a week(ish) of meals
easy, easy favorites, a high protein dip, and the granola recipe on repeat
The update to my walmart+ trial is that I don’t think I can ever go back :/ While I don’t LOVE walmart in general (welcome back to nwa!!!! I miss you Fred Meyer), they almost always have everything I need. There are the exceptions like unroasted pumpkin seeds and hemp hearts but those are things that last a little longer and I can pick up at Whole Foods pretty easily. I would like to upgrade to Walmart “In Home” just so that I can eliminate all of the plastic bags. If you’ve used this upgrade, I’d love to know what you think! I’m not planning to have them actually bring groceries inside but I do like that it’s a walmart employee and the aspect of reusable grocery bags.
Last week was a bit of a doozy so the theme of this week is EASY, EASY, EASY. Leaning into frozen produce and quick staples. This morning I prepped a batch of chocolate granola (a repeat from last week so you know it’s good) but left out the 3 tablespoons of extra sugar and can confirm that you don’t miss it. Food processor? Don’t know her. You don’t need it and you can just mix maple syrup and avocado oil in a measuring glass - no need to dirty a pan!
I’m also planning to make this cottage cheese dip to hopefully have an easy protein filled snack and encourage some extra veggies this week.
Onto meals! Here’s what I planned and shopped for. My husband is taking the toddler camping one night which means it’ll be a scrounge dinner for me (or eggs, let’s be honest).
SHEET PAN CHICKEN WITH POTATOES, ARUGULA, AND GARLIC YOGURT - This is a husband pick and he’s making it. It’s so delicious but not one that I would pick on my own. It’s not too complicated but does have a few prep steps.
VEGGIE FRITTATA WITH BACON & FRUIT - A frittata is the perfect way to use up whatever languishing produce you may have. I’m planning to use up a bell pepper, some onion, and spinach for the produce and we’ve got a small amount of swiss cheese left that I think will be great. We have bacon left over from the weekend so I’ll go ahead and cook the rest in the oven (my FAVORITE way to cook bacon). Lately, pineapple has been really hitting the spot and it’s SO cheap if you’re willing to cut it up. Tip: when you cut the top off, leave it upside down for about 30 minutes to let the juice disperse more evenly.
BEAN AND CHEESE BURRITOS - I’ve shared these previously but to simplify: a can of fat free refried beans thinned out slightly with either water or broth. We add bell pepper and I’m thinking I’ll also add some frozen riced cauliflower to up the veggie quantity. I try to keep 1-2 bags in the freezer as this is the easiest way to add extra veggies to things I’m making. Wrapping your burrito and then pan frying for a few minutes is 100% worth the extra step. We like to make extra to freeze!
CHICKEN FRIED RICE - My husband roasted a whole chicken over the weekend and the last bit is tucked away in the freezer. I’ll thaw to throw in with a bag of frozen veggies and cut up whatever fresh veggies we might have left. A true clean out the fridge meal. There are plenty of recipes out there but we just measure with our hearts: low sodium soy sauce, sesame oil, and sriracha then scramble in two eggs!
I try to plan 5 meals a week and we usually eat out one night on the weekend. Between one restaurant meal and a night of leftovers, this is usually enough to get us through the week. And if all else fails, breakfast for dinner!
Happy cooking.