Meal Plan 30

Meal Plan Tips

These tips are designed to help you cut down on food prep and food waste, by using up leftovers.

• Purchase a loaf or two of sandwich bread and set aside 2 slices to use for the Swedish Meatballs. Use the rest of the bread to use grilled cheese. 
• For buttered egg noodles, simply cook noodles according to package directions, then toss with a bit of butter.
• Buy a large block of cheddar and use it for grilled cheese and turkey taco skillet. 
• Feel free to use ground beef for the Swedish Meatballs and Turkey Taco Skillet if desired. 
• If desired, set aside 1 pound of ground turkey or ground beef and make homemade Italian sausage for the Tortellini soup. Feel free to omit the sausage if desired as well. 
• Use heavy cream for the Tomato Soup, Fettuccine, and Tortellini soup. Feel free to use it in place of milk in Swedish meatball recipe as well.
• For stovetop tomato soup, use the same ingredients for Instant Pot Tomato Soup. Saute onions, celery, and carrots in a bit of olive oil over medium heat until the onions are softened. Once the onions begin to soften, add in the garlic, oregano, thyme, and tomato paste and sauté for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add broth, canned tomatoes, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and crushed red pepper flakes if using and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid, remove the bay leaf, and then using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth. Stir in the cream and heat until warm. 
• Use red potatoes to make mashed red potatoes to serve with chopped steaks and add to fall roasted veggies. Add any additional vegetables you have (like butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, and/or Brussels sprouts to the fall roasted vegetables. Alternatively, just make roasted red potatoes. 
• If you have butternut squash, use it to make Fall Quinoa Salad AND add to roasted veggies. 
• Use kale for salad and in tortellini soup.