Low Waste Weekly Meal Plan | Week of June 6
Wondering what to make for dinner this week? Here is our real-life low waste menu from last week that hopefully gives you some dinner ideas to share with your family.
This week, I had a whole menu planned. I wasn’t too thrilled about it, but it worked and used mostly ingredients we already had in our kitchen.
Then, we received our first Misfits Market box, and my whole menu got flipped on its head for the better. I’ve been improvising all week to use up produce before it goes bad. As a result, we’ve had healthier dinners that turned out to be more a mish-mash of fruits and veggies instead of protein driven plates, which is perfectly fine by me.
So, without further ado, here’s what we had this past week for dinner and how we tried to keep food waste as minimal as possible.
Saturday
- Salmon and orzo with red wine cream sauce
We needed to use up some red wine and we had some salmon in the freezer. So I searched Pinterest for “salmon red wine recipe” and found a few to consider.
I made a couple of modifications based on what I already had on hand and to limit the number of ingredients I would have to purchase. For example, the recipe called for heavy cream which I don’t often buy. Instead, I Googled “how to replace heavy cream with milk” and made the substitutions.
I also swapped in dried garlic powder and thyme for fresh alternatives called for by the recipe. I didn’t have fresh garlic or thyme, so used a 2 tsp of garlic powder and 1 tsp of thyme.
Lastly, I wanted to add a bit of flavor to the orzo. I had a bunch of frozen chicken broth so I defrosted two jars and replaced the water with chicken broth for a more flavorful orzo.
Like many recipes I loosely follow, this probably didn’t turn out exactly like the recipe online. But that’s not the intent. I only needed to make something good enough for my family to enjoy.
Sunday
- Order Pizza – don’t forget to compost the box!
Monday
- Chicken wings
- Fresh fruit – apples and cara cara oranges
Tuesday
- Chicken fajita bowls with black beans, Spanish rice, and guacamole
Wednesday
- Eggplant spread on crostini
- Roasted cauliflower with garlic powder and parmesan cheese
- Leftover chicken
- Sauteed green beans with salt and pepper
On Tuesday, we received our first order from Misfits Market. I had recently purchased a bunch of produce from the grocery store not knowing exactly when the Misfits Market order would arrive. Therefore, I prioritized lots of produce in our meals to ensure we used up everything before it spoiled. (FYI: Use my referral code COOKWME-YW9VRA to get 25% off your first order.)
Thursday
- Salads with a variety of produce from our Misfits Market box and this BRIANNAS Asiago Caesar dressing (which is so good!)
- Eggplant spread and crostini (spread leftover from the previous night)
- Chicken wraps with leftover chicken
Friday
- “Use It Up” Charcuterie Spread – I’ll put it together with all the odds and ends in our fridge that need to get used up.
- Roasted potatoes and carrots (from our Misfits box)
- Sauteed green beans with salt and pepper