Week 3

Sunday Menu

• Quinoa Pantry Salad with
• Garlic Shrimp Skewers and
• Marinated Tomatoes

NOTE: This is so delicious mixed all together for cold lunch leftovers.

I was honored to have this recipe in Jennifer Chandler’s The Southern Pantry Cookbook (p.31) 🙂

Prep

• If you’re using wooden skewers on the grill, go ahead and soak them in water for about 15 minutes.
• Start your quinoa first. Make quinoa as directed on the package (I prefer using chicken stock instead of water). NOTE: Make a double batch of quinoa, since we’ll use it again on Tuesday. Remember that half is for your pantry salad & half (without pantry items) is for Tuesday. Let it cool in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Now add olive oil (~1/4 c), balsamic vinegar (~ 3 tbsp), and salt & pepper to taste. Mix together and add goodness from your pantry or fridge like artichoke quarters, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh herbs, and feta or Parmesan. Mix it up. It can be served warm or cold.
• While your quinoa is cooking, slice/cube up your tomatoes (at least 1 medium per person). Drizzle with your favorite red wine/Italian vinaigrette. Pop in the fridge.
• Start skewering your peeled shrimp. Use fresh or frozen and thawed shrimp of choice. Drizzle to coat with olive oil, then add salt & pepper, finely minced garlic (1 clove per dozen shrimp), and dried parsley.
• Cook your shrimp quickly on the grill/grill pan preheated to medium, or pop them in a skillet (over medium heat) big enough for the skewered shrimp to cook flat (just be sure to add a little olive oil to the skillet). Cook shrimp for 2-3 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Plate it all up and enjoy!

Grocery Items

• Quinoa (2 meals)
• Chicken Stock
• Pantry items of choice like:
  • Artichoke Hearts
  • Sun-dried Tomatoes
  • Olives
  • Pine Nuts
• Parmesan or Feta Cheese
• Olive Oil
• Red Wine/Italian Vinaigrette of choice
• Shrimp, fresh or frozen and thawed
• Garlic
• Skewers if needed
• Tomatoes
• Spice: Dried Parsley

Monday Menu

• Herb Roasted Chicken with
• Roasted Parsley Potatoes and
• Spinach Salad with Berries

If you’re roasting one thing, you might as well roast two!

This also makes such a tasty leftover lunch. Try sliced roasted chicken over the spinach salad with the Dijon dressing on the side. Yum.

Prep

• NOTE: We’re cooking extra chicken and potatoes to be used tomorrow and Wednesday. Both can go in the oven at the same time.
• Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
• Cut your red potatoes into about 1” cubes. Toss to coat with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and dried parsley (as much as you want). I love the color and flavor that this simple dried herb provides. Evenly space out potatoes and roast about 30 minutes or until desired texture. Stir/flip potatoes halfway.
• Start your chicken. Put foil on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and place your chicken breasts on the foil. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil. Season half the chicken with an herb blend like herbs de Provence or Italian seasoning. Season the other half for tomorrow with something versatile like Mrs. Dash Table Blend. Give all the chicken some salt and pepper to taste. Pop in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until done (internal temp ~165 degrees and/or juices run clear).
• While you’re roasting, throw together your salad. It really doesn’t need much– maybe a few mushrooms, sliced strawberries, and some cherry tomatoes. Try mixing a little apple cider vinegar (1 tbsp), olive oil (2-3 tbsp) and Dijon mustard (2-3 tbsp) for a quick homemade dressing. That’ll coat 2-4 side salads. Yum-o!

Grocery Items

• Chicken Breasts, boneless, skinless (2 meals)
• Small Red Potatoes (2 meals)
• Fresh Spinach
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Mushrooms, presliced
• Strawberries
• Dijon Mustard
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Spices: Dried Parsley, Mrs. Dash Table Blend/similar, Italian Seasoning/Herbs de Provence

Tuesday Menu

• Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers (using leftovers) with
• Quinoa (using leftovers) and
• Blue Cheese Crumbles

Prep

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Get our your leftover quinoa & chicken. Slice the chicken into bite-sized cubes.
• Wash peppers and cut out stems. Cut from stem to end and scrape out any ridges or seeds.
• Mix your cubed chicken with Buffalo sauce (I buy a premade sauce with few ingredients) & sour cream. Here’s the ratio: Per cup of cubed chicken add 2 tbsp buffalo sauce and 1 tbsp sour cream. I’ll likely have at least 4 cups of chicken, so that’s 1/2 cup of sauce and 1/4 cup sour cream. Mix it up. You can add a little more sour cream if you want to cut the heat.
• Spray a 9 & 13-inch dish with cooking spray. Lay pepper halves in the pan. Layer with 1/4 c quinoa in the bottom of each pepper half and top with buffalo chicken. Repeat until each pepper is filled. Pop in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until cooked through.
• Top with blue cheese crumbles (if you don’t like blue cheese, you can top with shredded cheese of choice) about 5 minutes before you pull them from the oven.
• This is an all-in-one meal, so the sides are built-in. Serve with celery sticks as a crunchy garnish and drizzle with extra buffalo sauce if desired. It’s just enough spice to be nice!

Grocery Items

• Red/Orange Bell Peppers (2 meals)
• Sour Cream
• Buffalo Sauce, mild
• Blue Cheese/Shredded Cheese
• Celery (optional)

Wednesday Menu

• Sweet Pepper Frittata with
• Roasted Potatoes (leftover) and
• Fresh Grapes

This is one of our go-to meals. It can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I promise it’s harder to spell than to make.

This requires a stainless or ceramic skillet that can go in the oven. If you don’t have one, this can easily be turned into an omelet.

If you have leftovers, eat them for breakfast with fruit or for lunch with a side salad. YUM.

Prep

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Melt about 2 tbsp butter in an ovenproof medium skillet (I use a stainless pan) over medium heat. Beat 8 eggs then add 1 tsp Italian seasoning and salt & pepper to taste. Pour into your skillet. Don’t mix. This serves ~4-5.
• Cook about 3-4 minutes on the stovetop and then add 1 cup sliced sweet pepper & top with 1 cup shredded cheese. Cook on the stovetop about 6-7 more minutes (altogether about 10 minutes on the stovetop until bottom is firm). Transfer to the oven for 10-12 minutes (or until the middle is not runny).
• Meanwhile, reheat your leftover roasted potatoes either in the microwave or in a skillet with a little olive oil.
• Wash your grapes and serve them alongside your roasted potatoes and a slice of delicious frittata.

Grocery Items

• Eggs
• Butter
• Red/Orange Bell Pepper (if you need more)
• Shredded Cheese of choice
• Grapes
• Spice: Italian Seasoning

Thursday Menu

• Open-face Tuna Melts with
• Dippy Veggies

If you don’t like tuna, you could easily do this with chicken.

Prep

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil.
• Drain and mix one can of your preferred tuna with 2 tbsp mayo, relish to taste if you like, and pepper. This is the ratio for 1 can, or about 2 servings. Make as much as you need for however many servings you need to make. Set aside. Go ahead and make extra for a leftover lunch.
• I like to toast the bread before I add the tuna. Pop 1-2 slices of bread per person in the oven. Toast/warm bread for about 5 minutes. Pull the toast out and top with about 1/2 c tuna salad mixture and 1 slice of swiss, mozzarella, or provolone–whichever you prefer.
• Return to the oven and toast another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
• Serve with your favorite raw veggies and dip/dressing of choice. I like broccoli and carrots with ranch. Easy & delish!!

Grocery Items

• Tuna of choice
• Raw Veggies for dipping
• Bread
• Sliced Cheese
• Dressing/Dip of choice
• Mayonnaise (2 meals)
• Pickle Relish of choice, if desired

Friday Menu

• Zucchini spirals with Meat Sauce and
• Italian Bread

If you decide that this meal is a keeper, it may be worth getting a spiral veggie slicer like this one. I use it every time. There are smaller ones out there as well.

Prep

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
• Now start your meat sauce. You may have some in the freezer from the last time we made it. If not, this is how I make my meat sauce. Brown 1 pound of ground beef and 1 pound of ground Italian sausage (you can double ground meat if you don’t do sausage). Get it all browned up and add one jar of your chosen spaghetti sauce (I don’t make my own sauce very often and I’m really at peace with that). If you like it more chunky, add one large can/box of diced tomatoes, drained (~28 oz). Add ~1 tbsp dried oregano. This is a lot of sauce. Freeze what you don’t use for later.
• While your sauce is cooking, wash and start carefully slicing your zucchini into linguine thin strips. I make 1 medium zucchini per person.
• Place spirals on a baking sheet evenly spaced. Use two baking sheets if needed. Pop in the oven for about 10-12 minutes. Use tongs to transfer zoodles to individual bowls.
• Top with your meaty sauce and parmesan as desired. Add a piece of delicious garlic bread or warmed Italian bakery bread. You can freeze the unused bread as well. Let’s dig in! It’s dinner time!

Grocery Items

• Zucchini Squash
• Ground Beef
• Italian Sausage, ground
• Spaghetti Sauce
• Diced Tomatoes
• Parmesan
• Bread of choice
• Spice: Oregano, dried

Saturday Menu

• Rosemary Chicken Burgers with
• Rosemary/Garlic Aioli and
• Arugula/Spinach

When my buddy said she wanted to make this for me, I turned my nose up. I’m a straight-up beef burger gal. When I gave in and ate these chicken burgers, they blew my socks off!

Try to make your rosemary garlic mayo (aioli) ahead of time. You could even make it the night before. The flavor is ahhhhmazing.

If you have time and a food processor it’s much more cost-effective to grind up your own boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Prep

• Here’s the ratio for 1 pound of ground chicken (4 burgers). I usually double it. Mix a heaping 1/2 c mayo of choice (you can use the olive oil kind or whatever you prefer) with 2-3 cloves minced garlic and 2 sprigs of chopped rosemary leaves (about 2 tbsp). Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. If you don’t like rosemary, leave it out and just do garlic. Adding about 1 tbsp dried or fresh parsley would be okay.
• Mix 1/2 of the aioli mixture with your ground chicken. Save the rest to top the burgers.
• Heat a large skillet to medium heat. Add olive oil to coat. It’s less sticky if you oil your hands to pat out the burgers. Cook the burgers in olive oil. Let one side brown and firm up before flipping. It takes about 10 minutes to cook through (~5 minutes per side).
• The peppery bite of arugula is fantastic with the burgers, but you can use any green you like. Serve on a bun with arugula/spinach and the aioli or you can serve the burger on a bed of arugula. I do it both ways. Enjoy!!

Grocery Items

• Ground Chicken Breast
• Mayonnaise (if you need more)
• Arugula/Spinach
• Garlic
• Buns of choice
• Spice: Fresh Rosemary