Last week was a record week for us in terms of meal planning. I was craving the Quinoa and Kale Minestrone I made a few weeks back so that was first on the list. I planned for Quinoa Breakfast Bars and hard-boiled eggs for breakfasts and Quinoa Kale Minestrone for lunches. I also managed to prepare a few dinners, and a little something for snacks.
Sunday night we had roasted chicken, roasted cauliflower, roasted baby red potatoes, butternut squash and green beans. This made so much that we leftovers for a few nights. Other dinners included pasta with fresh tomato sauce and chicken sausage and salads with chicken and avocado.
The Quinoa Breakfast Bars are from Lindsay’s blog at The Lean Green Bean. These little guys are super easy to make and so very delicious and filling. I made them gluten-free by using Pamela’s Gluten-Free Flour Blend in one batch and almond meal in another batch. I also used more chia seeds, almond butter instead of peanut butter, and dried cranberries instead of Craisins. You could even replace the egg with a flax egg blend to make it vegan.
- ½ c almond flour (or another GF blend)
- 1 c cooked quinoa
- 1 c oats
- ½ c walnuts, chopped
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 Tbsp chia seeds
- ⅓ c almond butter
- ¼ c maple syrup (or honey or brown rice syrup)
- 1 egg
- ⅓ c applesauce (or mashed banana)
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ½ c dried cranberries or raisins
- Combine applesauce, vanilla, egg, almond butter and maple syrup in a small bowl and mix well.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir until just mixed.
- Spoon into a greased 8×8 pan and bake at 375 degrees for 20 min or until golden brown.
- Let cool and cut into 16 squares.
- Store in the refrigerator.
Quinoa and Kale Minestrone – This recipe was inspired from a recipe on Mind Body Green. I posted the recipe already and linked it up here for your reference. This came out so delicious! I added a little spinach to this each day for some added greens. I had enough for my lunches for the week and then some. Love that ~ plentiful and healthful.
Thank you to the Ambitious Kitchen for this awesome recipe for Vegan & Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars. These bars were quick and easy to make and great for anything really: breakfast, after school snacks and dessert. Brendan said multiple times how much he loved them and thanked me for making them for him! I shared my excitement about these bars with my students on Monday and they requested that I make them for them. So of course, I did, and brought them in on Thursday as a Halloween breakfast treat.
I was so excited about my meal planning success, I captured it in a collage and submitted to Lindsay’s blog for her weekly installment of Sunday food prep. Pictured here is Quinoa and Kale Minestrone, Quinoa Breakfast Bars, Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars, hard-boiled eggs, cut up peppers. Other things I had on hand were mixed greens, cooked chicken and avocado for lunches and dinners.
What are you planning to make this week? Stay tuned for this week’s installment of my weekly meal planning.
