burgers in BBQ sauce with Air Fryer Roast Potatoes

We will be barbecuing our burgers. Brushing them with extra Root Beer BBQ Sauce towards the end of their cooking time. The toppings will include our garden tomatoes and lettuce, sauteed onions and pickles on a gluten free top 8 free bun like the Little Northern Bakehouse ones. Try melting a bit of dairy free cheese on the burgers. It is a great way to use the rest up from buying it for the pork sandwiches.

Instead of buying gem or baby potatoes we will finish up the bag of russets, yellow or red potatoes we used on Monday for the packet potatoes. If using desired leave the peel on but scrub it clean before dicing the potatoes into the size from the recipe. These are great for dipping in a bit of extra barbecue sauce. The Herbe de Provence Roasted Air Fryer Potatoes are easy to make and one of our favourites.

Top Tip:    

To avoid unsafe food practices put the portion of BBQ being used to baste the burgers as they cook in a small bowl. Throw the rest of this sauce out. It is unsafe to use if the basting brush is being dipped in it after touching uncooked meat. To add extra sauce after cooking use a fresh small bowl straight from the bottle in the fridge instead.

We Love Feedback!

Did you make any of the meals from our meal plan week 2? Please 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.

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.