2025 Week 8 Menu Plan
The 2025 Week 8 Menu Plan is complete.
Breakfast
Oatmeal is the go to breakfast this week. It is easily prepared and can be reheated quickly for a fiber rich breakfast. The addition of nuts, flax, chia and nut butters boosts the nutrition. The ‘Ole Buckeye often combines his oatmeal with a serving of Greek yogurt and blueberries.
Maple Pecan Baked Oatmeal (Vegan)
Vegan Snicker’s Baked Oats. (Plant Based)
Overnight Chia Seed Oatmeal (Vegan)
Lunch
The lunches planned for this week are an easy sandwich and 2 new additions…a hearty soup and an interesting salad. The only catch is that I will most likely have enough leftovers from dinners to service our lunches.,,,a very acceptable problem to have.
Loaded Veggie Sandwich (Plant Based)
Black Bean and Lentil Soup. (Vegan) *New Recipe
Detox Salad. (Vegetarian) *New Recipe
Dinner
All of the dinners planned are repeats that we have enjoyed in the past. The lasagna is housed in the freezer and the remaining meals have not been repeated in some time. I took the liberty of reviewing past menu plans and reacquainting myself with forgotten successes.
Hits and
Maybe it is because I am fighting a respiratory issue that this soup was so enjoyable. It is nutritious and comforting. The addition of the fennel seed and rosemary made the depth flavor both interesting and unique. This “stew” which was really a soup will be a welcome addition to our soup rotation.
The ‘Ole Buckeye enjoyed this soup more than I did. I felt it lacked seasoning, ss I added pepper flakes to my bowls. It is a hearty, filling soup and made a huge amount lasting several days.
I had a tried and true recipe that I have used for years for Italian sausage and peppers which I simply linked to whenever I needed the recipe. Unfortunately the site is no longer available. Sigh. This recipe is new, slightly different but very enjoyable as well. I enjoyed the addition of the roasted red peppers and banana pepper rings. In fact I will add more of the pepper rings and a few mini potatoes the next time around. It was great with a salad and homemade sour dough bread.
Oven Roasted Italian Sausage and Peppers
Valentine’s Dinner
Our Valentine’s Day Dinner was great. The filet was perfectly cooked and I tried a new way of roasting potatoes. The potatoes were excellent…crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.
This is the second time I have prepared this brisket. The first time a great success…this time the brisket itself was disappointing. We had a slice the first night and I shredded the remaining meat (discarding a lot of waste) and served it with homemade sour dough hamburger buns.
This Mary Me Chicken recipe is so enjoyable. The very first time I prepared it was for dinner guests (my guinea pigs). It is fairly simple to prepare and delicious. I served it with rice and a salad.
Our daughter invited us for dinner! Since She has been getting meals from Purple Carrot…plant based selections and she treated us to a Southwest meal along with Margaritas. Very unique and enjoyable meal. This unplanned dinner out pushed the Swedish meatballs I planned into 2025 week 8 menu plan.
Misses
I made the decision to make this new pasta dish because the mushrooms that I had on hand needed to be used. I looked for a recipe that included ingredients that I had on hand and was fairly easy to prepare. The method of preparation was interesting, and the ingredients healthy, but this will not be repeated.
Food for Thought
For well over a year we have been ordering nearly all of our meat from Butcher Box. Routinely I get grass fed/grass finished beef, wild caught salmon and shrimp and free range organic chicken. It has been consistently great quality and great customer service. Yes it costs more, but at this point in my life quality ranks higher than quantity. We eat less meat than in the past but when we do I am looking for healthy options.
Recap
The journey continues. I can’t tell you how often I am saving new and interesting recipes. As the saying goes…so many options….so little time. Actually I think I recreated the saying. Regardless…we continue to enjoy meals but continue to make them delicious and nutritious. Bon Appetit!
