Weekly Meal Plan//Week 5//January 29-February 3, 2023

Use What You Have

We have a full refrigerator, which is usually not the case on a Sunday afternoon. I had several online and in-person cooking classes last week, so we’re still busting at the seams with leftovers. My husband has challenged me to make dinner for the week ahead without buying anything at the grocery store, and I love a challenge. In turn, I challenge you all to shop your freezer, fridge and pantry before making your meal plan. Use what you have! You’ll have a meal plan that saves you time, energy and money. I don’t know about you, but with those surplus change, I plan to book a massage.

Discount alert! I caught up with my friends at Fish-Fixe this week and they sent over a discount code for you guys! Use this link to place your order and new customers will receive $15 off. Or use code SITK15. If you’re an existing customer use GOODSTART for 10% off! I ordered Mahi Mahi, Trout, Snapper, Cobia and Haddock. They’ve several wild options which I’m excited about!

Since this week is all about using up what I have, I made a quick jam with week-old berries and chia seeds. The blueberries and blackberries were about to get mushy, so it was either jam or a galette or berry crisp. Now they’re perfect! See Instagram for photos.

Berry and Chia Seed Compote

• 2-4 cups fresh or frozen berries (this is also delicious with pitted fresh or frozen cherries)
• 1 teaspoon sugar (granulated sugar, cane sugar, turbinado or maple syrup)
• Half a lemon, juiced (half an orange is delicious, too)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Fresh ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons chia seeds, stirred in after the berries come off the heat

1. In a medium pot, add the berries, sugar, lemon juice and water. Bring to medium heat and stir to combine. Cook the berries until softened and the liquid comes to a low simmer. Add the salt, vanilla and spices and stir to combine. If the berries were frozen, they should be completely warmed and softened.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the chia seeds. Let sit at room temperature to cool and set, stirring occasionally. Spoon the compote over ice cream or yogurt or serve over pancakes, waffles or Dutch Baby pancakes.

SUNDAY

Enchiladas! I’m making easy enchiladas for dinner with a green salad on the side. I really need to add my favorite enchilada recipe to the site! I’m using shredded chicken thighs I already have in my fridge, low-carb tortillas and Frontera green chile enchilada sauce. Here’s a hack: If you don’t have quite enough enchilada sauce, use some bottled green salsa to make it stretch.

Caramelized Onion, Chicken and Green Chili Enchiladas

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 yellow or white onion, sliced thin in half moons
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 rotisserie chicken, white and dark meat shredded, or 2 cups shredded chicken
• 1 4-ounce can of diced green chilies (if you don’t have these, don’t worry)
• 8 ounces cream cheese (optional)
• 2 15-ounce cans of green chile enchilada sauce
• About 8-10 tortillas (soft fresh flour tortillas work best since I don’t fry them in oil to soften first)
• 2 cups grated Monterey jack cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add sliced onions, sprinkle with ½ teaspoon kosher salt and sauté on medium-low to soften for 10-20 minutes. Onions should be soft, about half their regular size and starting to turn light brown.
3. In a mixing bowl, add shredded chicken, diced green chilies, cream cheese and onions. Stir to combine.
4. Cover a 9×13 baking dish with 1/3 cup enchilada sauce.  Fill each tortilla with 1/4 cup chicken mixture and roll, then place on top of sauce in baking pan; fill tortillas with remaining filling and place in baking dish. You may need to hold the tortillas closed with toothpicks until the baking dish is full, otherwise, they will unroll easily.
5. Sprinkle with jack cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Top should be starting to brown; cover with aluminum foil during baking if the cheese starts to burn. If you do, spray the foil with a little cooking spray so it doesn’t stick to the cheese.

MONDAY

Homemade fish sticks with remoulade, glazed carrots and a green salad. If I was shopping I’d serve this with a tangy red cabbage slaw! The fish stick and sauce recipes are from my cookbook, but here’s an online recipe you can use. I’m using wild cod from Trader Joe’s that I transferred from my freezer to my fridge. I can’t wait to get restocked with fish from Fish Fixe! This recipe is awesome with haddock or cobia.

TUESDAY

Instant Pot Lamb Roast with potatoes, carrots and onions. Mine will be a little different than what I linked, so follow along in Instagram stories.

WEDNESDAY

It’s eggs and brunch day in my Basics I course, excited for mid-day homemade pancakes and an apple Dutch baby! I thawed some homemade tomato sauce for dinner tonight. I’ll either toss it with spaghetti, cooked tortellini or frozen cauliflower gnocchi.

THURSDAY

I’m doing a lazy freezer dinner of tamales or cauliflower crust pizzas. By Thursday, I’m usually crawling to the finish line. I’m sure I’m not alone! I’ll add a veggie side of whatever I have left in the fridge! Here are some other easy pantry dinner ideas.

FRIDAY

It’s February! How did that happen? If you’re cooking at home this weekend, grill some flank steak and have friends over for dinner. Just say yes to more dinner parties!