Menu Plan Monday- March 24
Happy Monday, everyone! I hope that you all had a wonderful celebration of the resurrection of Christ!
Last week, I tried out a few Sue Gregg recipes and wanted to let you know what I thought so far. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to try out everything that I had planned due to my realization (after I did all my meal planning, of course) that we were going away for several days on the weekend, and were invited to an Easter Sunday dinner at my grandparents.
Here’s what we did try:
- Lentil Rice Casserole- sooo simple and we actually quite enjoyed it, simple as it is. You basically just put uncooked rice and lentils in a casserole dish, with some water/broth, onions and seasonings, and stick it in the oven for 2 1/2 hours, then add cheese before serving. I will definitely make this again (it’s in the Taste and Tell Sampler).
- King’s Banquet Salad- More than a specific recipe, this is really just the guidelines to making a heartier, meal-style salad. It wasn’t really anything particularly new to me, but it was good nonetheless (also Taste and Tell)
- Sausage Strata- this is a ground turkey and zucchini recipe, and although I enjoyed it, no one else really did. My husband wasn’t into how zucchini based it was (he prefers his zucchini a little more hidden or mixed in with other things). My daughter didn’t mind it, but again, didn’t love how the zucchini. was cooked. So, if you like zucchini a lot, you may love it, but it didn’t work for my family (from The 15-Minute Meal Planner).
- Blender Batter Pancakes- I didn’t get to try these yet, so they’re on my menu again. However, I did try a blender batter version of a banana bread (it wasn’t actually Sue Gregg, but it was based on her style of blender batter, using the wheat/spelt; berries, rather than flour). It was very nice, but took a very long time to bake, and even when I took it out and thought it was done, it actually wasn’t. Lesson learned- blender batter style recipes take much longer to bake, but seem to be well worth it!
This week, I have a goal of not grocery shopping, because the rest of my month ended up a little higher than I thought, as we went through the budget last week. A few unexpected trips to the store had left my budget a bit short, so I will try to make do without! So, this is my attempt to use every single vegetable in my fridge, and work with a few other random things I have on hand, while staying true to my crazy little diet (by the way, I managed to put two pounds back on last week- hurray)!
Monday: Chicken soup using carrots, celery, turnip, onion, and leftover rice (no recipe, I’m just going to wing it), homemade bread.
Tuesday: Beef Cabbage Hash– I’m not sold on trying this recipe, but I am trying to use up some cabbage in conjunction with moose (I can’t actually eat beef right now, so I plan to substitute moose meat). If you know of a better recipe using red meat and cabbage together (with no tomatoes, sugar, eggs, etc.) I’d love to hear about it!
Wednesday: Pizzas made on sprouted corn tortillas, using peppers, feta cheese, cilantro and chicken.
Thursday: Chicken legs (possibly a me-friendly variation on this recipe?), 12 Clove Garlic Squash, millet (I just boil it, like rice, and we put butter and Bragg’s or soy sauce on it).
Friday: Blender Batter Pancakes (Taste and Tell), with raw whipped cream and frozen berries from my freezer.
Saturday: My husband will be out snowboarding with a friend, so I think we’ll eat some homemade samosas that I have in the freezer. They’re the Nourishing Traditions recipe, and they were a lot of work, but they’re really tasty and it was great to make enough to freeze for a quick meal!
Sunday: Crockpot Chicken and Quinoa– I actually made this a few Sundays ago and we didn’t end up eating it, so I froze it for a nice, easy meal down the road!
As always, Menu Plan Mondays are hosted by the lovely Laura at Organizing Junkie!
On the beef/cabbage front–we tried an allrecipes meal called Pork Sausage and Cabbage Pitas last week and we enjoyed it. You could sub moose for the sausage and add some sausagey type spices for flavor (fennel, etc). I reduced the crushed red pepper to 1 tsp. and it was still too hot for my kids but fine for us. I think it would be great without the pepper at all–it just adds heat but no actual flavor. We ate it with homemade pitas–num.
Looks like a great menu and good luck with cleaning out your fridge!
The ONLY recipe that I make with cabbage is a traditional family recipe called Beerocks (or Bierox – some people spell it differently – and they’re frequently known as Runza’s in Nebraska where my hubby is from!) which I make about twice a year. It is a traditional German dish with a cabbage/ground beef/onion and pepper mix surrounded by bread dough. Think of it as the original hot pocket or a German calzone. I know that you can’t eat wheat, but often substitute other grains to make bread items, (I now make them using a pizza dough as the basis rather than the traditional white bread dough that my grandmother makes them with) – so if you have a sprouted grain pizza dough recipe you can use, I’d recommend that!
So here is the jist of the recipe:
Sarah’s Grandma’s Beerocks
In your BIGGEST PAN, Brown 2lbs. ground meat with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Remove from pan and drain off grease, if there is any. In the same pan add 4 large onions, sliced, in a little oil until transparent. Add 1 head cabbage, sliced, and 1-2 bell peppers, diced. Saute 10 minutes more. Remove from heat and mix meat with the cabbage mixture. Taste for seasoning and add to taste.
If you are using pizza dough, make enough dough for 2 crusts. Divide into at least 8 mounds of dough, roll out each piece into a long oval/rounded rectangular shape and add filling in the middle. Fold edges of dough over the top and pinch seams secured, leaving seam on top. Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes until golden brown.
I hope this helps, or at least inspires you! Some people also put cheese in theirs, but we keep ours traditional (plus I don’t think you can eat cheese now anyway). I serve them with a rustic mustard and sour cream on the side.
Have a great week!
Sarah
Hi! I enjoy your blog… As for a recipe with cabbage and red meat, we love this (so easy)!
Layer cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and meat (I often use ground venison) in crockpot, seasoning the layers. Cook on low all day. Eat! We love this and often add other veggies. I don’t know why it is so good, but it is. My kids (3-yr. old boy, almost-2 daughter, and baby), well, except the baby, all love this, too.
Your week sounds great. Maybe you could try a stir-fry with the red meat/cabbage combo. Add whatever other veggies you want, and make a sauce with Bragg’s/tamari, some garlic, ginger, and a little honey. Or you could do a peanut sauce. I love cabbage that is stir-fried.
I just wanted to say thank you for pointing me towards Sue Gregg’s website. I’ve found it very informative and look forward to trying some of her recipes in the Taste and Tell Sampler.
Thanks for encouraging us towards healthy eating!
Linds
Those cabbage/meat recipes all sound great- now you’ve got me really inspired for tomorrow night!
Linds, you’re so welcome! I’m glad you’re enjoying her site!
So cool that you publish reviews of previous weeks…. makes me look back and try the recipes.
Thanks for the comment, Annie! It’s good to know that you liked that. I don’t always do that, only once in a while, but I will do it more now that I know it’s helpful!
Great menu! We like the two stage process, also, except we do all gluten and dairy free versions. You do have to bake things longer to be sure done in the center with the two-stage, but really worth it!
I love that you have reviews of how your family liked a recipe. That is really helpful. Thanks for sharing!