Meal Plan // Week of January 8, 2024

It’s back to routine in our house this week… I’ve quite enjoyed all that the holiday break had to offer – some beautiful mountain time, many meals with friends and family, a lovely birthday, and lots of fun planning for 2024. I see travel ahead, wonderful work opportunities, cooking classes and camps as well as sharing and teaching about healthy ingredients and a healthy lifestyle. I hope your 2024 is off to a great start. Thanks for being here!

Cheers,

Christina

Here’s what we have on tap for this week:

Mixed Greens with Roasted Chicken, Dates and Cornbread Croutons

I love this take on Hillstone’s Macho Salad.  This week I’m going to swap out the corn for diced roasted beets – they are high in fiber and potassium and have anti-inflammatory properties and I love them. Trader Joe’s has a convenient package of roasted and peeled beets in the produce section. If you have any extra beets, try throwing them in a lunch salad with tuna or into a mixed berry smoothie!

Crispy Chicken Sandwiches + Roasted Sweet Potatoes

My family loves these sandwiches and the kid in me loves them, too.  If I’m not feeling like I want the french roll, I also enjoy this chicken sliced and served with chopped lettuce, roasted sweet potatoes and the house dressing.  Trust me on this one! 

Mango Cucumber Chopped Salad (add roasted chicken)

I’ve made this salad many times – the dressing is delicious! I make two additions to this salad – adding pepitas and roasted chicken to amp up the protein – other than that, I make it as is. 

Braised Beef Roast with Banana Peppers + Marinated Beans + Broccoli

A new recipe on the blog this week – it’s a perfect cold weather meal that my family enjoys.  I like to serve the beef with steamed broccoli tossed with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt.  Another side dish I enjoy with beef is Marinated Beans with Garlic and Herbs.  Go ahead and marinate the beans when the roast goes in the oven and they will be super flavorful when it’s dinnertime. To me, this meal would be perfect with most of my plate being broccoli, beans and maybe some sliced pear or peeled mandarin orange and a side of this delicious beef. Lots of protein, good fat and fiber in this meal!

**Other kitchen projects this week:

Healthy Banana Muffins I haven’t made this recipe before but definitely a trusted site and a good use of some very ripe bananas we have

Homemade Vanilla Almond Milk – A staple in our morning coffee

House Granola – another staple around here – it has equal parts oats to nuts/seeds/coconut and a delicious addition to yogurt and chia seed pudding. Tip: keep it in the freezer and it will stay extra crunchy