Monday Menu Mix: Week 5

Happy February! We are going into our second month of the Monday Menu Mix and we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. Hope you are enjoying the recipes you’ve tried and that we’ve been able to make your weekly planning a little bit easier. 🙂

MONDAY | Baked Pasta Marinara with Steamed Broccoli
RD Tip: My rule of thumb is to always make sure your meal has color. Not the artificial kind but the kind that comes from fruits & vegetables. Adding color not only ensures you are getting beneficial nutrients (the deeper the color the greater the number of antioxidants) but also adding belly filling fiber to your meal! If your main dish lacks color, then simply add it on the side like we’ve done here with the steamed broccoli.

TUESDAY | Blackened Fish Tacos
RD Tip: This recipe has so many wonderful ingredients. Avocado, red cabbage, pineapple…yum! If the number of steps feels overwhelming to you, skip the marinade, heading straight to the rub and simply use plain, cut up avocado in lieu of the crema.

WEDNESDAY | Slow Cooker Healthy Chicken Pot Pie Stew
RD Tip: Nix the salt. If you’ve noticed, I often mention lower sodium options as a way to improve the nutritional quality of recipe. That’s because unless its a baked good and the chemistry wouldn’t for some reason work without it, it’s really not necessary. Excessive salt consumption is one of the primary causes of high blood pressure (which can eventually lead to stroke). Sure we need a certain amount of sodium in our diet for our bodies to function properly but it doesn’t take much to go beyond this amount. Just to put things into perspective, the daily recommended limit is 2,400 mg, with 1,500 mg being ideal for most adults per the American Heart Association. One seemingly innocent, little ol’ teaspoon of salt has 2,300 mg of sodium in it (salt is made up of both sodium and chloride). That alone would put you at your sodium limit for the day. Problem is, sodium is already in so many of the foods we eat (some more than others) so any extra salt added when cooking or at the table will quickly push you over the recommended limit. Salt is an acquired taste and you’ll find that the less you use it, the less you feel a need for it. You eventually begin to appreciate the taste of the food itself, rather than the taste of salt in food. So my recommendation for this recipe is to skip the 1.5 tsp of kosher salt and use an unsalted broth.

THURSDAY | Turkey Panini with Apple, Cheddar & Arugala
RD Tip: Who said sandwiches are only for lunch?! I can’t think of anything much easier at the end of a long day than a pressed sandwich. Pick a low sodium turkey breast to keep sodium to a minimum.

FRIDAY | Hamburger Meatballs with Super Green Kale Salad
RD Tip: The meatballs provide you with a savory way to end your week while the salad provides you with a whole lot of wonderful nutrients, like Vitamins C, K, A, to get your body geared up for a fun-filled weekend. Both are packed with protein!

– Brooke & Erica