The Weekly Spread: A Dietitian's Mealplan

I've been planning January's cooking class menu and want to make Tuna Casserole. It's healthy, easy, and comforting, but my kids don't like the classic version with canned soup. So, I decided to come up with my own recipe.

Last week, I created a tuna noodle casserole recipe and made it for dinner. The family devoured it! Even my pickiest daughter ate an entire plate and asked for more (she didn't realize it had tuna in it LOL).

Now I'm going to work on fine tuning the recipe for cooking class and taking photos, so we will be eating tuna noodle casserole a few times this week. Good thing my family likes it! Hopefully I can wrap that up and post the recipe soon. Until then, here is my menu for the week, ENJOY!

Monday: TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE + green salad + fresh oranges (doesn't it look good in the photos)

Tuesday: LENTIL TACOS + salsa + lettuce + mango smoothie (milk, mangoes, orange juice)

(image from allrecipes)

Wednesday: VEGGI NOODLE SOUP (December's cooking class recipe) + green salad + fresh apple slices

Thursday: VEGGI CURRY W/ RICE + canned applesauce

Friday: TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE AGAIN! w/fruit and vegetable that's still in the house

Saturday: CHILI + CORNBREAD + any fruit that's left in the house (probably canned peaches)

Sunday: LEFTOVERS

The Weekly Spread 12/28-12/4

I hope your thanksgiving weekend was full of good food! It's cold and I'm in the mood for some veggie soups, as you can see from my menu this week!

Sunday: homemade black bean enchiladas w/SALSA (as we learned in cooking class, salsa counts as a vegetable!) - I was too tired to include any other parts to that meal

Monday: Leftover turkey soup with wild rice + orange slices + canned croissant rolls

• FYI to make that recipe healthier, I'll use about 1 Tablespoon oil to cook the carrots and onion, and then I'll add in whole milk instead of half and half

image from tasteofhome.com

Tuesday: Potato and leek soup + whole wheat breadsticks + apple slices

(the leeks are frozen, but potatoes and apples are inexpensive winter produce)

image from tasteofhome.com

Wednesday: tuna noodle recipe from a cooking class participant (thanks Lanetta!) + applesauce

(I'll be adding frozen peas, the applesauce is canned)

Thursday: pumpkin black bean curry + naan bread + rice + mango smoothie

(using frozen broccoli and frozen mangoes!)

image from minimalistbaker.com

Friday: pumpkin garbanzo bean soup + naan bread + pomegranates

image from thespruceeats.com

Saturday: leftovers, cottage cheese, crackers and canned peaches

The Weekly Spread: A Dietitian's Meal Plan

When I menu plan, I always look through the fridge and freezer first to see what needs to be used up. Things I needed to use up: leftover chili, leftover stew, and cottage cheese. Instead of eating just chili and stew again, I'm going to turn them into a different meal - see how below!

Monday: Leek and potato soup (using garden leeks that I put in the freezer in September and potatoes) + homemade breadsticks + green salad (from my garden) + canned pineapple

image from wix.com

Tuesday: Spinach Lasagna (using up cottage cheese) + canned green beans + oranges (I bought these last week, they last a few weeks in the fridge)

image from https://www.myfoodandfamily.com/recipe/051636/spinach-lasagna-recipe

Wednesday: Black beans + rice + frozen mangoes + green salad (I've been cooking my own dry beans, it's a great way to save money, the link below shows you several ways to do this!)

image from https://vanillaandbean.com/how-to-cook-black-beans/

Thursday: Shepherd's Pie, made with leftover stew from last week + canned applesauce

https://www.themeateater.com/cook/recipes/venison-shepherds-pie-recipe

Friday: Baked potatoes with leftover chili from last week + canned pineapple (I cook my potatoes in the microwave, it's fast and easy - it only takes about 5 minutes on high heat)

Saturday: trial of new tuna noodle casserole recipes

Sunday: Thanksgiving celebration (we do it early with extended family so that we can travel over the holiday) We split up the meal and are in charge of stuffing, pecan pie and rolls.

Have a great week!