Things to Eat - The Last Meal Salad & 5 Week Meal Plan

THE LAST MEAL SALAD:

INGREDIENTS:
* 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
* 1 large leek, halved and cleaned
* Sea salt
* 4 cups (5 ounces) arugula
* 1 head (5 ounces) chopped red leaf lettuce
* 1 english cucumber, diced
* 1/2 cup dried cherries
* 1/2 cup cooked black lentils (I buy the precooked lentils from the Trader Joe's refrigerated section)
* 1/2 cup chopped almonds
* 1/2 cup feta (optional)
* Everyday Green Dressing (recipe below)

1. In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Slice the leek into think half circles and add them to the pan with a pinch of salt. Cook about 6-8 minutes until the edges are crispy. Let cool.

2. Wash and dry greens and add them to a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix.

EVERYDAY GREEN DRESSING:

INGREDIENTS:
* 2 cloves garlic
* 3 green onions, white and green parts
* 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* Zest and juice of two lemons
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
* 1 cup whole greek yogurt
* 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
* 3/4 cup parsley
* 1 cup cilantro
* 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. In a good blender or food processor pulse the garlic through the honey.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients. Blend.

- slightly adapted from The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon: Simple and Inspired Whole Foods Recipes to Savor and Share
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WEEK 1

MONDAY - Leftovers from Sunday (pork chops and zucchini).

TUESDAY - Turkey chili (via IT'S ALL GOOD: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great). Family favorite, I could almost live on this.

WEDNESDAY - California quinoa (via The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon: Simple and Inspired Whole Foods Recipes to Savor and Share) which is easy and so so good; mac and cheese with edamame for the kids.

THURSDAY - Grilled chicken Mediterranean plate (via Dinner: A Love Story: It all begins at the family table). I thought this was an awesome idea, but the kids didn't love it.

FRIDAY - Trader Joe's pizza (feeling super lazy) and peas.

WEEK 2

MONDAY - Perogies and peas (super lazy dinner night).

TUESDAY - The master hash (via Cooking Light); wow, this was fantastic, not one bite left over, we'll be having it again.

WEDNESDAY - Two cheese veggie nachos (via Cooking Light). The kids did their best to eat around all the veggies, which sort of ruined the point of the meal.

THURSDAY - Sausages with sauerkraut with a side of brussels sprouts/bacon/apple (via Martha Stewart). Nothing tastes as good as brussels sprouts with bacon and apples. Nothing.

FRIDAY - Skillet lasagna (via Dinner: A Love Story, the blog). This is probably our least healthy dinner staple, but it's easy and tastes so good.

WEEK 3

MONDAY - Zatinya with Dan for date night; the kids eat pasta and peas.

TUESDAY - Leftovers from this weekend - Dan's arrabiata sauce with pasta and a kale salad.

WEDNESDAY - Chicken and white bean chili (via IT'S ALL GOOD: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great). I love Gwynenth, but this isn't one of her best recipes, it tasted like tomato sauce with beans.

THURSDAY - Crock pot carnitas (Taco Tuesday moved to Thursday this week). Easy and yummy.

FRIDAY - Cava for F's birthday.

WEEK 4

MONDAY - Flank steak with chimichurri and tomato/cucumber/arugula salad recipe. IT'S ALL GOOD: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great has the absolute best chimichurri recipe. I could almost eat it without steak.

TUESDAY - Baked potatoes with a cucumber/tomato salad (yes, super lazy night).

WEDNESDAY - Baked orzo with mozzarella and oregano (via A Day That is Dessert) with a side of zucchini, dill, and almonds (via 101 Cookbooks). This was good, but probably not worth the amount of work it took to make. The kids (and Dan) loved the pasta, but ate around the eggplant (which was my favorite part).

THURSDAY - Dan makes soup and the dogs eat it all off the counter. So sandwiches for dinner. Sadness.

FRIDAY - Roasted green pozole with chicken (via Date Night In: More than 120 Recipes to Nourish Your Relationship). This was good, but not as good as other recipes in the cookbook. Everyone ate some for dinner, but nobody ate the leftovers. We did, however, also make Date Night In's apple cake and it was crazy good. As in CRAZY GOOD!

SATURDAY - Dan makes cod and salmon w/cold slaw salad.

WEEK 5

MONDAY - Silver Dollar night (school fundraiser).

TUESDAY - Slow cooker chicken burrito bowls (via the kitchn). The return of Taco Tuesday!! I can't believe how easy these were, I'm going to make this recipe all the time.

WEDNESDAY - Italian "drunken" noodles (via Not-So-SAHM). I couldn't figure out how to spiralize the butternut squash, so I cut it into small junks. Other than that, this recipe was amazing, no leftovers. Everyone loved it.

THURSDAY - The last meal salad (via The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon: Simple and Inspired Whole Foods Recipes to Savor and Share) with mac and cheese for the kids.

FRIDAY - Moms' weekend at the beach, the kids and Dan are on their own.