Jewel Salad & Friday Menu #7.

Okay... so WOW... Thanksgiving is already next week.

To be honest, I'd pretty much forgot until I sat down to plan the menu for next week.  Lucky for me, Thursday's covered, baby.  We'll plan on keeping the meals for next weeks simple and delicious, in an effort to keep things manageable as we prepare for the holidays!  This year, I'm responsible for a cranberry relish, green salad, apple pie, and appetizer (hmm...what should I make?!).  I think I'll try and prepare a homemade eggnog too - just for fun.  

All that to say, we have two orders of business today.  First, I want to share a quick and delicious salad recipe with you.  I think it would be a delicious accompaniment to any Thanksgiving table.  And is healthy to boot.  

Jewel Salad
Original recipe from The Homesteader's Cookbook


You will need:
 - 2 apples, diced finely (I wish I would've had a red or pink one for color!)
 - 2 stalks celery, diced finely
 - 1 cup shredded carrots
 - 1 orange, diced finely
 - 1 cup of pomegranate seeds
 - 1 pear, diced finely
 - 6 tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice
 - 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
 - 1 tablespoon raw honey

Cut all the fruit into beautiful "jewel" sized pieces, trying your best to keep the cut consistent in all the fruits.  Then, mix together the orange juice, vinegar, and honey.  Pour this over the diced fruit and allow to marinade for an hour at room temperature.  Enjoy!  Note: I also really, really wanted to top this salad with some toasted almonds, but since we were having steak for dinner, it seemed like an overkill.  But if I were you, I'd totally do the almonds. We had this salad for dinner last night and it was a wonderful, bright note to our plates.  Make it - you'll see what I mean!

Okay, now order of business numero dos.  Our menu.

Sunday

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs & kefir smoothies

Snack: Homemade popcorn

Lunch: Pancakes.  Yep, you read right.  

Dinner: Pizza with fresh tomatoes, cheese, grilled pepper and onions

Monday

Breakfast: Soaked oatmeal with fresh fruit

Snack: Cheese sticks, almonds

Lunch: Leftover pizza
Dinner: Rice linguine with chicken and cream, green salad with pomegranate and candied nuts

Tuesday

Breakfast: Fried potatoes, eggs, sprouted corn tortillas, fresh fruit

Snack: Bananas, homemade protein bars

Lunch: Leftover pasta & salads
Dinner: Curried chicken salad sandwiches, roasted butternut squash with cinnamon, butter & nutmeg

Wednesday

Breakfast: Pear tart with cream and cinnamon & scrambled eggs

Snack: Homemade protein bars, sliced veggies

Lunch: Curried chicken salad sandwiches, fresh fruit

Dinner: Chicken and rice soup with roasted garlic and kale, baguettes, and green salad

The menu is only going to Wednesday this week.  Because after that, it's turkey, sweet potatoes, creamed corn, cabbage salad, and pumpkin pie.  Watch out now.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend preparing for the fun to come!  And if you're planning on eating Thanksgiving dinner alone, call me up.  Ain't nobody should be eatin' alone on Thanksgiving.  The more the merrier, I say.

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

For other great meal ideas, no matter what your dietary restrictions, check out the meal planning service I use: Real Plans.

Jewel Salad

Original recipe from The Homesteader's Cookbook

• 2 apples, diced finely ((I wish I would've had a red or pink one for color!))
• 2 stalks celery, diced finely
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 orange, diced finely
• 1 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1 pear, diced finely
• 6 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp raw honey

1. Cut all the fruit into beautiful “jewel” sized pieces, trying your best to keep the cut consistent in all the fruits.  Then, mix together the orange juice, vinegar, and honey.  Pour this over the diced fruit and allow to marinade for an hour at room temperature.  Enjoy!  Note: I also really, really wanted to top this salad with some toasted almonds, but since we were having steak for dinner, it seemed like an overkill.  But if I were you, I'd totally do the almonds. We had this salad for dinner last night and it was a wonderful, bright note to our plates.  Make it – you'll see what I mean!