July 7 Meal Plan — Bring on Summer!
Welcome to week #4 of my four-week meal plan sharing experiment. (If you missed them, you might want to check out the introduction/week #1, week #2, and/or week #3.)
The meal planning theme of the week is summer… Temperatures are rising, my kids will be back from their rainy Saskatchewan fishing/camping trip, and Calgarians are busting our their cowboy hats for Stampede. (Yahoo!) Ready or not, it’s time!
Meal plan starting July 7, 2018
(Meals are for dinner unless otherwise noted. We have a few staples for breakfast and lunch is usually leftovers.)
Saturday
Spinach pesto and ricotta with zucchini noodles.
I’m planning to hit three Stampede breakfasts (! – the first three in my healthy(ier) Stampede breakfast roundup) so a light supper will be in order. This will use up some ricotta cheese, spinach, and zucchini I have in the fridge. Minimizing food waste is one of the great benefits of meal planning. It helps to have my recipes digitized, so I can search by ingredients. More info here on how I do it.
Sunday
“Awesome turkey burgers” (see recipe below) with sweet potato fries and a green salad from garden lettuce and leftover glory bowl dressing (possibly the best dressing ever).
(Meatless) Monday
Homemade Fresh Summer Rolls with Easy Peanut Dipping Sauce
Credit to dietitian friend Vincci Tsui for teaching me how easy and fun it is to make these rolls. I just put out the ingredients, improvising between the recipe and what we have on hand. (Smoked tofu is a favourite addition.) Everyone rolls their own. And if time/energy is short, I use this bottled peanut sauce, which I always keep in the pantry. 
Tuesday
Kale and Quinoa Salad with Cranberries and Feta — Dinner With Julie with grilled chicken 
I’m not a big fan of chicken, but our kids are, so I’ll often serve it with a salad that I know they’re not keen on… yet.
Wednesday
DIY bean tacos.
It’s going to be warm and we’re going to try for some summer adventures (TBD), so I’m keeping it simple! That basically means cracking a can of black beans and serving with grated cheddar, frozen corn (thawed), chopped tomatoes, lettuce from the garden, and salsa, which we always have on hand. Do it yourself kiddos. The only rule is you have to put something else besides great piles of cheese in your taco! 
Thursday
Leftovers!
Friday
Pantry meal or ??? (Planning more than 5 meals this week just isn’t realistic!)
I’m going to put the meal plan posts on hold, at least for the summer. Going to take advantage of my work flexibility and a 7 and 10 year-old to adventure with. Meanwhile, I’ll keep sharing meal ideas on Instagram and Facebook. Let me know what you think. Always happy to hear from you!
Awesome Turkey Burgers
This recipe comes from my former cardiac rehab colleague, dietitian Linda Cuda, who now works with Copeman Healthcare. She’s one of those friends who spontaneously passes along great recipes from time to time, which I love. My kids agree it’s pretty awesome. Shared with permission. (Of course!)
