Day 1: Minestrone soup
Day 2: Italian chicken, Easy cucumber and tomato salad
Day 3: Homemade pizza, Tossed salad
Day 4: Zoodles with homemade pasta sauce
Day 5: Grilled brats, Red pepper slices, Melon salad
Day 6: Breakfast for dinner (Pancakes, Eggs with sauteed veggies)
Day 7: Crock Pot cheesy cauliflower soup, Corn muffins
Notes: It’s sauce week! I spend a couple of days a year making a bunch of homemade pasta sauce. Why do I do this? Well, it tastes so much better than the jarred stuff and it also helps save money and packaging. My mother-in-law dropped off a big bucket of Roma tomatoes and I have some ripening in my garden too. It is time to cook! I’ve been using the same recipe for a few years now and have tweaked it to my likeness. I use my immersion blender so there is no need to peel the tomatoes, which saves me a ton of time. I’ve dabbled in canning, but with this sauce I prefer to freeze it. It just works better for me and I don’t have to adjust my recipe to make sure that it has enough acid for proper preservation. You can find tips for freezing in the recipe link.
Quick Meal Tips: Since I will be spending a bit of time in the kitchen making pasta sauce, I have planned mostly quick and easy meals for the rest of the week. Here is a breakdown of my quick meals that should take less than 30 minutes from start to finish (except for the Crock Pot cooking time):
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- Day 2: For the Italian chicken, simply get your favorite Italian salad dressing from the supermarket (preferably in a glass jar for recycling), pour over the raw chicken that has been poked with a fork, and let marinade for at least 30 minutes. Then you can either grill or bake it for about 20-30 minutes until no longer pink inside. While the chicken is cooking, make the cucumber and tomato salad. It will take you about 10 minutes.
- Day 3: If you have been following along with me for awhile now, then you know that we eat homemade pizza every week. The dough literally takes 5 minutes to mix, but it needs a resting time to rise. My kitchen hack to cut time is to make a bunch at once and then freeze in balls. The hardest part of pizza night is remembering to take the dough out of the freezer in advance so that it defrosts enough to roll out! Tossed salad as a side is very quick to make while the pizza cooks in the oven.
- Day 4: The zoodles are also really easy, especially if you have a spiralizer (otherwise just julienne cut a zucchini or shave with a vegetable peeler). For serving, microwave the zoodles for about 30-60 seconds to soften then top with sauce. And if you don’t want to try making your own sauce, you can always buy a jar. My favorite brand is Muir Glen because it is organic, uses simple ingredients, and does not have any added sugar.
- Day 5: It doesn’t get any easier than raw fruits and veggies alongside grilled meat. This week we are having brats with sliced peppers and cubed melon. Prep will take you only as long as it takes to cook the brats.
- Day 6: Pancakes and eggs are a staple in a lot of homes. This breakfast for supper will make a quick meal. The best part is that it gives you the freedom to use up any veggies you have sitting in your fridge.
- Day 7: If you are looking for easy meals, a Crock Pot is a must. I know a lot of people swear by an Instant Pot, but I haven’t ventured down that road yet. I typically use my slow cooker for soups and chili. The cheesy cauliflower soup will take you about 15 minutes prep, aside from the slower cooker time. I keep corn muffins in my freezer so that I can whip them out to serve with soup.
CSA Breakdown: For those of you also using Crossroads Community Farm, here is a breakdown of how I will use each piece of produce this week. See the first CSA post from this season for details on how I structure the plans.
- Tomatoes (1.0 Unit) – 2 large in the minestrone, cherries for the cucumber tomato salad, any left will go into pasta sauce
- Beans, Green (1.0 bag) – ends snipped and cut into 1 inch pieces for minestrone soup
- Lettuce, Green leaf (1.0 head) – tossed salad
- Muskmelon (1.0 count) – skin peeled, seeds scooped out, then cubed and mixed with watermelon to serve with brats
- Zucchini, Green OR Gold (1.0 count) – zoodles (you’re going to need more if you want this as a meal for the whole family). Alternatively you could add it to the minestrone.
- Cauliflower (1.0 head) – cheesy cauliflower soup
- Onion, Yellow Sweet (1.0 Unit) – minestrone, cucumber tomato salad
- Watermelon (1.0 count) – skin removed and cut into cubes to mix with muskmelon
- Pepper, Red Bell or Red Carmen (1.0 count) – cut into slices to eat raw with brats
- Cucumber (1.0 count) – cucumber tomato salad
- Garlic (1.0 count) – minestrone, pasta sauce
- A1 Corn, Sweet (5 count) – 2 cut from cob for minestrone, 3 cut from cob for a double batch of corn muffins
