Meal Plan - October 10-14

As you all know, I really hate to meal plan, but this week was a different story. I actually enjoyed it. Weird..I guess there is a first time for everything. :)

Last weekend was our Canadian Thanksgiving. I love holidays, I just hate all the stress involved in the holiday. This year was pretty laid back, thank goodness!! So Monday was a holiday and we just had some leftovers for dinner. Yay! A simple meal for once. :)

Tuesday was turkey Tuesday. Although, we just had turkey on Saturday, I had some ground turkey in my fridge and I had to use it or it was going to be tossed in the trash. I HATE throwing out food. HATE IT!! So I started looking up some recipes, and stumbled upon this great one, Cranberry Turkey Meatballs. They were making my mouth water at just the thought of them. I did make some changes, but boy were they ever good!!

Thanksgiving Meatballs served with
mashed potatoes and Swiss chard topped with some yummy gravy.
(Mashed potatoes, Swiss chard and gravy were
left overs from Thanksgiving.)

Wednesday was another leftover day. This time it was left over butternut squash ravioli filling and roasted chicken. I'm not a big fan of leftovers, but my meals are getting better, so my leftovers are getting better too. I guess I should have thought of that way sooner. LOL!
Thursday, I decided to be more adventurous. It was quinoa sushi night. It was a big success. I would like to say it was my own idea, but it would be a HUGE lie!! I have been craving sushi for a while, but I wanted to try it with quinoa, since I have been substituting rice for quinoa. I stumbled across this recipe, Asparagus Quinoa Sushi with a Lemon-Ginger Dipping Sauce. I am so happy I did. Quinoa sushi was amazing!! Instead of asapargus, I used cucumber and avocado for one, and char siu (sweet Chinese BBQ pork) for the other. 

Left: Char Siu Sushi
Right: Cucumber and Avocado Sushi

Friday was the last day of my well organized meal plan for the week, it was a pretty big debate whether to have a roast beef or fish tacos. Well, Rice Sushi won! I know it wasn't really an option, but Kat was really craving some more and so was I. Who can really say "No" to sushi? :)

Left: California Roll - rice inside
Middle: California Roll - rice outside
Right: Smoked Salmon Roll

This was the end of my amazing meal plan. I even shocked myself at how easy everything fell together. I should really do this more often, but it's always a challenge for me. Oh well, maybe I'll has a stroke of genius later on this month, but I'm not holding my breathe. LOL!

Here's my adaption of the Cranberry Turkey Meatballs. I hope you enjoy it! :)

Thanksgiving Meatballs (makes about 40 golf ball size meatballs)

Ingredients:
2 lb. lean ground turkey
¼ cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1 pkg Stove Top Stuffing
½ cup milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until just combined. (I found using your hands work best.)
3. Shape into meatballs about the size of golf balls. Place on prepared baking sheet about 1" apart. 
4. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the internal temperature is about 165 F.
5. Remove from oven ans serve. 

Let me know how your meal plans work for you. If you have an tips, please, please let me know. I think I have OCD about food, so meal planning usually doesn't work out very well for me. :(

Happy Cooking!! :)