Weekly Menu Planning

Since I spent a lot of money eating out last week, I'm trying to use up things I have on hand for my menu this week - I previously had on-hand asparagus, lean ground beef, potatoes, lentils, and frozen veggies.

My grocery list this week consisted of staples - milk, bread. And fresh fruits and veggies - grapes, bananas, and spinach.

Not a very exciting menu this week, but everything is pretty healthy and I still have lots of veggies incorporated - two goals for myself every week.

Breakfast

Egg Sandwiches

Apple Museli

Scrambled eggs with black beans


Lunch

Leftover blue cheese burgers & asparagus

Potato soup with spinach

Turkey Sandwich w/grapes


Dinner

Chopped Chickpea Salad

Lentil Soup w/french bread

Whole Wheat Gnocchi w/Sweet Potato sauce and broccoli


Snacks

Carrots w/white bean dip

Bananas w/almond butter

Apples

Unsalted Almonds

Grapes

2% Fage Yogurt

Weekly Menu Planning

One thing that makes me feel on track and in control is planning out my meals each week. By habit I am a weekly grocery shopper. I enjoy having fresh fruits and vegetables in the house at all times (seriously, if there aren't slightly green bananas on my counter, I'm lost) and by going to the grocery store weekly, it let's me do this.

I've been using The Peaceful Mom's Printable Meal Planning Tools to write down my menus and then hang them on the refrigerator as a reminder. Since I usually go to the grocery store sometime over the weekend, my menus are from Sat-Fri.

I'd like to start sharing my menus on the blog, along with recipes, so those of you reading can get a better idea of what I'm eating. In theory, I try to eat a well balanced diet of as many veggies as possible, fruits, whole grains, carbs high in resistance starch, lean protein, and low-fat dairy.

That being said, here's what I am eating this week.

Breakfast:

Egg, spinach and roasted red pepper pita pocket

Biggest Loser Oatmeal Pancakes

Carb Lover's Banana Shake

Easy Egg Sandwiches

Lunch:

Black Bean and Veggie Tacos (made up on the fly: flour tortilla, black beans, diced carrots, grilled peppers and onions, avocado, and hot sauce)

Carb Lover's Banana Shake

Carb Lover's Chicken Pita Sandwich

Tuna Salad w/Wasa crackers, carrots and an apple

Carb Lover's Chickpea Chopped Salad

Dinner:

Baked Salmon w/Parmesan topped baked potato and broccoli (inspired by this Carb Lover's recipe)

Crockpot Chickpea pot pie, Deviled Eggs, and Salad (Easter Sunday)

Carb Lover's Grilled Burgers and 3-bean salad

I've been drawing a lot of inspiration from the good ole' Carb Lover's Diet book because their recipes are well-rounded, healthy, easy, and taste good. This is also an odd week because I have things after work three nights this week, plus my friend is in town Wednesday-Friday so I expect more eating out than normal. That is why I only have 3 dinner varieties listed.