WB Meal Plan - Staying Home

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Please excuse my absence on the meal planning posts. Maybe it's the winter blues that creep around on Mondays or my slight addiction to pinning recipes instead of posting? Who knows. But I do know this, when I don't plan my meals for the week, our healthy eating is not as consistent as when I do.

Over the last two weeks I ran to the grocery too many times due to my scattered-brained tendencies. So this week, I'm going to try and not go and pull from the ingredients I already have on hand... but if you do happen to see me at the store, don't judge :)


Monday:
Whole Grain & flax seed waffles
Turkey bacon
Fruit salad (leftovers thrown into a bowl: strawberries, kiwi, red grapes and oranges ~ yum!)

Tuesday:
Alaskan salmon burgers on whole wheat buns (confession: store bought, but all natural)
Sweet potato fries
Sauteed asparagus

Wednesday:
Tandoori chicken
Brown rice
Tomato-Cucumber Raita ** taken from Eating Well's Healthy in a Hurry Cookbook.

Thursday:
Potato & corn chowder ** (thanks to my dear friend Stacy for treating me to this for lunch last week! It was sooo yummy!)
Whole wheat baguettes
Applesauce

Friday:
Barbecue chicken & spinach pizza on whole wheat crust (gotta scroll down a little on the blog) from Peas & Thank You (I am loving this cookbook!)
Double pumpkin bars


** Today I'm including most of the recipes because I really think you should try them... and because I'm nice like that.

Tomato-Cucumber Raita

Combine 1 cup low-fat yogurt, 1/2 cup finely chopped seeded peeled cucumber, 1/2 cup chopped seeded tomato, 1/4 cup minced red onion, 2 T chopped fresh mint, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl; mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.


Potato & Corn Chowder (serves 6)

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
4 stalks celery, sliced
1 can fat-free, low sodium chicken broth
1 large baking potato, peeled and cubed
10 oz. frozen corn
1 1/2 cup skim milk
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup of fat-free half and half

1. Saute the first 3 ingredients in EVOO on medium heat for 5 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth and potato and bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 12 minutes.
3. Transfer 1 cup of soup to blender and blend until smooth and then pour back into the pot.
4. Add corn, milk and pepper and simmer lightly for 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and add half and half.

WB Meal Plan - Super Charged

I think the meal plan for last week was (in my opinion) great. I mentioned how last Saturday we ate really bad and that evening my heart was racing and felt very heavy... it was a terrible feeling. Its amazing how quickly our bodies react to the garbage we put in it. Now after a week of going vegetarian (minus the turkey sausage), I really can't get over how great I feel. My skin looks good, no racing/heavy heart, good energy and overall, I feel great. I'm not perfect... but I am motivated especially when I don't feel well.

I think living in America we tend to reward ourselves for getting through another week, finishing a big project or successfully making it through the day with our little ones still happy and breathing. That reward is usually centered around some type of food or meal and for us, sometimes those food choices are extremely unhealthy*. I am all for rewards, but if they aren't super healthy ones, then hopefully they are balanced in between a generally healthy lifestyle. For me, its all about balance.

So this week's meal plan seems to be (unknowingly) focused on some powerful ingredients that will charge you and your family up for health. Full of flavor too, I promise. After doing a little research here are just some of the higher nutrients found in this week's meals... fiber, iron, carotene, manganese, antioxidants, amino acids, omega-3's, vitamin D, choline and more. Some things will be new for my family like the quinoa and the beet salad.

Monday

Black Bean soup ~ changes: using canned instead of dried beans and taking out the bacon (sorry) and the jalapenos (for the baby).

Sourdough Bread

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Tuesday

Wild Salmon** (baked with lemon, EVOO, salt and pepper) ~ from Trader Joe's

Sugar Snap Peas

Dorothy Lane Market Southwest Quinoa

Wednesday

Vegetable Frittata

Rosemary Hash Browns

Peaches

Thursday

BBQ Chicken Pizza ~ your favorite BBQ sauce, gouda or mozzarella cheese, fresh cilantro and red onion. (with whole wheat crust!)

Banana & almond butter smoothies

Friday:

We have plans so I don't have to cook for two days... hmm, maybe I'll reward myself :)

* Next time you want to look up the calorie content for something you're about to eat or just ate, check out www.myfitnesspal.com ~ sometimes you'll think twice before grabbing that second donut.

** Wild salmon is much better for you than "farmed" salmon... it is worth the extra money you will spend (although it is in not much when compared). Here is an excerpt from Natural News about the two kinds...

Farm-raised salmon are littered with these poisonous PCB's because the fish oils and other feed farmers are giving to their salmon for sustenance is contaminated. The salmon then absorb these chemicals when they eat, which is transferred to you when you get them at your local fish market. Wild salmon doesn't have this problem because, as the term "wild" indicates, they get their sustenance from a variety of sources in the ocean, many of which aren't nearly as contaminated.

All recipes not linked are available, just message me.