1 Week Meal Plan Night 1 & 2

Night 1

Peas & Q's Pasta
Description: Rigatoni with peas, ham, onions & mushrooms
Ingredients:
Peas (1-2 cans, opened and drained)
1/2 red or yellow onion chopped
1 pkg of cooked ham, cut into small strips
2 handfuls of mushrooms (washed and chopped)

1 tbsp oil
2-3 tbsp of Bragg's or chicken stock
Salt & pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese - garnish

Directions:
Cook Rigatoni according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking, in a pan or skillet, sautee onions in oil 1-2mins, add mushrooms and ham 1-2 mins, then add the peas. Stir mixture with a bit of stock or Bragg's (or soya sauce) and mix the contents of the pan into the drained pasta (in the pot). Serve with parmesan cheese.

Side: Italian tomato salad
Ingredients:
6-8 Roma tomatoes (add any other type or colour of tomato, just make sure they are ripe, but firm)
4-5 tbsp of fresh, extra-virgin cold pressed Olive oil
1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil, or 2 tbsp of dried oregano
coarse salt (to taste)

Directions
Cut tomatoes into bite size pieces, pour olive oil, coating the tomatoes, stir with the basil or oregano and salt.

Night 2

Southwest Gratin
Description: Thin-sliced yams, potatoes, onions with turkey bacon and baked with salsa, sour cream and topped with cheese

Ingredients:
2-4 yams (skinned)
2-4 potatoes (Yukon Gold) (skinned)
1 red onion
1 pk of cooked back bacon, or turkey bacon (cut into quarters)
salsa
sour cream (optional)
grated cheese (cheddar, mozza, parmesan, monterey jack)

Directions:
Get a large baking dish and drizzle the bottom with olive oil and minced garlic. On the thinnest setting of a mandolin or food processor, slice the first three ingredients and layer them on an angle (like dominoes that have been knocked down) Tip: layer a small wad (about 6 slices) of yam, then a wad of potato, a pinch of red onion and then 1 thick slice of meat. This makes it go faster then layering one at a time. Add wallops of sour cream, and salsa randomly on the top (optional: onion dip mix lightly sprinkled on top - I love the Epicure 3 onion mix - no msg). Cover with cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees for 35-45 minutes. If you used thicker slices, it might need a bit more time. (optional: bake covered allowing a few minutes at the end uncovered for the cheese to bake) Potatoes should be soft and edges slightly crisped.

NOTES TO USE LEFT OVERS:

All the ingredients of the pasta dish can be added to an omelette the next day if you leave about 1/2 cup aside of it.

The tomatoe salad can be added to fresh pasta as a summer sauce or stewed and added to lasagna, soup, or any tomato-based sauce.

The juices from the potato bake make an awesome stock for soup.