I am so excited to have Gaelle of What Are You Feeding Your Kids These Days guest post. What I love about Gaelle and her super creative blog is that she is the French me! Her mother lives in France and her way of cooking healthy wholesome meals has been instilled in her from her heritage, her family. She is very adamant about feeding her children nourishing foods and shares with us how easy and simple French cooking can be. You want to see something incredible? Check out Gaelle’s version of buckwheat crepes!
A couple weeks ago, I read on her blog that she was going back to work. In order to keep feeding her family healthy foods she started up her menu plan once again. I thought this was a fabulous idea especially for working mothers that just don’t have the time to prepare a homemade meal after work. Gaelle puts the thought and game plan together for her readers and I just had to share it with my readers. All it takes is a little work the evening before and away you go with homemade, nourishing meals for the week. So if your a working mama out there or really any mama that could benefit from a menu plan, visit Gaelle at What are You Feeding Your Kids These Days! I know you’ll find it as bright and cheerful as I do!
| Day | Suggested Menu | ||
| Monday | Boeuf Bourguignon with steamed potatoes Plain Yogurt with honey Fresh Fruits | ||
| Tuesday | Buckwheat Kasha with Mushrooms and Onions with Green Salad | ||
| Wednesday | Swiss Chard Soup with Socca Plain Yogurt with dark brown sugar Fresh Fruits | ||
| Thursday | Tuna Curry with Vegetables and Rice Plain Yogurt with homemade Apple Sauce | ||
| Friday | Ham and Olives Savory Cake with Green salad Plain Yogurt with chestnut spread Fresh Fruits | ||
Buckwheat Kasha with Mushrooms and Onions
Tuna Curry with Vegetables and Rice
Game Plan:
Sunday Evening:
- You want to make the Boeuf Bourguignon on Sunday evening. It’s not difficult at all (go and read all the comments of some of my friends who made it). It just takes a while to cook. To speed up things, you could use regular onions instead of pearl onions. The taste might be slightly different but at least you won’t spend 20 minutes weeping in the kitchen. Since it’s Sunday, you could ask for help to peal and cut the veggies!
- You could make it with steamed (boiled) potatoes or pasta (egg noodles are great). I chose not to publish the recipe with pasta so that you could have a “pasta emergency dinner” during the week if need be!
- A serving of frozen green beans on the side would also be great.
Monday Evening:
- You just have to prepare the side dish for the Boeuf Bourguignon as it heats up: egg noodle, potatoes and/or green beans. I chose not to publish the recipe with pasta so that you could have a “pasta emergency dinner” during the week if need be!
- If you have time, you could make the apple sauce for Thursday evening. You can keep the apple sauce in the fridge for up to 5 days. The recipe calls for rhubarb and banana… but you can use whatever fruits you have (pears, strawberries, etc.) or just plain apples (with/without cinnamon).
- The Boeuf Bourguignon makes a great leftover for lunch (if you can reheat it)
Tuesday Evening:
- Make the Macaroons first. They are very easy to make but are even easier if you let the dough rest for 15-30 mn in the fridge before laying the macaroons on parchment paper. If you are up for a little mess, you can ask your children for help to scoop the macaroons! Macaroons are also best eaten fresh so it’s not a great idea to make them the day before.
- While the macaroons are in the fridge (or in the oven), prepare the kasha. You want to cook the
mushrooms and onions first; kasha cooks in less than 15 minutes. - If your children don’t eat green salad, you can always give them cucumber or avocado.
- Just after dinner, prepare the socca batter. Italians like to let it rest overnight (I generally make it in the morning or early afternoon for dinner). It takes 5 minutes to make so don’t think that you don’t have the time!
- Kasha makes a great leftover if you can reheat your lunch.
Wednesday Evening:
- You have to make the Swiss chard soup and cook the socca. Start pre-heating your oven for the socca as you start the soup.
- If you are opting for the Caramelized Onions socca, start with caramelizing the onions. It takes a while. If you are just serving it plain (or with green onions), just start making the Swiss Chard soup.
- The Swiss chard soup is really easy to make and takes less than 30 minutes.
- 15 mns before dinner, make the first batch of socca and make the 2nd/3rd batch afterwards.
- If you are feeling zealous, and have not made the Apple Sauce on Monday evening, you can make it on Wednesday.
Thursday Evening:
- If you have not made the Apple Sauce before, you have to make it on Thursday evening together with the Tuna Curry.
- If you have to make both, start with the apple sauce: while it cooks, you’ll cook the curry and rice.
- The curry takes less than 30mns to make. You could add whatever vegetables you have in place of/in addition to yellow squash. Zucchinis and snow peas are great.
- While you start sauteing the vegetables and tuna, prepare the rice.
- The tuna dish makes a great leftover if you can reheat your lunch.
Friday Evening:
- It’s Friday. Pressure is off. You can take the time to make the Ham & Olives Savory pound cake. Since the batter requires beer, you can drink the rest while you finish up cooking the cake!
- If your children don’t eat green salad, you can always give them a few cucumber slices or carrots. Any raw veggies would do it.
- The leftover cake is great to take on a pique-nique on Saturday instead of sandwiches.
Notes: All photographs and content on Whatareyoufeedingyourkidsthesedays.com can not be used for commercial purposes without prior approval.
I am not sure I could get my kids to enjoy this fabulous menu but, I certainly would 🙂
Hi Diana, thank you for sharing this helpful and wonderful information.
You really have a great blog. I enjoy the creativity in the recipes for the children. Those foods look wonderful and I want to try some of them with my children. Keep up the great work with your site.
I love Gaelle! FABULOUS post!
I love Gaelle! FABULOUS post!
Love what you're doing here. I don't have little kids any more, just big ones- but this is a great plan!