The 2020 Week 17 Menu has been relatively easy to plan. We have opted to order a Green Chef delivery once again which will provide 3 of our evening meals. Our intent is to review the upcoming offerings at Green Chef and pick a delivery that offers enticing menus. So far the meals (aside from one) have been outstanding. I also have several cook once/eat again meals slated while continuing to focus on having at least one E meal each day.
Breakfast
The breakfasts planned for 2020 week 17 will be utilizing an abundance of over ripe bananas and berries that need to be eaten. The only new recipe is for the 5 ingredient waffles. BAM recipes and the giant blueberry (I add blackberries as well) pancake are all recipes from the Trim Healthy Mama cookbooks.
Lunch
The lunches planned for 2020 week 17 are the most challenging. I have included three new recipes as well as the Tuscan tuna which has become a standby. All of the untried recipes are a little more time consuming. Since my daughter prepares the Green Chef meals, I tend to be more adventurous with lunch preparations.
Blueberry Walnut Chicken Salad
Dinner
The 2020 week 17 dinner plans aside from the Green Chef meals include only one new recipe. I have an abundance of cooked chicken breast in the freezer and I am trying to find more E dinners that can be added to our meal rotation…thus the Queso Chicken Bake. The ham and bean dinner is a splurge. As a kid I would request this for my birthday dinner, I loved it so much. My mom was the expert on developing the great flavor. I can only hope that I can recreate this comfort food.
Queso Chicken Bake page 123 Trim Healthy Table
Hits and Misses
Breakfast
Pineapple Upside Down Oatmeal (THM E Meal) has become a family favorite. Since we are striving to incorporate even more pineapple into our diet, it is becoming a staple in our breakfast rotation. It’s ease of preparation and cook once/eat twice benefits are particularly appealing in the mornings. I always have the ingredients on hand as well.
I don’t like planning a lot of heavy breakfasts but since I received the ricotta but not the cottage cheese on my grocery order, I elected to make one of our favorite breakfast casseroles. Since there was also a sale on Italian sausage, I used the hot Johnsonville sausage. I suppose this is really more of a hearty brunch offering but we really enjoy this whenever we eat it.
Sausage Ricotta Breakfast CasseroleL
Lunch
I originally planned on making a different lentil soup, but I reverted back a successful recipe that I have made in the past from the THM cookbook.
Lentil Soup Page 89 Trim Healthy Table
Let me begin by saying that I have been trying a multitude of soup recipes lately. During the course of experimentation we have eaten both S and E soups. I love good soups because they feed us for several meals and I try to keep a variety available for reheating. The newest venture is this Loaded Baked Potato Soup and although it was more time consuming to initially prepare, it was definitely worth the effort. Another great soup to add to the collection.
Loaded Baked “Potato” SoupD
Dinner
This is the second time that I have made this Asiago Chicken. It is so so easy and so so good. It will continue to be a go to recipe. I make enough to provide a cook once/eat twice meal. One of my top chicken recipes!
Martha Stewart’s Sriracha Meatballs are a family favorite. Packed with healthy spinach and relatively easy to make because they are baked and then added to the sauce…no messy stovetop. This time I used a newly opened bottle of Sriracha…whew! They were so spicy we needed a dollop of Greek yogurt to accompany them. (I substitute the bread crumbs with Parmesan.)
I purchased pork chops at Costco several weeks ago and had toyed with making a new recipe of barbecued baked pork chops, but the ‘Ole Buckeye requested a repeat of the Greek pork chops. I served them with a Greek village salad and a new recipe for creamed spinach.
The spinach was a HUGE hit. The ‘Ole Buckeye loves creamed spinach and nearly always orders it as a side if it is offered when we go out. This rendition was right at the top of his all time favorites. YUM!
Saturday night turned into a “Night Out/In” with our daughter. I tabled the planned Greek Shrimp and we ordered a Charcuterie Board from Aged and Cured
Along with a bottle of wine from Crystal Palate.
Both of these small businesses are right here in our neighborhood and we wanted to offer a little support. We fine dined all evening and then enjoyed a movie together.
Food for Thought
Vitamin D or the “Sunshine” Vitamin is extremely important for the immune system. Several years ago, my doctor checked my vitamin D blood level, explaining new scientific research expounding its’ importance. We have been taking a vitamin D supplement for several years now. Adequate levels of Vitamin D will boost your immunity, which is highly important especially right now.
Although getting into the sunshine is helpful, it certainly does not provide adequate levels. Fish and seafood high in vitamin D include salmon, shrimp, tuna, and oysters. Egg yolks and mushrooms are high in vitamin D as well. Additionally some foods are fortified with vitamin D which will be specified on the ingredient labels. Incorporating foods that enhance immunity are now a more important part of our menu plan. Health Hack…take your mushrooms out of the refrigerator and put them in the sunshine for several hours…they become much higher in vitamin D!
It’s a Wrap
The week ahead continues to hold not only healthy meals but new and different preparations. One big plus for me is going off plan for one night and enjoying Ham, Beans and Dumplings! Can’t wait. Stay safe out there and Bon Appetit!
