28 Day Meal Plan

28 days of meals...in no real order though...eat as your heart desires. 

Clean eating. No processed foods. No crazy boxed foods. Just pure simple cooking. I won't go totally nuts though; I know some foods need to be bought in a box {pasta}.

Totally pinterest ready and available on my clean eating board. Follow my board to get more ideas for meals all year long.

This Mac and Cheese

Chicken Quinoa Casserole

Avocado Quinoa

This Easy Baked Salmon

How about another salmon recipe

Chicken, Spinach, and Artichokes

Egg salad made with avocados

Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa

Spaghetti Squash Carbonara *kids will love this*

This Chicken Chili

Zucchini Noodle Shrimp Scampi

Stuffed Portobello

Sesame Cauliflower and Bell Peppers

Burrito pie

Creamy Sundried Tomato Chicken

Portobello Pizza gives new meaning to mushroom pizzas

Black Bean and Potato Nachos

This veggie medly

More Zucchini Pasta

Couscous Salad

Cauliflower Couscous

This other Mac & Cheese

Clean eating Pulled Pork

A Greek Chicken Pita

Lemon Chicken

Lime shrimp and avocado

Quinoa Bites

Quinoa Fried "Rice"



Bonus!!!

Some great breakfast ideas

Breakfast Quiche

Eggs in an Avocado Boat

Chickpea Scramble

Let's begin with why I made this dinner. Ok, ok, not me, Boo. Boo made dinner...and she loves sausage and she loves potatoes.

Well, earlier this week a friend of mine challenged a bunch of us to eat clean for five full days. Not hard, and likely just the push I needed to get the kids back on track with eating. I accepted {read about it here}. Feel free to follow us on our little adventure...

To start us off, I will share Boo's recipe for her Italian Sausage Bake she made tonight...clean eating, healthy (if you don't over indulge), and so basic a child can make it.

Yield: 4 servings

What you will need:

1 pack of Italian sausage (you can go sweet or hot)
Brussels sprouts
4 red potatoes
1/2 a bag of baby bell peppers
1 sweet onion
1 clove of garlic, minced
some olive oil

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 400*
Cut up all the vegetables in to two or three inch pieces.
Slice the sausages into thin slices.
Throw them all into a casserole dish, drizzle just a little bit of oil and add the garlic.
Toss all together, add in any spices you want.
Bake for 45 minutes.

This is a heavier dish, but again, really basic for children to make. This dinner was counted as part of Boo's HomeEc grade. Once I get that rubric and curriculum ready I will post it on my other page.

I will post all five days worth of dinners here this week, and possibly even some other meals as well.

Do you have any favorite clean eating recipes? Feel free to let us know where to find them.

I have been making this since I learned to cook, year and years ago. It is hard for me to find a chicken recipe that we will all enjoy, and Chicken Picatta is usually a great go to for me. It only takes about 30 minutes to make, and it is so good.

What you will need

4-6 Whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts {I usually use 4 and fillet them if they are really thick}
Flour
Salt & Pepper
1 Cup of chicken broth
1/2 Cup of dry white wine {use what you would drink...crappy wine makes crappy food}
Parsley
1 Whole lemon
1/4 Cup of capers
1 Cup of Mushrooms
2 Tbsp of Olive Oil
4 Tbsp of Butter {real butter}


What you do:

As I said, I tend to thin my chicken by filleting, you can pound your chicken breasts thinner as well. In a {I use cast iron} skillet, heat butter and olive oil together on medium-high heat. Dredge your chicken in flour and shake off extra. Carefully, place the chicken in the skillet and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side until browned.

Remove the chicken from the skillet and add in your broth and white wine. Squeeze your lemon juice into the mixture. Bring it all to a boil. Add in capers and mushrooms. Scrape all the cooked pieces together. Cook for 10-15 minutes more then add your chicken back for another 5 minutes {be sure your chicken reached an internal temperature of 165* for safety}. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with fresh lemon slices and parsley and serve over angel hair pasta.

August is all loose for us in our home...we don't have too many crazy rules, school is just getting going {pop on over to my 2015-2016 curriculum post and check it out}, we are just going with the flow around here while we get our groove back.



**Monthly Menu**

We relaxed on the menu for the month, this whole first week was leftovers we hadn't finished off yet.

Week two

Sunday is pasta and meatballs again...Sunday favorite around here...with homemade ice cream
Monday is kid's choice {and she hasn't picked just yet}
Tuesday is chicken piccata
Wednesday is kid's choice again
Thursday is brat bake

Week three

Sunday night is dessert night with S'mores pizza roll ups!
Monday is kid's choice
Tuesday is buttermilk baked chicken
Wednesday is kid's choice
Thursday is vegetarian lasagna
Friday is salmon {with leftovers for my picky eater, Bear}
Saturday is a leftover kind of day

Week four

Sunday is an Italian family dinner baked ziti with orange creme truffles for dessert
Monday is kid's choice
Tuesday is stuffed flank steak
Wednesday is kid's choice
Thursday is Spanish chicken

Most of these {as you can see} are Pinterest recipes we have yet to try around here. I will post the recipes and links as they are made each day.



**Crafty Goodness**

Craft wise, the girls and I decided to do one craft each month. We will count it as credit for school, but they will do their own work and their own crafts.

In August we wanted to do two because it is such a slow month.

We will be making a set of coasters for the house using photos and tiles.
Next, the girls will get to make the letters for their bedroom door.

All of this is courtesy of Pinterest!

July Menu

On a monthly basis I create a menu for that month. I sit with my children and we create away. Bear cooks on Mondays and Boo cooks on Wednesdays {or is it the opposite?} At any rate, this is a great system...I get to account for time the children will not be home and when we will be out of town. I love it to no end...

Enjoy, and maybe even steal the idea (this is great for split families)
*Single parents can save cash by making a bit more food and doing left overs while the kiddies are away*

Week 1:

~Out of town~

Week 2:

Monday: Baby Girl birthday dinner

Tuesday: Baby Girl birthday party

Wednesday: Biscuits & gravy 

Thursday: Shepherd's Pie

Friday: Salmon, mashed potatoes, and grilled veggies

Saturday: Baked chicken, yeast rolls, zucchini, and carrots
Sunday: Pasta and meatballs

Weekly Dessert: {Theme to kick off summer...S'mores} S'mores lasagna

Week 3:

Monday: Tuna noodle casserole

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Homemade pizza from scratch {more a large lunch with great leftovers available after gymnastics}

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: *Weekend at dad's*

Saturday: *Weekend at dad's*

Sunday: *Weekend at dad's*

Weekly Dessert: S'mores crescent rolls

Week 4:

Monday: Steak, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole

Tuesday: Stroganoff and asparagus

Wednesday: Colored Pasta

Thursday: ~Out of town~

Friday: ~Out of town~

Saturday: ~Out of town~

Sunday: ~Out of town~

Weekly Dessert: We will be out of town, so I am very sure this will wind up as a Starbucks run or Bear getting her cook on with a trained Chef {family member}

Week 5:

Monday: ~Out of town...Boo's choice~

Tuesday: Salmon burgers with sweet potatoes 

Wednesday: 4 cheese mac & cheese

Thursday: Baked chicken carbonara

Friday: *Weekend at dad's*