Meal Inspiration // February 7-13
This month’s focus is on Generosity and Resourcefulness, so this week we built the menu with cost savings in mind. May these affordable meals be a delight to your tummies and a pleasant surprise to your wallet.
Breakfast
Brownie Batter
This has been a hit in our family for over eight years. Simply mash bananas (with a fork, with a mixer, or in a ziploc) and stir in chocolate protein powder. We do about 1.5 scoops of Orgain vegan protein powder per large banana. If the protein powder taste is a little unappetizing to you, add some cocoa powder.
Optional: top with a few chocolate chips and raspberries.
Lunch
Lemon Mashed Potatoes
Inspired by Ina Garten’s “Puréed Potatoes with Lemon,” simply mix together cooked potatoes—ideally, leftovers from the baked potato bar (see below)—with your chosen proportions of whole milk (or Greek yogurt), butter, salt and pepper, and grated lemon zest! (The recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter for only 2.5 lbs of potatoes…that’s a bit much 😅)
The lemon zest makes it taste fresh and light. Lemon and cracked pepper just go really well together. Enjoy!
Dinner
One-Pan Pork Loin
If you’re trying to make an impressive dinner for your beloved, pork loin is a delicious and far less expensive alternative to beef tenderloin. Since pork loins are so lean, they cook really quickly and dinner will be ready in 30 minutes. If you’re really feeling brave, add vegetables for a one-pan meal! Here’s how to do it:
Set your pork loin out an hour before cooking—you can skip this step if you’re in a rush. Pat it with paper towels and roll the loin in a generous amount of salt and pepper. Seriously, use more than you think you’ll need.
Preheat oven to 425 F.
Heat up a big skillet to medium-high.
While your skillet is getting hot, prepare your vegetables. We’ve made this with sweet potatoes, green beans, fingerlings, brussel sprouts…all of them were winners. You’ll want to add fresh garlic, too, obviously.
Drizzle some olive oil in your pan and put your pork loin on it. Warning: the zilling oil might fly up and hit you! Wear an apron or something. Add the vegetables to the pan.
Saute the pork loin for about 2 minutes on each side. You really want a brown and crispy outside! Stir the vegetables, too, and add whatever seasonings you were planning.
Bake the whole pan for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of your meat. You want its internal temperature at 145 F, and believe it or not, some pinkness is okay. (Restaurants even serve it medium-rare.)
Take your pan out of the oven, and be careful to cover the handle with a cloth so you don’t forget that it’s super hot 😬 Remove the pork loin to a separate plate to rest for a few minutes while you saute the vegetables a little longer.
Add any other seasonings you like to the vegetables and get them to the crispiness you like. There should be pork loin juices in there that add tons of flavor!
Slice the pork loin with a serrated knife and slide the whole loin (with its juices) onto the pan. Serve immediately and amaze your guests or beloved with this quick, fancy, delicious, nutritious, economical meal!
Baked Potato Bar
This is a great meal for hosting people because 1) it’s low-pressure for picky eaters, and 2) it’s very easy for other people to contribute! If you ask people to bring toppings, they’ll bring what they like and you’ll only need to provide the basics!
Scrub then bake russet potatoes using your favorite method (crock pot for 4 hours on high or bake in oven at 425 for an hour.)
Some great toppings for the baked potato bar are chili and cornbread (see recipes below) as well as bacon, roasted broccoli, shredded cheese, chives, sour cream, hot sauce, salt and pepper, and—most essentially—butter.
P.S. Baked potatoes are excellent for holding in your pockets to keep your hands warm when you go for a winter hike. Plus they’re a built-in snack!
Chili
If you’re not comfortable making chili yet, try this recipe for some confidence! Chili is such a fast, customizable meal that makes good leftovers. This simple recipe is perfect for the instant pot, but it’s easy to make in a normal pot, and it’s easy to double.
Saute about a pound of ground beef with salt and pepper.
While the beef is browning, chop up some onions and garlic, and add them in. Let it all get nice and brown, but you don’t need to be a perfectionist about this. (Or anything 😉)
Add a can of diced tomatoes, 2 or 3 drained cans of beans (such as kidney, pinto, or black), half a bag of frozen corn, and seasonings of your choice. We use a chili spice blend, barbecue sauce, liquid smoke, salt and pepper, and smoked paprika. If you don’t like your chili thick, add beef broth.
Cook on medium-low for awhile or cook at high pressure in the Instant Pot for 25 minutes.
Optional: top with shredded cheese and chopped chives, and serve with cornbread (see below.) Enjoy!
Treat
Cornbread
This recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction is so simple that you’ll have it memorized after a few batches!
Melt 1/2 c (1 stick) of butter and let cool.
Preheat oven to 400 F and grease a 9x9 pan.
Whisk together 1 c cornmeal, 1 c flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/8 tsp salt.
In another bowl, whisk together the 1/2 c butter you melted earlier, 1/3 c brown sugar, 2 Tbsp honey, 1 egg, and 1 c buttermilk. (Normal milk will still work, or you can do 1/2 c milk, 1/2 c Greek yogurt.)
Combine wet and dry ingredients.
Optional: mix in some frozen corn. (Corn is delicious in this, but keep in mind that frozenness can mess with the baking time.)
Pour into greased pan and bake for 20 minutes. Top with butter and drizzled honey.
Prepare yourself to make this three more times this week due to popular demand. (That’s what happened in our family, at least.)
Exercise
February can really feel like a slog, so let’s do some burnout challenges this week! Invite your kids to do these with you. They’ll probably beat you though.
In honor of the #dropchallenge Tiktok trend—I (Hope) even did one with my cousins—challenge yourself to see how many squats you can do before burning out!
For the stretch, set the stopwatch on your phone and challenge yourself to see how long you can hold a garland pose (below.)
I suggest trying this two or three times this week (giving yourself time to recover as needed) and see how much you improve by the end of the week! Reply to this email and tell us how you did 🙌
Story Prompt
Write a story or draw a picture about the life of a dollar bill and all the different things it might be used for as it’s passed from hand to hand to hand. As always, send us what you and your family comes up with!
Grocery List
Hopefully you enjoy some of the meal suggestions here! Have a great week!
Warmly,
Hope from Family Scripts
I will definitely give the brownie batter a try on my kids! And the lemon mashed potatoes sound intriguing as well.