Real Life Low Waste Meal Plan | Aug 16

This was our first week back home after a couple of weeks spent mostly out of town, which meant we ate LOTS of leftovers and miscellaneous mashups before leaving to empty our fridge as much as possible

Our menu this week was pretty simple, compromised mostly of chicken (cooked once and used a variety of ways) and lots of salads. I never used to eat many salads, but this Asiago Caesar dressing from BRIANNAS has been my jam and gave me a whole new view on salads!

Here’s what we ate this week!

Sunday

• Fusilli pasta with Arrabiatta sauce, broccoli, and sliced Italian sausage mixed into the sauce | Both the broccoli and sausage were in our freezer and remnants from meals past. I often scavenge the freezer for protein and veggies to put in our pasta sauce. If we don’t love the specific veggie whole in the sauce, I puree it into the sauce with our Vitamix (which has been a fantastic investment for us!)
• Garlic sourdough bread

Monday

• Shredded chicken (cooked in our Crock-Pot, another kitchen appliance that gets LOTS of love in our house), topped with barbecue sauce
• Cornbread | I used regular milk instead of buttermilk because we had that on hand, and it turned out just great.
• Corn on the cob, from a local delivery service that brings food and household products from local makers and farmers to our front door each week!

Tuesday

• Chicken bowls with shredded chicken (from Monday), Spanish rice, corn, guacamole, and shredded cheese

Wednesday

• Leftovers – whatever people want from the fridge to make a decent meal | I had another chicken bowl from Tuesday while the boys had chicken quesadillas with chips and guacamole.

Thursday

• Salads with shredded chicken, yellow peppers, apple, carrots, Soppressata, cheese, croutons, and BRIANNAS Asiago Caesar dressing | We’ve been eating these for lunch several times a week, so we have a container of the fruits and veggies that are cleaned and ready to chop each time we make the salad. I don’t mind eating the same thing several times a week, and it definitely makes meals easier and reduces food waste.

Friday

• Pasta with homemade zucchini pesto sauce (made in a large batch and stored in the freezer in 1-ounce cubes)
• Eggplant hummus spread on toasted baguette slices

Saturday

• Mustard-rubbed garlic pork tenderloin (I used spicy brown mustard instead of Dijon)
• Sauteed zucchini
• Rice pilaf
• Roasted cauliflower and broccoli