Menu Plan Monday- March 17

I love a good, healthy cookbook. Some women may like manicures, fancy soaps, or a new purse. I wouldn’t complain about any of those things but give me a new cookbook any day and it’ll thrill my socks off!

Ever since I started my blog, it seems that I can’t stop hearing great things about Sue Gregg, who I had surprisingly never run across before now (I only think it’s surprising because I read nutrition and healthy cookbooks fairly voraciously).

I’d checked out her site a couple of times, and the last time I visited I discovered a fun little link on there to a Taste and Tell Sampler. The sampler is a mini cookbook, a sampling of the recipes from Sue’s other books.A week or two ago, I also purchased a used book called The 15-Minute Meal Planner-a Realistic Approach to a Healthy Lifestyle from a mom in my home school group, also by Sue Gregg and Emilie Barnes, and have almost finished reading this handy book.

Here’s my basic understanding of Sue’s books and what I like about her so far:

• Her Christian approach is very, very refreshing. There are just not enough Christians writing about why our nutrition and health matter as a means for glorifying God and stewarding what He has given us
• The simplicity of her recipes- my only minor complaint about Nourishing Traditions is that many of the recipes are just a bit complex for a busy mom. Sue’s recipes seem a bit more family friendly, both in appeal, and in ease of use.
• Her solid nutritional beliefs. I gather that she began her career in nutrition in the 80’s, the era of low-fat, low-cholesterol, no-meat, low-fat dairy everything. However, she is moving more towards many of the newer (well really, older and traditional) ideas, including recommending raw dairy, grass fed meats and free range poultry/eggs (although I would say she still leans a little more towards less rather than more animal protein- I may be wrong, though), coconut oil as a healthy oil, avoiding soy, and both fresh grinding as well as soaking your grains. I am eager to get into her books more in depth to learn more about where she really stands on these topics.

And so, this week is a bit of a "Sue Gregg" week as I try out a few of her recipes that are compatible with my diet. I will let you know what I think!

Monday: Lentil Rice Casserole and King’s Banquet Salad (Taste and Tell)

Tuesday: Baked Salmon (fish herb seasoning from The 15-Minute Meal Planner), baked sweet potatoes and Savory Carrot Salad.

Wednesday: Turkey burgers (15-Minute Meal Planner), with 12 Clove Garlic Squash

Thursday: Millet Root Vegetable Cobbler

Friday: Sausage Strata (15-Minute Meal Planner) with salad

Saturday: Pancakes with fruit and whipped cream (sadly, no whip for me) using Sue’s Blender Batter recipe for the Taste and Tell. Does anyone else just love to have breakfast for dinner every once in a while?

Sunday: Bean/rice burritos with onions and peppers on homemade tortillas, served with guacamole (and cultured sour cream, for everyone else).

I made these burritos last night for an unexpected crowd and they were wonderful and simple. I simply mixed together cooked brown rice with black beans I had pre-cooked and frozen (the ratio was probably 3:2- slightly more rice than beans), with seasoning (garlic, onion, paprika, cumin, chili, etc.). I fried up some onions, green peppers and frozen corn. I laid out tortillas with a good sprinkle of raw cheese, then a big helping of the rice and beans, and a small layer of the onion/pepper/corn mixture, then rolled it up and heated it lightly in the oven. I made homemade salsa, and we had cultured sour cream for dipping. So yummy!

Thanks for hosting, Organizing Junkie!

Edit: As I was reading Org Junkie’s post this week, I clued in once again to the fact that Easter is this very weekend (I knew it, but I totally forgot about it when I did my meal planning). We are probably going down to Seattle to stay with family, so a few of these meals may actually get bumped to next week. I’m not sure which, but I will end up doing the meals that help me to use up what I have, and whichever ones most appeal to me!