Meal Planning (Guest Post)

December 19, 2013

Hi All!

I am super excited to be guest posting on Marathon Mom's blog today. I am a new reader to her blog and am so inspired! Running is not my cup of tea, but her encouraging posts gave me a little push in the tush & I plan to incorporate running back into my workouts. Jen & I are participating in a wellness challenge called Elf For Health. Each day we are presented with a different task, whether it is a physical, mental, a good deed etc... Today's challenge is to "Share Your Expertise" so that brings me here!

I blog over on Not So Doughie. Growing up my family called me Doughie and I had a tendency to eat what I wanted. Today, I definitely cannot eat whatever I wanted and still remain healthy & in shape. Therefore, I try my best to make all my recipes not so doughie. It is an understatement to say that I enjoy cooking. I love it. I do not have any professional culinary background, but my area of expertise is in the kitchen.

So my friends, that is why today I wanted to share with you how I go about planning my meals for the week because afterall planning ahead prevents those undesired binges & fast food runs. In addition, I will be sharing a vegetarian pasta dish that is a simple, weeknight meal for busy moms.

I plan my meals for the week on Sunday. I mainly plan my dinners as breakfast rotates between a few of my favorites and lunches tend to be leftovers or a salad. Also, I created a meal plan document that you can print out and use as well. It helps me get everything in one spot and makes for an easy grocery list!

When Jen & I were matched up for our blog swap, I told her I was interested in sharing a recipe as that is my "expertise". She encouraged the idea, but advised me she eats vegetarian and gluten free. I'm not vegetarian, but I cook it all the time. In my house, we don't we center our meals around meat so accommodating to her diet was not difficult for me. Although this recipe does not call for gluten free pasta, it can be easily adapted for GF :) I hope you enjoy!

Farfalle with Fresh Veggies in a Parmesan Goat Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 box Farfalle (bowtie) pasta
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, margarine or 1 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 large handfuls fresh spinach
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 lemon
3 oz fresh goat cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan + additional for topping
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper

Directions
1. Bring a large pot of water boil and add the pasta. Cook until just al dente. Before draining the pasta, reserve 1 1/2 cups of the cooking water. Set aside
2. In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sliced mushrooms and saute until softened.
3. Add the thyme and garlic powder. Stir to combine.
4. Add the parmesan and goat cheese. Stir together until the cheese starts to melt.
5. Add 1 cup of the reserved pasta water and bring to a boil.
6. Add the cooked pasta, juice of lemon, and spinach. Stir to combine and cook until the spinach has wilted.
7. Toss in the tomatoes, cook an additional minute.
8. Serve warm with a sprinkle of additional parmesan cheese.