As you may know, I’m not normally a meal planner.
I like to cook by the seat of my pants and just make what speaks to me on that day. I’m the same way with my blog posts too. I rarely know what I’m blogging about until I sit down to write and I don’t often plan specific posts ahead of time. I usually just sit down and type! It feels more natural to me when I don’t force something.
…and that’s the same way I like to cook, but sometimes I need to plan meals to get out of a cooking slump. Now that I am on the road to recovery with this flu, I decided to plan out my meals this week and bid my cooking slump farewell!
Step 1: Plan The Meals:
The meals I chose:
- Enchiladas with Cilantro cream sauce & salad
- Creamy Sweet Potato Bake and biscuits
- Veggie Burgers with Moroccan spiced root vegetable fries
- Tahini Lemon Rice and beans
- WILD CARD (this can be leftovers, a meal out, or spontaneous recipe)
Don’t be fooled by this simple looking list- it actually took me over an hour to figure out what I wanted to make for the week. Also, I don’t like to specify what day I’m making each recipe! I will decide the night before most likely. :) I think the thing I love about planned dinner recipes is that you automatically have a lunch ready for you the next day!
Step 2: Make List and Grocery Shop:
After I picked out my meals for the week, I checked what ingredients I had in stock and then I went grocery shopping for the rest.
Step 3: Prep veggies and Grains
After meal planning and grocery shopping, I did prep work by slicing veggies (cucumbers, carrots, peppers) cooking grains and beans (chickpeas and brown rice), and made a fresh batch of Spring Fever Lemon Dill Hummus.
This whole process took up half the day, but I’m hoping that it will pay off with time savings throughout the week.
Keeping my May veggie goals in mind, breakfast today was a yummy Green Monster blended with 1 cup frozen kale, 1.25 cups soy milk, 1 large frozen banana, pinch or two of cinnamon, Vega Choc-o-lot protein powder, and Amazing Grass wheatgrass powder.
I topped it with almond butter, cacao nibs, and 1/2 an Endure Glo Bar. It was delish…but gave me goosebumps!
[Can you tell it is a gloomy and rainy day by the low lighting of this photo?]
Lunch today will probably be similar to yesterday’s lunch…
I had cucumbers and carrots with Spring Fever Lemon Dill Hummus, along with sprouted grain open-faced, toasted sandwiches topped with tomato paste, avocado, and pepper. I love this voluminous lunch as it takes a long time to eat.
Stay tuned for a great week of dinner recipes!
CHERRY SEASON MAKES ME SO HAPPY!
What kind of makeup do you buy? I need a better brand!
Right now im using Everyday Minerals http://www.everydayminerals.com/
Im not in love with it because my skin tends to be dry and it flakes on my skin. It is just ‘ok’ for my skin type.
I really should start planning out my meals more. I usually end up with too much of something and not enough (or none) of something else when I go to cook. I like anything that makes healthy eating easier so I think a plan is a great first step.
I can’t wait to hear about the root veggie fries! Unlike you, I LOVE meal planning (yes, weird I know!!) This week involves 2 fish dishes, and a lot of rice in various forms because I cleaned out my cupboards this weekend and I think I may have more rice than a small Chinese grocery store!!
lol u are cute
That salad looks delicious. I need to get better about meal planning. For the first time in a long while I have an idea of what I want to make this week.
I planned my menus as well!
Some weeks im a meal planner others I just wing it… I usually go by whats on sale at the store and then adapt or come up with recipes to make, a well stocked pantry is the key. That smoothie looks delish as does your lunch with all those veggies hopefully you can kick your flu to the curb!
I always try to meal plan, but I often find that by Wednesday I’m completely off track. I usually give in to my cravings and find myself at the grocery store 2 or 3 times per week to pick up some random item….that’s probably why my pantry is exploding with food all the time!
Your lunch looks so amazing. I look avocado on sandwiches!
I love meal planning! I feel like like it definitely saves me a lot of money and streamlines my cooking when I have a plan. I like to buy groceries for 5 or 6 nights worth of meals, but then I often change at least one or two to reflect my mood or what was good at the grocery store. I use it more as something to fall back on than something I MUST stick to.
Oh and I usually buy way more produce than I need for my recipes. My desire not to let things go to waste will help encourage me to eat my veggies!
Do you find that the chopped veggies stay fresh until Friday? I’d love to prep foods for lunch salads, but I feel like the veggies get kind of mushy by Friday… Do you have a special way to store them?
I store them in Pyrex glass dishes filled with water. I find that keeps them fresh a bit longer. I dont store cukes in water though b/c I’d worry they would get mushy.
I’m not sure how long they last, but I would guess 4-5 days? Here’s hoping!
In water! That is something I never thought of! I’ll be trying this asap. Thanks!
Completely agree! Sometimes you need a little motivation to get back into making creative meals. Sounds like a fabulous week ahead! :)
Mmmm that’s my kind of lunch. The avocado toast looks delishhh!
It’s kind of freaky how, right now, I am planning out my meals for the week and they are eerily similar (though not too much) to your plan. I looked in my fridge yesterday trying to figure out what to make for the week. Cilantro, rice, lemons (just got a bagful from my MILs tree), tahini, beans and root veggies for fries all made the list. Lol. I can’t wait to see your recipes. :)
And I ask the same question as Amanda. How do you store chopped veggies so they don’t go bad by the end of the week? Freeze them??
See above I just replied to her Q :)
Planning meals sucks sometimes, but it is a great way how to get your eating habits a bit more organized and eat better to nourish your body. Since I started meal planning, I feel much better (and maybe look a bit better too:). All photos in the post look divine, you are a skillful photographer:)
Thank you!
That’s the number one thing I love about healthy eating. You can have a giant meal of vegetables with some grains on the side, and you feel full after eating far less calories than any restaurant meal. I have a big appetite, and healthy eating allows me to satisfy that on minimal calories! That lemon dill hummus looks amazing – I’m going to make that this week!
what a great plan for meals. You have a system, it seems! I normally have been like you, no planning but I can see how sometimes in all our lives we must! I do however ALWAYS have my kitchen stocked and stocked, then I can’t go wrong. :)
All your meals sound amazing! Your breakfast—kale green monster oh wow! only you and your readers(me) would think that looks INCREDIBLE!! hehe. Have a great day!
I’m always confused when people don’t meal plan, lol it’s such a habit for me! Otherwise, how do you go grocery shopping? What I buy totally depends on what I’ve planned to eat! I tend to get in food ruts, but buying new things forces me to try new meals!
that is funny…my normal grocery shopping goes like this, ‘hmm this looks good maybe I’ll buy two’
I do make lists…but only for the usual suspects and occasional recipes I have in mind.
I have entirely too much OCDness to do that! But you come up with all of these AMAZING things, I just might have to learn this “wing it” skill. :)
I always plan my meals and make a list.. but chopping veggies at the beginning of the week is something I did not think of! That would be a HUGE time saver in the middle of the week. I REALLY like this idea!
I hope you feel better!! :)YOu are still eating delicious food even though your under the weather! Your amazing :)
i think you are the only person i’ve ever seen eat toast with tomato paste…youre taste buds are usually spot on so I have a feeling I should give this a try!
do you and eric ever eat out? just curious what kinds of restaurants you all go to when you do go out.
We don’t go out to eat often because there aren’t any restaurants in our town, and the ones nearby are mostly chains. :( I do have a fav Italian restaurant though.