Meal Planning Monday

It's Monday and my fridge is almost bare. I need to restock on healthy food items while also sticking to a strict budget. Times are tough and I'm trying hard to save up some extra cash to move in May. Pinching pennies is not my forte! I'm a spender... and have a feeling this is going to be a challenge in itself. Seems like all my money goes to food and bills these days with little room for splurges. This exercise is to help me learn how to better budget for food and still eat healthy!

Here's my plan...


Weekly Snacks:

• Boiled Egg
• Chobani Yogurt
• Raw Almonds
• Organic Golden Delicious Apple
• Hummus and Veggies
  

Will only eat these healthy snacks if I'm hungry.


Weekly Drinks:

• Water (2-3 liters/day)
  
• Hot Tea (plain)
• Lemon Water
• Almond Milk

Here's today's example with snacks included to give you an idea of how I may eat. Usually 3 square meals with 1-2 snacks in between.

Monday
Breakfast: Berry Green Monster
Snack: Boiled Egg, Hot Tea
Lunch: Egg Sandwich on 12 Grain English Muffin with Tomatoes
Dinner: Black Beans & Brown Rice with Veggies
Snack: Chobani Raspberry Yogurt

Veggies: 5 servings
Fruit: 1 serving

I want to get at least 5-6 servings of veggies per day and 1-2 servings of fruit.


Tuesday
Breakfast: Apple Cinnamon Green Monster
Brunch: St. Patty's Day Celebration @ T-Tapp
Lunch: Black Beans & Brown Rice, Salad
Dinner: Zucchini Crab Cakes & Tabbouleh

I may skip that lunch completely if I'm still full from brunch. May play around with dinner too.


Wednesday - Happy St. Patty's Day!
Breakfast: Green Monster (I really want some Lucky Charms with Almond Milk... and might splurge!)
Lunch: Zucchini Crab Cakes & Tabbouleh
Dinner: Irish Beef Stew


Thursday
Breakfast: Green Monster
Lunch: Irish Beef Stew
Dinner: Salmon Salad and Quinoa


Friday
Breakfast: Almond/Coconut/Cinnamon Oatmeal
Lunch: Salmon Salad and Quinoa
Dinner: Taco Salad (fish, chicken or turkey)


Saturday
Breakfast: Sweet Potato Muffin, 1 Egg, 1/2 Grapefruit, Hot Tea
Lunch: Sauteed Veggies & Quinoa
Dinner: Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce, Coconut Rice & Steamed Veggies


Sunday
Breakfast: Sweet Potato Muffin, 1 Egg, 1/2 Grapefruit, Hot Tea
Lunch: Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce, Coconut Rice & Steamed Veggies
Dinner: Homemade Whole Grain Mac N' Cheese with Salad

Wouldn't this be nice?

Workout

Tempo Lower Body + body brushing.

Killer workout! This one is going back into the rotation. Might do something like this for a full workout routine this week: M - Tempo Lower Body, W - Tempo 2, F - Tempo Lower Body.


Food Log

Dinner

Black Beans & Brown Rice topped with Tomato, Avocado, Garlic, Cheddar and Chobani 0% Plain Yogurt.

Then added 1 cup of spinach and mixed it all together. Looks like the inside of a burrito!

Snack

After my workout I snacked on some Stacy's Whole Grain Pita Chips and 2 Tbsp Sabra Hummus. Sorry no photo, I scarfed them down. *evil grin*

Then shared a Chobani Raspberry Yogurt with Marcel.

As much as I love Chobani, I wish they made the fruit flavors minus the evaporated cane juice. Its an all natural form of sugar, but I'm trying to avoid added sugar as much as possible.

What I'm really craving is Chobani 0% Plain + Barlean's Omega Total Vegan Swirl.


Supplements

nutraMetrix® Glucosatrin Bone & Joint Formula: 1 cap
nutraMetrix® Isotonix Calcium Complete: 1 serving
nutraMetrix® Isotonix OPC-3: 1 serving

Water intake today: 2 liters

Veggies today: 5
Fruits today: 1.5


Now that my meal planning, workout and healthy eats are complete... I'm going to hit the pillow before midnight.

Au revoir!