Guest Post: Weekly Meal Plan by Cousin Jessica, Wednesday & Thursday

Wednesday – “Finally together as a family” – Crockpot Pot Roast with carrots and potatoes

When Dexter heads to our house for his time with us, I try to have hearty, healthy kid friendly meals that can be ready quickly. Josh and I both have a long commute home and using the crockpot allows us to spend more time playing with legos vs cooking in the kitchen.

This recipe is a mix between what my mom told me, what my grandma suggested, and what I’ve found works for a long day in the crockpot. 

Ingredients:

·       A large roast – any kind – I’ve been using tri tip and it’s wonderful

·       1 can cream of mushroom soup (Amy’s organic is wonderful)

·       1 package Lipton onion soup

·       1 can roasted tomatoes – whole or diced, with liquid

·       6-10 red potatoes (washed) depending on your family size

·       6 – 10 pealed whole carrots

·       1 onion – cut into chunks

How to build:

·       Potatoes on the bottom of your crock pot, followed by carrots

·       Place roast on top

·       Lipton soup – sprinkle throughout

·       Cream of mushroom – on top

·       Can of roasted tomatoes

·       Stuff the onion chunks into any nooks and crannies

·       Set crock pot for 8 hours on low

Tips for a busy family:

·       Build the night before and place in the fridge

·       Freeze your roast, let it thaw a bit in the crock pot overnight – adjust cooking time to 10 -12 hours depending on how long you are out of the house during the day

·       Buy a crockpot with a timer and a warmer – this way you can set for 8 hours and keep on “warm” until you get home

Serve:

·       The roast will be very tender, use tools to remove from the crock pot and place on a cutting board to slice

·       Scoop out potatoes and carrots and some onions if you desire

·       I don’t love gravy, so I don’t make it . . . but you can use the juices to make a gravy if you like! Strain, add a roux and I’m sure it’s delicious!

·       We eat ours with sour cream and BBQ sauce because we love sauces J

Thursday: “It’s time for leftovers” – Eat up!

Suggestions for serving:

·       Grain bowl:

o   Use leftover veggies, add some cheese and stuff in a tortilla for a hearty burrito

o   Add another egg and eat up just like before!

·       Stuffing:

o   Serve up with some cheese and crackers

o   Add an egg and eat up!

·       Pot Roast:

o   Pot roast heats up great as is – throw in the microwave and serve

o   Pull roast apart, add some bbq sauce, heat up and make sandwiches

o   Potatoes – these potatoes make great potato pancakes! Smash them up, add some onions and spices, and fry! You can also smash in the carrots for some extra flavor. Serve with sour cream and apple sauce

·       Mix and match!

o   Mix any combo of the above together, add some scrambled eggs and bacon – makes great hash!

Guest Post: Weekly Meal Plan by Cousin Jessica, Tuesday

Our dear "Cousin Jessica" (as kids, we only referred to her by her full "title", and it has since stuck) has written a series of posts for our blog this week, walking through a week of cooking for a new family amidst the busy-ness of life. We're posting it over several days this week, but will include the grocery list at the top of each post for ease of use.  Her posts are filled with great tips along with great recipes, so happy reading!

Weekly Grocery List and Budget – Weekly budget including what we need for breakfasts and lunches - $150 for a family of three.

I have a lot of the spices in these recipes already, along with some staple items. Please double check your cupboards and the recipes to make sure you have all ingredients!

Brown Rice

Whole grains (any)

Acorn Squash

Onion

Celery

Ground sausage with sage

Flat leaf Parsley

Apples

Cranberries

Butter

Chicken stock

Rosemary

Avocado oil

Sage

Carrots

Brussel sprouts

Radishes

Butternut Squash

Beets

Lemon

Thyme

Shallot

Tuesday “Let’s entertain on a week night” – Acorn Squash stuffed with Sausage, apple and cranberry stuffing; Sweet treat: Paleo Bon Bons

Let me start off by saying, entertaining on a weeknight is totally doable even if you both work.  The key is to PREP.  This stuffing is still amazing if cooked the night before. Bon Bons can be prepped up to a week in advance.

The base of this recipe was not my idea. Last year, I had a craving for stuffing and squash and I went hunting for recipes.  I knew I wanted apples and cranberries to give some sweetness, but I also knew that I didn’t have a ton of time.  I found this recipe on Happily Unprocessed (great site!) and tweaked to make it work for us.  Tonight I’m adjusting to make everything mostly paleo for my dear friend who is coming over for dinner.

Bon Bons:

Ingredients:

·       Almond butter – 1 cup

·       Coconut flakes – ¼ cup

·       Almond extract – a couple drops

·       Honey -1/2 cup

·       Dark chocolate (to be paleo, 85% or above. To be creative, use fruit infused chocolates – like orange or raspberry)

What to do:

·       Mix everything but the chocolate into a bowl. You want the consistency to be thick – add more coconut if you needed, but make sure it’s not crumbly.  The mixture should still be damp. 

·       Melt the dark chocolate. Form the above mixture into balls and put into a small cupcake paper.  Pour the dark chocolate over the top. Freeze for 30 minutes or up to a week.

Squash and Stuffing:

Ingredients:

·       Two acorn squash

·       Half onion – diced

·       Diced Celery – ½ cup or so

·       1 lb ground sausage with sage – I used spicy Italian sausage for kick – if you can’t find with sage, just add some extra sage in your cooking process.

·       ½ teaspoon dried sage (more if your sausage does not have sage)

·       ½ teaspoon fresh thyme

·       Two cups whole grain brown rice - cooked

·       1 apple cut into chunks – Skin on – any variety (honey crisp is my fav)

·       I cup dried cranberries

·       Butter – two or three pads – grass fed if you can find it

Cook it up!

·       Bake up the squash -  preheat oven to 350 – cut in half, brush with olive oil, place face down on a cookie sheet.  Cook for 15-20 minutes. If your squash is thick, cook for 25 – you want it mostly done

Cook the stuffing – this can be done the night before and saved in the fridge

·       Cook onions, celery in olive oil until translucent. Add the sausage and cook until cooked through. Add the spices. Add apples, cranberries and some butter.  Add the brown rice and mix.  

o   Note: This will not “set” like traditional stuffing because there is no bread. Expect it to be crumbly

Stuff the squash

·       Pull squash form the oven and flip over – use a fork to break up squash – it will be a little stringy. Add some butter to preference.  (In this stage, I always add a little goat cheese to make the squash extra creamy, completely up to your own taste)

·       Stuff the squash with as much stuffing as it will hold. It’s ok if a little bit falls on the pan or the sides, it will get crispy and it’s amazing.

·       Bake another 20 minutes – careful not to burn the top. The stuffing is cooked – this baking is only to add more flavor to the squash, finish the squash baking, and crisp the sausage.

·       Leftover stuffing – put in a glass pan and bake until crispy. Great for leftovers or to supplement if you have hungry guests!

Eat! Take everything out of the oven – it will be VERY hot.  I like to top with a little goat cheese or parmesan. My friends added siracha and it was delicious.  

Dessert: Bon bons are eaten frozen – do not thaw!

Tip: if you want more of an ice-cream consistency, mix in some ripe banana during the creation process and lessen the amount of almond butter by about half.