The meal plan week 38 is made for a week where we will be making one or two meals and making it work for most of the week. We will be using the slow cooker and Instant pot in an effort to free some time from cooking. The run up to the holidays is a busy one and we need to spend less time cooking this week and more time elsewhere.
Meal Plan Week 38
Monday - Crockpot Chicken Tacos
Tuesday - Taco Salads from Leftovers
Wednesday - Nachos with Taco Leftovers
Thursday - Crockpot Steak Bites and Potatoes
Friday - Chicken Tortilla Soup
Saturday - Leftover Steak and Potatoes Salad along with Soup
Sunday - Pizzas
Meal Plan Week 38 In-Depth and Top Tips
Monday
Meal Crockpot Chicken Tacos
Seriously, one of the easiest meals we make is to put 2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts in the bottom of a crock pot. Top them with a 16 oz jar of the mildest salsa we can find. Our kids are not into spice at all. Then top with 4-5 Tbsps Taco Seasoning. We make a big jar of the Spend with Pennies recipe and use it all the time. We will probably double the amount of chicken we make. Put the lid on the slow cooker.
Let it cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Pull the chicken breasts out and pull them apart with two forks, so the meat is shredded. Return the meat to the slow cooker.
We will make tacos as per usual, with soft shells this time as they were on sale. Toppings for each of the kids. Sliced olives, diced tomatoes, onions, orange pepper, fresh cilantro and avocado (if it isn’t super expensive). Rob likes a dollop of dairy free sour cream and a few sliced jalapenos to top his.
Brands We Have Found:
Soft Tortilla Shells
Sour Cream
Top Tip:
Save any leftover cut up veggies for dinner the next night.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
They pack better in a soft wrap than with a hard shell for tacos. We send the soft shells made up like a wrap. Wrapped in aluminium foil and then in a sealing bag.
Bec sure to send napkins with this one!
Tuesday
Meal Taco Salads from Leftovers
This Taco Salads from Leftovers meal is a pretty great way to use up any leftover cut up toppings from the night before. The kids get to add what they would like and we also usually offer them canned beans and corn as toppings as well.
Top Tip:
Let the kids choose their own toppings and make their own salad. It is an easy way to start involving them to “cook” with you.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
Send all but any salsa or wet ingredients packed together. Store the wet ingredients separately so the lettuce won’t get soggy. This makes a great layered salad in a jar meal for adults. Put the wet ingredients in the bottom then beans and meat, and top with lettuce then tortilla chips. Leave room to shake the salad to mix it. Don’t forget a fork.
Wednesday
Meal Nachos with Taco Leftovers
Another easy meal to use up the leftovers. We are super busy with end of year celebrations at the kids’ activities so we needed meals that were made one day and leftovers could be used in different ways later in the week.
We will pile tortilla chips on a parchment lined cookie sheet and top them with dairy free cheese, tomatoes, onions, peppers, shredded taco chicken, and sliced olives. Rob will add jalapenos to his. They end up like epic pub nachos to share amongst the kids and us.
Broil for a couple of minutes only watching the entire time. The cheese will not melt like regular cheese and if cooked too long it will get really hard. You can also bake at 350 for a bit longer but still watch them continuously.
Brands We Have Found:
Nacho Chips
Shredded Cheese
Follow Your Heart/ Earth Island
Top Tip:
For the kids we move their portions onto plates so we can track how much they are eating. We have one child who needs to be watched as a decline in their eating can mean they are having an EoE flare up. This is also a safety precaution as our kids would forget the cookie sheet is hot.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
These are super easy to send for lunch when sending cold. We pack them in a container or sealing bag and the kids eat them as they are. They dip the chips in a container of salsa or dairy free sour cream.
Thursday
Meal Crockpot Steak Bites and Potatoes
This is an amazingly easy meal. We will be taking 3 pounds of stewing beef cubes and 2 pounds of red gem potatoes and putting them in an oiled slow cooker. Top the potatoes with smoked paprika, onion powder, parsley, pepper, and salt. The beef will get a sprinkle of steak seasoning like this one we make from the recipe at Hey Grill Hey.
Then evenly distribute 6 cloves of minced garlic over the whole pot contents. Mix the beef with itself and the potatoes with themselves to evenly distribute the spices. Top with 6 tablespoons of plant butter stick or spread that have been broken up in to pieces. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours. Halfway stir the contents to pull any meat sticking to the sides off the liner.
Serve the garlic steak bites and red gem potatoes with freshly steamed broccoli florets.
Brands We Have Found:
Plant Based Butter
Earth Balance Spread Soy Free
Country Crock Original Spreads (may contain soy)
Top Tip:
Make a quick gravy out of the drippings. Transfer the meat to a bowl and the potatoes to another to serve. Carefully pour the drippings and juices into a medium pot. Heat over medium heat and add either 2 Tbsps of cornstarch (mixed with an equal amount of water) or gluten free flour to the sauce. Bring to a simmer and reduce until thickened, about 5 mins.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
Reheat the meal components of steak bites, potatoes, and broccoli together 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. Start with the potatoes on the bottom, then the broccoli, and top with the steak.
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.
Friday
Meal Chicken Tortilla Soup
We love to make Chicken Tortilla soup in the Instant pot to make dinner easy. We have this recipe we use for making it that is easy and quick. The soup is best served with a couple garnishes like chopped fresh cilantro and green onions, dairy free sour cream, tortilla chips.
Brands We Have Found:
Top Tip:
Save the tiny bits of tortilla chips from the chip bag when making the nachos and use those bits in this soup. It means you don’t have to crush any big chips that are better for nachos or dipping.
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- Instant Pot
- 2 Forks
- Cutting Board and Knife
- Vegetable Peeler
- Plate
- Tongs
- Stirring Utensil
- Measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- 6-8 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper
- 2 Tbsps Olive Oil divided in 2
- 1 Cup Carrots peeled and medium diced - about 2-3
- 1 Cup Celery Ribs medium diced about 3
- 1 Cup Sweet Bell Pepper medium diced
- 1 Cup Yellow Onion medium diced
- 6-8 Cloves Garlic minced
- 2 teaspoon Chilli Powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon Cumin Powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon Oregano dried
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Coriander ground
- ⅛ teaspoon Cayenne optional
- 6 Cups Chicken Stock
- 1 28 oz Can Diced Tomatoes and their liquid
- 2 Cups Crushed Tortilla Chips see Notes
- 1 15 oz Can White Beans rinsed and save the canning liquid for another recipe
- 1 4 oz Can Green Chilies
- 1 11-15 oz Can Corn Nibs drained
- 1 14 oz Can Coconut Cream
Instructions
- 1- Turn on Instant Pot to Saute setting. Add 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil and let it heat up.
- 2- Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper on both sides.
- 3- Using tongs place the seasoned thighs in the inner pot and brown. Turning after 2-3 minutes per side to get all sides. When seared all over, remove the chicken thighs to a plate. Set aside.
- 4- Add the rest of the olive oil, let it heat. Once oil is heated add the diced celery, carrots, onions, sweet bell peppers, and minced garlic. Cook until the onions are translucent, about 4-5 minutes, stirring often. When stirring try to scrape up any bits of chicken that may be stuck to the inner pot base.
- 5- Sprinkle in the spices, cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, oregano, chilli, and cayenne. Stir well and continue to saute for 1-2 mins.
- 6- Turn off the saute on the Instant Pot. Pour in The chicken stock, crushed tortilla chips and diced tomatoes and liquid in the diced tomatoes can. Stir.
- 7- Add back the sauteed chicken thighs that were set aside in step 3.
- 8- Put the lid on the Instant pot and lock it into position. Ensure the valve is set to Sealing. Set the Instant Pot to cook on Manual at High pressure for 10 minutes (see notes about higher altitudes).
- 9- When pressure cooking is finished, let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes. After the 15 minute natural release, carefully do a controlled quick release.
- 10- When pressure has fully released, pull out the chicken thighs and place on the cutting board from cutting the vegetables. Using two forks pulling in opposite directions away from each other pull the chicken apart into shredded bits. Alternatively, you can use a hand mixer on low speed to shred the chicken, if desired.
- 11- Return the shredded chicken to the Instant pot.
- 12- Turn the Instant Pot onto the soup function.
- 13- Add the green chillies, drained corn and white beans, and coconut cream to the soup. Stir well to mix and let heat until the coconut cream is fully melted and mixed into the soup.
Notes
Nutrition
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.
Saturday
Meal Leftover Steak and Potatoes Salad along with Soup
For this meal we will take the leftover potatoes and cut them after they have chilled overnight into 8-10 pieces and make our Potato Salad. The difference will be that we will dice up the steak bites into tiny easy to swallow pieces. The pieces will be tossed in the salad. If there is any steamed broccoli we will also chop it and toss it in for nutrients and flavour.
We will also reheat any leftover soup if the kids are looking for a more substantial dinner or if there aren’t enough steak and potatoes to make meal sized salads.
Brands We Have Found:
Mayonnaise
Top Tip:
Do not leave the steak bites too big as people with EoE can have a tough time swallowing foods. The smaller the better. Always let them know there is meat in the meal in case they are struggling that day.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
We don’t send any leftovers that have been reheated once already to school lunches. It is for food safety reasons we will only reheat what we need for that meal and leave the rest in the fridge to send as we would have the day we made the meals or to freeze it for later.
Sunday
Meal Pizzas
We will either make our own dough using our gluten free dough recipe but in all honesty we have a ton of things going on this holiday season and we need a bit of a break from all the cooking and pre-planning before all the holiday get togethers.
We will most likely pick up a couple of frozen pizzas and pop them in the oven for a quick meal. The kids love them and we cook so few meals that aren’t from scratch. Rob and I don’t feel bad about taking that break. This is also a great meal when a babysitter is coming over to watch the kids as they or we can make it and we know the kids are getting safe quick foods.
The Daiya ones come with dairy free cheese and are gluten free the Judy G ones we get just the crusts as they don’t use plant based cheese. We wing on a bit of pizza sauce and vegan cheese and we get the same deal with a tiny bit more work. It is all about how much time we have and energy that night.
Brands We Have Found:
Top Tip:
For the younger kids who don’t eat a lot and only like the plain cheese pizza we cut the pizza in half and only cook what they will eat for dinner plus school lunch the next day. This cuts our costs as we save the rest of the pizza in a sealing bag in the freezer for the next fast meal night. It stretches our budget and everyone can have the pizza flavours they like in a pre-made pizza that is safe for them.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
We send pizza cold to school in the kids’ lunches. They like cold pizza but know if they want to heat it up they have access to a microwave at school. We send them with a microwave safe container to pack the pizza in case they do heat it up. You don’t want them putting the pizza right on the microwave plate due to cross contact risks.
We Love Feedback!
Did you make any of the meals from the meal plan week 38? 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.
- Meal Plan Week 40
- Allergen Friendly Split Pea and Ham Soup - GF/DF, Top 8 Free
- Dairy Free Banana Pudding - GF/DF, Vegan, Top 8 Free
- Meal Plan Week 39
- Kale Salad with Cranberries - 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.
Have you made this recipe? Please leave a comment and us know how much you liked it.