It may be over 100° F but that isn’t too hot for me. Comfort foods go over well with my family. For lunch today I finished off some leftovers by mixing brown rice and lentil-pinto chili together; right now I am so full I can barely sit up straight. 🙂 Just so you know I didn’t eat bowls and bowls of it. I probably had about 1 1/2 cups (not quite a full bowl), but between the lentils, beans, brown rice, and veggies that is a lot of fiber. To modify a famous quote, “fiber is a girls best friend.” Everything we eat wont fall under the comfort food category but I hope a few will.
Meal Plan
Breakfast is usually quick and easy foods. We have been on the go almost every morning for the last few weeks and my boys want to eat all morning. I’ve been letting them have cereal for their first breakfast, this usually just keeps them busy while I make their real breakfast or work on something else. We normally eat oatmeal with fruit, I like to add almond butter to mine. Breakfast Quinoa is another versatile favorite but it is hard for my little guys to eat without a big mess.
Lunches are usually pretty simple too. Most of the time it’s leftovers, but sometimes we have nut butter and fruit sandwiches, salad wraps, or and easy soup.
Snack time is a great way to make sure you are getting all the veggies you need. We like raw veggies with hummus, my husband and son have even been eating cups of raw baby spinach with the smallest bit of balsamic vinaigrette. Fruit and greens smoothies are always popular here, of course I don’t tell the teenagers I put greens in it.
Dinner is where I actually put forth effort. 🙂 I try to cook enough for lunches and sometimes dinners on other nights. My husband almost always takes lunch (plus breakfast and snacks) to work each day.
Monday: Pasta and red sauce with mushrooms, tomatoes, and onions. We will also have a large salad made with Spring Mix, spinach, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, any other veggies I can find.
Tuesday: Broccoli and Rice casserole. This has been my teenagers favorite dish since they came here to visit. My daughter asks for it all the time and today my husband told me it is in his top three favorite meals. I’ve made it with millet but they didn’t like it as much. It is perfect with brown rice or couscous. I’ve mentioned how I make this but I’ll post an official recipe later this week.
Wednesday: We have a long day of appointments and plans all day so this will probably be an eating out kind of day.
Thursday: Black Bean Taco Salad
Friday: Minestrone or Potato Soup
I don’t post our meals for the weekends unless we have something special planned. I cook some meals but we like to finish off all of the leftovers, buy groceries and start the week fresh.
Have you planned your meals for the week? Today I cooked a pot of chickpeas but I haven’t planned a specific meal for them. They may become hummus or perhaps BBQ Chickpea salad.
