Meal Plan Week 23

The meal plan week 23 had to take into account that our kids are back in school this week. This means we have to get back on our schedule for early mornings and soon lots of after school sports and activities. We will be trying to keep our dinners easy this week as we are sure to be tired and not in the mood to spend loads of time in the kitchen cooking.

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Meal Plan Week 23

Meal Plan Week 23 In-Depth and Top Tips

Monday

Daiya Mac and Cheese and Tomato, Chickpea, Cucumber, and Avocado Salad

We will be making the Daiya pasta as per the directions on the box. Our kids prefer not to use all the liquid cheese. We will save the leftover cheese in a sealed bag in the fridge. Then use it on the baked potatoes on Thursday.

Make marinated chickpeas ahead and keep them in the fridge for when you are making this recipe. Chop up cucumbers, halve grape tomatoes, and dice an avocado. Mix with some of the marinated chickpeas and use the marinade as the dressing, possibly adding an extra splash of white wine vinegar.

Top Tip:

We don’t make a lot of meals from a box often but as the kids are returning to school this week I figure we will need a hand getting back into the swing of early mornings, school drop offs. Make and freeze a lot of leftovers for nights like just this. As a Family, we try to cook from scratch as much as possible as it is cheaper for us. Leaving the boxed mac and cheese for when we will be in a pinch. For the 6 of us it will take 3-4 boxes of macaroni. They were 2 for $8 when we picked them up so $12-16 just for the pasta can feel a bit steep.

Tuesday

Lamb meatballs with Mint Sauce and Roasted Sweet Potatoes

We will be using the recipe for the Turkey egg free meatballs but replacing the turkey with lamb. Lamb is fattier and will need a bit more of the bread crumbs, about ¼ C more. The pan will also most likely need to be drained of some of the fat before making gravy, if we decide we want it. The herbs we will use will be chopped fresh rosemary, stripped from the woody stalk. Mint will also be chopped and added to the mince before forming the balls. The herbes will each be about 1 tablespoon after chopping.

The roast sweet potatoes will be made by using our herbe de provence roasted potatoes cooking method but only using garlic powder instead of herbes de provence. The only difference is the sweet potatoes need to be parboiled ( boiled for a couple of minutes but not fully cooked). They should be dried or steamed to dry by placing the colander to drain them over the pot used to boil them and covered with a tea towel on a heat resistant surface like a trivet and not on the hot burner. Toss in olive oil, add salt, pepper, and garlic powder and air fry for 24-28 mins at 380F.

Top Tip:

To make the mint sauce we will combine 2 Tbsps of water and 3 Tbsps White Wine Vinegar or safe vinegar “for you”. Pluck the leaves off the stalks of a bunch of mint and mince. Sprinkle the mint with 1 teaspoon sugar. Pour the water and vinegar over the mint, stir well, and let sit while the roast cooks.

Wednesday

Dairy Free Carbonara Pasta with Garlic Bread 

We will use our pasta recipe to make this quick weeknight pasta halfway through the meal plan week 23. It is not super creamy, which we like but uses vegan soy free parmesan like cheese. The diced bacon slices can easily be swapped out for real bacon bits, if they are safe for you to speed the meal up even more.

We will use either Little Northern Bakery hot dog or burger buns from our freezer. Melt a bit of the soy free Earth Balance vegan spread. Mix in garlic salt to the melted dairy free spread and brush it on the buns. Broil the buns on a cookie sheet lined with parchment until lightly brown.

Top Tip:

To add extra protein we prefer to use a chickpea or lentil based noodle from Pedon. 

Thursday

Garlic Thyme Chicken and Broccoli on Baked Potatoes

We Are going to cook a fair amount of the garlic thyme chicken so we can use it the next night. Thighs may also be more economical over breasts for this recipe so we may use them for both recipes. Thighs will only need to be boneless and skinless like the breasts would have been. 

We will bake the potatoes, russets, after scrubbing the skins, brushing them with olive oil and a bit of salt on the tops. Use a fork to pierce the skin and allow the steam to escape the skin. Wrap in foil and bake for 35-40 minutes at 400F or until piercing with a fork shows the potatoes are fluffy and soft inside.

Remove the potatoes from the foil. Cut a slit in the top of the potato, fluff the insides, and fill with chicken, steamed broccoli, and the leftover cheese sauce from the mac and cheese, or grated dairy free cheese, like Nurishh. For a bit of extra flavour sprinkle with smoked paprika, salt, and pepper.

Top Tip:

We are trying to max out our food bills by using the same vegetable in numerous meals. If the fresh broccoli is not at an affordable price this recipe can use steamed frozen broccoli to save money. The broccoli for this recipe should be steamed and drained.

Friday

Chicken Pasta Salad

Chop up extra chicken from the night before and add it to a large bowl. The pasta salad will be made of ½ a pound of gluten free macaroni. Cook, drain and chill the pasta.

Toss it with orange pepper, halved grape tomatoes, diced red onions, green olives, and broccoli all chopped and mixed in. There should be around 2-3 cups of veggies when all chopped up plus the chicken.

The dressing is ¼ C white wine vinegar, ½ olive oil, 1 clove minced garlic, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon oregano, ½ teaspoon thyme, ¼ teaspoon sugar, ⅛ teaspoon sweet paprika, to taste salt and pepper. Mix the dressing and then toss with the vegetables, chicken, and chilled pasta.

Top Tip:

Make the pasta ahead and let it cool in the fridge. Before cooling, toss a bit of olive oil on the gluten free pasta to stop it from sticking to itself. When cooking the pasta, under cook it by at least 1-2 mins so it is al dente. Gluten free pasta will go mushy when cooked softer and refrigerated. This will help keep it firm in the salad.

Saturday

Eggless Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, and Broccoli

One of our favourite family meals that is easy to make and can be made with just about any kind of ground meat is eggless meatloaf. We are going to stick with beef as that is what is in our freezer. 

Boil up a few potatoes, drain them, mash them and mix with safe plant based spread and safe plant based milk, salt, and pepper. Mix until smooth and not chunky.

The broccoli crowns will be cut into florets, washed, and dried. Toss the broccoli with a bit of neutral oil, like canola or liquid coconut oil, a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Pop in the air fryer at 320F for 8 mins, or until the tops begin to start to brown slightly.

Top Tip:

Making more than one loaf is a great way to have leftovers for the next night’s dinner or to freeze and have at a later date.

Sunday 

Meatloaf Sandwiches and Fruit Salad

The sandwich can be made up like a hamburger and fried or broiled slightly to heat up and served with tomato, lettuce, ketchup and mustard. The bun will be either toasted Carbonaut Gluten Free bread or one of their Gluten Free bagels which are new at our local Costco.

The fruit salad will be the last of the summer berries, plums, and possibly a few apples, if our tree has a few ready to pick. We will make a sweet dressing for this salad with maple syrup, freshly squeezed lime juice, and chopped mint leaves.

Top Tip:    

Instead of ketchup on the sandwich use a bit of dairy free Applewood Smoked “Cheese” and Root beer bbq sauce with pickles on the sandwich. 

We Love Feedback!

Did you make any of the meal plan week 23  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.

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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.