Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail!

Last week I had my wisdom tooth taken out, which I thought was going to result in a liquid diet week...but I recovered pretty well and was eating solid foods by the next day!  The problem? I wasn't PREPARED!  I did not go grocery shopping or create any sort of weekly structure for myself.  My choices were ok, but they weren't great (lots of random lunch purchases at work, coffees out, a gluten free muffin splurge as I drove by the bakery on my way home from the gym).  None of these choices were horrible on their own, but add them up over 5 or 6 days, and they result in a lethargic, moody, bloated Laura.  So, I will NOT fail to plan this week! 

Recipes for the week are simple and easy to prepare on the spot.  There is not much time for food prep this Sunday, so I will rely on dinners that take 30 minutes or less to prepare and have little clean up! I always go to Clean Eating Magazine's Website when I am looking for quick and easy, because there are two awesome categories to accommodate that goal: 20 minutes or less meals and 5 ingredients or less meals!

Turkey Black Bean Soft Tacos (I use coconut paleo wraps from Julian Bakery instead of corn tortillas)
Greek Style Fish with Mint Cucumber Sauce
Chicken and Lentils

Breakfast Choices:
2 days: Greek yogurt with 2 tbsp. flax seed, 2 Tbsp. walnuts and 1 banana
2 days: Smoothie made with 1 cup cherries, 1 cup almond milk, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 cup spinach
1 day: breakfast sandwich: 2 eggs, 1 slice cheddar cheese, 2 slices gluten free bread with 1/2 cup spinach and slice of tomato mixed in sandwich

Lunch Choices:
"The usual" 3 days: Paleo sandwich with 3 ounces turkey or ham, lettuce, tomato, mustard
Baked sweet potato 2 days: (baked in the morning before work) topped with leftover stuffing from tacos and 1 ounce cheddar

Dinners:
Monday: Breakfast for dinner: 2 egg omelet with ham, cheddar, apple with side of greens in oil and vinegar dressing
Tuesday: Turkey Black Bean Soft Tacos
Wednesday: Greek Style Fish with mint and cucumber sauce with side of cauliflower mashed potatoes (see four weeks ago for recipe!)
Thursday: Chicken and Lentils with side of jasmine rice
Friday: Leftover Chicken and Lentils

Snack choices:
Apples or celery with nut butter

Shopping List:

Middle Aisles

• 12 corn tortillas or other tortillas
• 1 15-oz can low-sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup salsa
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 1/2 cups dry green lentils
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• oregano
• flax seed
• nut butter
• protein powder
• bread for sandwiches
• vinegar for dressing

Meat

• 4 5-oz cod fillets
• 1 1/4 lb extra-lean ground turkey
• 1 lb deli meat
• 12 ounces chicken breast

Dairy and eggs

• 4 cup 0-2% plain Greek yogurt
• almond milk
• cheddar
• eggs (4 for recipes)

Fruits and veggies

• 3 tbsp finely chopped English cucumber
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• lettuce and tomato for sandwiches and tacos
• 2 bananas
• 5 apples
• 2 cloves garlic, minced1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 lb spinach
• celery

1 Hour+ 1 Skillet=Meals for the Week!

Lately, I have been seeing nutrition clients on Sunday afternoons, which means less prep time.  I was also craving pizza, so that had to be on the menu this week.  So, I did a whirlwind grocery trip, and made a breakfast and 3 dinner options out of 1 skillet, and tada!  Interesting breakfast and dinner options to the rescue!

Skillet Meal made in to
1. egg white muffins
2. feta, ground turkey and veggie pizza
3. meat sauce to pour over spaghetti squash
4. taco filling to stuff in to tortillas (with optional cheese and avocado on the side to make it pretty!)

Ingredients: 1 jar tomato sauce, 1 jar salsa, 1 carton liquid egg whites, 1 premade pizza crust (I use the gluten free, grain free "Against the Grain" crust), olive oil, spaghetti squash, tortillas (corn or whole wheat), 8 ounces feta cheese, optional cheddar cheese and avocado for tacos

Skillet: 2 peppers (1 red, 1 orange), 4 cups spinach, 1 zucchini, 1 summer squash, 2 cloves garlic, 1 onion, salt and pepper to taste, 2 lb ground turkey (I used 99% fat free variety found at Stop and Shop)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook ground turkey in a pan. chop veggies and add to pan.  Saute until cooked to desired texture.
spread 1/4 jar pasta sauce on pizza crust.

Put 1/4 skillet mixture on pizza
Put 1/4 skillet mixture in 6 large or 2 regular sized muffin tins (greased or lined with muffin cups)
Put 1/4 skillet mixture in bowl with rest of pasta sauce
Put 1/4 skillet mixture in bowl with salsa to stuff in to tortillas at some point

Sprinkle feta cheese on pizza and cook for time recommended on pizza crust box.

Cook spaghetti squash while pizza is in oven.

Pour contents of egg white carton evenly in to egg muffin tins. Put in oven for 15 minutes.

When spaghetti squash is done, prep it for "pasta", and store in a bowl for later in the week.  Save remainder of feta for spaghetti squash pasta!

There you have it!  3 dinners (5 if you count the leftovers that will probably happen from the spaghetti squash and pizza nights!)  and 3-5 breakfasts, depending on how many egg white muffins you eat per time.

Add in a few "usual suspects" (fruits, veggies, lunch meat, salad ingredients, yogurt, oatmeal, protein powder), and the week is set.

Make ahead Meals for a Week On-the-Run

I always dread these weeks: The ones where I have to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner away from home unless I want to eat at 4am and 9pm due to  a heavy work schedule.   But, I know with a little planning, at least my meals can be healthy and tasty!  This week's theme is meals on the go!

PS---I won a shiny trophy at my Crossfit Competition!  Must be all those good meals I am eating :-) (I think Pioneer Valley Crossfit coaching has something to do with it too)

 

Recipes

crustless quiche

sausage spinach skillet (I added a sliced apple)

Ground chicken curry

How to cook spaghetti squash

Meal Plan

Last week, I realized that the only lunch I am really loving is my sandwiches.  So, I will try and alter them a little bit each day, just in case my readers are not as boring as I am and want to mix it up for lunch a bit.

Breakfasts

3 days: crustless quiche (made in advance) with 2 cups salad greens on side

2 days: smothie with 1 cup frozen cherries, 1 cup almond milk, 1 scoop protein, 1 cup spinach

Lunches

every day: sandwich on paleo bread, crudites, piece of fruit

Sandwich options: 

turkey with pepper jelly, cheddar, romaine lettuce

ham with stone ground mustard, apple, spinach, and sprouts

Turkey with stone ground mustard, pear, sprouts

ham with honey mustard, cheddar, romaine lettuce                  

Dinners

2 days: chicken apple sausage skillet with roasted potatoes

3 days: ground chicken curry with vegetables served with spaghetti squash

(I will make both ahead and the meals are great for travelling because they are 1-dishers!)...I will try to include some salad greens on the side to encourage veggie intake as well!

Snacks (1-2 per day)

Ants on a log: 2 celery stalks with 2 Tbsp. nut butter and raisins on top

greek yogurt with flax seed

last resort: protein shake!

Shopping list (tried to make this a little more user friendly by specifying where to find foods in the store!)

Produce:

1 red onion

1 white or yellow onion

garlic

broccoli or other desired veggies for chicken curry

salad greens

spinach (1-2 bags)

romaine lettuce (1 head)

2-3 sweet potatoes

2-3 lbs small potatoes for roasting

6 apples

1 pear

1 package sprouts

celery (and any other veggies like carrots and peppers for crudites)

cherry tomatoes

parsley

Dairy:

8 ounces feta

3 ounces cheddar cheese for sandwiches

milk or milk substitute (I use almond)

6 eggs (or could also go with 10-12 egg whites here)

parmesan cheese

Meat:

1/2 lb ham (deli)

1/2 lb turkey (deli)

package chicken or turkey sausage

Other:

1 can tomatoes

curry powder

fish sauce

nutmeg

salt and pepper

mustard (stone ground and honey mustard)

pepper jelly

frozen cherries

protein powder

paleo bread (or other desired bread for sandwiches)

olive oil for cooking

ghee or butter for cooking

nut butter

raisins

pine nuts