The Plan:
Day 1: Vegan Shepherd’s pie
Day 2: Broccoli Alfredo
Day 3: Homemade pizza, orange slices
Day 4: Pepper and cheddar frittata, Frozen fruit smoothie
Day 5: Lasagna with spinach
Day 6: Baked potato bar
Day 7: Coconut chicken soup with rice
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)
- Bell peppers (frozen in zip top bags)
- Raspberries (frozen in zip top bags)
- Strawberries (frozen in zip top bags)
- Blueberries (frozen in zip top bags)
- Lasagna (premade and frozen in aluminum pan)
- Chicken broth
Into Storage:
- none this week
Notes: Earth Month Kick-off
April is Earth Month and it always sneaks up on me! I do love that it coincides with everything starting to green up outside. What more can you ask for motivation to participate in keeping our Earth clean and beautiful?
One of my goals for the year is to incorporate more plastic free living into this blog space. And what better time to kick it off then Earth Month?!? So for the whole month I’m going to provide some ideas for reducing plastic not only in your kitchens, but elsewhere in your life too.
This week, I’m sharing what I am doing for the whole month of April: I’m pledging to buy American!
You may be thinking that doesn’t sound like plastic free living, but indeed it is. The world is so dependent on cheap goods from other countries and unfortunately most of those goods are made with plastic and then packaged in plastic on top of that. About 20% of U.S. imports come from China. Furniture, toys, electronics, household goods, and even clothes (polyester, nylon) are made from plastic.
By avoiding purchases from other countries I will immediately cut back on plastic. But the main reason for this exercise is to become more aware of where I source the things I buy and what they are made from. I have a feeling that this challenge will result in an overall reduction of purchases, and that is a good thing! Hopefully I will save money, avoid plastic, and help reduce all the emissions that are associated with global shipping.
Where ever you live, you can make a huge difference too by pledging to buy only items produced in the country where you live for the month of April. Will you join me?
