2024 Week 2 Menu Plan
The 2024 week 2 menu plan is complete. It is the first menu plan for the new year that will focus on my desire to feature recipes from doctors, dietitians, experts on nutrition, and those who are seeking just as I am. I plan to include information from those that I study and who have made an impact on my food choices. I plan to showcase each particular mentor during an entire week’s menu plan. This new format showcases my continuing resolution to create healthy meals utilizing the constantly changing information about nutrition.
I have decided to begin the year featuring recipes from JJ Virgin. JJ Virgin is a Certified Nutrition Specialist, Board Certified In Holistic Nutrition® and a Certified Personal Trainer. I have learned many things from her blog, pod casts, and seminars. She also posts interesting recipes. The 2024 week 2 menu plan incorporates only recipes found on her website. I invite you to visit JJ Virgin.
Breakfast
Cinnamon Almond Overnight Oats
Tex Mex Scrambled Eggs with Avocado and Salsa
Individually Baked Breakfast Frittatas
Blueberry Pecan Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding
Lunch
Dinner
Chicken and Butternut Squash Casserole
Filet Mignon with Roasted Fennel and Onions
Hits and Misses
As I review last week’s meals, I realized that I did A LOT of cooking! In addition to these meals I spent most of Sunday preparing and packing a “care package” of meals for my grand daughter returning to Auburn.
What a great soup and it is even better the next day. A big plus…it is packed with nutrition and protein. We even added Greek yogurt during an “eat again” lunch and it was creamy and delicious as well. Another rotation worthy soup. Yet again this explains why I continually try new recipes.
Protein Packed Black Bean and Lentil Soup
I will admit…I try a lot of soup recipes. Soup has become my favorite option for lunch for a variety of reasons. The main reason is the cook once…eat again feature. The ease of reheating for the ‘Ole Buckeye if I am not at home is a plus as well. I have a lot of soup recipes and many are rotation worthy. This minestrone will be added to the favorites. It is excellent, offering a rainbow of veggies, and is very filling.
Slow Cooker Vegetable Minestrone
Leftover turkey taking up freezer space along with turkey bone broth that needed to be used became the reason I tried this recipe. I opted to include the mushrooms for added nutrition. I will admit that the prep was time consuming, but the result was a huge casserole that will provide several evening meals. Obviously it is not as healthy as many of the meals I prepare, but it was a very tasty pasta option. After a repeat I will freeze the remainder for future meals.
I haven’t made this casserole in a long time. Our daughter invited us for dinner on New Year’s Eve. She planned pulled pork so I offered to make a side. I had a huge head of cauliflower on hand and wanted something more special to share. Voila! The only change in the recipe…I subbed pepper jack cheese for the Monterey jack cheese. Yummy as always.
Wow! This truly is a fantastic pork tenderloin…company worthy! It has immediately been added to our family favs and will definitely appear often in the future. I used a monk fruit based brown sugar (Besti) from Wholesome Yum in place of traditional brown sugar. This pork was moist and full of flavor.
Best Damn Oven Roasted Pork Tenderloin
This casserole is always requested by the Grand girls when I ask them what they would like for me to make for dinner. This time because of their schedules I served it for lunch (and then the ‘Ole Buckeye and I had it the same day for dinner.) A splurge when it comes to comfort food vs. healthy choices. Definate splurge worthy.
I rarely make a salad for dinner, but this looked to be hearty enough to try. It proved to be just that. The flavor on the chicken was outstanding. I used crushed pita chips instead of making croutons from scratch. I had enough chicken left to pop into the freezer for another salad at a later time. This is a great salad for lunch or dinner.
Disappointing…that’s all.
Slow Cooker Mushroom Stroganoff
Wow! Not only does this salad include the nutritious colors of the rainbow, but it is so very flavorful and full of enjoyable texture. I served it with Ginger Garlic Salmon…restaurant worthy!
Quick, easy, delicious. This salmon was one of my favorites. Definitely rotation worthy.
Ginger Garlic Air Fryer Salmon
Recap
I must admit…we had a great week of eating during week 1 of ’24. Aside from a few less healthy choices, our meals were very health focused. Although the mushroom stroganoff was disappointing the rest of our dining was stellar. There are new additions to our favorites and several of those are truly easily prepared. As I move forward with the concept of focusing on one nutritional philosophy each week, I am hopeful in the process to learn even more about a particular viewpoint. The journey continues. Bon Appetit!
