The meal plan week 26 has easy meals for us to make with work and school. This is what we are all about this week. We are also keeping a close eye on our food budget as prices are still rising.
Most of our meals are made with very few specialty ingredients this week. Those we are using are gluten free tortillas, pasta, and pizza bases along with a bit of dairy free cheese. We will be using the same bag of cheese for all the meals. This means we only put out what we want the kids to use on their fajitas when they choose their toppings, instead of them having the run of a fresh full bag.
We are also putting a few changes in our meal plan layouts. We are listing the products we have found for that recipe in a section of that day. There is also a section we added this week on how to send each of the meals as leftovers for lunch the next day.
We hope these help to provide valuable info that will take the burden off cooking for a family with allergies. We are not paid to promote the products nor. They are what is available here and we may have tried some but not all and would love to hear feedback on the products so we can pass on that info.
Meal Plan Week 26
Monday - Fajita Sheet Pan
Tuesday - Taco Salads with Fajita Meat
Wednesday - Penne with Jamie Oliver's Tomato Pasta
Thursday - Vegetable Soup
Friday - Leftover Pasta and Soup
Saturday - Pizzas- Top Your Own
Sunday - Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and Air Fried Thyme Carrots
Meal Plan Week 26 In-Depth and Top Tips
Monday
Fajita Sheet Pan
Using the recipe to make the sheet pan fajitas. We will be using either chicken or beef, depending on what is cheapest this week for us.
The toppings will be typical fajitas ones- tomatoes, and dairy free cheese. We will be skipping avocados this week as they are insanely expensive and do not fit into our food budget.
For the shells we use store brand ones as that is what we prefer and is a cheaper option for our family. If looking for an alternative - lettuce leaves like iceberg can be used as for us a head of lettuce can be cheaper most weeks.
Brand We Have Found:
Tortillas -
Fajita seasoning -
Dairy Free Shredded Cheese -
Top Tip:
The leftovers will be used the next night on the salad instead of ground taco meat. The fajita seasoning sauce doubles as a safe dressing for us, sometimes.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
Fajitas can be sent as lunch in a wrap that has been put in a panini press and served cooled.
Tuesday
Taco Salads
We will be making the recipe for our leftover taco salad except swapping the ground beef out for fajita meat, onions and peppers. We won’t be using guacamole or avocados due to the current cost of them here in Western Canada. For dressing we like to opt for the fajita sauce that comes as the veggies and meat were cooked or a bit of safe salsa.
Brand We Have Found:
Salsa
Store brand that is top 8 safe like Compliments
Top Tip:
Bulking the ingredients with canned ingredients like corn, black beans, and green chillies. They will help fill out the salad for added flavour. The beans will be perfect if there is less fajita meat left over than expected. The beans will add protein.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
We pack the lettuce in a sealing bowl type container. The toppings are usually stored in reusable sealing bags in the bowl. The fajita chicken, cooked onions, cooked peppers, dairy free cheese and tomatoes should each be stored apart from other ingredients so they don’t make the lettuce slimy. The salsa or other dressings should be stored on their own and added right before eating. Don’t forget a fork!
Wednesday
Penne with Jamie Oliver's Tomato Pasta
This Jamie Oliver Recipe is one of our favs. It is super quick to make with staple items. We use fresh or dried basil, depending on what we have. To make it top 8 safe - change the pasta to gluten and wheat free and the parmesan needs to be dairy free. We often omit the parm though or put on a bit of cheddar or mozzarella style shreds as the kids prefer it.
Brand We Have Found:
Pasta
Top Tip:
We usually double the sauce and find it gives a better flavour to the penne than the amount made in the recipe from Jamie Oliver.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
We preheat a thermos with hot water while preheating the pasta on the stove. When The pasta is hot, dump the water out and put the pasta in the thermos. Seal it and send a spork in the lunch kit. We find heating up on the stove keeps the food hot longer in the thermos.
Thursday
The perfect cool weather meal is this Easy One Pot Vegetable Soup. Making this recipe is relatively quick so great for a weeknight. It is also cheaper to make than many other soups as the veggies used are those on hand. The easy one pot vegetable soup can be served alone or with a side salad or fries made in the air fryer. Some Campbell's Soup Vegetable Stocks have recently listed soy as an ingredient online.
Brand We Have Found:
365 Whole Foods Vegetable Stock
Top Tip:
This is perfect for using up any last veggies in the fridge. Do not be shy about changing the ingredients, use what is on hand and needs finishing up. If you do not have something then omit it. This meal is all about keeping the budget in check and lowering food waste.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
We preheat a thermos with hot water while preheating the soup on the stove. When The soup boiled for a few minutes, dump the water out and put the soup in the thermos. Seal it and send a spoon in the lunch kit. We find heating up on the stove keeps the soup hot longer in the thermos.
Friday
Leftover Pasta and Soup
Using leftovers in our meal plan and our weekly dinners is how we are able to cut a lot of prep time and food costs. Yes we buy enough for this meal but it is often the same ingredients we are already using and instead of doubling the recipes we may make only half more if we are pairing the food with another meal like this one of soup and pasta.
Top Tip:
To reheat the pasta add a few tablespoons of water in a pan and cover for 3-4 mins. Then remove the lid and let any excess water boil off. Serve once the extra water is boiled off.
To reheat the soup add a bit of water ¼-½ a cup in the pot with however much soup is being reheated. Over medium high heat bring it to a boil and let it boil for 5 minutes before serving.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
We do not recommend sending food that has been reheated once already for lunch with the kids. The more often the food passes through the food temperature danger zone the higher the risk of food borne illness. We don’t want to take that chance with our kids as their GI tracts are already delicate some days.
Saturday
Pizzas- Top Your Own
This has to be our family’s favourite meal. The kids love it as they get to cook with us byt putting the toppings and dairy free cheese on their part of our pizzas. We often make 2-3 pizzas for 6 of us and we each split the pizzas each adorning half. Sometimes the kids have been pushed to try ingredients they haven’t as their pizza mate’s smells so good that they trade a slice.
We all make pizzas that are safe for everyone in the house. This is not recommended if allergens are used on some pizzas, nor is the splitting of a pizza.
We usually make our own crusts with our recipe and use a top 8 free pizza sauce. Double check the sauces as many brands use soybean oil but some of the store brands don’t.
Typical toppings are:
- Spinach
- Tomatoes
- Ham
- Leftover Cooked Chicken
- Cooked Ground Beef (like taco meat)
- Prosciutto
- Artichoke Hearts
- Roasted Garlic
- Onions
- Olives
- Green Peppers
- Pineapple
- Banana Pepper
- Peaches
- And Much More
Brand We Have Found:
Pizza Crust
Daiya Pizzas - can add your own toppings to the dairy free cheese one
Pizza Sauce
Dairy Free Shredded Cheese
Top Tip:
Only put the dairy free cheese on the pizza with 5 mins left in cooking for best results.
The homemade pizza shells can be made and partially baked then stored in the freezer to speed other dinners up, if desired.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
Leftover pizza made one of the best lunches when I was a kid. We pack our pizza cold in a reusable lunch bag. Put the topping sizes inward if sending two pieces so the crusts stay crispier.
For a “lunchables” pizza style lunch we take a Little Northern Bakehouse Bun and flatten it slightly by pressing it between our palms. It goes in the sandwich part of a bento box. A small amount of dairy free cheese in a small area of the box, and the toppings in another. If the box comes with a leak proof sauce jar that is where we put in the small amount of sauce we send. A spork is great for smearing the sauce on and the kids build their own mini cold pizzas like the popular lunchables.
Sunday
Gluten Free Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and Air Fried Thyme Carrots
This is a great Sunday family dinner we have a lot. We love it as it is usually 2 - 3 dinners or lunches. We make the leftovers into soup and will often cook up two chickens just so we can ensure we have extra. By cooking this much up on Sunday night it will ease the time crunch on the Monday night dinner by making it into soup or a salad like the dairy free cobb salad.
Top Tip:
Save the carcass to make broth or stock. You can boil the carcass with leftover meaty bits on it for 4-6 hours in water, covering it in a large stock pot for homemade broth.
To make stock add in the carcass and a few veggies like carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Cover with water and boil for 3-4 hours. Strain out all the veggies, bones and meat. Save the meat for chicken soup by freezing it or refrigerating for making soup the next day. Store the broth and stock in well sealing containers in the freezer.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
We often use the leftover chicken in a few different ways for lunch the next day. The first is sending a mini chicken dinner that can be microwaved, if the kids have access to a microwave. If not then we send it layered in a thermos. Mashed potatoes on the bottom, chicken and hot gravy on top. The kids can eat it as chicken with gravy and then mix in the gravy that trickles down to their potatoes.
The second is a chicken sandwich. Either chop the chicken and mix it with a bit of egg and soy free vegan mayo, salt, pepper, and celery, if desired and put on gluten free top 8 bread for a chicken salad sandwich. Alternatively, the chicken can be left in slices and made like a sub or deli sandwich with a bit of lettuce and a slice of dairy free cheese. With the child’s favourite condiments.
Lastly, we also send our kids to lunch with curried chicken salad in a reusable sealing bowl with a well sealing lid, a fork and the fruit like the papaya on the side. In the winter we often sub out orange wedges for the expensive papaya.
We Love Feedback!
Did you make any of the meals from the meal plan week 26? 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.
- Soy Free Fried Rice - GF/DF/SF, Vegan, Top 8 Free
- Meal Plan Week 27
- Gluten Free Apple Pie Oatmeal - GF/DF, Vegan, Top 8 Free
- Meal Plan Week 26
- Easy One Pot Vegetable Soup - GF/DF, Vegan, Top 8 Free
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. Just because we have found them to be safe where we live does not mean they are safe everywhere they are manufactured.
Check EVERY time before purchasing, when putting away at home, and when using. Ingredients and manufacturing processes change. We are listing products with good faith and not as advice at what to buy. There are often many options in some areas and few in others. Use what is safe, self-vetted, the right price point and right for you. If you find great products please let us know we love having more options and shaking out new ones.
Have you made this recipe? Please leave a comment and us know how much you liked it.