The Plan:
Day 1: Fried rice with daikon radish, carrots, eggs
Day 2: Beef and butternut squash stew
Day 3: Homemade pizza, Orange slices
Day 4: Whole roasted chicken, Pesto potatoes
Day 5: Black bean soup, Corn muffins
Day 6: Homemade tomato soup, Grilled cheese sandwiches
Day 7: Quinoa salad with carrots, Savoy cabbage, and feta
This meal plan was curated using local foods that are in season now or preserved during the peak growing season in the U.S. Midwest. The plan is an exact replica of what our family is eating this week unless we are out of town. Meal plans are developed using whole foods and my meal planning system (click here!) and are meant to be healthy and easy to prepare. Most recipes will take no more than 30 minutes of active cooking time. Occasionally meals may require all day slow cooking, advanced prep, or some oven time. Recipes are provided when available. I sincerely hope this will help with your own meal planning!
Pantry Shuffle:
Out of Storage: (preserved when in season and coming out of my root cellar, freezer, canned, or dehydrated stash)
- Daikon radish (from refrigerator “cellar”)
- Carrots (from refrigerator “cellar”)
- Savoy cabbage (from refrigerator “cellar”)
- Potatoes (from root cellar)
- Cubed butternut squash (frozen in zip top bags)
- Sirloin steak and whole chicken from Mastodon Valley Farm meat share
- Pesto (premade and frozen in empty Talenti gelato containers)
- Black beans (premade from dry beans and frozen in zip top bags)
- Vegetable broth (homemade and frozen in silicone bags)
- Corn muffins (premade and frozen in zip top bags)
- Tomato soup (homemade during tomato season and frozen in gallon zip top bag)
Into Storage:
- Homemade chicken bone broth
Notes: The benefits of soup
My meal plan this week contains not one, not two, but three soup recipes! That is because the benefits of soup are many. Simple, healthy, delicious, easy to freeze, my kids will eat it. The black bean soup is especially easy to make and literally ready to serve in 10 minutes.
Most people think of soup as a winter food. I totally disagree. We eat soup every season. The available local produce switches, but the basics stay the same. In fact, that is how I make my “fast food”. In the summer/fall I make batches of minestrone, tomato soup, stone soup and more and freeze the extras. Then in the winter/spring simply defrost and pair with some crusty bread for a quick meal on busy weeknights.
Meal planning tip: when you want to make a lot of soup, plan to make a roasted chicken the same week. The carcass (bones and connective tissue) can be placed in a stock pot/crock pot, covered with water, add veggie scraps and a tablespoon of vinegar, then simmer on low for 4-24 hours. Strain and use. The longer you cook it the more vitamins and minerals are released into the broth. An added benefit to bone broth is the collagen you get, which is super good for the growth of your own bones, connective tissue, and skin.
Soup for the win!!
