Eating in season is a delicious way to save money and get the freshest produce available, not to mention making sure your diet stays interesting. And who can resist those colorful piles of beets and pumpkins?
So in honor of the autumn harvest hereโs a meal plan built around seasonal produce, plus a shopping list to go with.
The plan is written for two, but itโs easy to adjust up or down, depending on how many you have to feed.
Day 0 (the day before day 1)
- If youโre going to be packing lunch tomorrow, cook up a batch of apple and squash stuffing. To feed two people, make half the recipe as directed.
Day 1
Breakfast:
- Pan-fried sausages with onions and cabbage (if the sausages donโt give off enough fat to cook the vegetables, just throw a little extra cooking fat in there).
Lunch:
- Lettuce wraps filled with apple and squash stuffing.
Dinner:
- Balsamic Roast Beef. Make a full recipe as written and save half for lunch tomorrow.
- Optional: If you want a second vegetable side, pan-fry some beet greens or spinach with garlic in a Paleo-friendly cooking fat.
Make Ahead:
- If youโre going to need breakfast on the go tomorrow, make a quick frittata. Use this recipe, except instead of tomatoes, use 1 large red onion and as much kale as you want. Toss the onion and kale in with the bacon to sauteฬ and carry on with the recipe as directed (excluding the tomatoes).
* Each frittata makes 4 servings. Youโll be making two of these during the week, so if you want to, you can just make them both now to save some time.
Day 2
Breakfast:
- 1 serving of frittata per person (so between two people, youโd be eating half a frittata).
- Add an apple or a baked sweet potato if you like some carbs with breakfast.
Lunch:
- Leftover balsamic roast beef, sliced thin over your favorite salad greens and tossed with oil and vinegar.
Dinner:
- Beanless chili. Make half the recipe as written (this will give you 4 servings: 2 for tonight and 2 for tomorrowโs lunch)
- Roasted Brussels sprouts (just grab a pound of Brussels sprouts, cut them in half, and roast with olive oil and garlic about 45 minutes or until they get crispy around the edges).
- Optional: Pesto mashed potatoes. Make the whole recipe as written; this will give you enough for tonight and leftovers on Day 4.
* White potatoes? White potatoes are perfectly healthy for most people โ see here for details.
Day 3
Breakfast:
- 1 serving of your frittata (if youโre feeding two, this should be the end of the second frittata).
- Add an apple or a baked sweet potato if you like some carbs with breakfast.
Lunch:
- Leftover chili.
- Fresh vegetable salad: salad greens, red onion, bosc pear slices, and walnuts with olive oil and vinegar. (If youโre packing lunch, just make this the night before and pack the dressing separately).
Dinner:
- Butterflied roasted chicken. Make a full recipe as written and save half for lunch tomorrow.
- Carrot and rutabaga mash. Make half the recipe as written and just eat it all.
Make Ahead:
- If you didnโt make two frittatas on Day 1, make another one tonight.
- Pesto mashed potatoes. If you didn't make the optional mashed potatoes on day 2, make half this recipe as directed for lunch tomorrow.
Day 4
Breakfast
- 1 serving of your frittata,
- Add an apple or a baked sweet potato if you like some carbs with breakfast.
Lunch:
- Leftover butterflied roasted chicken.
- Leftover pesto mashed potatoes.
Dinner:
- Cranberry apple stuffed pork loin. Make a full recipe as written and save half for lunch tomorrow.
- Roasted cauliflower with bacon. Make a full recipe as written and save half for lunch tomorrow.
Dessert (optional):
- Hot pumpkin custard. Just mix 1โ2 a can of mashed pumpkin per person with coconut milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg to taste. Heat until warm and enjoy.
Day 5
Breakfast:
- The last of the second frittata.
- Add an apple or a baked sweet potato if you like some carbs with breakfast.
Lunch:
- Leftover pork loin and roasted cauliflower.
Dinner:
- Grilled maple-dijon salmon with bacon. (If you donโt have a grill or if itโs too cold out, you can cook it on the broiler in your oven).
- Beet and walnut salad. Make a full recipe and save half for lunch tomorrow.
Make Ahead:
- If youโre packing lunch tomorrow, hard-boil 3 eggs for each person (so 6 in total if youโre cooking for two)
- Roast up some winter squash (see recipe below).
Day 6
Breakfast:
- 3 eggs, prepared however you like them (hard-boiled if you need them on the run).
- Roasted winter squash of your choice (acorn, delicata, butternut, buttercup...).
Lunch:
- Leftover salmon with beet and walnut salad.
- Optional: If youโd like, you can convert your leftovers to a salad by separating the salmon into bite-sized pieces, chopping the beets very small, and tossing them with spinach or your favorite salad greens.
Dinner:
- Mustard balsamic baked chicken. Make a full recipe as written and save half for lunch tomorrow.
- Oven-roasted garlic cabbage. Just make as much as you want for dinner tonight.
Make Ahead:
- While youโve got the cabbage in the oven, slice up a mealโs worth of parsnips and just stick them in for 45 minutes or so at the same time for tomorrow's breakfast.
- If youโre going to be packing lunch tomorrow, put in a batch of kale chips.
- If youโre going to be packing breakfast, take a look at the recipe below and see if youโll need to make that ahead as well.
Day 7
Breakfast:
- Parsnip hash. Pull out your roasted parsnips from last night and toss them into a pan with some dried cranberries, salt, pepper, and either (a) 3 eggs per person or (b) bite-sized pieces of cooked turkey or chicken breast. Stir everything together until itโs warm and enjoy. If you need this to go, make it the night before.
Lunch:
- Leftover mustard balsamic chicken.
- Kale chips.
Dinner:
- Paleo spaghetti. Make as much as you want, so you can have leftovers to freeze for whenever you want them.
- Optional: if you want a second side, quickly pan-fry some Swiss chard or collard greens with garlic, salt, and pepper.
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