Weekly Meal Planning Session #4

Weekly Meal Planning Session

Y’all, I am so in need of this four day weekend. Long weekends are great for traveling, but I could not be more excited to stay here in Dallas with very minimal plans. Sunday I am headed over to my sister’s for a cookout and that is literally the only thing I have planned. Even though I am a pretty planned person (ahem, enneagram 1 over here), I really need weekends where we just wake up and do whatever it is that sounds fun for that day.

3 tips for making weekly meal planning easier

1. Stop reading labels. Gasp. Yes, this dietitian really just said that. Instead of reading labels, just pick out the brand that looks the best. This will actually increase your satisfaction. The difference between that bread and this bread is so small, it doesn’t really matter. Obviously, this excludes if you need to look at labels to avoid allergies.

2. Try to vary your proteins. You really don’t need to eat chicken breast every single night. To help with burn out, I try to have a variety of different proteins throughout the week. Don’t forget about the veggie protein like, beans and lentils, to mix it up.

3. If your struggling to come up with ideas for the week, check out your favorite grocery store’s weekly advertisements. You usually can find them on their app or website. They list all the specials, which may help jump start your creativity, plus you may save a little money.

This Week’s Meal Plan

Breakfast Options:

• Option #1 - Blueberry and walnut baked oatmeal

• Options #2 - I didn’t plan an option 2 really, but I did have sourdough bread and yogurt + granola just in case

Lunch Options:

• Option #1 - Greek salad with turkey, including mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, red onion, feta cheese, banana peppers, cucumber, hummus, zizziki sauce, with a side of fruit and veggie straws

• Option #2 - Turkey wrap on a tortilla* including butter lettuce, muenster cheese, mustard with a side of fruit, baby carrots, and veggie straws

*I decided to do a wrap with regular tortillas because I knew I was buying them for a dinner recipe and would have a lot leftover.

Dinner:

• Sunday: Cook out at a friends house, bringing roasted potatoes

• Monday: Tomato poached halibut with chile oil and tortillas

• Tuesday: Venison burger bowls with butter lettuce, cherry tomatoes, diced pickles, picked radishes and carrots, avocado, and homemade sriracha mayo (mayo, sriracha, and a tbs vinegar), Side of sweet potato fries.

• Wednesday: I had a work dinner so everyone on their own.

• Thursday: Tomato, mozzarella, basil paninis with a side of asparagus

• Friday: Leftovers or out

• Saturday: Cook out with friends

Weekly Meal Planning Session: Preparation Beforehand

On Sunday I spent 20 minutes preparing breakfast and lunches for the week. I prepared 2 lunches for myself and my husband. Later in the week I will prepare additional meals as we need them.

Lets start prepping. For breakfast this week I made blueberry walnut baked oatmeal. I followed the recipe linked above and cut into individual squares. Each morning I wrapped a square in a paper towel and heated it for 10-15 seconds. I didn’t really plan another breakfast because the baked oatmeal was going to last us the entire week. I did have sourdough bread and yogurt + granola just in case we got tired of it.

For lunch, I made homemade greek salads. I placed all ingredients in plastic tupperware and scooped hummus and zizziki sauce into small plastic ramekins that I bought on Amazon. I made individual bags of fresh veggie sticks so they are easy to grab. All the prep can be seen in the video below. The second lunch option was made the Tuesday and Wednesday night and Friday I made a sandwich at home.

Weekly Meal Planning Session: What Really Happened

Plans are a great starting place, but we need to be flexible with our food. So here is what really happened…

Sunday night we ate at a friends house and then went and saw some live music. Not my typical Sunday, but it was soo fun. Monday through Wednesday went according to plan. Tuesday night I finally made the venison burger bowls. Last week, I forgot the sweet potato fries, and to be honest I was thinking the recipe was going to be a flop. Well…turns out, I was wrong. It was sooo delicious. I actually think I will make it again. I plan to put up the entire recipe on the blog because it was so yummy and soo easy. Thursday night my husband’s dad unexpectantly came into town so we went out to dinner with him instead of making the paninis. We ended up going out for Mexican food on Friday night so the paninis will get bumped to sometime this weekend of next week. Notice a pattern? That last meal usually doesn’t get cooked and it bounces to the next week. Oh well, it doesn’t really matter, does it?

Cheer’s to the week ahead and don’t forget to sign up for my FREE PANTRY STAPLES LIST below.

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Weekly Meal Planning Session Casey Bonano RD LD, Dallas Nutritional Counseling #dallasnutritionalcounseling #balancedeating #homecooking #quickrecipes #easyrecipe #weeknightrecipe #carbfatpro #quickeasyrecipe #balancedeating #intuitiveeating #weeklymealplanningsession #mealplanning #mealprep #mealplanweek3

Weekly Meal Planning Session Casey Bonano RD LD, Dallas Nutritional Counseling #dallasnutritionalcounseling #balancedeating #homecooking #quickrecipes #easyrecipe #weeknightrecipe #carbfatpro #quickeasyrecipe #balancedeating #intuitiveeating #weeklymealplanningsession #mealplanning #mealprep