Happy Sunday!
This week it seems we are traveling around the world, with recipes influences from Asia, Morocco, Mexico and Italy lol.... while I do like exposing my kids to different recipes and flavors from around the world I also often get bored with food, so bringing in different and new flavors helps me feel a bit more excited about cooking and eating.
As a reminder, I publish easy, mostly gluten-free weeknight dinner menus on Sunday so that I know exactly what ingredients to buy and exactly what I’m cooking every night, which makes my weeknights so much easier. I also usually post school lunch menus for the week. Beyond making weekdays easier, the idea is that the more we eat and cook at home, the lower our exposure level too many harmful, environmental toxins; particularly hormone disrupting phthalates and PFAS chemicals (eating processed foods and eating out are our main sources of phthalate exposure!)
Per popular request, I included some lower tox alternatives to items that I will use in this week meal making at the end!
Monday: Sesame Soba Noodles And Chicken
My husband and I lived in Singapore for a bit after we were married, and I used to make so many Asian noodle recipes. My older son doesn’t love noodles now, so I’ve stopped making them, but the other kids love them too! So trying to incorporate them a little bit more. Might make some rice on the side for my older son.
Tuesday: Moroccan Chicken Pomegranate Couscous
As I mentioned, I like to expose the kids to plenty of spices from a very early age so that they get used to trying different foods and flavors (note: I don’t go crazy with the spices, sometimes I cut the spice amount so that its not too strong but gives a hint of flavor. We also skip spicy- but say yes to spices - hope that makes sense!) Also, it elevates a plain chicken to something new and different with just things that you have in your spice rack. For this recipe, I will make couscous, and then some quinoa on the side for those of us who are gluten-free.
Wednesday: green chicken enchiladas
I do a slightly easier take on this recipe. (Although I’m sure this recipe is probably tastier) I boil the chicken breast with some salt and shred it. And for the sauce, broil the tomatillos in the oven with a little bit of garlic and salt and I mix it up with a little bit of cilantro in the mixer. And that’s my sauce. I also use corn tortillas instead of flour. I try to make extra chicken because it’s great for sandwiches and salads for lunch the following day.
Thursday: Flank Steak with Corn Salsa
What I love about this corn salsa is that I can use it for lunch and school lunch the next day so make extra! Corn is known for high pesticide levels, so make sure to buy organic. I usually buy Organic and frozen because its readily available.
Friday: Pasta!
If you have been here for a bit, you know that I like to keep Friday really simple with pasta. This week I’m adding some shrimp to add a little bit of protein, but you could also just serve normal premade pesto.
shop this week’s menu
Stainless Steel cookie sheet (for the tomatillos)
School Lunch
We use bento style school lunch containers for my preschooler and larger containers made out of stainless steel for my Seventh grader. For the preschooler, items I usually send her with include: berries, tomatoes, cucumbers, kiwi, grapes, carrots and hummus, edamame, organic corn, green bean ( with some butter)... These are usually snack foods that we find travel well.
MONDAY: quesadillas
TUESDAY: soba noodles with edamame and carrots
WEDNESDAY: bento grazing lunch: carrots and hummus, turkey slices, rice crackers, cucumbers and tomatoes
THURSDAY: leftover chicken with tomatillo salsa with rice
FRIDAY: corn and tomato salad from the night before with falafels and hummus (as you know i try to avoid processed foods but this is one I have on standby in my freezer and sometimes resort too… Afia falafel ingredients are pretty good although there is some sunflower oil)