Weekly Meal Planning and Shopping

As the new year rolls in, I have had a lot of clients interested in doing more cooking at home.  As a person who has a very limited amount of time during the week to cook (and also really hates cleaning), I have become a master of the "plan ahead Sunday". In just a half hour of planning, a one hour grocery trip, and 2 hours of cooking and cleaning, I have planned and prepped my Monday through Friday meals (note: Saturday and Sunday are sort of a free-for all....I'm working on it!).

15 minute planning session: I thought about my goals for the week (limiting added sugar, packing in nutrient density, portable breakfasts to eat post workout, 1 portable dinner for my late Monday work night, and some meals that my husband will actually eat at dinner!)   I have to plan dinners for the two of us, but we fend for ourselves for breakfast and lunch (i.e. I plan and pack my meals, and he drinks coffee for breakfast and purchases some sort of cheesy, fatty deliciousness for lunch...working on that one too).

Meal Plan for the Week (2000ish Calorie diet with 40% Calories from Carbs, 30% from protein and 30% from fat spread pretty evenly throughout the day, with carbohydrates focused at the beginning of the day and around exercise)

Breakfasts (500-600 Calories per day): 

3 days: egg white veggie muffins and oatmeal

2 days: banana walnut paleo pancakes

Lunches (500-600 Calories per day)

3 days: turkey sandwich on gf bread, 1 fruit, 1 cup veggies

2 days: chicken sandwich on gf bread, 1 fruit, 1 cup veggies

Snacks (roughly 200 Calories per day)

3 days: yogurt with flax seeds

2 days: veggie lite muffin (these things are awesome little treats-my indulgence for the week)

Dinners (500-600 Calories per day with some extra for sure when I go out Friday night!)

Monday: Baked chicken with quinoa and sauteed veggies

Tuesday: Zucchini lasagna

Wednesday: Whole foods rotisserie chicken and sweet potato fries, sauteed cabbage

Thursday: leftovers (chicken, cabbage, quinoa)

Friday: Out to eat with my hubby :-)

So, my make ahead meals this week include (kept oven at 350 degrees at times listed for each)

http://www.buff-dudes.com/egg-white-muffin-recipe/ (used some cut up mushrooms, and tomatoes in place of peppers and added in 2 chicken sausages to the recipe)-makes 3 servings

http://jenessasdinners.blogspot.com/2013/04/almond-flour-pancakes.html (omitted the honey and used coconut milk instead of skim milk.  Also used 3 egg whites in place of the 2 eggs)-makes 2 servings

http://staceyschaedler.blogspot.com/2011/10/fun-food-for-fall.html (I used 2 large zucchini, and added in 1/2 cup feta cheese, 1 jar pasta sauce, and 1/2 cup cottage cheese)-makes 4 servings

Also: chicken, sweet potato fries, bacon, quinoa

Grocery list includes:

4 large zucchini/summer squash (could also do 5-6 small)

2 onions

1 cabbage

1 head garlic (mixed this with sauteed veggies and put a little in lasagna)

1 package mushrooms

2 bananas

5 apples (2 red, 3 green, just to mix it up!)

2 lb carrots

lb spinach

1 head romaine lettuce

1sweet potato

2 lb celery

1 tomato

12 eggs (whites)

4 chicken sausage

2 chicken breast

1 lb lean beef

1/2 lb bacon (to put on some of Geoff's meals---I ate a little too much bacon over the holidays!)

1 lb turkey (boars head blackened turkey)

1 loaf canyon bakehouse bread (need 10 slices)

1 jar tomato sauce

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup feta cheese

coconut oil

flax seed (ground)

almond flour/almond meal

instant gluten free oatmeal (need 3 packets)

veggie lite muffins (just need 2 this week-save the other 2 in package for next week)

coconut milk (1/4 cup for cooking, about 1 cup for coffee)

coffee for the week :-)

To buy midweek: Rotisserie chicken from whole foods!

After the grocery store, it was prep time.  I browned the meat for the lasagna, sliced up my zucchini, chopped the extra zucchini, onion, garlic, mushrooms, spinach, and fully cooked chicken sausage, and cut the sweet potatoes in to strips.  Then I started boiling water for the quinoa.  I mixed the lasagna ingredients as directed and put the lasagna in the oven. (45 minute timer)

Next, I put the chicken breast, sweet potatoes, and bacon on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven (30 minute timer)

By this time, the water was boiling and I added the quinoa.

Next, I sauteed the rest of the veggies with the chicken sausage and put half the mixture in muffin tins, then poured egg whites over the mixture and put the egg white muffins in the oven (20 minute timer).

I cleaned up my mess, got out a bowl, and made the pancake mixture.  I made the pancakes on the stove top while everything cooked.  The pancakes finished just as the quinoa was ready and everything in the oven was ready to come out.  I took 2 cups of the quinoa, sauteed it with the chicken sausage and veggies, and that was our dinner last night (with a little left over for Monday evening dinner)!  I let everything else cool, put things in individual containers for the week, and put half the lasagna in a freezer safe container to save for a future hectic week.  Did the dishes, and BAM!  Weekly meals done in about 3.5 hours total (including a trip to the grocery store!)  Now all I have to do is pack up my breakfasts and lunches, make a little cabbage mid week, and pick up a rotisserie chicken on Wednesday.  I am set up for a nutrient dense, quick and easy week!