Menu Plan Monday - Week of May 9th

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day - my husband spoiled me by doing all of the shores around the house and cooking meals!  SO nice! 

I want to make note that Food Allergy Awareness Week is this week.  If you have a few minutes, take some time to educate yourself on this growing epidemic - even if your kids are not suffering, you will undoubtedly be exposed to children that are along the way.  Education is so critical!  My favorite site is AllergyKids.  FAAN is the largest food allergy network in our country - learn more about FAAW here.

You will notice a lot of my vegetarian meals focus on quinoa lately - I purchased a large bag of organic quinoa at Costco and we are loving it.  It is packed with protein so makes a great, affordable sub-in for meat.  Our Mexican quinoa tacos were awesome last week, and the leftovers were even better!  The quinoa absorbs all the flavors - very tasty stuff.  I prepped all of my veggies the night before (chopped and wrapped in cling wrap) - it took about 10 minutes to throw it all together and 20 minutes to cook!  Makes for an easy, quick cooking after work/busy day dinner!  So, buy some quinoa and join me!!  Please send me your favorite quinoa recipes if you try a new one or have some in your recipe rotation!  (Note that once cooked, quinoa is very easy for my little guy to spoon up, so very kid-friendly!)

This week, I will be making the pulled pork that I planned to make last week (always good to have some flexibility when schedules change). 

Monday:  Turkey Burgers, green beans and potato "chips" (thinly sliced Yukon golds tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper)

Tuesday:  BBQ Pork Sandwiches (from last week) with Roasted Broccoli, Carrot and Chick Pea Medley (Toss roasted veggies and beans with olive oil and vinegar of choice, salt and pepper to taste)
tip:  prepare crock pot the night before and plug it in before heading out the door!

Wednesday:  Leftovers

Thursday:  Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers and Polenta with Peas and Pancetta (sub bacon)
tip:  make polenta (put in 8x8 baking dish after cooking, bake and slice into squares before serving) and make pepper mix the night before; bake chicken and add to re-warmed pepper mix before serving!

Friday:  Quinoa Pilaf (Similar to this recipe; add or interchange veggies; add beans to make it a meal and I always sub veggie or chicken broth for the water! for my little guy, I chop veggies very fine or grind them in the food processor, easier to eat and he can't pick around them!) :)
tip:  chop all veggies the night before, wrap in plastic wrap so they are ready to dump into the pot!

Saturday: Out

Sunday:  Grass Fed Beef Butter Burgers with Kale Chips and Potato Wedges

Check out Orgjunkie's blog for more menu inspiration!