Things to Eat - Chickpea & Kale Shakshouka & 4 Week Meal Plan

For the last few weeks I've become rather addicted to the Dinner: A Love Story Cookbook - the recipes are super easy and the kids (so far) have loved them all (even ones I would have bet money on them hating). Plus, I keep returning to Gwyneth's cookbook - IT'S ALL GOOD: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great.

CHICKPEA AND KALE SHAKSHOUKA (from Clean Eating magazine):

Ingredients:
* 1 tsp olive oil
* 1 yellow onion
* 4 cloves garlic
* 1 tsp ground cumin
* 1/2 tsp ground coriander
* 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
* 1 can chickpeas
* 2 cups canned, jarred, or boxed tomatoes
* 1 large bunch kale
* 4 eggs
* 2 oz feta cheese, crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a large ovenproof skillet, heat oil. Add onions and saute for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, coriander, paprika, salt, and cayenne. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute more.
3. Add chickpeas, tomatoes, and 1/5 cups water and bring to a simmer.
4. Add kale, a few handfuls at a time until kale wilts. When all kale has been added, reduce heat to medium-low and cook until the kale is tender, about 5 minutes.
5. Turn off heat. With the back of a spoon, create 4 shallow indentations in a the veggie mixture. Crack the eggs and slide them into the indentations.
6. Sprinkle cheese over the eggs and veggies.
7. Transfer to the oven and cook until the eggs are set, 8 to 10 minutes

4 WEEK MEAL PLAN:

WEEK 1:

MONDAY - Arroz Con Pollo (from Dinner: A Love Story Cookbook ). New recipe and a huge hit. The whole family loved this.

TUESDAY - Taco night - Ground beef and refried beans. Not very exciting, but the kids love Taco Tuesday.

WEDNESDAY - Kale sausage and white bean stew (from Dinner: A Love Story Cookbook). This seemed like an iffy choice, but the the kids really liked this (well, except T, who rarely eats anything). So good.

THURSDAY - Our friends have us over for dinner (yum).
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WEEK 2:

MONDAY - Lamb sliders with yogurt sauce (from Dinner: A Love Story Cookbook). The kids really enjoyed this meal, but Dan said, "let's stick with ground beef." Ground lamb does sort of stink up a kitchen.

TUESDAY - Fish tacos (from IT'S ALL GOOD: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great). These were good, but I used cod, which was much trickier to cook then tilipia (my staple). I also made Gwyneth's chipotle salsa, which I can't stop eating.

WEDNESDAY - Black bean burritos (from Dinner: A Love Story Cookbook). I was too lazy to wrap the burritos so we ate them as tacos. Both the girls asked if we could eat these every night.

THURSDAY - I went out to eat with friends. The kids had mac and cheese from a box. Dan fended for himself.
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WEEK 3:

MONDAY - Brown rice with corn, black beans, and canned tomatoes (with chiles). Now that soccer season has started I need something super easy on Monday night. And this was super easy. Not exactly exciting, but nobody complained.

TUESDAY - Chicken with bacon & brussels sprouts (from Dinner: A Love Story Cookbook). Huge hit. Not a bite left over.

WEDNESDAY - Tilipia "baked clam" style (from IT'S ALL GOOD: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great). This is a family classic. Everyone likes it. The breadcrumbs make plain fish feel "special" somehow.

THURSDAY - Ethiopian restaurant for dinner (F insisted).
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WEEK 4: SPRING BREAK - (i.e. eat out all the time and gain a ton of weight)
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WEEK 5:

MONDAY - Tomato and lentil salad (from IT'S ALL GOOD: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great). (with mac and cheese for the kids (from a box) and edamame). I love this salad, plus it refrigerates well for lunch the next day.

TUESDAY - Date night (Mazagan for dinner).

WEDNESDAY - Curried chicken (from Dinner: A Love Story Cookbook). The kids asked if we could have this every night, even T ate a platefull (granted, a very small plate).

THURSDAY - Chickpea and Kale Shakshouka (from Clean Eating magazine) (with edamame and chicken nuggets for the kids). So this was good. Really good. And the eggs made it easier to determine an exact serving size. I think I'll start making this dish on a regular basis, probably even ask the kids to try some next time.