When Stephanie Todd wrote her first food blog in 2016, it was just for fun – a part-time hobby to help pass the time and share her knowledge with others.
“I was working full time out of the house with a toddler and needed to claim my sanity back and get organized – which I did with meal planning and meal prep,” says Todd, a 16-year resident of Airdrie. “l started a Facebook group that grew by the thousands within days, and then launched the website in 2016, followed by the meal planner app in 2022!”
While she’s not a trained chef or dietician, Todd’s practical recipes proved so popular that she left her corporate job in 2019 to focus full-time on what had by then turned into a small online business called Meal Plan Addict. In addition to helpful tips and recipes, a by-subscription meal planning app, Meal Plan Collective, offers customizable weekly menus, automated grocery lists, and recipe database to streamline meal planning and grocery shopping.
Here’s a couple of simple recipes to keep the whole family happy.
And, of course, you can find more at mealplanaddict.com
Breakfast Banana Split
5 minutes | 4 servings
Ingredients
4 bananas (sliced in half lengthwise)
2 cups yogurt (flavour of your choice)
1 cup granola
1 cup blueberries
1 cup raspberries
8 strawberries (sliced in half)
1/4 cup honey
Directions
Slice each banana lengthwise and place the halves on a plate, side by side
Add ½ cup yogurt on the banana.
Top with ¼ cup granola, 14 cup raspberries, 14 cup blueberries and 2 strawberries.
Drizzle with honey (optional).
Nutrition (estimate per serving)
Calories 352kcal; Fat 10g; Carbohydrates 55g; Protein 9g;
Fibre 6g; Sugar 39g; Cholesterol 16mg; Sodium 69mg;
Vitamin A 173IU; Vitamin C 29mg; Calcium 191mg; Iron 2mg
Refreshing Vermicelli Noodle Salad
15 minutes | 4 servings
Ingredients
7 1/16 vermicelli noodles (200 gram package)
2 carrots (cut julienne-style)
4 Persian (mini) cucumbers
1 bell pepper (any colour, sliced into thing strips)
1 cup cilantro (rough, chopped, adjust to taste)
1/2 cup crushed peanuts
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp water
1/8 tsp red chili flakes (adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp minced garlic (or one very small clove)
Directions
Cook the vermicelli noodles according to the package. When done cooking, rinse with cold water and set aside in a sieve.
In a large bowl, add the carrots, cucumber, bell pepper and cilantro. Add the cold noodles into the bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together the fish sauce, rice vinegar, water, sugar, garlic and chili flakes. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat everything.
Top with crushed peanuts, and add more cilantro if that is your jam!
Leftovers will last 2-3 days and you can store leftovers with the dressing for this one.
Nutrition
(estimate per serving)
Calories 339kcal;
Fat 10g; Carbohydrates 46g;
Protein 13g; Fibre 5 g;
Sugar 9 g; Cholesterol 0 mg;
Sodium1,447 mg;
Vitamin A 6,376 IU;
Vitamin C 43 mg;
Calcium 63 mg; Iron 2 mg
Notes
This is not a recipe where you want to measure garlic with your heart. Less is more here.
This is raw garlic in the dressing – use a very small clove or limit to ½ tsp of minced garlic.
The salad can be stored with the dressing. In fact, it is better once the dressing marinates
with the noodles and vegetables a bit.
