Meal Plan Monday 3/2/2015

Happy Monday from sunny Florida!!

I am linking my meal plan this week with orgjunkie.com 

MONDAY - Stuffed peppers

TUESDAY - Tacos

WEDNESDAY - Kids Choice - mini pizzas

THURSDAY - Shrimp and Coconut Rice

FRIDAY - Fish and chips

SATURDAY - We'll be at a birthday party, so we'll be eating what they are serving

SUNDAY - Oven 'fried' chicken, with sweet potato and green beans

I love making a meal plan, especially for dinner. It helps us to eat healthier and actually saves us money. 

Hope you all have a great week!

Meal Plan Monday - Week of February 16th

One of the best ways to ensure that you eat healthy meals is to plan your meals for the week. At one point I tried to plan all of our meals, but we usually eat the same thing for breakfast every day and my son eats lunch at school, so no reason for me to plan his lunches.

Here is our meal plan for dinner this week:

Monday - lettuce wraps with turkey tacos

Tuesday - Jambalaya rice with andouille sausage

Wednesday - frozen pizza (we will be going to church, so we need a quick meal)

Thursday - Baked Chicken with sweet potatoes 

Friday - Bean and rice burritos

Saturday - Chicken Parmesan

Sunday - Dinner out

These are all pretty simple meals, as I'm trying to work my way into cooking more often. As I continue doing these posts, I will post links to my recipes for each meal.

I like to join orgjunkie.com's Meal Plan Monday!

Have a great week!

Meal Plan for the Week of 1/19/2015

One of my plans for a happier, healthier 2015 is to really dedicate myself to having a meal plan for the week. Not only does it eliminate the 'What's for dinner?' mystery everyday, but it help us to eat healthier and save money. 

I am aiming for a 'theme' each night during the week (or at least a few nights). 

Meatless Monday - a meal with no meat, eventually I'd like to make it a full vegetarian meal

Taco Tuesday - not necessarily tacos, but some sort of Mexican meal. There are so many recipes I have found that fall into this category.

Leftover Night - a clean out the fridge type of night.

Kid's Plan - Kids will be more likely to enjoy their dinner if they have a hand in planning it and preparing it. 

That's what I have so far, I definitely plan to expand it and fine tune my plan.

Here is my meal plan for dinner this week:

Monday - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato Soup (not the most original, but it's supposed to be cold and this is such a comfort food)

Tuesday - Turkey and Black Bean Quesadillas

Wednesday - Kid's Choice

Thursday - Grilled Chicken w/cauliflower

Friday - Pizza

Saturday - family in town, plans are up in the air

         

Sunday - Crock pot chili

I only really plan dinners because we pretty much eat the same thing for breakfast everyday. Also, my son's lunch is prepared by his school and I bring the same thing for lunch almost every day, unless I bring leftovers.

I want to work harder to have my son and I eat healthier while saving money! Hopefully, by being consistent with my meal planning and fine tuning it even more, I will be successful!

Meal Prep

I did my first attempt at meal prep last night, and of course did not take pictures.

 

I cooked up 2 pounds of ground turkey, a box of Uncle Ben's brown rice and (gasp) a can of green beans. (I only used the can because I thought I had frozen ones, but I didn't). Once everything was cooked, I  put one cup of cooked meat, half a cup of rice into four countainers and split the green beans between the four containers.

 

I'm hoping it turns out yummy!

Clean Eating

I hate the 'D' word. You know the word, that one single word that restricts you from eating pretty much everything except lettuce. Diet. There I said it.

 

Although the word diet can also mean the way you eat. As in your diet consists of ..... The trust is, I just want to find a way of eating that will not bore me to death, be fairly easy and improve and keep me healthy.

 

I tried the low-carb 'diet.' It was great, I lost a ton of weight, actually getting down to my 'ideal' weight. But I gained it all back, got pregnant and gained more.

 

Anyway, an acquaintance of mine on Facebook and Instagram is always posting pictures of what she makes for dinner and it always looks delish! And she eats 'clean.' So after some research (and by no means is this the dietitian/nutritionist description of it) this is what I discovered about eating clean: 

 

• You are encouraged to eat more fruits and vegetables and limit red meats
• You should not eat processed food. 'If it came from a plant it's okay, if it's made in a plant it's not.'
• You are encouraged to eliminate white rice, white potatoes and white flour.
• It's easier to eat at home, you have better control of what goes in your food.

 



One thing I learned doing my research is that you start to learn what your body needs and what foods are needed. You look at foods more as fuel for your body than just something to fill you stomach when you're hungry. For example, for my mid-morning snack, I ate a piece of Ezekiel Sprouted Grain bread, with TB of natural peanut butter and half a banana on top. I know that snack will satisfy me until lunch because of the fiber in the bread, protein in the peanut butter and the good carbs in the banana. My other choice for a mid-morning snack was a frosted donut.

 

I'm still learning about the concept of eating clean and trying to learn recipes and how to make it easier for me to do everyday.

 

Do you have any tips for eating clean?