Meal Plan for Mid February
Meal planning is a helpful way to reduce waste and incorporate more sustainable living habits into everyday eating routines. In this Meal Plan series, I share ideas for weekly meal plans for families (loosely based on what my family eats each week) and some related tips to reduce waste around mealtime.
We are far from perfect (whatever that means) when it comes to sustainable eating, so come along while we do our best to navigate and balance busy schedules and lots of extracurricular activities, picky eaters, and more sustainable food options as a family.
Monday
- Ground beef tacos with guacamole, cheese, and taco sauce
- Homemade tortillas
Tuesday
- Chicken and black beans empanadas
- Oranges (they don’t “match” the empanadas, but we go with what works for our family)
Wednesday
- Penne with hot Italian sausage and Fra Diavlo sauce
- Broccoli (mixed in the sauce)
- Sauteed bell peppers (mixed in the sauce)
- Garlic bread (toasted slices from Wildgrain loaf)
Thursday
- Grilled pork tenderloin
- Broccoli
- Rice pilaf
Friday
- Tuna sandwiches
- Apples
Saturday
- Eat out; meeting up with friends
Sunday
- Tilapia (see marinade below), sauteed
- Broccoli
- Rice pilaf
Marinade for the tilapia: We use the following for three tilapia filets.
- Juice from 2 limes
- 2 tbsp dried cilantro
- 4 tsp Old Bay seasoning
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Sustainable meal planning tips from this week
- Ground beef from a local farmer that we purchase at the farmers’ market
- Guacamole from a vendor at the farmers’ market
- Rice pilaf twice during the week and used leftovers for the second meal
- Frozen broccoli purchased in bulk so we used it in several meals
- Composted all food scraps and any leftovers that were not suitable for saving and eating later
Jen Panaro
Jen Panaro, founder and editor-in-chief of Honestly Modern, is a self-proclaimed composting nerd and advocate for sustainable living for modern families. To find her latest work, subscribe to her newsletter, Stepping Stones.
In her spare time, she’s a serial library book borrower, a messy gardener, and a mom of two boys who spends a lot of time in hockey rinks and on baseball fields.
You can find more of her work at Raising Global Kidizens, an online space to help parents and caregivers raise the next generation of responsible global citizens.
