I've been hard at meal planning the last few months even though I haven't posted it! The month of April I plan on making a bit different though because I hope to make more of my own food like bread, yogurt, oatmeal muffins and such. I have a post coming up on why so I won't get into all that here and now.
I was down to the wire on March 31st when I finally sat down in my auditing class and planned our meals for this month. I think it turned out nice seeing we are only eating leftovers on Monday's, which are night class days. I even threw in a few ideas from our travels and plan on making some Dutch recipes.
Per usual my breakfasts, lunches, and snacks are prepared on the Sunday of each week and we eat variety and goodness at our night meal. I've also toned down how much I'm cooking quiet a bit since we don't eat leftovers any more. Now there is just enough food cooked for the supper of the night. I hate wasting food and last week was a wasteful week. I wore myself out in the garden the entire weekend and my meal prep went to hell in a hand basket. I only got my fish cooked and didn't have time to put the rest together which left us unprepared and eating out a lot. So organization and being prepared is always the best route in life and ESPECIALLY in meal planning/ meal prep!
April's Menu
1st Breakfast
Muffins, muffins, muffins, and pigs!
This meal is always the easiest because it is for Hendrik as I just eat fruit and supplements before the gym to get me going. I can always be a bit more lax on the healthiness of this meal. This month I plan on changing that a bit with homemade oatmeal muffins that have different toppings on them. Recipe to come!
2nd Breakfast
Eggs and toast with homemade wheat bread
Breakfast burritos
Oatmeal
Cold Cereal- our go to is always Cheerios which is low in sugar and not as refined as other cereals
Eggs and toast with homemade wheat bread
Lunch
Chicken taco salads
Fish, sweet potatoes, and black beans
Chicken, broccoli, and brown rice
Beef patty, quinoa, and cauliflower
Chicken, sweet potato, and broccoli
My lunch meal prep has doubled now that Hendrik is on the band wagon. I have to do a few varieties to his meals but so far it is going good.
Dinner
Stuffed bell peppers
Chicken and dumplings
Grilled pork chops, sweet potatoes, and corn
Shrimp etouffe
Hamburgers and sweet potato fries
Salmon fillet, herbed brown rice, and green beans
Stompot and meatballs (Dutch)
Grilled chicken salad
Beans and cornbread
Grilled chicken, baked potato, and corn on the cob
Cajun dirty rice
Tacos
Cajun chicken pasta
Fish fillets, quinoa, and broccoli
Homemade pizza
Steaks, baked potato, okra
American Chinese
Nasi (Dutch)
Enchiladas
Roast, potatoes, and carrots
BBQ sandwiches
Honey sriracha chicken and rice
Hamburgers and sweet potato fries
Chicken spaghetti
Fish, quinoa, cauliflower
Chicken fried steak, macaroni and cheese, and green beans
Snacks
Hard boiled eggs
rice cakes
frozen fruit bowls
almonds
protein shakes
Tips:
- Meal planning is only the first step in being prepared and staying healthy. You also need to prepare your grocery list and ensure that your are prepared to make your meals.
- Sunday afternoon = meal prep day----- a good portion of every Sunday is spent at the gym doing a killer full body workout and then Sunday afternoon I make muffins, bread, bake chicken and cook vegetables for our week's worth of lunches. I also end up boiling eggs and such to ensure my snacks are in order.
- I've found that when I don't or can't meal prep on Sunday's I fall off my wagon and it's hard to stick to my healthy diet. With all my other commitments and obligations time doesn't make itself available during the week until it is too late.. i.e. Thursday or Friday...and by this time the week is over.
- Use a calculator and have a budget. If you have your list and are prepared with what ingredients you need there is no reason that you can't stay within your budget. I also love playing a little game with myself to see how close I can get between my calculations and the cash register. ;)
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