Live Local- Week 4, Meal Planning

So many people ask me about meal planning. It is the keystone to how I can organize our food and nutrition, and to many people just starting out eating healthy and local, it is the most daunting task. So I have transferred my weekly notes for you all to see. 

Meat + Vegetable + Starch= meal.

That's the base that I work from. It is somewhat misleading though because many on my starch list are actually vegetables.

I always start with the meat and in the beginning my list was not quite as diverse. It is ok to just start out with three or four meat categories. It took me moving to a farm and getting really brave to expand it as far as we have:
Beef
Pork
Chicken
Duck
Turkey
Lamb
Venison
Fish

Then I narrow down the cut I want to use or I leave it open for a bit

Vegetables:
(Basically anything with a lot of colour, leaning toward the greens)
Brussel Sprouts
Peas
Green Beans
Spinach
Broccoli
Kale
Kohlrabi
Cabbage
Beets
Mushroom

Starch:
(Now that's trickier because there are some vegetables I classify under this category)
Rice
Noodle
Bread
Cornmeal
Corn
Carrot
Potato
Sweet Potato
Turnip
Pumpkin
Squash
Zucchini
Dry Beans

Then I match up my threes: For example

Venison Loin Roast with broccoli and sweet potato. There's nothing fancy about how I prepare the meat, just a slow roast with lard or butter and a seasoned salt pepper mixture. The vegetables get steamed and then I mash the sweet potatoes and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Beef, Hamburgers, Buns count as starch serve with green beans (again steamed, butter and salt). It is natural for me to want to serve fries with the burgers, but that's dual starch.

Chicken thighs (with bone in) and Rice, Cream of Mushroom Soup with a pound of extra mushrooms. Sometimes I'll also add chopped celery. Casserole style.

Pork, Iowa Chops broiled with seasoned salt, mashed potatoes and peas.

Pork, Ground browned and then sauce added, green beans and rice. Green Bean Sichuan.

Beef, Steaks seasoned and broiled, with pumpkin mash and Brussels sprouts.

Lamb, leg steak stew with carrots, dry beans, and onion. Throw in some spinach at the end or serve with spinach salad.

Beef or Pork, Penne Pasta with tomato red sauce with meat balls.

Beef, Pork, or Chicken- Chili with tomato, onion, peppers, and beans.

Pork, Ham steaks with carrots and potato, one dish quickie and an exception to my rule based on convenience.

Eggrolls: any meat, cabbage and carrots in a wrap and deep fried.

Pizza: meat, bread, cheese, tomato sauce

Beef: Tacos....ground beef cheese, corn tortilla tacos, tomato salsa.

Fish, steamed with carrots and broccoli.

And that covers two weeks, considering left overs. It makes it easy for families with allergies too, though we don't have any (thank goodness and knock on wood!), as the starch is where the glutens are and dairy is easily left out or substituted with goat dairy if need be. We follow a heavy meat and coloured vegetable diet so if I feel lazy I just leave out the starch one sometimes. Who says you need two sides anyway?

Often we will have less than a full serving left over, (a full serving can be frozen and sent to work with husband for lunch). I save it anyway and scramble it will eggs or make an easy pasta lunch with the added meat and vegetable. I hate wasting food.

That's how we do it here at the farm! How do you do it?