Meal planning and the freezer

Since I started Food Combining earlier this year one of my main tools is meal planning. I started out planning week by week and have progressed to planning for the entire month. Some meals I repeat each week or every other week, such as Friday night Meatza Pizza and having Spaghetti with three tomato sauce in there usually twice a month. The other thing I'm doing is trying not to have the same dish more than three times in a row. I freeze the leftovers and then when I start the meal planning for the next month, I go to the freezer and make a list that gets me a great head start into the next months meals! I try to keep looking ahead at whats coming up in the meal plan in case I need to pick up some fresh produce or plan time to cook something or make a snack. And this makes packing up in the morning for work so much easier because the deciding and the prep (usually!) is already done! Grab your nuts, your lunch--is there a salad today?, and your afternoon snack. And I'm good to go! Here's a few samples for you to peruse. Click on the images and it will open in a viewer and be easier to read.

Versatile - Broccoli Leek Soup

This is a versatile soup, meaning you can choose whether to serve with a protein (dinner) or starch (lunch). If you haven't tried leeks, don't be afraid! They are from the same family as onions but have a milder, gentler flavor. You should rinse them before you chop and probably also after as they tend to hold dirt because of all their layers. You can do this!

Broccoli Leek Soup

adapted from Eat To Lose, Eat To Win

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 leeks, chopped

3 cups vegetable broth

4 cups broccoli florets, chopped

1 zucchini, diced

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the leeks, reduce heat to low, cover the pot and sweat for 5 minutes until softened but not brown. Add the broth, broccoli and zucchini. Bring to a boil, then simmer for fifteen minutes or until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Puree with an immersion blender or in a blender and serve. 

Dinner - Tomato And Tofu Soup

Another great soup for dinner! Serve with a salad or vegetable. I have recently talked to several people who don't like tofu. My response is that tofu takes on the flavor of what it's cooked with and if you didn't like it, how was it prepared? This soup is a perfect tofu starter recipe the tofu is completely incorporated into the soup with the blender or immersion blender. I think this is a filling and amazingly good soup!

Tomato And Tofu Soup

From Junk Food to Joy Food

4 Servings

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

1 24-ounce jar marinara

1 can of tomato paste

8 ounces silken tofu, drained and cut into cubes

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots saute until vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute.

Add the marinara sauce. Fill the empty jar with water and pour the water into the pot. Bring the soup to a boil, cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. 

Puree the soup in small batches in a blender until completely smooth, or use an immersion blender to puree the soup directly in the pot.

Season with salt and pepper.

Dinner - Pork Carnitas and Salsa Verde Cruda

I don't serve these in tortillas anymore, now I serve them over romaine. This recipe makes a HUGE amount of food. When I have leftovers I individually bag up the meat with extra sauce in individual bags, and I successfully used an ice cube tray to freeze my salsa verde so I had control of the portions and could ration them out along with the meat! Delicious! I don't add any other sauces or seasonings, but you could easily add salsa if you think you need it. The meat is seasoned so beautifully that I don't need it or want anything more.

Pork Carnitas and Salsa Verde Cruda

From BHG

1/2 cup coarsely chopped white onion

6 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried parsley or thyme

Pinch of ground cumin

4 whole cloves, stems removed

1 tablespoon canola oil

4 to 5 pound boneless pork shoulder or butt, cut into 2-inch chunks 

2 bay leaves

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

1 recipe salsa verde cruda

Sliced radishes

In a blender add 1-1/2 cups water, onion, garlic, oregano, parsley or thyme, cumin, cloves, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Blend smooth.

In a Dutch oven heat oil over medium-high heat. Add pork; top with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Brown pork 10 minutes, turn occasionally.

Pour onion mixture over pork. Bring to a simmer, cook 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in bay leaves, juice, and milk. Cover; simmer 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until meat pulls apart easily, stirring occasionally. Uncover; simmer 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Discard bay leaves. Skim fat from liquid. Shred meat with a fork; toss with cooking liquid to moisten, if desired. Serve meat with romaine and radishes. 

Salsa Verde Cruda

1 pound tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed and halved

1 ripe avocado, halved, seeded, and peeled

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped white onion

1 jalapeno chile pepper, stemmed and seeded

In a blender combine tomatillos, avocado, onion, chile pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Blend smooth. Makes 2 cups. 

Dinner - Eggplant Bolognese

Wow, I've been making this recipe for a really long time! It originally contained a pasta but I tossed that out long before Food Combining. You can use ground beef or turkey or venison, whatever you like! You can make this anytime of year, but if you plant a garden it is so satisfying to use your own fresh garden produce for this recipe!

Eggplant Bolognese

Every Day Food  2007

Serves 8

Prep time: 20 minutes; Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

8 tablespoons olive oil

1 large eggplant (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, finely chopped

1 zucchini (about 8 oz), quartered lengthwise and sliced ¼ inch thick crosswise

1 garlic clove, minced

coarse salt and ground pepper

½ to 1 pound ground beef

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon dried oregano

Directions

In a Dutch oven or large (5-quart) saucepan, heat 6 tablespoons oil over medium-high.  Add eggplant; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl; set aside.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to pan; reduce heat to medium.  Add onion, bell pepper, zucchini, and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have softened, 7 to 10 minutes.

In a frying pan, add beef; cook, stirring and breaking up meat until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.  Add to vegetable mixture.

Add tomatoes, oregano, and eggplant; season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thick and eggplant is tender, about 25 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Dinner - Curried Cauliflower Soup

Another soup, but this one is a protein containing soup for your dinner. With a side salad or vegetable. I found this soup in the book Volumetrics, but it didn't have a protein so I tried adding a can of beans. I think it works perfectly, making the flavor of the soup much richer!

Curried Cauliflower Soup

From Volumetrics

4 Servings

1 T EVOO

1 1/2 cups halved and sliced onions

1 teaspoon curry powder

4 cups vegetable broth

4 cups chopped cauliflower

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups water

1 can Great Northern beans, rinsed

2 cups shredded zucchini, abt 2 small

Heat the oil in a 4-5 quart pot over medium heat. Add the onions and curry powder. Cover and cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the broth, cauliflower, salt, water and beans to the pot. Bring the soup to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Cover the pot and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Puree the soup with an immersion blender.

Add the zucchini to the soup and heat through.

Lunch - Curried Zucchini Soup

This soup is simple and perfect for lunch with a side salad. If you don't have an immersion blender you could puree blender--just do small batches and cover with a towel as the soup is hot. Immersion blenders are so handy and not expensive.

Curried Zucchini Soup

4 Servings 

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cups water

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons curry powder

3 zucchini, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 baking potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft. 4 to 5 minutes. Add the zucchini, potato and garlic and curry powders; stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 4 cups water and bring to a boil; reduce the heat, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Puree the soup in a blender in small batches or in the saucepan using an immersion blender. Add salt to taste.

Lunch - Cauliflower Tacos

I seem to be most excited to share my innovations for lunch time meals! I think I posted earlier stating that this meal has been my hardest meal to figure out and find a comfort level with, so I'm super excited to share this and I get super excited when this recipe comes up in my monthly menu planner!

I wanted to have tacos. But I can no longer have protein and starches together. So what to do? I thought that bag of crumbled cauliflower in the store looked hopeful. The first time I attempted this recipe I cooked the p*ss out the poor cauliflower, treating it like I would if I were browning ground beef. Well, it tasted good all together, but in subsequent attempts at this recipe I take a new approach and just lightly sauté the cauliflower in oil and add homemade taco seasoning to taste. Corn taco shells are my starch in this recipe. I add the cauliflower, some taco sauce, then vegan cheese. I'm usually eating these at work and need to microwave at this point to heat the ingredients. Once the tacos are out of the microwave I add sliced tomatoes, black olives and shredded lettuce. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything on this plan as these are freakin' delicious!

P.S.: If you don't have taco stands, buy them here: Taco stands

P.S. : Very popular with my grandnieces!

Lunch or Versatile - Veggie Lo Mein

This is an amazing dish that I use for lunches with brown rice crackers for a starch. If you wanted to serve with rice or quinoa that would also work for a lunch. I adapted this by making it #megaveg. When I first read the recipe where it says red, orange OR yellow pepper I went big and added one of each! Tamari is a gluten-free soy sauce, so if you don't have tamari you can use soy sauce instead. Tamari tastes the same as soy sauce nix the gluten, so don't be afraid to try it! Also, the toasted sesame oil may not be in your pantry and if you needed to sub another oil, give it a try. But I must say that toasted sesame oil adds a lovely Asian flavor to this dish!

Veggie Lo Mein

Adapted from Junk Food To Joy Food

4 Servings 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 large zucchini

1 onion, sliced

Dash of garlic powder

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger, or 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 red bell pepper

1 orange bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

2 medium carrots, shredded

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

4 tablespoons tamari

Ground pepper to taste

Green onion, sliced, for garnish

To make zucchini noodles, cut off the ends of the zucchini and julienne using a spiralizer to create noodle strands. Sauté in a large saucepan in olive oil. Remove zucchini from the pan.

Add more olive oil to the saucepan, add the onion and carrot, sauté until slightly browned.

Add the garlic, ginger and bell peppers. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally for about five minute, or until the peppers are tender. Add the sesame oil and 2 tablespoons of the tamari. Continue to cook for an additional 3 minutes. 

Add in the zucchini to reheat and add the remaining tamari.  OR reheat the zucchini noodles and plate, then add the pepper mixture on top. Serve with scallion on top.

Produce wash

When I bring my produce home from the store I place most of it in my kitchen sink, plug the drain and fill the sink with cold water. Then I add baking soda and vinegar (any vinegar - cheap, expensive, whatever). Leave it sit in the cold water for at least twenty minutes and this should pull all of the chemicals off your produce. I forgot with apples once and I really noticed the taste. Ewww! I'm even thinking that the garden produce I bring in this year would benefit to wash this way. Things I haven't been washing are pre-cut salads. I can't figure out how to make that work. I have been washing everything from watermelons to mangos. I know peeling a mango is messy, for example, and I want the peel to be chemical free as I chop up my mangos. Here are a couple pictures my sink full for produce washing. Peel the stickers off your produce at this point too. If you compost your veggie waste these will come back to haunt you if you don't remove them right now!

Dinner - Scrambled or Lazy Omelette

I love eggs so much that I raise chickens! Since starting Food Combining I have had to change a lot of my eating habits and eggs have suffered! I used to love a not so healthy breakfast of eggs over easy, hash browns, sautéed spinach, buttered toast and coffee. Most days this didn't agree with me and I just struggled for a long time in accepting that. And since I've been on Food Combining I've been trying to just simplify this by eating the eggs and spinach for Dinner, but I couldn't get the flavor right. I recently mentioned that I sometimes have reacted to fresh garlic, and that's what the saute recipe calls for. I tried substituting with garlic powder but the flavor wasn't the same. 

So I tried going back to an old idea of a scrambled omelette. I'm sure Perkins makes a version in another name, but I created this on my own years ago and have brought it into Food Combining. Actually, Lazy Omelette would work too! There is no recipe here. What?! Well, I check the kitchen to see what vegetables I have on had. Sometimes mushrooms, sometimes broccoli, onion, peppers, you name it. Asparagus, too. I even tried cauliflower and thought I would have it again! Fresh tomatoes. Anyhow, moving on. Prep two to three servings of vegetables. Saute what needs it - hold back what doesn't, such as a tomato. When you are satisfied with your veggies then add 2-3 eggs, salt and pepper, and any tender vegetables you are using. Finally add to the pan or once you plate your preference of dairy-free cheese and/or goat cheese. It's delicious! The omelette below features broccoli, tomato, onion, vegan cheddar and mozzarella as well as goat cheese!

Lunch or Versatile - Spaghetti With Three Tomato Sauce

Here’s a beloved recipe that I've been making for over ten years. My notes say that I adapted it from a recipe from Martha Stewart’s Every Day Food magazine. Well, I no longer remember what those adaptations were! What I can tell you is that this makes two servings.  It’s one of my favorite lunches and I add it to my food calendar every couple of weeks, and I'm so delighted that I've been able to bring it into my new Food Combining life. You can serve over old-fashioned pasta or zoodles, or serve as I have been lately, over brown-rice noodles for lunch with a side salad. The last few years have been hard on the home canned tomatoes, so I often substitute this for Victoria Marinara sauce. I have been substituting garlic powder in all my recipes that call for fresh garlic. I noticed I reacted to fresh garlic but not the powdered garlic. Do as you need to! And one last note, the sun-dried tomatoes that I've been using for years can be most in most Cashwise stores by Bella Sun Luci. You can decide if you'd like to seek this brand out or just try what you can find in your local stores. 

Spaghetti with Three-Tomato Sauce

Adapted from Every Day Food March 2004

Serves 2

1 tablespoon EVOO or sun-dried tomato oil 

(from the oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes)  

2 cloves garlic, minced  

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper  

1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped  

1 cup home-canned tomatoes

1 can petite diced tomatoes, do NOT drain

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper     

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add garlic and crushed red pepper cooking until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add the tomatoes.  Simmer gently over medium heat, stirring occasionally until thick, 15-25 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook 2 servings worth of brown rice pasta.  If using zoodles, run your zucchini(s) through your spiralizer, place in microwave safe bowl with a little bit of water and steam gently for about one minute.

Drain pasta, divide between two plates.  Add tomato sauce. Serve immediately.

And one parting shot of this sauce served over zoodles. You could make this a protein meal and add tofu, but I prefer to go with this as a lunch item and serve with brown rice crackers. Because crackers rock.

Dinners on the Food Combining Plan: Veg and Protein

These meals have been the easiest for me. I shouldn’t say that, though, as breakfast is truly the easiest. But this is most like the meals we are used to, but I just end up doubling the vegetables or turning a classic meal into a salad and ditching the carbs. The best examples are taco salad and pork carnita salad. One Food Combining rule that I need to mention here is that they say not to combine proteins. And this is because of two reasons—if you eat more than one protein you simply get too much protein. The second reason is that you may get two proteins that require different digestive juices which can give your system a hard time. Which means you may get some of your symptoms back. I try to follow this, but in some cases I have made exceptions that are working for me. 

Another easy thing I have been doing is adding a romaine salad as a side with (usually) Newman’s Own Classic Oil And Vinegar dressing. Next time you’re in the market start reading ingredients labels on dressings. Almost all have added sugar, whether by the name sugar or something else! That’s how I ended up trying this dressing (it passed my scrutiny!) and after six months on this plan I get excited when I get to have a salad. I love vinegar! 

Chicken with cauliflower rice and a romaine salad with Newman's dressing

Roast chicken, carrots and asparagus

Tomato stuffed with tuna mix, vegan mozzarella, asparagus

Chicken tenders with roasted zucchini

Pork chop from a cast iron skillet, asparagus and romaine salad with Newman's dressing

My most favorite new dinner meal is my Meatza Pizza! I combined two recipes from The 21 Day Sugar Detox by Diane Sanfilippo (I am a deer hunter and ground all of my trimmings with pork this year and have been so satisfied to use this for my pizzas!) and shredded zucchini. This is where my spiralizer comes into the picture: you trim the ends from your zucchini and place in the spiralizer and then turn the crank. Your end product is zucchini noodles! There are different shaped blades you can use to create different sized noodles too. So I combine the ground meat and spiralized zucchini with one egg, and a half teaspoon of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and oregano. I have tried some small combinations of combining proteins without a problem so I continue to do it in moderation. Cuz I gotta eat! So I take a cookie sheet and cover it with a piece of foil,  and spray the foil with EVOO spray, then add the mixed ingredients and form and flatten to look like the pizza of your dreams! Bake at 350º for 20 minutes which you prep your toppings of choice. I use home made pizza sauce, green olives, vegan cheese and a little goat cheese. The books I’ve read about Food Combining say that goat cheese is easier to digest than cow cheeses. It comes in a log or in a crumble like feta and also tastes similar to feta. If I have other ingredients around I may add them, it kinda makes for too much food though! These might include onion, broccoli and ...... If using onion it worked well for me to add to the meat and zucchini mix so it cooks longer. When you first take this out of the oven raise the oven temp to 425º. After you’ve added your toppings put it back in the oven for ten minutes. After that you're ready to eat. Using the foil makes it easier to plate your pizza. This is not one to pick up and eat like a carb pizza, but rather a knife and fork adventure to enjoy because you’re brain thinks “pizza” and your body says “this is not a problem food”! I will share the recipe below and others to follow in other posts. My main goal of this blog to get more information out there about Food Combining and share my successes at modifying recipes to #healthyaf and #megaveg!

P.S. : Very popular with my grandnieces!

Mojo Meatza Pizza

inspired by recipes in Sugar Detox

Heat the oven to 350℉.

Shred one zucchini in a spiralizer. 

In a large bowl combine:

the zucchini

1 egg

¼ pound of ground beef or venison

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

Layer a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Spray foil with olive oil spray, then form the mixture into a round pizza. Bake for twenty minutes.

Prep your toppings while the meatza bakes. I use:

Homemade pizza sauce

Spinach

Tomato

Black olives

Green olives

Onion

Mushrooms

Vegan shredded cheddar and mozzarella

Goat cheese and shredded goat cheese 

After twenty minutes remove from the oven. Increase oven temp to 425℉. Add your toppings and bake until cheese is melted, about 10 minutes.