This meal plan week 33 is a guide for us to help us plan ahead what we will be making for dinner and to save us time and money. It is just a guide though. Last week we planned our meals and got everything we needed but after Rob was sidelined with illness for the week we had to pivot.
This is why a lot of our recipes are able to be frozen. When we are making soups and stews, or shepherd’s pie we often fill our freezer with ready to go meals just for this occasion. Instead of our planned dinners last week, the kids and I thawed a lot of soup and freezer meals from our batch cooking and ate them.
I do cook and can do so well but I have my own disability that makes it difficult to do so alone while getting the kids sorted on a daily basis. I rely on Rob’s help in the kitchen so we plan for times like this by stocking our freezer with easy meals.
Meal Plan Week 33
Monday - Creamy Mushroom Soup
Tuesday - Sage Chicken and Potatoes with Peach Balsamic Asparagus
Wednesday - Dairy Free Cobb Salad
Thursday - Low Food Waste Asparagus Soup
Friday - Sloppy Joes with Mashed Potatoes
Saturday - Shepherd’s Pie
Sunday - Leftovers
Meal Plan Week 33 In-Depth and Top Tips
Monday
Meal - Creamy Mushroom Soup
This Creamy Mushroom Soup is one of our favourite winter soups. It is one that makes a great chilly night dinner and is best served with a small salad, crackers, or gluten free rolls.
If we will be serving a salad it will be with the Festive Spinach Salad. Super easy to make and one the whole family loves.
Brand We Have Found:
Rolls
Promise (some contain egg)
Crackers
Trader Joe’s Crispy Crunchy Crisps
Top Tip:
If alcohol isn't for you in a soup a splash of lemon juice in place of the cognac and substituting the wine with a homemade vegetable broth. The mushroom soaking water is also a great addition with the broth to add more flavour. This is how we make it when the kids are having it. We save the cognac for when we are serving this at adults only dinner parties.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
Start by warming up a thermos by filling it with hot water.
Over medium-high heat, in a pot on the stove bring the desired amount of soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes. Pour the warm water out of the thermos and put the hot soup into the container instead. Close the thermos and send it with a gluten free roll and a spoon for lunch.
It is important to make sure the kids can easily open the thermos themselves. The soup should be warm but not too hot so it burns them when they open the thermos, for safety.
Tuesday
Meal - Sage Chicken and Potatoes with Peach Balsamic Asparagus
This Sage Chicken and Potatoes dish works well for weeknight dinners. The potatoes and chicken are cooked in the same dish. The asparagus can be cooked quickly or replaced with brussel sprouts or broccoli and still cooked in the same manner.
Brand We Have Found:
Oils and Vinegars
Top Tip:
Save leftovers or cook extra chicken to be used in the Cobb Salad the next night. Another bit to save is the woody ends of the asparagus. Put them in a large sealing bag in the freezer and store to make low waste asparagus soup.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
Reheat the chicken, potatoes, and asparagus in a frying pan with a couple of tablespoons of water. Cover the pan with a well fitting lid and heat over medium heat for 4-5 mins. Remove the lid and let any remaining water cook off, about 2 -3 mins. Layer the food in a thermos that has been warmed by hot water and drained.
To heat this meal up if a microwave is available, send the meal in a microwave safe container. When heating, open the container or place it loosely over the dish to vent. Microwave for 1 minute 20 seconds, check it is all heated through and heat by 25 seconds longer, as needed.
Don’t forget the fork.
Wednesday
Meal - Dairy Free Cobb Salad
We will be using leftover chicken from dinner the night before to make this Cobb Salad recipe. We will also reheat any leftover potatoes or mushroom soup to serve as a small side with the salad so there is a warm component to the meal. Our kids really like having a warm dinner in the winter.
Brand We Have Found:
Prosciutto
Only use packaged meats that you have verified with the manufacturer is safe for you. Meats bought, sliced, and stored in the deli case from the deli counter may not be safe due to cross contact.
Mayonnaise
Top Tip:
Make this salad your own. If you prefer a ranch dressing give our dairy free ranch dressing a try. Instead of prosciutto, “safe for you” bacon bits can be used. Plain dairy free cream cheese can be used, like this Philadelphia one, in place of dairy free Boursin.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
In a reusable container pack the salad, except the tomatoes and dressing. Put the dressing and tomatoes into small reusable containers to add them to the salad right before eating. Pack an ice pack to keep the salad chilled.
Don’t forget to send a fork!
Thursday
Meal - Low Food Waste Asparagus Soup
This is the dinner we love to make from what others would call food scraps. The Low Food Waste Asparagus Soup doesn’t cost us very much as we have our own chicken stock we made in the freezer. We use the ends of the asparagus and homemade stock for a cheaper weeknight winter dinner.
Brand We Have Found:
Crackers
Trader Joe’s Crispy Crunchy Crisps
Top Tip:
To save more money, recook the caracasses from the roast chicken dinners and boil it with the washed veggie ends and peels from carrots, onions, garlic, celery and more in water 2-3 inches from the top of your largest stock pot. Let it actively simmer for 4 hours on the stove and strain the stock from the bones and vegetable bits and freeze the stock in 3-4 cup containers in the freezer.
For the crockpot, bring to a boil on the stove and transfer to the slow cooker. Let it cook on high for 4 hours.
Check it every now and again no matter which method is used to cook it to add more water as needed.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
Warm up a thermos by filling it with hot water.
In a pot on the stove over medium-high heat bring the desired amount of soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes. Dump the warm water out of the thermos and pour the hot soup into it instead. Seal the thermos and send it with a gluten free roll and a spoon for lunch.
It is important to make sure the kids can open the thermos themselves and that the soup isn’t too hot when they open the thermos, for safety.
Friday
Meal - Sloppy Joes with Mashed Potatoes
We will be serving our Sloppy Joes with gluten free buns and mashed potatoes. A salad and raw veggies are also a great accompaniment.
The mashed potatoes will be made with a few peeled and cubed starchy potatoes, like Idahoan or Russet potatoes. We will boil them in lightly salted water until the potatoes can be pierced with a fork. Turn off the stove burner they were on. Drain the potatoes and place them in the empty pot they were boiled in. On a trivet on a safe part of the counter add plant based milk, plant spread, and salt and pepper. Smush the potato chunks with a vegetable masher until they are smoothly mashed and mixed. Stir them to make sure all the plant milk and spread are evenly distributed.
Brand We Have Found:
Plant Spread
Earth Balance
Olive Oil (Coconut Free)
Coconut Oil (Pea Protein Free)
Country Crock
Original Spreads (Contains soy)
Plant Butter (may contain soy)
MeltOrganics
Top Tip:
Cook up all the ground beef, chicken, pork, or lamb and save it for the shepherd’s pie the next night. Add a few extra potatoes to the mashed potatoes when cooking so they will be already and speed up the dinner on Saturday.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
We will send the heated sloppy joe mix in a thermos, just like we would the soups. The bun will be sent on the side so it doesn’t go soggy. The kids can eat it by making their own sandwich with it, which is not how ours do it as it can be messy. Our kids usually eat the sloppy joe filling like a stew and dip the bread in it.
The other way you can send it to school in a thermos is to make plain gluten free pasta and put it on the bottom of the warmed thermos. Top the pasta with the sloppy joe mix like a pasta sauce.
Don’t forget to pack a spork.
Saturday
Meal - Shepherd’s Pie
We will be making this Shepherd's Pie with beef as we want to buy a large value pack to split between this meal and the sloppy joes. That means it is technically a cottage pie as shepherd’s pie is traditionally lamb mince (ground lamb). You can use chicken, turkey, or pork too, if you prefer it. To cut time and costs we will also use frozen carrots and peas in the mix. Always check them for cross contact as they may be packaged in plants with allergens.
Top Tip:
Make the mashed potatoes and cook up the meat with the meal the night before to save time or make it up and freeze it earlier in the week when meal prepping. Pull it out and thaw it the day before.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
Place all the shepherd’s pie meal parts together in a frying pan to reheat. Add 2-3 tablespoons of water to the pan. Reheat over medium heat for 4-5 mins while covering the pan with a well fitting lid to keep the steam in. To let any remaining water cook off after initial warming, take off the lid and continue to heat for about 2 -3 mins.
Have a thermos prewarmed with hot water, drain and dry the inside. Layer the food in the thermos. Seal with the lid.
To heat this meal up if a microwave is available, send the meal in a microwave safe container. When heating, open the container or place it loosely over the dish to vent. Microwave for 1 minute 20 seconds, check it is all heated through and heat by 25 seconds longer, as needed.
Don’t forget to pack a spork.
Sunday
Meal - Leftovers
One of my favourite meals of the meal plan week 33 is this one because there is little prep. We usually do a Sunday roast but this fall the kids have had sports all day both of the weekend days so we are too busy to make a big weekend meal.
Top Tip:
Give the kids the choice as to what they would like to involve them in “making dinner”. We have found that this helps our kids eat most of their dinner, even our pickiest eaters.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
The leftovers from the first time it has been made can be frozen in smaller lunch sized portions in microwave safe containers to reheat at school or work. Take them out of the freezer the day before and thaw them in the fridge.
We don’t send reheated leftovers the next day as we only reheat leftovers once due to food safety concerns.
We Love Feedback!
Did you make any of the meals from the meal plan week 33? 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.
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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.
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