Meal Plan April 14 -20

The home stretch! It seems crazy, but this is the last meal plan for eating clean! Sunday is Easter. Time flies.


Monday April 14 (This one seems like a lot of work, but looks really yummy too)
Artichoke and Mushroom Lasagna (Vegetarian, PG 166- With some modification)

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Onions, Coarsely chopped
3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1/4 cup walnuts
2 1/2 lbs mixed mushrooms, coarsely chopped
8 cherry tomatoes
4 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup Wheat Flour
4 1/2 Cups Milk
2 Bay leaves
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
8 oz prepared whole wheat noodles
1 (14 oz) can artichokes hearts in water, drained and halved (Hoping I can find these clean, because starting with fresh artichokes looks hard)
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
Fresh oregano

Preheat the oven to 400. (Or you can do all the prep work and store in the fridge for up to 3 hours.  Remove from fridge 30 minutes before time to bake)

Mushroom Mixture:
Heat the oil in a large skillet and sauté the onions gently for 10 minutes, until soft.
Add garlic and walnuts and sauté for 3-4 minutes, until pale golden.
Stir in the mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes.
Simmer Briskly for another 10 minutes or until all liquid is evaporated.
Add tomatoes to the Skillet and then remove from the heat and set aside.

Sauce:
Melt the butter in a sauce pan, add flour and stir over gentle heat for 1 minute.
Slowly whisk in the milk until you have a smooth mixture.
Bring to a boil, add the bay leaves, and then stir over gentle heat for 10 minutes or until thickened and smooth.
Add the Lemon Juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Discard the bay leaves.

Grease a shallow Ovenproof dish and layer lasagna noodles over the bottom.
Spoon half of the Mushroom mixture over the noodles, and then half of the artichokes.
Cover with a layer of noodles and half the sauce.
Spoon remaining mushroom mixture over the top and add remaining artichokes.
Top with remaining noodles
Stir the Parmesan cheese into the remaining sauce and spoon evenly over the top of the lasagna

Bake in oven for 40-50 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling.  Garnish with oregano sprigs, and serve.

Tuesday April 15- Left overs

Wednesday April 16

Pear and Sage stuffed Pork chops

Ingredients:

4 thick, boneless pork chops

1/4 c whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 c yellow onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, minced

1 slice whole wheat bread, cubed

1 pear, cored and diced

1 tsp dried sage

1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely minced

Cooking spray 

Directions:

Trim away fat and cut a pocket into each chop.

Combine flour, salt and pepper on a plate and dredge chops in flour mixture.

Sear chops to brown in a skillet sprayed with cooking oil, about 5 minutes on each side. Add some water to pan to deglaze and pull up any brown bits. Remove chops from the pan and set aside.

Add oil to pan and saute onion and celery. Add bread cubes, pear, sage and rosemary. Moisten with 2 tablespoons of water, or more if needed.

Stuff chops with cooked mixture. Place a toothpick in each cop to hold together.

Place in a baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour any residual liquid over chops, cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, until center is no longer pink and internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F. Serve.

Serve with Rice and steamed broccoli

Thursday April 17:

We LOVE salsa chicken and Barbacoa so when I found this italian style take on the same concept, I had to try it. I halved the recipe because I don't need nearly as much!

Italian Stallion Crock pot chicken 

FROM He and She eat clean

Ingredients:

2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 Large tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped onion (we use Vidalia/Sweet)

1 1/2  Tbsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1Tbsp olive oil

1/2 Tbsp honey

Dry Ingredients/Spices:

1/2 Tbsp basil

1/2 Tbsp thyme

1/2 Tbsp red pepper flakes

1/2 Tbsp oregano

1/2 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp bay leaves

Directions:

Mix all ingredients (not including the chicken breasts) together in a blender/food processor and blend for about 30 seconds until ingredients are mixed well.

Place blended pasta sauce in sauce pan and simmer on low/medium heat for about 10-15 minutes until sauce takes on a thicker consistency and a dark shade of red.

Mix chicken breasts and pasta sauce in crock pot and cook on low heat for at least 7 hours.

After 7 hours, you will notice the sauce looks very runny, this is normal.  Remove crock pot from heating base, shred chicken with a wooden spoon or spatula and as it cools, the shredded chicken will absorb the juices from the pasta sauce.

Friday April 18:

Sole Florentine, Prevention Pg 165 I wanted to make this last year during lent and could not find SOle anywhere. I noticed last week they now have it at Giant eagle! SO yay, I get it about 1 year later! Good things come to those who wait.  

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1 cup diced red bell peppers

2 garlic cloves minced

4 cups loosely packed spinach

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 lbs sole (4 filets)

1/4 cup bread crumbs (I am using the corn flake cereal I used for a recipe Here- buffalo chicken tenders recipe)

1 large egg white

2 Tbsp Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3 Tbsp Chicken broth

Fresh thyme sprigs

Preheat oven to 425.  Spray a 11X7 inch baking dish with olive oil spray

In a large, heavy, non-stick skillet, warm oil over medium high heat until hot but not smoking.  Add bell peppers and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes until peppers are tender. Transfer 1/4 cup of the pepper mixture to a small bowl and set aside. 

Stir in Spinach, thyme, salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring continually, for about 1 minute or until spinach is wilted. Drain the spinach in a strainer, pressing down lightly to remove any excess moisture. Transfer Spinach/pepper mixture to a medium bowl.

Cut Sole filets in half length-wise, removing any bones near the top of the filet.  

Add the breadcrumbs, egg white and Parmesan to the spinach and toss well. Spoon to Rounded Tbsp of the mixture onto the wide end of each piece of sole. Roll up the fillet toward the narrow end. Place the rolls seam side down in the prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle the rolls with the reserved pepper mixture, then drizzle with broth. Cover the baking dish with foil and bale for 10-12 minutes or until fish just flakes when tested with a fork.  and filling is heated through.

Transfer 2 fish rolls with the bell pepper topping to each plate. Discard pan juices, and garnish with fresh thyme springs. 

Serve with Rice or Quinoa 

Saturday April 19

We are going to be working on our Spring Cleaning this week, so here is an easy favorite from the past weeks.

Beef and Walnut Stir Fry (Eat clean, Pg 260)

Ingredients:

2 tsp coconut oil or sesame oil

1 lbs Lean beef tenderloin chopped into 1 inch pieces

1 bunch asparagus, washed, trimmed and chopped

1 green bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and coarsley chopped

1.5 cups green beans trimmed and chopped into 1 inch pieces

1 clove Garlic, minced

1/2 cup toasted walnuts

1 tsp sea salt

Ground black pepper

Juice of 1 freshly squeezed orange

1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinger mixed with a pinch of salt and pinch of garlic powder

1- Heat Oil over med-high heat in skillet

2- Add beef and cook until well done on all sides. Add vegetables and garlic. Stir fry until tender

3- Add Walnuts and toss to heat through. Season with Salt and pepper. Makes 4 servings.  Place serving on serving of rice.

4- Deglaze Pan (this means to add liquid to a pan that food has been cooked in, to dissolve the remains of roasted or sautéed food that sticks to the bottom) with juice.  Add Balsamic mixture and stir well. cook over med-low until mixture is reduced by half. Pour over each plate and serve.

Sunday April 20, EASTER Sunday! Going to the In-laws house for all the DELICIOUS things we have not been able to eat over lent. My mother-in-law has promised me cake with LOTS of icing and I could not be happier! 

CHECK YOUR KITCHEN

Olive Oil

coconut oil or sesame oil

Garlic

Wheat Flour

whole wheat pastry flour

Butter

Bay Leaves

Basil

Black pepper

Oregano

Parsley

Rosemary

Red pepper Flakes

Sage

Thyme

Salt

Honey

1/4 cup bread crumbs (I am using the corn flake cereal I used for a recipe Here- buffalo chicken tenders recipe)

GROCERY LIST

3 Onions
1 yellow onion
3 Red bell peppers
1 green bell pepper
1.5 cups green beans
1 bunch asparagus
Celery
Brocoli

2 1/2 lbs mixed mushrooms
cherry tomatoes
2 Large tomatoes
4 cups spinach

1 lemons or Lemon Juice
Orange
Pear
Fresh oregano

Fresh thyme sprigs

walnuts

whole wheat Lasagna noodles
Rice

1 (14 oz) can artichokes hearts in water
tomato paste

whole milk
1 egg white
Parmsean cheese (1 Cup)
Ezekiel Bread

4 thick, boneless pork chops

2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 lbs sole (4 filets)

1 lbs Lean beef tenderloin