An Easy Meal Plan for Labor Day and Beyond
MONDAY
It’s Labor Day! Fire up the grill, make some burgers and enjoy a lazy day at home. Ina Garten’s bleu cheese burger recipe is delicious, I add about 1/2 to 1 cup of gluten-free oats to the meat mixture for added fiber. Skip the pat of butter that gets added to every burger, or go hog wild! My younger two don’t like bleu cheese, so I just leave it off their patties. Or make Martha Stewart’s delicious turkey burger recipe — use dark meat pretty please. Otherwise, your burgers will be dry and tasteless! A side of sriracha mayo is always a good idea no matter what type of burger you make! For dessert, this apricot upside down tart is a must. Other Labor Day grilling ideas:
Grilled chile-lime flank steak
Grilled lamb chops with chermoula
Grilled tri tip with Asian black bean sauce
TUESDAY
Enchilada casserole is the way to my children’s hearts. Assemble this with shredded rotisserie chicken or ground beef or turkey, black beans or pinto beans and corn, flour or grain-free tortillas. It comes together in minutes, which makes it the perfect post-long weekend re-entry dinner. For a veggie side, roast a big sheet pan of mixed diced veggies. Any leftovers can go on salad later this week. Toss a mixture of diced zucchini or chayote squash, broccoli, bell peppers, butternut squash and carrots with a little olive oil or avocado oil and kosher salt. Line your sheet pan with parchment and roast at 425 until vegetables are soft and golden, about 45 minutes.
WEDNESDAY
We have middle school back-to-school night, which is a marathon of meetings and classes and zigzagging two floors of our school. It makes me realize why my kids are so tired when they come home! I have some frozen cheese tortellini and can throw together this easy tortellini casserole with jarred Rao’s marinara. Make a salad on the side or warm up leftover veggies from last night.
THURSDAY
After a week of burgers and casseroles, we need fish and vegetables for dinner. Sheet pan fish with green beans and tomatoes is not only quick and easy to throw together, it’s a super fast clean up. Watch the video for how to put it together on YouTube (and hit subscribe for many more recipe videos coming your way). For other sheet pan dinner ideas, watch my recent segment from HoustonLife.
FRIDAY
Make-your-own-pizzas with Cauliflower pizza skins, mozzarella, pesto and any other favorite toppings! Cook at 400 on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan. Top with chopped shortcut caesar salad that you can make with romaine or kale. Yum!
I leave at the crack of dawn Saturday morning for my cooking retreat at The Vintage Round Top. Can’t wait to cook with a new group of retreat attendees! We have a lunch class, cocktail and appetizer class and dinner class. By the next morning, everyone is ready for coffee, mimosas and brunch. I love sitting on the back porch with my coffee and getting to know all the women who attend. I’ll be posting lots of photos on Instagram stories, so be sure to follow along!
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