Meal plan- July

I’m loving Door to Door organics. We get the small box and it’s been perfect.
So much so, that I’m planning to try something new for our July meal plan.

I’m going to get a few items from Costco.
Such as:
Organic frozen broccoli
Frozen veggie medley
Romaine lettuce
Parmesan cheese
Milk
Butter
Bread
PB
Blueberries
Organic chicken
Non-organic chicken
Annie’s mac n’ cheese
Veggie straws
Heavy cream (for Av’s goat milk mixture)
Fish sticks (the real ones)
Eggs
Yogurt
Granola
Bananas

Get a few items from Nature’s Pantry or Hyvee:
Pasta- (I buy a few boxes from Italy and a few Gluten-free)
Goats milk
A snacks for the kids- usually a box or two of Annie’s bunny graham crackers
A couple packages of stew meat or steak
Salad dressing

Then see what I can make with the above items and what Door to Door sends me.
(I'm already stocked on my baking items, oils, brown rice, and condiments)

I will say, in the four weeks I’ve been doing Door to Door, I’ve learned a few tricks to not let our food go bad. These tips have also aided my preggo exhaustion and desire to not mess up the kitchen everyday, since we’re trying to sell the house.

Tip #1
When Door to Door arrives I immediately (or as soon as possible) wash the items and store them in appropriate containers. For example, this week red leaf lettuce, and spinach came. So I washed and chopped the items, put half of each kind in a big bowl, and the other halves in labeled baggies with paper towels. Then I washed and cut my Costco romaine and did the same. This way, I have a large mixed salad already prepared and the extra’s ready to use.

Tip #2
If I don’t have plans for my veggies or they’re about to go bad, I’ll make a pasta salad or veggie pasta by sautéing the vegetables in a white wine sauce or olive oil, garlic, lemon juice sauce. So far each of these dishes has kept in the fridge for a couple days.

Here is the recent recipe I used for pasta salad, it turned out great and Avery loved it. Bray did not, but that’s to be expected since he only wants peanut butter sandwiches and chicken.

Tip #3
Wash the berries and store them in baggies with paper towels, just like the lettuces. My blueberries have made it a week without mold or tasting funny. Perfect snack or addition to my yogurt and granola. I also made a blueberry coffee cake, because why not?

Tip #4
Door to Door sends a lot of fruit that my kids don’t eat or haven’t tried. I at least make them take a bite of each kind and on a couple of occasions Avery ate the whole thing. Bray usually won’t swallow his bite and throws a ginormous tantrum about it, but whatever. I normally have quite a bit of fruit leftover so I’ll either make a juice from the mixture or a fruit salad. If the fruit is super tart, I’ll add a bit of sugar to the fruit salad, and I always add lemon juice- orange zest would also be a great addition. Recently, I’ve wanted to try grilling the fruit and make a homemade whip cream to go on top. Doesn’t that sound delish?

A couple other "must do’s" are to grill quite a few chicken breasts (we do 8) at the same time, they’re perfect for quick lunches and a topping to the already made salad (we’re big chicken caesar salad people), and dice up the hard (so it doesn’t over cook, like potatoes or carrots) produce. I’ll add the diced produce to my frozen veggies, top with coconut oil, garlic powder, salt, throw in the oven at 425 for 20-30 minutes, add lemon juice, then serve with grilled chicken and parmesan, if you’re feeling fancy.

Happy planning!