Meal Planning: A Year Later

Embracing Fall: A Year of Memorable Meals and Meal Planning

Happy Fall, everyone! It’s been a year since my last blog update, and I’m thrilled to share our journey over the past months. If you recall, we bought a new home and put our old one on the market. I’m pleased to report that the move went smoothly, and we’ve enjoyed hosting various gatherings—from birthday parties and Thanksgiving dinners to holiday celebrations and backyard fiestas.

Cherished Dishes from Our Gatherings

Throughout the year, each event has had its standout dish. Whether it’s a big holiday feast or a casual taco bar, there’s always that one dish that everyone remembers and asks for the recipe. The takeaway? Don’t hesitate to host gatherings. Whether you serve a meal from your kitchen or order from elsewhere, people will remember the standout dish.

Reflecting on Our Meal Calendars

As I enter my 11th year of meal planning, I love looking back at our meal calendars. They serve as a scrapbook of our life. Here’s a peek at how our meals evolved over the past year:

• January: We focused on salmon and veggies after the holiday indulgence.
• February: Embraced cold-weather comfort with chicken curry, soups, and Super Bowl treats.
• March/April: Standard go-to recipes like southwest chicken salad and burrito bowls fit a busy schedule with skiing, flag football, and baseball.
• May: Grilled scallops, tri-tip, and special restaurant visits marked the start of warmer weather and family birthdays.
• June: Farmer’s market produce led to easy dinners like BLT sandwiches and shrimp tacos.
• July: With our schedule packed with baseball games, we relied on portable meals like kale and couscous salad and occasional drive-thru dinners.
• August: Summer’s bounty inspired fresh dishes like tomato soup, ratatouille, and basil pesto pasta.
• September: We returned to a more predictable schedule with roasted salmon, braised chicken, and make-ahead stuffed shells.
• October: Despite good intentions for cozy fall foods, a heat wave led us to lighter fare like grilled chicken pitas and veggie burgers.

November’s Meal Planning and Quick Recipes

Now in November, after a refreshing Mexican vacation with Eric, I’m back to my meal planning routine. I’m thankful for my go-to recipes that make meal prep a breeze. Recent favorites include Beef and Cheddar Hand Pies, Greek Chicken Pitas, and Baked Chicken Meatballs.

I aim to post our weekly meal plan on Sundays or Mondays to inspire your meal planning. I share recipes that are family-approved, saving you the hassle of trying out untested ones.

This week’s plan accommodates our busy schedules with make-ahead or stove-friendly meals. A solid plan can prevent last-minute pizza orders or drive-thrus. However, remember to stay flexible—plans can change!

Happy cooking and meal planning!

~Christina

Coconut Chicken Soup

This is a quick and easy soup that you can adapt to suit your preferences.  I use full fat, unsweetened coconut milk.  Thai Kitchen (now organic and at Costco!) is my favorite. My kids don’t care for mushrooms so I may cut back on the quantity or they can pick them out.  While I love the flavor of lemongrass, I don’t love the woodsy texture.  I will use the lemongrass for the amazing flavor, but will make sure to finely dice or cut even cut in large chunks and simmer in the soup and skimming them out before the last step.  Our side dish will be frozen potstickers from Trader Joe’s or Costco.  Yum!

Paleo Chili

This became a hit a few years ago when we went on a ski weekend with another family and I was in charge of one of the dinners.   Cold + mountains = chili! The problem (beyond the lack of snow during the drought and not all that cold temps) was I only had chili recipes that either had beans in it (one of our friends wasn’t a fan) or was a thick Texas-style chili with lots of spice (not exactly kid-friendly).  So, I found this recipe with great reviews and decided to try it.  As with all chili, it’s best made the day before and reheated.  It was a hit! Only change I made was to use ground beef instead of ground bison (but now you can find bison at Costco if you’re interested in trying).  And because most of us weren’t actually following a Paleo diet, we loaded it up with sour cream, shredded cheese and green onions.  Don’t forget a side of cornbread and butter, too. Trader Joe’s boxed cornbread is a good one to have on hand.  

Nordstrom Nicoise Salad with Herb-Crusted Salmon and Tuscan Roast Potatoes

I’m planning on having this salad twice this week.  Once with salmon and the other with grilled lemon-herb chicken.  It may seem like a lot of components, but if you plan correctly, you can have most of this done ahead of time or cut back on some of the steps. For instance, if you don’t want to buy a bunch of fresh herbs, you can shake on a little Italian Seasoning on the salmon and potatoes before roasting and you will get plenty of flavor for your salad.  If your people, especially the little ones don’t like salad because it’s all touchy on the plate, then separate any of the components that they will eat or you want them to try and you essentially have the same family dinner.  I skip the vinaigrette in the linked recipe and use this Balsamic Vinaigrette with Basil.  Btw, this recipe link doesn’t include thyme, but I have Danielle Walker’s cookbook Against All Grain and the original recipe uses chopped up thyme.  Be sure to use fresh basil and thyme! It’s so delicious I could drink it.  I try to have a mason jar of it in my refrigerator at all times. One recipe makes plenty for at least two, maybe three large salads for our family of five.  

Ground Turkey Enchiladas

No link here because the “recipe” is written on a scrap of paper that is barely legible.  We had this a few years back at a family get together and my sister-in-law who brought the dish gave me the recipe on the spot.  Our family has enjoyed it many many times and I’m happy to pass it along to you.  Easy, healthyish, and most importantly, my kids cheer when they see it on the calendar.  Warning- it can be on the spicy side, which two out of my kids enjoy, but make sure to get the mild Hatch sauce and have sour cream on hand to help with the heat.  A side of black or refried beans and chips is not a bad idea.  

1 lb ground turkey thigh (dark meat)

1 small can of diced Ortega/Hatch mild green chilies

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 14oz. can of refried black beans

~2 c shredded cheddar, jack or colby jack cheese

1 large can of Hatch Enchilada sauce, mild

~12 corn or flour tortillas

Green onion

In a glass pyrex baking dish, spray non-stick oil and cover bottom with a thin layer of sauce. Brown ground turkey, drain oil, and mix in taco seasoning according to packet directions. Add refried beans and mix until combined.  Divide meat and bean mixture among tortillas, top with cheese and roll up.  Place rolled tortillas in the baking dish nice and tight and top with remaining sauce.  Be sure to cover enchiladas completely and top with any remaining cheese.  Bake at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes and top with sliced green onion before serving.  

*When I make this dish later this week, I will pay attention to exactly how many enchiladas it makes.  The reality is, depending on how many mouths I need to feed I can adapt the recipe accordingly.  Need to stretch the recipe because the playdate went long and you’ve got more mouths to feed? Perfect- add another can of beans, add more cheese or use smaller fajita sized tortillas and serve with a fruit smoothie. Or if you use Kirkland Organic ground beef from Costco, those prepackaged squares are more than a pound (1.13lbs, I think) and you have more filling than you need.   Or mix If you’ve got extra sauce, go ahead and dip your tortillas in sauce before adding the meat/bean mixture to make them extra delicious.  Point is, this is a very adaptable dish that I make differently all the time.  Bonus- it’s very freezer friendly, so make up a double batch! 

Banana Flaxseed Muffins

These are tasty healthy banana muffins and are going in school lunches this week.  I use almond milk and trade off between using coconut oil or melted butter, both are good. I often use toasted and chopped walnuts and mix in with the batter rather than sprinkle on top.  Very adaptable with Cup for Cup flour to make gluten free or any dairy-free milk for allergies.  All ingredients, including the ground flaxseed, are found at Trader Joe’s.  (Swear I don’t have an impending job at TJ’s in their marketing department, it’s just a great store!) 

Happy meal planning this week and please let me know if you have any questions or if you end up trying any of these recipes!

Have a great week ~Christina