Meal Plan For Sunday – Relish Rest and Rejuvenuate

Sunday is the day to do nothing. It is the day to live in the moment. To think of the week gone past with gratitude. To be mindful of the air entering our lungs, the food entering our bodies and the thoughts cruising through our minds.

It is the day to cook something that will take almost no time – so that you can focus on connecting with the family and catching up on everything that happened during the week. But it is important to get the ingredients right so that as the mind rests and the heart connects – the brain and body are rejuvenated.

Of course there can be no compromise on taste when you are cooking on Sunday. Without any doubt – all the healthy food that is cooked on Sunday must be a treat for the senses. The dishes must be please the eyes, intoxicate the nose and pamper the taste buds.

Challenges with planning the Sunday menu –

1. The meals of the Sunday menu must be focus on providing the nutrients needed to repair the damages caused by the week’s exposure to toxins.
2. The ingredients must have the ability to refresh and rejuvenate the brain
3. The meals must be tasty and be special treat
4. The food should be easy to cook
5. The food should have a smooth pleasing texture so that eating does not seem like hard work

Sunday menu breakup

1. A healthy breakfast
2. A wholesome 11 am snack
3. A packed tiffin with a treat
4. A satisfying and strengthening lunch
5. An energizing 4 pm snack
6. A nourishing dinner

Weekly meal planning – Day 7 – Sunday

This menu is designed by Simran Oberoi Multani with nutritional and parenting inputs from Dr Debmita Dutta

Breakfast – Stuffed paratha

10 am snack – Savoury oats muffin

Lunch box – Paneer cutlet

Lunch – Paneer in cashew and almond gravy

Evening snack – Steamed corn

Dinner – Egg in almond and cashew gravy

Also read Monday menu , Tuesday menu, Wednesday menu, Thursday menu, Friday menu and Saturday menu

The features on the Sunday Menu

1. Different sources of carbohydrate are used in each meal. They look feel and taste different to avoid monotony. They also deliver different nutrients.
2. The meals focus on building immunity with their focus on vitamins and minerals
3. Fiber is in focus at every meal to ensure a cleanup of the digestive system
4. Proteins come from different sources and join the carbohydrates in a very subtle way
5. Three different fat sources have been included in the menu
6. The meals are designed to energize the body but prevent a sugar spike
7. Two key ingredients are mixed and matched to make the meals interesting and easy to cook.

The theme for the Sunday menu

The key ingredients for Sunday are Paneer , cashews and almonds. All the ingredients are protein rich, bursting with good brain healthy fats and full of some rare but essential vitamins. The paneer is used at lunch and in the lunch box. The cashew and almond are turned into a smooth multitasking gravy and used with paneer at lunch time to make paneer curry and with egg at dinner time to make egg curry.

Recipes For The Sunday Menu

Breakfast

Paratha

Ingredents

Wholewheat atta

Water

Pinch of salt.

Ghee for shallow frying.

Filling – As per your requirement it could be

Mashed boiled aloo

Paneer

A mix of boiled veggies

Mashed chana ( a bit like sattu)

Cauliflower

You can also use leftover dal.

Freshly chopped coriander

,Chopped onions.

Seasoning – salt, red chilly, dhania powder,  ajwain.

Method –

1. Make the dough that you use for roti.
2. Mix the filling ,
3. Add seasoning and the
4. Coriander and onions.
5. Make a chapatti,
6. Add the filling in the centre,
7. Fold it into a disc again
8. And then roll it out well.
9. Cook on the tawa until it is well cooked on both sides.
10. Then lightly apply ghee on each side,
11. Cook for a few seconds
12. And serve hot.

11 am snack

Savoury oats muffins

Ingredients-

Oats finely ground    1 cup

Suji    1tbsp

Cup curd    ½ cup

Cup olive oil    ¼ cup

Baking powder    1 tsp

Salt    2 tsp

Oregano or thyme    a pinch

Paprika powder    1tsp

Additional elements as per your preference

Veggies of your choice such as broccoli, beans, carrots, peas

If you want a non-vegetarian version, then use boiled shredded chicken.

Method –

1. Mix all the above well and bake in muffin cups
2. In a preheated oven for 20 minutes, at 170 degrees C.

Lunch box

Paneer Cutlet

Ingredients-

Paneer, crumbled    1cup

Mashed cooked quinoa     ½ cup

Chopped onion     1

Bread crumbs    ¼ cup

Jeera    ½ tsp

Salt   as per taste

Red pepper    as per taste

Amchur and     as per taste

Coriander Powder    as per taste.

Chopped coriander leaves.

Olive oil for shallow frying

Applying on top if you are baking them.

Method –

1. Mix all the above
2. Shape them into discs
3. And then shallow fry or bake as per your preference.

Lunch

Paneer in Cashew /Almond gravy, with Chapatti(whole wheat / buckwheat)

Ingredients – 

Cashew soaked   ½ cup

Gingelly or coconut oil    1tsp

Bay leaf    1

Small stick of cinnamon    small stick

Chopped onions     ½  cup ,

Homemade tomato puree     ½ cup

Kasoori methi    2 tsp

Paneer    200-300 gms

Chopped garlic   1 tbsp

Cream   ½  tbsp

Water as needed.

As per taste- salt, red pepper, haldi, dhania powder.

Method –

1. Presoak ½ cup of cashew in some water or milk for 10 minutes.
2. Then grind to make cashew nut paste.
3. Fry the onions, tomato and garlic in the oil until they are cooked well.
4. Add cinnamon and bay leaf.
5. Then add the cashew paste and cook for a bit
6. Add the water , cream and let it simmer.
7. Chopped the paneer into cubes and add to this gravy.
8. Add seasoning, stir well.
9. Add the kasoori methi
10. And its ready to be served.

4 pm snack

Steamed corn   

Ingredients – 

Oil or butter    1 tsp

Sweet corn that is boiled     1cup

Salt

Black or White pepper

And any dried herb of your choice – oregano/basil/thyme/rosemary.

Method – 

1. Saute the corn in the oil or butter,
2. Add the seasoning and serve hot.

Dinner

Egg Curry and rice

Method-

1. Same gravy as the paneer to be worked with.
2. Instead of the cream and water,
3. Add some coconut milk and bit of water.
4. Then let it simmer.
5. Add boiled eggs and seasoning remains the same except for the kasoori methi.
6. Instead of that, you need to add curry leaves
7. And allow it to simmer in the sauce.
8. Add water to thin it out a bit.
9. Serve hot.