Wow! Another week for the food allergy meal plan week 45. Our food budget is tight with 4 teenagers and the cost of food. Making these meal plans is how we save money. We only buy what we need and we can use the leftovers easily.
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If you are like us you are probably looking to reign in the sweets and treats and get back to budgeting for our meals. This means we are looking for recipes we can make and use to stretch our money and energy.
We make our meal plans flexible. Other than meals that take leftovers, we can move the meals around, quick thaw soup from the freezer in a watertight container under cool water. When you plan your menu, move around easier meals to days that suit you. If you are really busy put the easiest meal on that day and work around it.
Meal Plan Week 45
Tuesday - Chili and Garlic Bread
Wednesday - Soup from the Freezer (Turkey Quinoa)
Thursday - Creamy Chicken Paprika with Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli
Friday - Baked Potatoes with Chili
Saturday - Pizzas and a Movie (at home)
Sunday - Chicken Pot Pie with a Potato Topper
Monday - Leftovers
Meal Plan Week 45 In-Depth and Top Tips
Tuesday
Meal Chili and Garlic Bread
Packed with loads of vegetables, beans, and two different kinds of meat this chili dinner recipe is perfect for meal prepping. Cut up the veggies and cook the meat in advance, if you want to save time on the day you are making it. This recipe is great for a meal plan as it can create a lot of leftovers for later in the week or freezing for another week. We usually make chili for dinner and send it for school lunches.
Brand We Have Found:
Buns
- Little Northern Bakehouse Dinner Rolls
- Canyon Bakehouse Buns (contains EGG)
- Promise White Rolls (some contain EGG)
Buttery Spread
- Earth Balance Soy Free
- Earth Balance Olive Oil
- Country Crock Spread
- Violife Block
All products should be thoroughly checked out for all allergens in the products through labelling, ingredients, and for shared facilities and lines with the manufacturer.
Top Tip - How to Make Easy Garlic Bread:
1- Line a cookie sheet with aluminium foil
2- Open the buns and place them then cut side up on the cookie sheet. Set aside.
3- In a small bowl place ⅓ cup of butter spread and mix it with 1-1.5 tablespoons of our homemade garlic seasoning mix.
4- Smear 1-2 tablespoons of the garlic butter on the cut side of the buns.
5- Toast the buns for 1-2 minutes on the cookie sheet under the broiler until golden and toasted. Watch them closely as they can go from perfect to burnt in seconds.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
The kids love to take a warm bowl of chili to school for lunch on chilly winter days. What we do to send it is heat up the chili on the stove. Preheat an insulated container, like this Hydroflask, with warm water from the tap. Then place the heated chili in the container after dumping out the water. For full instructions check out this article we wrote, about How to Send Food in an Insulated Container.
Wednesday
Meal Soup from the Freezer (Turkey Quinoa Soup)
For us this is going to be a meal we pull from the freezer. After Christmas we made a massive pot of turkey quinoa soup with the leftovers. We then froze a few family sized portions.
Frozen soups like this one for days when we know we will be too tired to cook or there are a million things going on. This is a massive time saver. It also stretches our meat budget over multiple meals and helps us avoid food waste.
Chicken Stock:
It can be tough to find a soy free gluten free chicken stock without cross contact so we make our own. We use this budget friendly chicken stock recipes.
Top Tip
You can make this soup with chicken if you don't have turkey. When we make the gluten free roast chicken or lemon rosemary chicken the next day this soup is made. Freeze it in either a family dinner sized portion or individual portions. Thaw the soup before reheating.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
We send it already heated in an insulated soup container. Whichever container you use, make sure the soup isn't too hot by lunch and that the kids can open it themselves. Don't forget to send a spoon with it. I have forgotten before and the kids have had to drink the soup.
Thursday
Meal Chicken Paprika with Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli
This is a German chicken dish that we like to make during the week. Searing the chicken in a paprika and tomato gravy is the main flavour of this recipe. It is really good when served over potatoes, gluten free pasta, or rice. Serving the paprika chicken with mashed potatoes and a side of steamed broccoli. It is a great idea make extra potatoes so we have them ready for the chicken pot pie.
We buy boneless skinless chicken breasts with both breast and tenderloin. Trimming the meat ourselves and use the tenderloin later in the week in the chicken pot pie. The cost for us is better to buy them this way, it is cheaper where we live.
Notes:
- Thighs or chicken breasts can be used for this recipe. Boneless and skinless chicken is best to use.
- Trim the fat and anything you do not want to eat from the chicken breast, if not trimmed.
- We use avocado oil but you can use any neutral oil that is free from your allergens. Watch for peanuts and soy. Refined oils do not have to be labelled with food allergens in many countries. Vegetable oil may contain common allergens.
- Be sure to use a neutral oil that is able to handle the heats for cooking this recipe.
- There are different kinds of paprika. The most common types of paprika are spicy, sweet, mild, or smoky. Usually what you'd find at the grocery stereo is the mild variety. Paprika is dried peppers that have been ground up and used as a flavouring spice.
- We make our own chicken broth and do not use any extra salt in our stock. If you are using salted chicken broth or stock, reduce the amount of salt in the recipe and add it at the end to taste.
- For the diced tomatoes you can use two 14.5 ounce cans of diced tomatoes or one large can at 28 ounces. Both will work well. Petite diced or larger both work use what you like the most. Don't drain the liquid from the tomatoes, you will need it in this recipe.
- We use gluten free oat milk but any dairy free milk that is safe for you will work. Mixing 2 tablespoons of the milk with the arrowroot starch will thicken it appropriately.
- Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container after the leftovers have properly cooled. They can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Top Tip - Slow Cooker Instructions
This dish can be made in the slow cooker instead of the stove top. Reduce the chicken broth to 2 cups. Cook it on low for 6-8 hours or high for 5-6 hours. The chicken is ready when it is 165 F.
Remove the chicken and move the sauce to a pot. Add 2 Tablespoons of arrowroot starch that has been mixed with 2 tablespoons of water. Stir well. Simmer until thickened and return chicken to the sauce.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
Once again the insulated container comes out. We have two for each child. There seems to always be one in the dishwasher.
Layer the hot food in the container with the potatoes or rice on the bottom of the container. The chicken and sauce on top of the potatoes and the broccoli somewhere in between. We cut the chicken up so it is in small bites for the kids. A fork and snacks are in the lunch kit.
Friday
Meal Baked Potatoes with Chili
The leftovers from Tuesday's chili dinner will be renewed in dinner tonight by using them to top a baked potato. This is more common as a meal in the UK as a jacket potato with chilli or beans atop it.
For us we will bake starchy potatoes, like russet potatoes, and reheat the chili on the stove top. We will pile the chili in the potato and then top that with dairy free shredded cheese, diced white onions, jalapenos slices (for the adults), and/or crushed tortilla chips.
Brand We Have Found:
Shredded Cheese
- Violife Shredded Cheddar
- Daiya Shredded Cheddar
- Follow Your Heart Shredded Cheddar
All products should be thoroughly checked out for all allergens in the products through labelling, ingredients, and for shared facilities and lines with the manufacturer.
Top Tip - How to Bake Potatoes:
1- Use a russet or an Idahoan potato.
2- Wash the potatoes and scrub the skins really well to get all the dirt off them.
3- Poke the potato with a fork 4-5 times. This lets the steam escape.
4- Place the potatoes on a cookie sheet. You can line it with aluminum foil for an easier clean up.
5- Brush the top half of the potato with either melted dairy free butter or avocado oil on the
6- Sprinkle coarse kosher salt on the buttered/oiled tops.
7- Bake for 60 minutes in an oven at 400 F.
8- Remove the potatoes and let cool for 5 mins.
9- Slice into the top straight down along the length leaving ½ inch uncut on either side.
10- With your forefinger and thumb on either side of the slit. One hand at one end and the other at the other end pinch the finger and thumb while slightly bringing your hands together to open the potato a bit to create a space to fill with chili. Be VERY careful as the potato and steam inside will be VERY HOT.
When I used to work in a restaurant you started out baking the potatoes. We would do massive trays of them up each night. After a few thousand in my early days of cooking I could make these in my sleep now.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
We don't usually send leftovers for lunch that have already been reheated. Instead we would only heat up what we need for the dinner, leave the extra in the fridge and reheat that for lunches separately the day of.
Saturday
Meal Pizzas
This is going to be a pizza and a movie night for us. We may make everything from dough to sauce from scratch or not. If we make the dough we follow this gluten free pizza dough recipe. It will depend on whether or not our Saturday will be busy and if there are sales on gluten free, allergy friendly pizzas.
All products should be thoroughly checked out for all allergens in the products through labelling, ingredients, and for shared facilities and lines with the manufacturer.
Top Tip
Don't put too much dairy free cheese on the pizza if you make your own. It can get a bit gluey. Sometimes we are tired, get a couple of ready made pizzas and customise them for our family with our own toppings. That way the kids get what they like and we don't have to make the pizza from scratch or have a ton of leftovers.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
We send it cold for lunch. The trick for us is how we pack it. Putting two pieces together in a container or sandwich bag. Dairy free cheese sides facing each other with the crust out to keep it from being soggy.
Sunday
Meal Chicken Pot Pie with a Potato Topper
We make this pot pie similarity to our shepherd's pie only with chicken. Using the diced chicken tenderloin from the chicken breasts we bought for the chicken paprikash. You can also use ground chicken, or cut up thighs, if preferred. We like to use diced pieces and we were already buying breasts that have the tenderloin attached for a recipe earlier in the week.
We cook the chicken, make a gravy, simmer it and instead of a pastry crust top we use potatoes. You can use layered sliced potatoes instead of mashed potatoes.
Top Tip
You can make mashed potatoes and freeze them. Thaw them and use them in dishes like this one. Another option is to make up the casserole and freeze the whole casserole in a freezer safe container. Thaw it fully in the fridge before cooking. This is a great way to prepare meals ahead. We sometimes will make 2 at the same time and freeze one for another day.
How to pack it for lunch the next day:
You guessed it! Once again the insulated container is how we will be sending chicken pie to school. Microwaving it, one of the few things we reheat in the microwave at home, then put in an insulated container. It is really tough to reheat on the stove top and the oven just takes too long in the morning. We don't have the energy for that.
Monday
Meal Leftovers
We take any leftovers that need to be eaten up from the last 3 days. Everyone chooses what they would like, the kids have to have one protein and vegetable side.
Top Tip
Only reheat leftovers once for best food practices. If you don't use the leftovers, many can be frozen for another week.
Equipment To Make The Food Allergy Meal Plan Week 45
We Love Feedback!
Did you make any of the meals from the meal plan week 45? 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 informational purposes only. Please discuss any dietary concerns, changes, or proper meal plans with your medical team.
Always check the labels and ingredients for all products to make sure they are right for you and your allergies. We 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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