Oh, the divine tantalizing scent in the house when this homemade Pumpkin Spice Granola is baking in the oven! The combination of pumpkin purée and warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and ginger make this a winner! If you want a clean, healthy breakfast cereal, or snack food, free of preservatives and additives, this granola is for you. Continue reading Pumpkin Spice Granola
I love the produce our garden generates and its earliest treat is rhubarb. It is so versatile and I make lots of recipes using rhubarb. Today, a treat for my gluten-free diet followers — a new recipe for Deli-style Gluten-free Rhubarb Granola Muffins. Continue reading Deli-style Gluten-Free Rhubarb Granola Muffins
Today, I am sharing my recipe for Clumpy Almond Butter Granola. Homemade granola is so easy to make and customize to individual tastes. So long as you keep the proportions of ingredients, substitutions are perfectly acceptable. Continue reading Clumpy Almond Butter Granola Recipe
Here is my suggested meal plan for the upcoming week. This is the Week 2 menu. You can access the meal plans for Week 1 by clicking here, Week 3 here, Week 4 here, Week 5 here, and Week 6 here.
I am a big fan of meal planning – it takes some coordination and effort upfront but the payoff is great. Find tested and reliable recipes with ingredients you know your family will like, read through the recipes to see what’s involved in their preparation and how long it will take to prepare them, make the shopping list, shop for the ingredients, and set aside the time to make the recipes. If you have helpers in the household, assign them tasks to help with the preparation.
Rather than spend time aimlessly perusing recipes in books or magazines or searching through the internet for a recipe that might pique your interest, I recommend first thinking about what main ingredient might appeal to you – is it ham, beef, poultry, fish, pasta, vegetables, etc. Are you looking for a casserole, a pot pie, or a main entrée, a one-time meal recipe or one that leftovers could be frozen for another meal or transformed into another dish altogether? Once you narrow down what you are aiming for, your search for the recipe will be more focused and concentrated and you will spend less time on the recipe search and more time productively spent actually making the dish.
To help you with that search, I hope you find some, or all, of the following recipes of interest and ones you will add to your weekly meal plan.
I’ve provided a list of the main ingredients that, for the most part, would probably involve a shopping trip to the supermarket for most. However, as always, read each recipe thoroughly and carefully to create your own personalized list as I have not listed what I consider to be “staple” items like regular milk, butter, eggs, flour, sugar, butter/shortening, oil, spices, etc.
Make sure you read through the menu suggestions for the entire week as some require some leftover meat or gravy, etc., from a previous day’s dinner so you will need to know what amounts of ingredients need to be set aside for a subsequent day’s meal.
Click on the green hotlinks to access the recipes.
MONDAY
Granola – My recipe for granola is nut free. So tasty, it’s actually yummy eaten as a trail mix treat, too!
Best Zucchini Granola Muffins – These are great breakfast or coffee break muffins and they freeze very well. Great treat to start off the week!
Shopping List: Granola (click here for my recipe), zucchini, applesauce
Dinner: Roast Beef, Potato Patties, Turnip Puff Casserole
A roast beef dinner is so tasty (and the house smells so great when the beef is roasting). Be sure to save some of the beef and make some gravy for the beef pot pies for Tuesday night’s dinner!
The potato patties are a change from traditional mashed or boiled potatoes and these are super tasty. Turnip goes particularly well with beef and is transformed into a lovely flavorful casserole to serve as a side dish. Jazzes up a roast beef dinner for sure!
Shopping List: Roast of beef, cut of choice. For Potato Patties – Potatoes, sour cream chicken bouillon, breadcrumbs. For Turnip Puff Casserole – Rutabaga, applesauce, onion, parmesan and cheddar cheeses.
Turnip Puff Casserole
Dessert: Rustic Apple Pie
Who can say no to a homemade apple pie! Add a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream to make this an even more special treat!
Shopping List: Apples, pie pastry for double-crust pie + enough for a single crust pie (needed for tomorrow’s Beef Pot Pie)
TUESDAY
Dinner: Beef Pot Pie – This is a great way to use up leftover roast beef and gravy from Monday night’s dinner.
Sometimes, depending on the size of roast, after a couple of days of leftover sliced cold roast beef, it can be a little boring, shall we say. That’s why it’s important to find other uses for the leftover roast beef, like this Beef Pot Pie, so it seems like a brand new idea for dinner!
Shopping List: Rutabaga, carrots, potatoes, onion, mushrooms, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, red wine summer savory, frozen peas and corn, fresh parsley, pastry for single crust pie
Dessert: Leftover Apple Pie
WEDNESDAY
Dinner: Potato Leek Soup with Whole Wheat Biscuits
Sometimes you just need a plain old-fashioned silky smooth cream soup and this Potato Leek Soup fits that bill nicely. Serve it with some warm homemade whole wheat biscuits, with a slather of butter, of course!
Shopping List: For Soup – Potatoes, leek, celery, onion, garlic, chicken/turkey stock, milk, white cheese blend (e.g., mozzarella, provolone, parmesan) For Biscuits – All purpose and whole wheat flours, buttermilk
Dessert: Chocolate Drop Cookies
These are a great chocolate cookie and sure to find their way into the heart of any chocolate lover.
Shopping List: General baking supplies + cocoa
Chocolate Drop Cookies
THURSDAY
Dinner: Chili Con Carne served with Pan Rolls
This chili is packed full of flavorful ingredients. While I think it’s perfect any time of the year, it’s especially inviting on cold winter days! Make a batch of homemade pan rolls to accompany this chili.
Shopping List: For Chili – Ground beef, onion, green pepper, celery, garlic, 1 – 28oz can diced tomatoes, 2 – 14oz cans red kidney beans, 1 – 10oz can tomato soup, 1 – 5.5oz can tomato paste, chili powder, balsamic vinegar, liquid beef bouillon, mushrooms. For Pan Rolls – Yeast + standard baking supplies
Dessert: Creamy Coconut Rice Pudding
Baked rice pudding is a comfort food and many will remember their mothers and grandmothers making this treat. I’ve jazzed up my recipe with coconut milk and raisins that have had a little “nip” of amaretto!
Shopping List: Arborio rice, amaretto, raisins, coconut milk, maple syrup, shredded coconut
FRIDAY
Dinner: Honey Garlic Spare Ribs, Twice-baked Potatoes, favorite side vegetable
Nothing beats honey and garlic to add some life to spare ribs! These ribs can be served with rice or choice of potato but my favorite is to add a twice-baked potato to the plate. Super yummy.
Shopping List: For Spare Ribs – Ribs, apple juice, honey, soya sauce, garlic, onion. For Twice-baked Potatoes – Baking potatoes such as Russet variety, sour cream, whole milk or cream, liquid chicken bouillon, garlic, cheddar and parmesan cheeses
Dessert: Jelly Roll
Lovely sponge cake rolled with red jam or jelly. Yes, this is indeed an old favorite with many.
Shopping List: Cake and pastry flour, favorite red jam or jelly
SATURDAY
Dinner: Moussaka with green salad
While I have made Moussaka for years, recent visits to Greek islands reignited my love for this dish. As a nod to my Prince Edward Island heritage, my version uses potatoes instead of the traditional eggplant. A little time-consuming to make but the end result is so worth it!
Shopping List: For Moussaka – Ground beef, onion, celery, garlic, 14-oz can crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, red wine, beef broth, russet potatoes, milk, Gouda cheese, breadcrumbs. For green salad – favorite lettuce and salad fixings of choice, dressing.
Dessert: Vintage Tomato Soup Cake
I grew up with this cake being frequently made. Bet you can’t tell there is a can of tomato soup in it!
Shopping List: Tomato soup, molasses
SUNDAY
Sunday Breakfast: Special Treat – Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes
Sunday mornings call for something just a little more special than you might make on busy weekday mornings. Try these Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes with maple syrup or a rich blueberry sauce for double the blueberry flavor.
Shopping List: Buttermilk, blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Dinner: Leftover Moussaka
Dessert: Leftover Vintage Tomato Soup Cake
So, there you have it – the Week 2 Meal Planning Menu from My Island Bistro Kitchen.
For other meal plans from My Island Bistro Kitchen, click on the links below:
Given a choice of which meal of the day to eat out, hands down, I’ll choose breakfast every time! I love eating breakfast out and sipping on that first cup of coffee as the tantalizing scents of breakfast preparation waft through the air in the dining room.
When I choose a restaurant for breakfast, I’m not looking for greasy diner fare. I’m looking for places that:
Right out of the gate, I’ll tell you this is not a sponsored post and I wasn’t paid to do it. In fact, the restaurants I’m about to tell you about have no idea I was checking out their restaurants and writing about them on my food blog. So, what follows are my own personal impressions of four (4) great places on PEI that I choose for breakfast and we travel from Summerside to Murray Harbour to find them.
Price Range: $2 – $10 (at time of writing)
I seriously love this place that opened in 2011 and I personally think they have the best coffee on the Island! Their coffee house is small and quaint (yes, you can even eat in the little vault!) but they pack big flavor in their light fare menu items and desserts.
Housed in the former, and now refurbished, Journal-Pioneer building, the large windows allow lots of natural light to permeate the dining area. This is casual style dining. You place your order at the counter, receive a table number and, when the food is ready, a server delivers it to your table. Complimentary Wifi is available.
A good selection of coffee types are available that include espresso, café mocha, café latte, espresso macchiato, cappuccino, and americano. They also, in my view, make the best paninis on the Island using local ingredients. These are perfect for brunch or a light lunch. If you check out their menu board, they’ll often list the food producer’s name by the ingredients they use so you know you are getting good, fresh, local fare.
Their “Breakfast Sam” is a great breakfast or brunch choice and it is available in a gluten-free version as well (shown in the photo above). With eggs, cheddar, ham, tomato, and spinach on a cheese bun (gluten version only with this particular bun; gluten-free is on toasted bread), this is simply a lovely way to start the day. Other breakfast items include their own house-made granola, homemade bread for toast, muffins and cinnamon rolls, and oatmeal.
In the summer months, Samuel’s also operates a coffee house at Avonlea Village in the resort municipality of Cavendish.
Price Point: $9 – $11.50 (at time of writing)
Oh, this is a real little gem in the picturesque fishing village of Murray Harbour and absolutely worth the drive to eastern PEI.
Located in a decommissioned and repurposed church, the owner has kept much of the ambiance of the former church including the matched board walls and ceiling. The small open- concept kitchen (seen in the photo below) now takes up the former altar and choir loft.
The focus of food preparation at #5 Café is very much on the concept of clean food that is not full of additives and preservatives and that is made from scratch in their own kitchen.
#5 Café offers a wide variety of casual fare items on their menu but, bar none, their omelette is the best I’ve ever had! Toast is made with their own homemade bread and you’ll often find locals dropping in to buy some of the bread to take home. Gluten-free bread, though not made in-house, is also available with breakfast items.
Regardless the time of day, I’ll bet you can’t leave without checking out their dessert case and large glass jars filled with delectable cookies and other sweets! You just might find some homemade fudge in that dessert case as a sweet ending to breakfast or brunch!
Prince Edward Island Preserve Company, 2841 New Glasgow Road, New Glasgow
Price Point: $6 – $11 (at time of writing)
In operation since 1985, this restaurant is the “go-to” place for many Islanders (including me) for breakie on weekend mornings. You know the old saying “Go where the locals go and you’ll find good food”. Breakfast is served daily until 11:00am.
Open seasonally from the end of May to early October, be sure to look through the windows to the right as you enter the front doors. Here, most days, you can see the preserve-making process in action. This company is well-known for its production of preserves and spreads and many breakfast menu items are served with their own house-made preserves.
The bright open-concept dining room is surrounded by windows. Boasting a phenomenal view of the River Clyde, try to snag a table by the window so you can watch the many different birds at the feeders and fluttering amongst the beautiful flowers of the nearby Gardens of Hope. Complimentary Wifi is available in the dining room.
This full-service restaurant has a great menu selection for breakfast and I’ve sampled most of them!
Many items can be prepared gluten-free or vegetarian. Items range from granola to the standard country breakfast to French toast, pancakes, Belgian waffles, egg croissant to the breakfast frittata which is seriously the best I’ve ever had. Served in an au gratin dish, it’s filled with peppers, green onions, mushrooms, and three cheeses. Served with sautéed potatoes and toast, this is the full meal deal and you won’t need to eat for the rest of the day!
Price Point: $3.50 – $12 (at time of writing)
Located not far from the Charlottetown waterfront, this independently-owned coffee shop is housed in a refurbished historic building. Look for the bright sunflower yellow store front.
Inside, the exposed brick walls and high ceilings lend a European look and feel. A variety of seating options is available – tables, padded benches, bar stool and counter, and easy chairs. This is casual dining where you place your order at the register, pick up your beverage, find a table, and a server will then deliver your order to your table. Complimentary Wifi is available.
Breakfast is served all day! Breakfast items range from bagels, Belgian-style waffle, homemade granola and yogurt, and frittata. Known especially for their types of coffees, they roast organic coffee beans in-house and you can get your lattés, cappuccinos and mochaccinos as well as standard americano coffees here.
My choice at Kettle Black is the frittata that is served with a tasty side salad and toast (gluten-free bread is available).
Together, these four establishments offer a wide variety of tasty breakfast fare.
I make a lot of muffins and freeze them to take to work for coffeebreak snacks. I am always testing out flavour combinations for muffins. This recipe for Zucchini Granola Muffins combines grated zucchini, applesauce, granola, orange rind, and spices to make tasty muffins. Adding some granola to the muffin tops makes them colorful and interesting. Continue reading Best Zucchini Granola Muffins Recipe
This granola recipe features a tasty mixture of toasted rolled oats, coconut, and dried fruits and berries. Notably missing in this recipe are any nuts or whole seeds which are often found in granola. This is intentional. For anyone who, for any reason, cannot consume nuts or whole seeds, this Nut-free Granola is especially for you! Continue reading The Bistro’s Great Nut-free Granola Recipe
