Welcome to my journal of meals that my family of 4 has enjoyed throughout the month. I love scouring the web for new recipes to try and love cooking from scratch whenever I can. Below is a list of our dinner meal each day along with desserts and a few breakfast meals too. Hope you enjoy and that this inspires you to get in the kitchen and make something delicious!
January 1 – Savory Scones
Fish Tacos with chipotle mayo, Cabbage Slaw and pico de gallo on corn tortillas
January 2 – Szechuan Chicken with jasmine rice
January 3 – Finnish Pancakes (Pannukakku) with jam and Nutella – we made a gluten free version that came out great as well! See the notes in the recipe to make this gluten free.
Green Enchiladas (Enchiladas Verde)
January 4 – Ramen, my boys like Sapporo Ichiban Ramen or Momofoku Soy & Scallion Noodles (you can find both at Target). I like this gluten free option, it’s not technically ramen, but the flavor is good and it’s easy to make. Serve with an egg on top, fried spam, or however your heart desires.
Dessert – Gluten-free Chocolate Chip & Pecan Cookies – I always add 1 tablespoon of milk powder to chocolate chip cookie recipes, it gives them that extra yum.
January 5 – Mixed green salad with apples, red onion, walnuts, feta cheese and fig balsamic dressing
January 6 – Chili – any canned one will do. My boys love the turkey chili from Trader Joes and I like this vegetarian/gluten free option from Amy’s, you can find it at most supermarkets.
January 7 – Gluten-free Blueberry Scones for me and Belgian Pearl Sugar Liege Waffles for the boys. You can find the pearl sugar needed for the recipe here. *note on the GF scones, they were pretty and tasted ok, but very crumbly, I’ll keep working on finding a better recipe.
Pollo asada and cheese quesadillas for the boys and grilled veggie + pepper tacos for me – we buy pre-marinated pollo asada from a local meat market to make this a quick. It’s easy to grill up on the bbq and you can serve with any combo of: grilled peppers/onions, pico de gallo, grilled pineapple, cabbage slaw, avocado and/or guacamole, Mexican cheese, corn or flour tortillas.
January 8 – Yellow Fried Rice – I added in carrots for a little extra veggie
Chewy Molasses Cookies for dessert – I made these gluten free using my fav GF flour blend, measure for measure by King Arthur. They were surprisingly good!
January 9 – Sheet Pan Spicy Ginger Sesame Beef and Broccoli, served with jasmine rice – this recipe was not very spicy to us so we topped it with our favorite spicy chili crunch to kick it up a notch.
January 10 – Chimichurri Shrimp over basmati rice
January 11 – Aguachile with tortilla chips – this one was spicy! Maybe my jalapeños were spicier than normal, but we loved the heat!
Banh Mi Sandwiches on Focaccia Rolls from our local bakery.
January 12 – Thai Red Curry with Chicken and Kabocha Squash *we get Kabocha squash often in our veggie box this time of year and this recipe is a great way to use it.
January 13 – Hamburgers – I don’t eat a lot of meat, but my boys do! They like the bison burgers from Trader Joes with brioche buns. I made a veggie burger on a GF bun. Actual Veggies Black Bean Veggie Burger are my new fav veggie burgers btw. I love that so many of the ingredients are actual vegetables.
Oat Cookie Bars with Chocolate Chips – an easy one pan dessert you can whip up in no time.
January 14 – pasta with meatballs and sauce – all store bought, this is one of our easy go-to meals when no one wants to cook from scratch.
January 15 – Thai Yellow Curry with Chicken and Potatoes, we added in lots of carrots too.
Caramel Popcorn – I never knew caramel popcorn was so easy to make, this recipe is sooo good!
January 16 – Quinoa Crunch Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash
Katsu Chicken Burgers with Asian Slaw. I made a simple grilled salmon to go with the asian slaw so that my meal was GF. The boys really love these burgers and they are super easy to make.
January 17 – Ramen with fried Spam, a soft egg and a spoonful of chili crunch on top.
January 18 – Pasta and Meatballs
January 19 – Grilled Fish Tacos with Cabbage Slaw, topped with our own version of Chipotle Mayo
Tiramisu made with these Gluten Free Lady Finger Cookies which were surprisingly easy to make and delicious.
January 20 – Chili from trader joes, we like to top it with cheddar cheese, chopped onions and scallions
January 21 – Miso Ginger Beef and Broccoli with jasmine rice
Ted Lasso Biscuits for dessert
January 22 – Puerto Rican Arroz Con Pollo, we like to serve it with Lizano Salsa Sauce
January 23 – Roman-style pizza – (make the dough the night before), recipe is by the famous Gabriele Bonci but here is a post I found that gives proper instructions for how to make it.
*we saw him on Chef’s Table, then visited his pizza place in Rome when we visited there last summer. The recipe for his pizza dough was printed on the box so I knew we try to make it at some point. The only difference I noticed in his recipe compared to the one Elizabeth has in her blog post is the olive oil, the recipe on the box calls for about 1 tablespoon, vs 40g that she has listed. I only used 1 tablespoon when I made it, 40g just seemed like way too much. But, you must follow Elizabeth’s instructions for how to handle the dough and watch the videos!! The dough rises overnight in the fridge, and you cook with it the next day. The success of your pizza is all in how you handle the dough, but ours turned out great and my kids can’t wait for me to make it again!
Bonci’s pizza are on the left and ours on the right, not bad for our first try!
Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad
Miso Chocolate Chip Cookies – recipe by Lani Halliday
January 24 – Nachos, it’s easy to make, and everyone just dives in! Here they are prepped and ready to go into the oven.
January 25 – Pasta with pesto sauce
January 26 – Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash and grilled chicken breast
*I do not use pancetta in this recipe and only use 1 tablespoon butter + 2 tablespoons olive oil to sauté the shallots
January 27 – take out from our local pizza place, Pizza Port
January 28 – Shrimp Stir Fry with Basmati Rice
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
January 29 – Quick & Easy Soba Noodles
Corn Cookies – don’t be fooled by the name, these are insanely good!
January 30 – Thai Green Bean Stir Fry with Chicken instead of Tofu
January 31 – Dutch Baby Pancake
Everyone was on their own for dinner this day since my kid’s sports schedules had us all over town. My oldest made himself a grilled cheese sandwich, I had black bean taquitos from Trader Joes, my younger son had ramen, and my husband made himself a sandwich.
What a month of delicious meals it was … mostly made from scratch and always served with love!
Not sure how to make the recipes above gluten-free? Leave a comment below and I’ll share my tips and tricks.
