The Plan:
Day 1: Grilled hamburgers, Roasted potatoes and parsnips
Day 2: Pepper and onion fajitas
Day 3: Homemade pizza, Greenhouse spinach salad
Day 4: Out to eat for a birthday!
Day 5: Spanakopita, Homemade hummus
Day 6: Homemade pesto pasta with greenhouse cherry tomatoes, Frozen fruit smoothie
Day 7: Ratatouille (last batch frozen last season!) topped with basil from my indoor herb garden
This meal plan was curated using local foods that are in season now or preserved during the peak growing season in the U.S. Midwest. The plan is an exact replica of what our family is eating this week unless we are out of town. Meal plans are developed using whole foods and my meal planning system (click here!) and are meant to be healthy and easy to prepare. Most recipes will take no more than 30 minutes of active cooking time. Occasionally meals may require all day slow cooking, advanced prep, or some oven time. Recipes are provided when available. I sincerely hope this will help with your own meal planning!
Pantry Shuffle:
Out of Storage: (preserved when in season and coming out of my root cellar, freezer, canned, or dehydrated stash)
- Parsnips (from refrigerator root cellar)
- Ratatouille (made last season and frozen in gallon zip top bag)
- Pepper and onion pack (sliced and packed in gallon zip top bag last season)
- Pesto (made last season and frozen in 1 cup portions in reused Talenti gelato containers)
Into Storage:
- Spanakopita (extra batch to freeze in an aluminum pan)
Notes: Earth Day
Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22nd as a time to honor our planet and all it provides for us. This is a time to reflect on the human impact on the external world and how we can help to preserve it. The plastic challenge for you this week is a simple one. Let’s get the plastic out of places where it shouldn’t be. Time to pick up litter!
Earth Month Challenge #4: Gather your friends and family on April 22nd and pick up litter in your neighborhood, along a roadside, a beach, from a pond or stream, basically anywhere where garbage shouldn’t be. As you are collecting the trash, pay attention to the types of items that you find. Is it mostly food packaging, plastic bags, cans, bottles? Anything that really stands out? My bet is that the majority of the items you find will be plastic. Even cardboard food containers are lined with plastic, and foil wrappers are also typically combined with plastic. Picking up litter always makes me think twice about purchasing products in these types of packaging in the future.
Looking for more ideas to celebrate Earth Day? Check out this post: 10 Family Activities for Earth Day
