Menu Plan Monday, February 1st
Boy, it feels so good to be coming out of week long sickies spell! I finally have some energy to get some things done instead of just trying to get the bare minimum done to keep the house going. One of the first things I did was make a menu and grocery shopping list and head to the store. We’d stretched our pantry and freezer as far as it would go and we were basically OUT of anything that would go together for a meal. Monday’s “menu” isn’t really worth repeating so I’m starting with Tuesday. ;0)
Tuesday
- B- Cereal
- L- Sandwiches, string cheese, fruit
- Sn- Cheese, crackers, fruit
- Su- Chili Cheese Baked Potatoes
Wednesday
- B- eggs, bacon, toast, oranges
- L- Mac N’ Wienies, raw veggies
- Sn- yogurt & fruit
- Su- Crockpot Lasagna, salad
Thursday
- B- oatmeal & fruit
- L- hot dogs, chips, raw veggies
- Sn- mock “lunchables” & raw vegetables
- Su- Pork Lo Mein w/bok choy
Friday
- B- breakfast burritos
- L- sandwiches, chips, fruit, string cheese
- Sn- raw veggies & light ranch
- Su- salisbury steaks, crockpot cabbage & potatoes
Saturday
- B- biscuits, gravy, turkey bacon, fruit
- L- leftovers, raw veggies
- Sn- fruit salad
- Su- “Chipotle” style burritos
I’m finally getting around to making the pork lo mein! I had forgotten an ingredient on the last grocery shopping trip so I put it off. I didn’t get to make the Chicken Breast A l’Orange (next week) or crockpot cabbage and potatoes either. Apparently I did a horrible job on that last shopping trip and forgot a couple of key ingredients. Oops! But not this time, I got EVERYTHING on my list!! =0) I actually made a menu for the next two weeks (and grocery shopped for it) so next week’s menu plan monday is going to be so easy. And it’s a really good feeling to be so prepared to!
Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura @I’m An Organizing Junkie!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
28 Day Organizing Challenge - YAY!
ANOTHER challenge? Aren’t I just wrapping up an exercise challenge and here I am back for more??
Yes. But I’M not running this one! =P
My favorite organizer has brought my favorite organizing challenge back by popular demand (or so I assume) and just in time because I. Need. It.
February is the month where I’m going to start dedicating more time to housecleaning and organizing to get us out of this little pig sty. During the month of January, while spending mucho tiempo building an exercise habit, I have also been working on building a few other habits. Like staying on top of the dishes, and trying to pay attention to when the kids bring stuff out and have them put it up as soon as they are done. You won’t believe this, but since I cleaned out my fridge I have wiped up every little dribble immediately and it still looks clean. It’s amazing how that works!
But now that February is around the corner it’s time to kick that up a notch. I have a lot of habit building, purging and cleaning to do! And also a bit of organizing.. which brings us to this challenge.
In a few months we’re going to be moving, and that house (unlike this one) actually has a home office! How nice will THAT be?! Right now I have a desk and printer stand in my living room, a file cabinet in my closet, a mail basket that has been moved from living room to dining room and back so many times I’ve lost count.. ahh!! At various points I’ve organized some of those pieces. But I’ve never done a complete overhaul on everything home office related. All of our paperwork and billing stuff, all of our office supplies and incoming mail. Not all at once. And with a real home office looming in the near future, it only seems fitting that I purge everything unnecessary BEFORE it gets moved over– don’t you think?
While I don’t want to go crazy buying organizational storage and whatnot before we actually move, what I DO want to do is organize each of the “pieces” to our puzzle as much as possible. I need to organize all our cd-roms and other computer related cds. I need a desk drawer organizer to hold pens and pencils and paperclips. That sort of thing, you know? Nothing over the top. But A system would be better than NO system, so that’s what I am going for. Oh! And this would also be a good time to get a small fireproof safe box for important documents, wouldn’t it?? I need to sit down and make a list of specific things I want to accomplish.
Well, who else is with me?? Surely you have a little project (or a whole room) that needs organizing?? And did I mention there are PRIZES? That got your attention, didn’t it!! Go check it out at I’m an Organizing Junkie. And let me know, and Laura know, what you’re going to be tackling. Because I’m nosy, and she.. well it’s her challenge and she’d like to know. =P
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Menu Plan Monday, January 25th
Sunday:
B- Donuts & Sausage Rolls from the donut shop. (Just being honest!)
Sn- Lemon-Lime Berry Crush Smoothie (subbed w/real lemon and lime juice)
Su- 5 Minute Southwest Layered Salad
Monday:
B- Cereal & Grapefruit
L- Tuna Salad, Wheat Crackers, Veggies
Sn- Fruit Kabobs & Yogurt Dip
Su- Beefy Lentil Vegetable Soup (Modified) & Cornbread
Tuesday:
Sn- Fruit Smoothies
Su- Smoked Sausage, Ranch Beans, Veggies
Wednesday:
B- Scrambled Eggs, Toast, Turkey Bacon & Fruit
L- Tuna & Wheat Crackers, Baby Carrots
Sn- Graham Crackers w/Cream Cheese & Strawberries
Su- Chicken Breasts A l’Orange & Brown Rice
Thursday:
B- Berry Banana Splits (With graham crackers instead of Teddy Grahams)
L- Turkey & Spinach Sandwiches on 7 Grain Bread, String Cheese, Apples
Sn- Celery Sticks & Peanut Butter
Su- Creamy Chicken, Bacon & Tomato Pasta; Salad
Friday:
B- Oatmeal & Fruit
L- Bean & Cheese Nachos, Fresh Salsa
Sn- Fruit & Yogurt
Su- Pork Lo Mein
Saturday:
B- Biscuits, turkey bacon, gravy, fruit (for Hubs. I’ll have yogurt & fruit)
L- Grilled BLT Sandwiches with Cheese, Carrot & Celery sticks
Sn- Yogurt & Fruit
Su- Porcupine Meatballs, Crockpot Potatoes & Cabbage
So I was DEFINITELY right about over-planning my menu last week. There was one day that we didn’t eat supper at home and a couple of times that we had and ate leftovers (which rarely ever happens!) I have plenty of food and recipes left over for this week!
Last week’s favorite new recipe was hands down the Zesty Chicken & Pasta. I tweaked it a bit for our needs though. Basically I cooked the noodles and cooked the cubed chicken in a little bit of Italian dressing. I tossed them together with a bit more Italian dressing, chopped raw broccoli, shredded raw carrots & diced raw green and red bellpeppers. We topped it with shredded parmesan and everyone ATE. IT. UP.
The kids also enjoyed the variety of last week’s breakfasts–from the bagels with cream cheese and fruit to the ham and egg and cheese wrap to the banana “split” with yogurt and graham crackers. They also devoured their sandwich wraps much better than I expected - which were stuffed with fresh vegetables: spinach, shredded carrots, chopped broccoli. That’s always a plus!
This week I found several new recipes that we are going to try, not super unhealthy but not super healthy either, but they’ll help us use some of the vegetables we got from the co-op–vegetables that we wouldn’t normally purchase and eat otherwise (sweet potatoes, cabbage.) I’m really looking forward to the chicken a l’orange - it sounds really good! Don’t you think?
Menu Plan Monday is hosted by the Organizing Junkie!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
WFMW: A Food Diary
So I’ve been doing this little exercise thing. You may have heard me mention it once or twice. You may have also heard me mention using an online food journal to track my food intake (and also an activity journal but the point here is really the food diary.)
See, I do WELL with a food diary. By that I don’t mean I do a good job at writing it all down. No, I usually do good for a bit, then get out of the habit for a bit and then back I go.
What I mean is, that when I WRITE IT DOWN.. I do better at eating right. A food journal is good for me. I know that others have said it doesn’t work for them and that’s fine. But for me.. if I know that I’m going to have to write that cookie down if I eat that cookie, it’s usually enough to deter me. Or at least enough to limit me to only one cookie. I don’t want to have to write it down and see the calorie numbers going shooting up. So I don’t overeat.
It’s like I’m so competetive that I’m even competetive against myself.
I’m sure there’s therapy for that.
But still the fact remains that keeping a food journal (esp an online one that tracks and charts all the dietary info for me) really works to keeping me accountable for eating healthy foods, not indulging too often and not indulging too much when I treat myself.
A food diary. It works for me. What works for you?
WFMW is hosted by Kristen @ We Are That Family!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Vegetables, Vegetables!
“If you like to talk to tomatoes, if a squash can make you smile…”
The two fridge baskets, full to the brim.
Yes, today my kitchen looked like a Veggie Tales reunion. All kinds and colors and shapes of vegetables, tons and tons of vegetables! Why? This week I joined an organic produce coop. I wasn’t sure I’d gotten my order in in time to get the first order today so when I went grocery shopping for my menu this past Saturday, I went ahead and bought some produce. Of course, Saturday night I got confirmation on my order… so now I have vegetables everywhere!
It’s a really good thing that we’re eating healthier and trying to eat more vegetables anyway. ;0) Well, not just vegetables but there was fruit involved too, of course.
I was already planning on pre-washing and pre-cutting my produce and storing it in greenbags, so today I HAD to tackle that to get everything to fit in my fridge. I spent about two hours, washing, drying, cutting, slicing, and storing vegetables into 18 gallon size greenbags, most of them full. Both produce drawers AND both fridge baskets are full as well as two bowls of fruit on the counter. WOW.
Produce drawers, full to the brim!
We have a LOT of produce! The greenbags should help it last long enough to get eaten though. The pre-cut carrots, celery, broccoli and cauliflower should make it easy to snack on veggies. The pre-washed lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and green onions should make salad making a breeze!
This was the first time I’ve ever prepped and bagged this much produce at once, but it felt good to have it done. I’ll be doing this every two weeks from now on — only next time, I won’t have just bought a bunch of stuff at the grocery store too!
Oh yeah.. and a bag of potatoes too!
Also in the last few days I’ve tackled scrubbing out my fridge, and dividing the 3 packages of chicken into smaller freezer bags. Between all those things, I’m feeling very on top of things in the kitchen.. Now the dishes and the laundry.. that’s another matter!!
What have YOU been tackling? Visit Tackle it Tuesday and share your own tackling achievements.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Menu Plan Monday, January 18th
Sunday:
Sn- Veggie Tray & Lite Ranch
Su- Breakfast for Dinner: Eggs, Bacon, Toast & Fruit
Monday:
B- Ham & Egg Wraps, Orange Wedges
L- “Chef” Salads (spinach, green lettuce, mushroom, turkey, boiled egg, cheese, lite ranch.)
Sn- Fruit Kaboba & Yogurt Dip
Su- Beefy Lentil Vegetable Soup (Modified) & Cornbread
Tuesday:
L- 5 Minute Southwest Layered Salad
Sn- Fruit Smoothies
Su- Smoked Sausage, Ranch Beans, Veggies
Wednesday:
B- Scrambled Eggs, Toast, Turkey Bacon & Fruit
L- Tuna & Wheat Crackers, Baby Carrots
Sn- Lemon-Lime Berry Crush Smoothie (subbed w/real lemon and lime juice)
Su- Crockpot Turkey & White Bean Chili
Thursday:
B- Berry Banana Splits (With graham crackers instead of Teddy Grahams)
L- Bean & Cheese Quesadillas, Salsa & Sour Cream
Sn- Homemade “Lunchables”
Su- Creamy Chicken, Bacon & Tomato Pasta; Salad
Friday:
B- Oatmeal & Fruit
L- Turkey Sandwiches with spinach and tomato
Sn- Fresh Veggies & Lite Ranch Dressing
Su- Pork Lo Mein
Saturday:
B- Biscuits, turkey bacon, gravy, fruit (for Hubs. I’ll have yogurt & fruit)
L- Tacos & Fresh Pico de Gallo
Sn- Yogurt & Fruit
Note: After having bought all the groceries for this menu — this is a lot of food! I bet I end up moving a bunch of this stuff to next week - we’ll see!
Menu Plan Monday is hosted by the Organizing Junkie!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
WFMW: Yoplait Fat Free Plain Yogurt
You think I’m kidding, I’m not! A couple of years ago I weaned my family off the sugar and food coloring abundant dessertified forms of yogurt available on the store shelves. I say “weaned”.. truth is I just stopped buying it. Since then (except on rare occasions) we’ve only bought the large tubs of plain yogurt. We’ve even made our own!
It wasn’t hard, the kids made the switch easily. We still add a little bit of sugar and flavor, but the difference is that we are in control of the amounts, and there’s nothing else in there besides what we put in it. And you’d be amazed at how little sugar, or honey, or jam, or whatever, it takes to sweeten up the yogurt enough to get the kids to love it! We’ve mixed it with maple flavor and brown sugar, we’ve done vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. Get creative!
But I have a new reason to love plain yogurt because it’s FAT FREE and LADEN with protein. Practically dripping. We buy the Yoplait Fat Free Plain Yogurt in a 2lb container and with my ongoing exercise challenge, I’ve been paying more attention to the nutritional label to make sure I get enough protein, carbs, fat, etc, in my diet. I learned that I haven’t been getting quite enough protein in my diet. The challenge to add more protein without adding too much fat (short of supplements) can be a bit tricky because a lot of protein rich foods also have fat - milk, cheese, meat, eggs, etc. But not plain yogurt.
Check out these nutritional facts:
Yoplait Fat Free Plain Yogurt:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Plain yogurt is my new “Go to” snack, especially when mixed with a tablespoon of Mackays Lemon Curd and a serving of thawed frozen raspberries. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Oh, Yoplait Fat Free Plain Yogurt, I *heart* you!
Plain yogurt is helping me get enough protein while I’m working out, and it’s also allowing me to have tasty and healthy snacks that satisfy because I’m horrible about sticking to healthy diets if I don’t enjoy them. I firmly believe that’s an important key to develop a healthy eating habit that will stick. I keep harping on the Yoplait Fat Free Plain Yogurt, because these are the nutritional facts for that brand. Other brands may not have the same numbers. I also specifically mentioned Mackays Lemon Curd for the same reason, it had the lowest calories and fat per serving. The important thing is to always check the label and choose the best option to meet your needs. In this case it was low fat and high protein. Yay protein!
Do you have any high protein foods that work for you?
This post has been submitted to Works for me Wednesday. Thanks, Kristen!
Nutritional information and images from the Yoplait website.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Menu Plan Monday, January 11th
So I had all these big plans. Plans to spend some time with my calendar and my bookmarks folder, plans to pull out all my healthy recipes from the past and whip us this awesome menu that would make your belly fat shrink and your mouth water.
Maybe next week.
Here’s this week’s menu instead.
Sunday:
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Super Nachos
Supper - Tacos
Monday:
Breakfast - Biscuits, Gravy, Turkey Bacon (I’ll be having yogurt and fruit)
Lunch - Sandwiches, Veggies & Ranch
Supper - Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo & Salad
Tuesday:
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Sandwiches, Fruit, String Cheese
Supper - Bean Soup & Smoked Sausage
Wednesday:
Breakfast - French Toast, Turkey Bacon, Fruit
Lunch - Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Supper - Chili & Cornbread
Thursday:
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Sandwiches, Veggies & Ranch
Supper -Spaghetti & Salad
Friday:
Breakfast - Eggs & Bacon & Fruit
Lunch - Mac N Cheese, Wienies, Baby Carrots
Supper -Hamburgers, Chips, Potato Salad
Saturday:
Breakfast -Biscuits & Gravy, Fruit
Lunch - Chicken Noodle Soup
Supper - Beef Enchiladas, Spanish Rice
For more, hopefully inspiring, menu ideas visit Menu Plan Monday at I’m an Organizing Junkie.
You can also browse my Recipes category.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Wheat Oat Flax Pancakes With Blueberries & Almonds
On rare occasions, I surprise even myself and develop my own recipes that actually TASTE GOOD. For my first good act of 2010, I bring you:
Wheat Oat Flax Pancakes With Blueberries & Almonds
That's one pancake on a very large dinner plate. It was yummy AND filling!
A healthy and hearty pancake topped with blueberries and almonds. Low in fat, high in fiber and vitamins and a good amount of protein, too. One pancake is enough! Pair with an orange or apple on the side and a glass of milk or a cup of coffee to finish it off. Even my kids loved this!
Ingredients
Pancakes:
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup organic ground flax seeds (8 Tbsp)
4 tsp brown sugar, packed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 medium eggs
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt (2 oz.)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup whole milkToppings:
2 cups frozen whole blueberries, thawed
1/2 cup slivered almonds (8Tbsp)
1 cup maple syrup
4 pats butter, saltedDirections
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk eggs and liquids together, stir into dry ingredients. Prepares approximately 4 cups of batter.
Scoop approximately half a cup onto a medium hot griddle or cast iron skillet. Batter is very thick and will need to be patted down and spread out with a spoon.
Cook til the sides turn loose easily and bubbles just start to form and flip. (Bubbles do not form as easily and profusely as they do in thinner batters because of the thickness and the solid ingredients, etc. If you wait for too long for too many bubbles you may overcook the pancake.)Makes 8 pancakes. Top each pancake with 1/2 pat of butter, 1/8 cup maple syrup, 1/4 cup blueberries and 1 Tbsp slivered almonds. Serve hot and enjoy!
Number of Servings: 8
Nutritional Info
- Servings Per Recipe: 8
- Amount Per Serving:
- Calories: 324.6
- Total Fat: 10.2 g
- Cholesterol: 54.2 mg
- Sodium: 478.0 mg
- Total Carbs: 57.2 g
- Dietary Fiber: 6.2 g
- Protein: 7.7 g
SO GOOD.
Now, I KNOW what you are thinking. Every time someone says the word “healthy” people start scrutinizing the ingredients to see if it matches up with their standards of healthy eating. Unfortunately, “healthy” means a lot of things to a lot of people.
Here’s my version:
- I want to include as many whole foods as possible. That means, whole milk (because right now it’s the most whole available to me, I can’t afford fresh milk and I don’t have a milk cow), real butter, fresh or frozen and unsweetened blueberries, etc.
- I also want to increase the dietary fiber because among other things it promotes healthy digestion and aids in the digestion of fats, etc.
- I want to limit the amount of sugar, so I used only a small amount of brown sugar and a very small amount of maple syrup. I also did use vanilla yogurt because it’s what I had - I usually buy plain but they were out of plain, otherwise I’d have used that.
- I want it to be lower in fat. I know you’re thinking “that’s not low fat!” If it were one side serving I’d agree with you, but since the pancake is the bulk of the meal and since the fats come from the butter, milk and yogurt and not something like shortening or red meat the fats are, in my opinion, healthier fats.
- Lastly, it’s about proportions. I believe that butter is okay, in moderation. I think sugar is okay, in moderation. So nothing in this recipe is over the top, it’s all very well balanced.
I do wish that my kitchen was stocked with freshly ground whole grains, farm fresh eggs and milk, homemade butter and organic everything. But it’s not where we are at right now. In the meantime I’m trying to improve things as much as I can and I’m trying to eat a bit healthier and exercise a lot more to develop a healthier lifestyle. Being able to eat good stuff like this (which honestly was almost as good as the stuffed french toast I made a few weeks ago!) helps me be able to eat healthier and stick to it and love it, too!
Who says that eating healthy can’t taste good, too? Hogwash! =)
P.S. This is the first recipe I’ve ever uploaded to a recipe site! I submitted it to Spark Recipes and it calculated the nutritional info based upon the ingredients I selected. I’m trusting that their numbers are accurate, I did try to compare the info for each ingredient as I went through it. Also, if you want to reduce the calories and sugar a bit more, leaving off the maple syrup will reduce each serving by 107 calories and some of the carbs and sugars, too.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Menu Plan Monday, January 4th
It’s been SOOOOO long since I have done this!! And not only is it so important for good meal planning, and for wise money budgeting but it’s also important for making sure that we eat right, too. So I’m hopping right back in and getting on the meal planning horse again.
As always, I’ll plan meals for each day, but we often switch things around a lot as our whims and daily activities desire. In the end all these meals will be stocked, prepared and consumed in a somewhat organized manner.
Sunday
- B~ Cereal, so we’re not late to church. ; )
- L~ Turkey sandwiches on 7 grain wheat, baby carrots, string cheese, chips
- S~ Breakfast for dinner: Wheat Oat Flax Pancakes with Blueberries & Almonds, turkey bacon
Monday
- B~ 7 Grain french toast, fruit, yogurt
- L~ Homemade “Lunchables” - ritz, turkey, cheese, apple wedges
- S~ “Super” Nachos with salsa fresca and guacamole (I leave out the meat, go light on the chips and go heavy on the fresh veggies for a healthier version)
Tuesday
- B~ Cereal & fruit
- L~ Chef salads w/egg & deli meat
- S~ 15 Bean Soup w/ Smoked Sausage, brown rice
Wednesday
- B~ Oatmeal & fruit
- L~ Bean & Cheese Quesadillas, with salsa fresca
- S~ Spaghetti w/ Ronzoni Extra Fiber Pasta & Salad (with carrots, cucumbers, spinach etc.)
Thursday
- B~ Eggs & bacon, toast & OJ
- L~ Turkey sandwiches, apple wedges, chips
- S~ Grilled chicken, corn, steamed broccoli
Friday
- B~ Cereal
- L~ Fried egg sandwiches, fruit
- S~ Porcupine meatballs, ranch beans, salad, bread
Saturday
- B~ Bread machine bicuits, gravy, turkey bacon, fruit
- L~ leftovers, etc.
- S~ “Salisbury steaks,” veggies, rice.
We have several fresh and frozen fruits to choose from with breakfasts and lunches so we can choose what we are in the mood for each day. We also have a snack every day and we’ll try to incorporate either fruits or veggies depending on what the menu for the rest of the day looks like. For snacks we have things like peanut butter and crackers, string cheese, fruit smoothies, yogurt and fruit, etc.
My version of “healthy” is a combination of eating more whole foods, increasing grains and fibers, eating a variety of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, eating balanced meals, monitoring portion control and limiting the amounts of processed foods and high fat or high sugar items. My husband still has certain foods/menus he refuses to give on so we often compromise where we can. It keeps things.. interesting. ; ) I think, though, that exercising regularly will allow for a certain amount of compromising here and there. We shall see. =)
This week I had to menu plan from the food I already bought, but next week I’m going to do it the other way around, and I’m going to revisit some of my healtheir recipes from the past to see I can get our menu even healthier than it is now!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
