The Scratch Advantage

swiss chard

Weekly Meal Plan #02: April 27 – May 03

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Can you believe it’s almost May? I think every year, April is one of those months that goes by very quickly for me. I am excited for more spring and summer vegetables to use in our meal plans over the next couple weeks!

Recap of last week’s meal plan:

Last week, we made quite a few meals, and I wanted to first give you a quick recap of the recipes we made and what we thought about them.

  1. Spaghetti with Swiss Chard : 4/5 stars!
    • I really enjoy this meal. Last time we made it, it was too spicy, so this time, we reduced the amount of chili flakes we added to about half. It definitely improved the heat level for us. This recipe is one of my favorite ways to use Swiss chard.
  2. White bean & kale quesadillas : 5/5 stars!
    • We loved this meal! The texture of the kale with the white beans was fantastic, and the spicing was perfect for us. I will say that doing them one at a time on a skillet took FOREVER. Next time, we will do them on our griddle so we can do 4-5 at a time and reduce the cook time by 30-40 min.
  3. Braised beef with lots of onions : 5/5 stars!
    • This recipe is one of our favorites, though we always waffle on which sides to make with it. This time around we had it with some bread and leftover beet salad. I do think this is more of a winter dish. However, the flavors are fantastic and made a fun Easter dinner celebration.
  4. Multigrain bread : 2/5 stars
    • I am planning on writing a whole separate post on this bread. In general, I was not able to get a good rise out of this bread during the final prove. It tasted fine but turned out very flat and dense.
  5. New York Chopped Salad : 3/5 stars
    • Surprisingly, we both liked this one. It was a good way to use up the romaine lettuce we had from the farmers’ market, though it was a bit time-consuming with the preparation. I’d make it again, but I may not stick to a specific recipe or do the same dressing.

In general, I won’t repeat reviews unless we changed something about the recipe, as we do repeat recipes (e.g. baked oatmeal) fairly often.

This Week’s Meal Plan:

Now onward to this week’s meal plan…

Weekly meal plan - April 27 to May 03
Weekly meal plan – April 27 to May 03
CSA Vegetables - Carrots, broccoli, Swiss chard, black beans, collard greens, romaine lettuce
Carrots, Broccoli, Swiss Chard, Black Beans, Collard Greens, Romaine Lettuce

We are about to go on vacation next week (HOORAY!) so this week will be a bit busy due to packing, trip planning, etc. Before trips, I try to use up a lot of pantry-items or items that I think may go bad when we are away. We actually did not use any of our cookbook sources this week and are falling back on our staples. These tend to be easy dishes that can be changed up to match the veggies and ingredients you have on hand.

We will try one recipe that’s new — the lemony pasta with collard greens from Cookie and Kate’s website. I’m excited for a new way to use collard greens and will keep you updated on how it goes.

Our staple recipes…

Vegetable fried rice is based on this fantastic recipe from Cookie and Kate’s website. This week, based on what we received in the CSA, we made it with Swiss chard, cabbage, and spring onions from the farmers market. My husband was suspicious about the Swiss chard, but he really enjoyed it in this dish!

Our version of tacos will be basically roasting whatever veggies (broccoli in this case) we have on hand, cooking black beans, and then serving with simple toppings. Our toppings include cheese, salsa, cherry tomatoes and avocado. We will also thaw some of our grass-fed ground beef from Gina’s Acres farm that we bought in the last farmers market in our area.

After Wednesday, you’ll see a lot of TBD — we need to be sure to use up our CSA veggies that will arrive on Wednesday. Thus, I did not set any specific plans as I think we will improvise based on what we receive.

What are you cooking this week? Are you excited to get into summer veggie season? I know I am ready for tomatoes and corn!

Weekly Meal Plan #01: April 20 – April 26

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Hello and welcome! I wanted to start by sharing my weekly meal plan with you, and then over the course of the week, as I make the meals, I will pop in occasionally and review the recipes.

Overview of my meal planning strategy:

I use a meal planning tool from Rifle Paper Co. (pictured below). It’s very simple — just a paper pad with a tear-off grocery list. I typically list all my dry goods on the left of the grocery list and all my produce on the right.

Weekly meal plan for April 20-26
April 20-26 Weekly Meal Plan

I typically make a list of the vegetables that I need to use and try to find good recipes that will use them in the most efficient way possible. I’m still working on this, and I definitely make mistakes where I end up with some food waste. I start with the dinners that we will make for the week and consult my recipe books for recipes that I want to make. Lunches for my husband are typically sandwiches. For me, I either make a large salad in advance or eat leftovers, depending on how much we cook on the weekend, how busy we are, and what the planned dinners are (whether they pack well for lunch). Breakfasts are either smoothies, baked oatmeal, whole-grain muffins, or breakfast cookies. We have been really into baked oatmeal lately and typically make a double batch to last through the week.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

For this week, you may notice that we don’t have a lot of produce on the list. My husband and I are currently trying out a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). What this means is that on Wednesdays, we get a big bag of produce from a local farmer — basically, a share of what they produced that week. We live far outside of Houston, so I was excited when I learned about a local farmer that would actually deliver to us in our area. I will share more details about our CSA experience throughout the week. It’s been really fun but definitely a culinary challenge!

Our vegetables from the CSA that we are using this week are: romaine lettuce, kale, and Swiss chard. We have already used the beets and carrots that came last week on Wednesday. I’m hoping to get more carrots this upcoming week on Wednesday. Otherwise, I’ll have to run back to the store or skip them in our dinner on Wednesday night. I also have a cabbage, but cabbage will stay good for a while in the fridge. I’ll probably use it sparingly over the next couple weeks!

Dinners this week:

  1. White bean & kale quesadillas — Mostly Plants cookbook
  2. Braised beef with lots and lots of onions — Six Seasons cookbook
  3. New York Chopped Salad — Mostly Plants cookbook
  4. Pizza night!
  5. **Bonus: Spaghetti with Swiss Chard, Pine Nuts, and Raisins — Six Seasons cookbook
    • Technically, we’re making this for lunch on Saturday. I find it helpful to make meals that require a bit more effort for lunches on weekends (depending on schedule), as I typically have way more energy than I do in the evenings. That’s why Saturday has a more complicated meal for lunch and a simple meal for dinner!

My lunches this week will be primarily leftovers, as I have a couple events at work where lunch will be provided. Sometimes I still bring my own lunch as a backup, in case I dislike whatever is provided or something falls through! Leftovers make it easy to be flexible with your schedule, as opposed to meal-prepping specific lunches prior to the start of the week.

I’ll also indicate in the Miscellaneous section if I’m making anything special — i.e. snacks, desserts, baked goods, etc. This weekend, I will try to make my husband’s sandwich bread from scratch! I’m going to use a recipe from the Pretty Simple Cooking cookbook for a Multigrain Artisan Loaf. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes!

This Week’s Cookbooks:

Meal Planning Cookbooks - Pretty Simple Cooking, mostly plants, Six Seasons - April 20-26
Week 01 – April 20-26 Cookbooks

The Mostly Plants cookbook is new to me, but I have the Pollan Family Cookbook already and am excited to try recipes from their new book! I buy into the flexitarian diet, and I am excited for a book to showcase plant-focused cooking.

Six Seasons is a favorite of mine, as it focuses on vegetables in season and develops the recipes based on in-season produce offerings. The only caveat is that in Texas, our seasons are slightly different than the book, so I often am in a couple seasons at once with my produce!

I love A Couple Cooks blog, and their cookbook (Pretty Simple Cooking) is fantastic! They have recipes organized by time so you know which recipes to pick depending on whether you are cooking on a week day or weekend, etc.

Our weekly based oatmeal recipe is from Sally’s Baking Addiction (1-Bowl Baked Oatmeal). We love it, and it’s super customizable for what you have on hand.

What are you making this week? Are you part of a CSA or do you shop your local farmers’ markets? Leave your comments and recipe suggestions below!

Happy meal planning!