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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Weekly Menu #14 ~ Eating Up Those Greens


When I open that massive produce box and find an overflowing amount of spinach in it for the sixth week in a row, I'll be honest with ya.  I whimper a little.  Not that spinach is hard for me to eat.  I'll throw it in whatever I'm eating: eggs, soups, stir fries...  It's just one of those foods that presents conflict at the table with the littles and it's draining, you know?  Sometimes it's hard to Keep Calm and Carry On instead of exasperatingly resorting to becoming Nazi Spinach-Pushing Mother.  Eat it or STARVE!  Okay.  It doesn't get that bad.  For the most part.  I never knew a produce box would yield such an opportunity for personal growth.  So, as I look to see what's going to be in this week's produce box and see Popeye's favorite food listed (again), I take a deep breath and start strategizing.  In it's defense, spinach is one of the few local, in-season foods right now (and I should be happy I even have some local, in-season produce this time of year), so here's me learning to actually embrace an in-season diet.  Presenting this week's scheme:

Monday:
To do: Soak Sourdough Flatbread & German Pancakes, thaw 2 quarts chicken stock
Breakfast: Soaked Cinnamon Vanilla Baked Oatmeal & eggs
Snack: Pear, Cranberry, Walnut kefir smoothies
Lunch: Leftover Butternut Squash Soup
Snack: Raw Cheese & Apple Slices
Dinner: Grated raw cheese over sausage, braised spinach, & Potato Wedges, & Green Salad with Ranch Dressing

Tuesday:
To do: Make Sourdough Flatbread & Muhamarra
Breakfast: Soaked German Pancakes & eggs
Snack: Strawberry Cacao kefir smoothies
Lunch: Sourdough Flatbread Sandwiches
Snack: Muhamarra & Carrot & Celery Slices
Dinner: Honey Mustard Chicken with Soaked Rice & California Cold Weather Salad

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Grain Free Banana Blueberry Bars
Snack: Blueberry kefir smoothies
Lunch: Hummus Flowers
Snack: Pear Slices & Crispy Walnuts
Dinner: Root Soup & Sourdough Flatbread

Thursday:
To do: Soak Porridge & Rice
Breakfast: Spinach & Onion Strata
Snack: Apple Pie kefir smoothies
Lunch: Grain-Free Pigs in a Blanket
Snack: Raw Egg(less) Nog
Dinner: Stir Fry with Eggs, Rice, Greens, & leftover chicken from Monday night

Friday:
To do: Soak Sourdough Pancakes
Breakfast: Porridge & Eggs
Snack: Orange Julius (using kefir instead of milk)
Lunch: Leftovers
Snack: Fried Mush
Dinner: Slow Cooker Chuck Roast Supreme over a Green Salad & Enchilada Salad Dressing, Grain-Free Maple Pecan Cupcakes

Saturday:
Breakfast: Pancake Bar
Snack: kefir smoothies
Lunch: Pancake Sandwiches
Snack: Raw Cheese & Apple Slices
Dinner: Cheeseburger Salad (sans croutons) & Apple Spice Cake

Sunday:
To do: Menu plan, soak baked oatmeal
Breakfast: Green Eggs (puréed spinach scrambled in eggs with cheese) & ham
Snack: Crispy Almonds
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Leftovers
(Sunday is my day off)

Have a lovely week, friends!

I'm sharing this at Monday ManiaMenu Plan Monday, Real Food 101, Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter, Fresh Bites Friday, Fight Back Friday.

9 comments:

  1. do your kids go for sneaking spinach into salads and smoothies? that is probably the main way i do spinach, except for a crustless quiche we do about every other week that i load with spinach and whatever leftover stuff we have in the fridge. my kids always love spinach in quiche. just another idea. :)

    my recent post: when it is just too much

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  2. Mmmmm, I LOVE spinach quiche! I used to put spinach in our smoothies but the oxalic acid bugs our tummies so we only eat it wilted now (which neutralizes the oxalic acid).

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  3. Will they really eat green eggs or is this the first time? I think it's a great idea but I'd love to know how it goes over with the kids. Maybe you can let us know then I'll try it with mine. ;)

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  4. That cinnamon vanilla baked oatmeal sounds delicious. I went and bookmarked the recipe - do you think in place of the acidic medium I could just use my sourdough starter? It seems like that would take care of the flour and acid in one go. But I haven't made oatmeal in a long time because I'm nervous about the soaking part (making it taste funky...) ... but that recipe looks delicious enough to get over my fear!

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  5. It's super yummy, I've made it twice. And you can totally use sourdough starter; that's what I was planning to use next time. :)

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  6. Awesome menu plan you've got here Katie! I'm working on mine right now, so this is great inspiration. :) Thanks for including many recipes from EN!

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  7. Thanks, Jami! I LOVE Eat Nourishing and am happy to spread the word. :)

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  8. Marina Bershadski-FedorinJanuary 30, 2012 at 7:01 AM

    Thank you! this is great inspiration. One of my new year resolutions is to spend more time menu planning.

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  9. this sounds like a brilliant line-up! I never have trouble eating more greens though, because I love my vegetables (: I think eating your greens shouldn't be considered a chore. food that tastes good, prepared from scratch with love, is going to definitely be good for our bodies, no need to "impose" them at all!

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