This was a challenging week for our family; our younger son had cochlear implant surgery on Monday; although the surgery went well and he’s recovering nicely, it was tiring and stressful, and it threw our typical weekday schedule off. We created a meal plan that focused on simplicity early in the week, and incorporated a few fun recipes for the end of the week that helped us ease back into our typical routine.
On Sunday, we roasted two trays of veggies, including carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, green onion, beets, and sweet potatoes; grilled a few pounds of chicken breasts and thighs seasoned with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; and cooked a large batch of Japanese rice. This served as our base for lunch and dinner on Monday and Tuesday, freeing up our time to focus on our son.
Saturday – Our teenage son made this Vegan Posole for us over the weekend. It’s a simple and low maintenance recipe that tastes great on it’s own, or paired with sliced avocado, salty tortilla chips, and lime wedges.
Wednesday – We wanted to bring a finger food to our older son’s end of school celebration, and these Vegan Summer Spring Rolls were a hit with the parents in attendance! We paired creamy vegan feta seasoned with ginger and green onion with thin layers of crisp cucumber, sweet mango, crunchy sprouts, and peppery arugula. The tomato coulis sauce was a slightly sweet dip.
Thursday – We used our oven extensively for this meal which looks fancy but is quite easy to prepare; Roasted Trout and Bacon and Roasted Cauliflower with Cumin, Chili, and Almonds. Our younger son bravely tried, and loved, the cheek meat from the trout!
Best Brunch – This Oats-n-Seeds Bread loaf has everything you want – yeasty bread odor and taste, crunchy seeds, soft interior and crusty exterior – without any gluten or dairy. I used pumpkin seeds, and omitted the whey powder and Stevia from the original recipe. I served toasted slices with homemade Whitefish Salad (Dairy-Free) that I made using a whole smoked whitefish. The combo was delicious – the fish provided a cool, salty, and smoky contrast to the warm crusty toast.
Sweet Snack – We stopped by a farmer’s market along the coast mid-week and purchased a large bag of stone fruit. We used them to make Triple Stone Fruit Cobbler based on a recipe from Bakerita. Ours includes lightly sweetened plums, nectarines, and apricots topped with a sugar-free oatmeal walnut-pecan crumble.
