Ever wondered how to buy everything you need for one week of delicious EASY nutritious meals? Tired of spending too much grocery shopping just to have rotting food in the fridge? Staring aimlessly at each aisle trying to piece together a meal plan? I’ve sooo been there, and I’ve finally developed a system! Relax, not one of the following meals even require an oven! I plan to do more of these, so make sure you leave a comment saying that you liked this post so I’ll do more soon, okay?

FYI: It’s just me and my husband I cook for so these proportions would need to be scaled to the size of your household

Feel free to tailor these to you!

Are you veggie or vegan? No problem! substitute tempeh instead of chicken. If you have a vitamix, then you can substitute cashew cream or almond butter instead of cooking cream. You can substitute scrambled tofu instead of eggs. Substitute Coconut Oil in place of butter. ETC.

Shopping list

• mixed greens lettuce
• zucchini (4)
• red peppers (6)
• carrots
• radishes
• beets (pre cooked sliced)
• eggs
• preservative free fresh artisan bread (that you slice at home)- I went thru 2 this week one was a black olive / rosemary one and the other a plain sourdough. Or sprouted raw bread is the healthiest option! Learn why
• 2 packs of pre-made gnocchi
• chicken breasts
• cilantro
• lemons (6)
• goat cheese
• goat cream cheese
• sweet potatoes (4-6)
• pears (4)
• Parmesan shredded and whole
• pesto or frozen basil cubes
• cooking cream

Usually stored up at home

Buy a lot of these things and store in appropriate containers. We may not use them this week, but soon we will!

• sunflower seeds
• pecans
• pine nuts
• ginger
• mirin cooking oil (it’s in the Asian aisle)
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• Apple cider vinegar
• brown rice
• quinoa
• millet
• honey
• lentils
• soy sauce

My typical breakfast

eggs sunny side up, toast, goat cream cheese, Tabasco sauce, slice of feta
with a salad…
either:

• chopped cucumber tomato onion
• or if a little more time- cucumber, little bit of tomato, red pepper, radish, carrot, onion
• or simple tomatoes, cilantro, and onion only
• or lettuce based with just red pepper, carrots

You don’t need fancy choppers, just a good veggie knife and a veg peeler and a cutting board.

dinners I made from above shopping list

Cilantro chicken with crushed honey roasted peanuts served with smashed sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamon and a goat cheese pear salad with pecans and ginger dressing

Make chicken marinade first (you only need to marinate 30 min in fridge)

Ingredients:
chop 2 big bunches of cilantro
5 garlic cloves thru press
1 nub ginger (size of small garlic clove) thru press
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice (or lime)
1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper
few dashes of mirin (you don’t have to have this)

1. Mix above ingredients in a square shallow glass dish and place thawed out chicken breasts in it, cover, and place in fridge for 30 min.
2. for that 30 min you can prepare the smashed sweet potatoes. Chop them in large chunks, leave skin on, and place in boiling water about 30 min until soft.
3. while the potatoes are boiling start salad dressing. grab a small little bowl and add a little bit of lemon juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar or soy sauce, one nub of ginger (thru the garlic press), 1/2 teaspoon salt.

4. check your potatoes..If still time to go, make salad. wash your mixed greens and dry and place in large bowl. slice 2 pears, chop up some goat feta, chop up some pecans and toss in with dressing. done…

5. now to the sweet potatoes…drain them, place them in big bowl, and smash them with a masher and add tablespoon or so of butter and tablespoon of cinnamon.
6. and now for the chicken! melt some butter or coconut oil in fry pan and take the chicken breasts but try not to bring in too much of the marinade (you know like pour the juice from the dish on top) because you want the chicken to get a little bit of a golden burn. It looks more appealing to me that way and the more marinade you get in at the beginning the less likely you will get that gold burn on them. when they are almost done, add more marinade. Serve them with chopped up nuts of some kind on top (I used PLANTERS honey roasted peanuts!) and some fresh cilantro.

zucchini gnocchi w/ red peppers

(I made this 2 times, it’s what I make when I’m lazy or when I want to drink red wine)

1. dice up zucchini, heat up olive oil in large sauté pan on low heat. If you have some sage why not crumble a little in there, throw in the zucchini try not to move it around too much because we want it to get a little crispy golden before stirring it around. So leave untouched 3-5 min before shifting things.
2. when zucchini is half way done toss in the gnocchi and try not to move it around too much because we want it to get a little crispy golden. same as with zucchini.
3. toss in some pine nuts and sauté about 10 min until zucchini and gnocchi are done and crispy. While you are waiting for it to cook, slice up a red pepper and toss it in when you are done chopping it up.
4. press 1-2 garlics in with the garlic press, stir up and wait a minute, then add cooking cream (no more than max. 1/2 a cup), and toss in a few frozen basil cubs or some pesto mixture.

roots dinner salad w/ Parmesan and fresh bread with olive oil balsamic dip

start with the dressing:
Get your small little bowl for making dressing and squeeze in one lemon, remove the seeds, add a teaspoon of salt, add dash of tarragon from your spice rack, that’s it! not even olive oil!

now for the salad…wash and dry mixed greens and place in large bowl and add to it:

• 2-3 shredded carrots
• the beets and or shred a fresh beet but I usually get the pre prepared ones b/c I’m lazy
• diced up radishes (not sure how many depends on size of radishes, but in a smaller ratio then everything else you added
• toss in some sunflower seeds
• slice up the parmesan (it’s nicer to thin slice a whole chunk of parmesan to get the rich flavor rather then thinly grated parmesan which is not as tasty!)
• serve with slices of your bread and mix a little olive oil and balsamic together in a small dipping dish to dip in.

Lemon Chicken served with sweet potatoes in cream basil sauce with a goat cheese pear pecan salad

• chop sweet potatoes in small cubes so you can just sauté them. When they are done add a little cooking cream and basil cubes/ or pesto to dress them up (leftovers of these go good with an egg in the morning!)
• sauté your chicken breasts in a lot of butter and lemon juice with some chopped up bay leaves (just 1-2 are needed)
• for the salad… (same as other day) grab a small little bowl and add a little bit of lemon juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar or soy sauce, one nub of ginger (thru the garlic press), 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• make salad. wash your mixed greens and dry and place in large bowl. slice 2 pears, chop up some goat feta, chop up some pecans and toss in with dressing. done…

These were so easy and delicious! I hope you are cooking these meals in non-toxic cookware as not to undermine all your efforts in eating healthy.

Please leave a comment below and let me know if you have any questions and especially share your version of these quick easy dishes!

The Endive/Quinoa Recipe

Today, I decided to do something a little different with the endives. I lined my dish with them in a pretty circular pattern (they are so beautifully shaped too! And fun to peel away!) making my dish look like an open flower. I think decorating (with) your food is very important. It makes it taste 10 times better, let’s you work up an appetite, and those who think they don’t like eating vegetarian will love the taste after they’ve slaved a bit…and hello, kids! So I always serve my vegetarian dishes with some sort of decorative element. Like lining beets or red pepper slices around the edge of the plate. Does wonders!

Anyway, after my little endive flower art I simmered up some quinoa. As it was cooking, I tossed in some rice seasoning I bought in the market. I can’t tell you what’s in there, but it’s a bunch of spices and meant to be added to rice. I buy all sorts of flavors of these and they bring life and taste to all my grain dishes!

I also stir-fried some orange squash just in olive oil, however, I’ve been meaning to switch to coconut oil, as I heard how healthy it is!

Here’s how I put it all together:

• I drizzled the endives with agave cectar and balsamic vinaigrette
• I scooped the quinoa into the center of the dish
• I chopped up some roquette greens and mixed them in
• I chopped up some walnuts and sprinkled them on top
• Then I added the Squash!

If I may say so myself….It was amazing! I used the endives as spoons and scooped up the quinoa with it. Wonderful taste sensation of the bitter endive and roquette with the sweetness of agave and the slight acidity of the balsamic and the soft sweet squash!

It felt really healthy and balanced and filling!

And… it goes great with quinoa.

Dr. Simm is an Acupuncture Physician and my first health guru! You can learn a lot from her Q+A article on On Weight Maintenance and Aging.

Her two favorite smoothie recipes packed with healing superpower are:

1. 7 Magical herb veggie blend:
   Any veggie based juice (Carrot, Celery, Red Peppers, Beet, etc. -your take!) with the following magical herbs:
   1. parsley
   2. cilantro
   3. garlic
   4. ginger
   5. basil
   6. rosemary
   7. mint

   (understand that I don’t always have all 7, but at least 5!)

2. Secret Pineapple Smoothie:
   I say secret because most people don’t know about the “white rose” which you can only see by pulling out the green tops one at a time. It sits above the inner core of the pineapple, which should also not go to waste! The “white rose” has special nutrients and phyto-chemicals that prevent cancer. if you plant the white rose with the green leaves still attached to the top of the pineapple, you can grow another pineapple plant!

   Recipe Instructions:
   Cut off the brown and mold bits, if there are any, off the white rose before tossing it in the blender along with the core (cut up in pieces) and add a little ginger and goji berries and sometimes a pinch of cinnamon, as cinnamon has some wonderful medicinal properties! Cinnamon is antibacterial and helps those with diabetes because it helps balance blood sugar!

You can get a FREE trial of the VitaMix blender through this website Click here to learn more

I often get traffic from the phrase “What Goes Good with Quinoa.” Never mind that this is grammatically incorrect; I write a lot about quinoa and it is a large part of my diet. I wanted to give the searching people even more about ‘what goes good with quinoa.’

I have many recipes for quinoa that are totally delicious!

Here are All my posts about Quinoa:

• Endive Madness (aka Quinoa Recipe)
• Nutritional Info on Quinoa and How to Prepare it
• What a healthy diet looks like!

I don’t know what has gotten in to me lately, but for the past few months I absolutely have to eat Belgium Endives at least once a week! Every time I go grocery shopping they look at me and say, “You know you can’t leave me here!” (Those endives, they’re very fresh…)

They’re bitter and I seem to crave that bitter taste. I combine it with agave nectar or honey, balsamic vinaigrette, green apples or pears, walnuts, and goat cheese. An absolutely divine combination!

I googled endives to find out possible reasons for my hankerin’:…

It seems that endives:

• contain essential amino acids, fats, starch, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, and B1, B2, C, K and P vitamins.
• stimulate appetite
• are a light laxative
• are known from ancient times to possess health benefits, and were cultivated by the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians
• are ideal for weight loss
• are 95 percent water and contain only 7.5 calories
per cup.

Sounds like my body must be craving all the good vitamins and amino acids and enjoying the cleansing effect! It just feels so right eating them. Even taste-wise, they just make culinary sense: The Chinese and Indian Cultures believe all meals should have the 5 elements of taste (sweet, sour, salty, spicy and bitter) in them. Bitter is the one we often leave out! So I’m getting good and bitter, but, American that I am, offset it with some sweet – such as agave nectar.

photo by mellowfood

By now, you’ve all heard of quinoa (pronounced kin-wa.) The Incans referred to quinoa as “the mother of all grains,” even though it’s actually not exactly a grain but a member of the beet family. In ancient times, quinoa was THE number one nutritional food staple that gave warriors stamina.

Quinoa has a light, fluffy texture when cooked, and its mild, slightly nutty flavor makes it a delicious healthier alternative to white rice or couscous.

It’s health benefits are numerous. Quinoa contains all 9 essential amino acids (phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, isoleucine, methionine, histidine, leucine, and lysine) required by infants and growing children. The body does not synthesize these chemicals, making it essential to include them in one’s diet in order to obtain them.

Quinoa is also:

• High in protein
• A good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron
• Gluten free
• Easy to digest
• Easy to grow: Only 2-4 hours resting in a glass of clean water is enough to make it sprout
  A good antioxidant

Here’s how to prepare it:

(Cooking time: 15-20 minutes)

Rinse first; this is important. Quinoa usually comes with a bitter coating called saponin. If you rinse and you don’t see the water turn soapy, then this brand of quinoa you purchased has already removed it for you!

Optional: you can also toast the quinoa first to bring out the nutty taste. Feel free to experiment by adding salt and spices as it boils to add flavor.

Put 1 cup of quinoa to 1.5 cups of water together in a pot and bring to boil, then simmer for about 15-20 minutes. (makes 4 servings)

Remove from heat and take off lid for a few minutes

Fluff with fork

Interesting recipe: Add raisins and almonds or other similar yummy treasures while cooking.

By the way….Try quinoa for breakfast! Quinoa can serve as a high-protein breakfast food mixed with honey, almonds, or berries.

“Goes good” with….almost anything! I usually prepare it hot with cauliflower, squash, and sweet potatoes.

Also good cold: After it cools down, toss in green onions, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts and celery and drizzle with lemon/salt/olive oil dressing.