Weekly Meal Plan - Thanksgiving Edition

We will be out of town visiting family for Thanksgiving, so we are using some meals we have left over from last week until we go out of town (here's looking at you Mediterranean Soup and Stuffed Peppers). Mr also has a big race this weekend, so we added a Carbo Load Meal of pasta to the plan that we will actually be having tonight.

For Thanksgiving, we will be sure to take our own Tofurkey even though Mr's father graciously volunteered to try to find us one. We just know where to look, so we'll grab one while doing our shopping. We're also going to contribute Glazed Carrots and a Pear Tart to the meal. Both of these are new, but seem relatively simple enough and don't require too much oven time. The Tart can be made in advanced and then baked after the main dish is finished cooking.

Thanksgiving has ALWAYS been my favorite holiday - but Pregnant Thanksgiving is the BEST! I'm so excited to spend the holiday with our families back home.

Day	Dinner
M	Mediterranean Stew (Veg CrockPot) w bread
T	Pasta with Tomato Sauce with Salad
W	Stuff Peppers w Rice
R	THANKSGIVING - Tofurkey, Pear Tart , Glazed Carrots w Pecans.
F	Out of Town
S	Out of Town
S	*New Recipe Night*

M

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 eggplant, chopped

1 15oz can artichoke, drained and chopped

1/2/ cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

2 15oz cans diced tomatoes (we use low sodium)

4 cups (usually a whole box) Vegetable Broth (again, we use low sodium)

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

French Bread

T
Box of Pasta
Pasta Sauce
Bread
Salad:
1 bag lettuce
Tomato
Cucumber
Croutons
Dressing

W
2 Green Peppers
1 Can Diced tomatoes
1 Can Black Beans
Quinoa
Soy Chorizo
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Rice

R
Tofurkey Loaf

Pear Tart Recipe

Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 T. sugar
8 T. butter (Vegan - Sub Coconut Oil)
1 egg yolk (Vegan - Sub 1/8c Banana)
2 T. cold water, or more if needed

Filling
3 pears
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
3/4 cup sugar

Glazed Carrots Recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 cups diagonally sliced (1/4 in.) peeled carrots (bag baby carrots)

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cups toasted pecan halves

When I say I don't cook...

I mean it. I really don't. Mr does all the cooking. I can do prepping - I live to plan - but I do not live to cook.

I also live to eat... but that's another story.

The extent of my 'cooking' is assembling ingredients, and that's why we usually include a few simple meals throughout the week. How our kids get breakfast and lunch every day is some sort of miracle. I need simple. Like this weeks Taco Salad.

Mr has class on Tuesdays and Thursday nights so he usually makes something before he leaves by 4 that I can serve up later, or I 'make' something. Taco Salad is easy for me to make not mess up. I open a bag of chips, toss in some shredded lettuce, open a can of black beans, throw on some shredded cheese, and chop some bell peppers, tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno peppers (for the grown ups). Usually we have salsa to top it with (but somebody... cough cough... ate it all) and I'm a sucker for sour cream. 

Full disclosure: I even asked Mr to do all the chopping before he left... I'm really bad, guys. I guess I can forgive him for eating all the salsa ;) 

Weekly Meal Plan

We've been some busy people! My Mom and Grandmother were visiting for Halloween week and were awesome little elves who made us meals, did our laundry, and washed our dishes.

Come back, please.

Then our super sweet and totally amazing niece decided to surprise us all and show up a few weeks early! Her and her Momma are doing absolutely wonderful and are enjoying being home and it was so nice and considerate of Baby L to be born over a long weekend so we could make the 4+ hour drive to go meet her! My first duty as Aunt: Bring Milkshakes. I could get used to this gig!

Anyway, now we are back home and ready to get back into the swing of real life. Here's how our plan looks this week. Potato and Kale Enchiladas is our new recipe this week that was found and shared in an (awesome) No Meat Athlete Online Running Community that Mr. and I just found (and LOVE!) I'm looking forward to it!

Day	Dinner
M	Cheesy Quinoa Casserole Bake with black beans
T	Mediterranean Stew (Veg CrockPot) w bread
W	Vegetarian Taco Salad
R	Cheesy Buffalo Cauliflower ‘Wings’ with a simple salad
F	Stuffed Peppers
S	Potato and Kale Enchiladas with rice
S	*New Recipe Night*

Produce Dairy Packaged Goods Spices/Sauces Bread

M

3 cups cooked quinoa

⅓ cup tomato/pasta sauce

⅓ cup milk (1% or full fat works fine)

¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 medium tomatoes, diced

Shredded basil or parsley or other herb for the top

Black Beans

T

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 eggplant, chopped

1 15oz can artichoke, drained and chopped

1/2/ cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

2 15oz cans diced tomatoes (we use low sodium)

4 cups (usually a whole box) Vegetable Broth (again, we use low sodium)

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

French Bread

W

Tortilla Chips

Tomato

Onion

Black Beans

Shredded Lettuce
Shredded Taco Cheese
Sliced Jalapeno Peppers

Salsa
Sour Cream

R

1 small head cauliflower

¼ to ½ cup hot sauce

½ cup sharp shredded cheddar cheese

½ cup flour (whole wheat flour works fine, so does white flour)

½ cup milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 cup panko bread crumbs

Simple Salad:
Spinach
Tomato
Cucumber
Croutons
Dressing

F

Green Peppers (3)

Soy Chorizo

Aduzki Beans

Quinoa

Provolone Cheese

Tomato

Can Tomato Sauce

S

2 whole Large Russet Potatoes, Diced

1 bunch Kale

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 whole Medium Yellow Onion, Chopped

Salt And Pepper, to taste

1 Tablespoon Cumin

1 teaspoon Chili Powder

¼ cups Diced Jalapeno Peppers (1 Pepper)

6 whole 100% Whole Wheat Soft Tortillas

Chopped Chilantro, Garnish

2 cans 10 Oz Cans, Green Enchilada Sauce

1 can (4 Oz. Can) Diced Green Chilies

Chopped Fresh Cilantro, For Garnish (optional)

Rice

Taco Soup: Recipe Review

This Taco Soup was SO simple and super delicious. I originally found the recipe on Pinterest which led me here.

We had somewhere to run to the night I made it and I literally just dumped everything in the slow cooker, set it on low for four hours, and dinner was ready when we got home (and the house smelled AMAZING!)

Open, Drain, and Rinse:
1 Can of Pinto Beans
1 Can of Black Beans
1 Can of Kidney Beans
1 Can of Corn

Add:
2 Cans of Diced Tomatoes (Italian or Stewed)
1 Can of Ro-Tel with Green Chilies (We omitted this so it wouldn't be super spicy for the Little Mouses)
1 Can of Beef Broth (we used Vegetable Broth)
1 Packet of Ranch Seasoning
1 Packet of Taco Seasoning

1-2lbs of Browned Ground Beef (We omitted this)

We made a few changes and it still turned out amazing! We served it with tortilla chips and cornbread and topped it with shredded cheese. Big will eat anything if he can dip chips in it and Little... Well, he just eats everything.