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Weekly Meal Plan for March 3 – 9

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Click on image for a “clickable” menu with links to recipes.

So HERE is the meal plan for this upcoming week. I’m still trying to figure out what is the best method to share this, but for now this will do. If you click on the image above, it should bring up a printable page, linked to the recipes that I plan to use throughout the week. Now, there is always some wiggle-room here, but this is the outline I intend to work with for the week. Last week, I stuck with everything on the plan until Friday, when we were supposed to have baked tilapia, and then we found out that friends were coming for dinner. I had to change the plans because there wouldn’t have been enough for everyone. Instead, I made the whole wheat pizza recipe, also on my site here. It’s a family friendly, crowd-pleasing recipe that takes a little effort, but makes for a fun dinner to share because everyone can get involved in the process.

To prepare for this weeks meals, I’ll be doing  a little prepping and pre-cooking. I’ll grill up a couple of chicken breasts for salads/wraps. I plan to make up some homemade Larabars, a cheaper and healthier alternative to store-bought, pre-wrapped snack bars. I probably cook up some quinoa, too, to use in various salads and sides. Just a little work now makes the week go so much more smoothly!

It’s going to be a delicious week! 🙂

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Pizza Night Done Right!

I LOVE pizza! It’s my absolute, hands down, favorite food! Some might consider that a weakness…but I love it so much, I’m willing to do a little extra work to make it healthy AND delicious! You can make the dough recipe below as stated OR you can throw it all in a bread machine, following your manufacturer’s guidelines for ingredient order, and use the dough cycle. *That’s how I did it until my bread machine died! 🙁 The best thing about this recipe is that it makes 3, 12″ thin crust pizzas, so everyone can make their own, share with a friend/family member and put on own their favorite toppings. It makes me so unbelievably happy to load mine up with all my favorite toppings (that don’t happen to be my family’s favorites), like: pesto, artichokes, olives, peppers, carmelized onions, zucchini, feta cheese, skim mozzarella, tomatoes, and spinach (the more veggies the better!). It makes for a fun family night, or dinner with friends. And everyone’s happy to eat the pizza that THEY designed! 🙂 Enjoy!

1 t. honey pizza_night

1 ½ C. warm water (100°F)

1 T. active dry yeast

1 T. olive oil

1 t. salt

3 ¼ C. whole wheat flour

1 t. Italian seasoning (or substitute garlic powder, oregano, basil, whatever you like!)

Cornmeal

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, dissolve honey in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
  2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then slowly work in the whole wheat flour and seasonings. When the dough starts to come together, tip dough out onto a surface, adding in the remaining flour as you go. Knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 3 pieces for 3 thin crusts, approximately 12” pizzas, or leave whole to make 1 or 2 thicker crusts.
  4. Preheat the oven to 500°F. Spray, or oil a pizza pan, stone, or cookie sheet and lightly dust with cornmeal. Roll a ball of dough with a rolling-pin until it will not stretch any further. Transfer to prepared pan and continue to stretch and work the dough to desired size/thickness. Pre-bake for 5 minutes in the preheated oven. Do this with remaining crusts.
  5. Turn oven down to 425°F. Now you can spread the sauce and top your pizza however you like. Return to oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges and the cheese is melted on the top.

*If 3, 12″ thin crust pizzas are made, and cut into eighths, each slice of crust is 60 calories. Then figure in your toppings to determine additional calories. For reference, the above pizza,as I described, was around 150 calories per slice. I had 3 slices and LOVED every bite; totally guilt-free!

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Cookie Dough Bites

You don’t even have to hide when you’re eating this cookie dough. No shame here! These are tasty and healthy and will satisfy your sweet tooth. And the best part is that they taste JUST like cookie dough! 🙂

The inspiration for this recipe comes from a website: www.adashofcompassion.com, but the original recipe posted there was a little high in calories for me. So I took it to my test kitchen to see if I could come up with an alternative that still tasted delicious. And I did! It worked! It really tastes just the same as the original recipe, but with HALF the calories! Yay! So here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Cookie Dough Bites    cookie_dough_bites

1/3 C. raw almonds

1/3 C. raw walnuts

1 C. rolled oats

¼ t. cinnamon

1 pinch sea salt

¼ C. honey (or agave nectar)

2 t. vanilla

3 T. dark chocolate chips (chopped coarsely)

Directions: In a food processor or blender, process the almonds, walnuts, oats, cinnamon and salt to a fine meal. Transfer to bowl. Add the honey and vanilla, and mix. Next, add chocolate chips and combine. Wet hands and roll into 1 tsp.-sized balls (should make about 15) and place them on a cookie pan lined with foil or parchment paper. Place the pan into the freezer for about an hour to firm up. Store balls in a tightly covered container, or Ziploc bag in the freezer.

Each bite is 78 calories.

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Sweet, Spicy and Satisfying!

soup_for_you Lucky for us, my husband had a bit of a dental emergency this past weekend which was the driving force behind this soup. It needed to be something that was easy to eat (no chewing), tasty AND satisfying. He’d begun to grow weary of smoothies and oatmeal. I came up with this delightful recipe. And though he groaned and doubted the tastiness, and potential to satisfy…when dinner time rolled around he RAVED that it might be the most delicious soup he’s ever eaten; a new favorite!  AND the kids liked it, too! It’s a little sweet, a little spicy and a LOT delicious! 🙂

Lentil, Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple Soup

2-3 T. coconut oil, olive oil (or butter)
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup lentils
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh (or dry) ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 pinch cayenne pepper (or to taste)
4 cups vegetable broth
water
plain non-fat Greek yogurt

Directions

Melt the oil or butter in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Place the chopped sweet potatoes, carrots, apple, and onion in the pot. Stir and cook the apples and vegetables until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.
Stir the lentils, ginger, ground black pepper, salt, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and vegetable broth into the pot with the apple and vegetable mixture. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lentils and vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes. Puree about half of the soup with a standard OR immersion blender. You can leave the half that’s in the pot as it is, or mash it a little with a potato masher (until it’s at your desired consistency)

Return the pureed soup to the cooking pot. Bring back to a simmer over medium-high heat, about 10 minutes. Add water as needed to thin the soup to your liking. Serve with yogurt for garnish.

Enjoy!

322 calories per serving – Makes 6-8 servings

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Baked Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Perfect for the Superbowl or ANY time! This is a family favorite recipe! And since they’re baked, I don’t mind making them! I make lots of extra so that we have leftovers for wraps and salads, too!

 

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Looking for some healthier food options to bring to a Superbowl party, or serve up to your team at home? These are SO good! I’ve made them this way for several years of Superbowls, and they’re ALWAYS a crowd-pleaser! You won’t miss the grease OR the bones! 🙂

BAKED Buffalo Chicken Tenders

8 servings (adjust accordingly)

½ C. all-purpose flour

¼ t. paprika

¼ t. salt (or seasoned salt)

¼ t. cayenne pepper

¼ t. onion powder

¼ t. garlic powder

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips/tenders

Cooking spray

Hot sauce (Frank’s or your favorite brand)

1 dash ground black pepper

1 dash garlic powder

Blue Cheese Dip
¼ cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 Tbsp. crumbled blue cheese

 

Directions

In a large Ziploc bag mix together the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, garlic and onion powder. Place chicken strips into the bag, a few at a time and shake until they are evenly coated. Repeat with remaining strips. Place coated chicken into a non-porous, glass dish. Cover and refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes. *Do NOT skip this step!

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray large baking sheet with cooking spray, place chicken on the pan and spray the chicken until evenly coated. Bake the coated chicken for 30-40 minutes, (turning once) or until parts of the tenders begin to turn brown. Meanwhile, warm the hot sauce, pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until mixture is warm. Remove from heat and reserve for serving.

*For extra crisping, you can broil the chicken for 3-5 minutes at the end. Remove from oven, place baked tenders in serving bowl, add hot sauce mixture and stir together. Serve with celery and carrot sticks and a the blue cheese dip.

Nutritional info per serving (2-3 tenders)

Container equivalents: 1 RED and 1 tsp.

Calories: 158, Protein: 26 g.

Enjoy!

The Portion Fix container system has helped so many people SEE what proper nutrition and portion sizes look like. Planning is easy: if it fits in the container, you can eat it! 🙂 When combined with daily exercise, my customers who follow this plan lose up to 3-5 pounds per week. And you’re eating clean, whole foods, which keeps you full longer!

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Oodles of Zoodles!

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Ok, I’m going to try really hard to remember how I made this fun dish! I went into it with just my ingredients and a fun new kitchen gadget! And the result was tasty and totally repeatable! Husband and kids raved!

Zoodles with Turkey Sausage & Peppers (makes apx. 6 servings)

Ingredients:

I  pkg. sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed

3-5 medium zucchinis (Cut into spirals or julienne strips with whatever nifty gadget you like)

1 T. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

½ red onion, quartered

2 bell peppers, cut into chunks

1 can diced tomatoes

1 T. dried basil (fresh would be awesome!)

1 t. oregano

¼ t. red pepper flakes (or to taste)

2 cups (or big hand-fuls) baby spinach

2 T. balsamic vinegar

Grated or shredded parmesan

Directions: Cook up the sausage in a big pan/skillet until browned. Remove from pan, reserve. Put 1 T. olive oil and minced garlic in the pan. After 2-3 minutes, add the onion and peppers and sauté for another 3-4 minutes, or until they begin to soften. Add in the can of tomatoes, basil , oregano, pepper flakes and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Mix in balsamic vinegar and spinach, and then add the sausage back into the mixture. At this point, you can warm up your zoodles in a pan with a little olive oil or broth, OR you can just use them as-is. (*I heated mine for a couple of minutes) Serve the Turkey mixture over a bed of “zoodles”, top with a little parmesan.

Delicious!

slicerOh…this is the food slicer that I am using and LOVING! Check it out!

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I Swore I’d Never Do This!

Check out these statistics: 69 percent of children aged 2-5 can use a computer mouse, but only 11 percent  can tie their own shoelaces. More young children know how to play computer games (58 percent) than swim (20 percent) or ride a bike (52 percent).  There is no gender divide either. Boys and girls under the age of 5 are equally capable  of using technology.

So, I’m about to do something I said I’d never do.  I’m going to say something that used to make my skin crawl when my parents would say it to me.  At the risk of sounding like an old lady, I’m just going to say it:  When I was a kid….

When I was a kid, I played from morning til night, outside usually.  I’d ride my bike, play kickball or kick the can (my personal favorite).  I’d climb trees, play football with the boys in the neighborhood and jump rope with the girls.  I was a bit of a tom-boy, the son my dad never had. 😉 It wasn’t just me either, it was all of us.  We played…a lot! I was thinking recently about the trend of childhood obesity and wondering how much the changing times plays a role.

Technology has taken the place of Nerf balls, jump ropes and bicycles.  I’m not saying that kids NEVER do these things anymore, but you have to admit it’s probably far less than when we were kids (look, I said it again…pretty sure another gray hair just sprouted out of my head). My kids go in streaks where they’ll play outside for a good chunk of the day, and then suddenly a video game, or an app, or a tv show takes precedence. My personal favorite is when the neighbor kids come over and ‘virtually’ play with each other; everyone on their own personal device. It’s bizarre. But, I’m an old lady, what do I know?

I’m not going to make the argument that all of this technology is a bad thing. I think it’s awesome that the kids have all of this information at their fingertips. The things that they can do on the computer never cease to amaze me! I think the Wii is a pretty cool thing, too.  At least they’re moving right? And I’m just as guilty of enjoying my own technology. You will rarely find me without my smart phone in hand, or laptop on my…lap. (duh :P) But I’m a grown up, on the way to being an old lady, and I played my heart out as a kid!

I don’t actually have a real solution to this conundrum.  I’m not really an advocate of forcing my kids to play. That seems silly right? “Go outside and play, and have fun, or you’re grounded!” ??? I do want them to WANT to play outside and be active, however. For now, I think we have a pretty good balance. I don’t worry too much about my own kids. I’m just concerned with the trend, and how it started, and how we’re going to end it.

We are a fast-moving, information-seeking, technology-loving society. We eat more and more fast, convenient and processed food as a result. And that is a topic for another day…don’t get me started!!!

And that brings me to my 30 Day Clean Eating challenge, Days 12 and 13.

Day 12 was fairly unremarkable. I’m falling into a groove now! I made a 1 egg plus 2 egg white omelette with peppers, mushrooms and reduced fat feta for breakfast. I had another quinoa salad for lunch. Shakeology, almonds, and an apple for various snacks during the day. For dinner we went out for Mexican food with friends to celebrate a birthday. I did well with grilled lime swordfish tacos (white tortillas weren’t the greatest, but what can you do?) with a cabbage and carrot slaw and avocado. They were really tasty!

Day 13 was a long day. I was up a 5:00, so spacing my meals out was a bit of a challenge. Coffee and a 1 egg/2 white mushroom, spinach, reduced fat feta scramble for breakfast. Tropical Strawberry Vegan Shakeology is my new favorite!  It’s so yummy! It was leftover turkey chili for lunch. I enjoyed a beautiful, red honey crisp apple and almonds for a snack.  We had a chicken fajita dinner at my parents’ house. They really hit the spot! I put mine in a wheat tortilla with chopped tomato, avocado and onion.  They were so colorful and delicious. Finally, I chilled on the couch with my husband and a bowl of popcorn.  It was a really good day. 🙂

Now I’m going to put this laptop down, and go play. I’m doing TurboFire for my workout today and I’m pretty sure that counts! It’s too fun not to be considered playtime!

Now go play!

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Challenge Update & Yummy Recipes

Day 10 was a hurry hurry day. I was running around from the second I woke up in the morning.  That’s the one tricky thing about clean eating, your ‘grab-and-go’ food items are limited to fruits, some veggies and food that is leftover from a previous meal. Even cereal is off my list because it’s processed. So for breakfast I microwaved an egg, threw it on some Ezekiel toast and sliced up some avocado on top.  It was fast, and surprisingly tasty. I like the egg and avocado together.  For lunch I made my favorite Greek salad…again.  For a snack I had a bowl of plain Greek yogurt (I have a thing for Greeks) sweetened with a Stevia packet, and cut up strawberries and almonds on top.  Very satisfying!  Even though I was short on time, I made Tilapia, quinoa and lemon roasted broccoli.  It came together quickly and everything was delicious.  Here are the recipes.  *You could probably use any fish with this recipe.

  and 

Eleven is my favorite number and it was a good day, too.  I woke up and made breakfast for 5, I packed up lunches for 5 (we were going to be out all day again…surprise!) and put dinner for 6 in my crock pot!  All before 9:00! I had oatmeal with strawberries and almond milk for breakfast and Shakeology on the road. For lunch I used my leftover quinoa to make a tasty salad to go.  For dinner we ate the delicious turkey chili that my crock pot made for us  while we were gone.  It was super tasty!  There were a few healthy snacks tossed in throughout the day as well…but let’s get on with the recipes, shall we?

Quinoa Avocado Salad

(for 1, modify for additional servings)

1 C. quinoa

1 tomato (I used a roma)

1/4 fresh, chopped cilantro

1/2 avocado (cut into chunks)

 1  T. chopped onion OR 1/2 t. onion powder

1 garlic clove, minced OR 1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 fresh lime, juiced

salt and pepper to taste

* Toss everything together in a bowl and serve!

Turkey Crockpot Chili

 1 1/4 pound lean ground turkey, I use the EXTRA lean ground turkey breast:

3/4 C. yellow cornmeal

1 C. chicken or vegetable broth

1 – 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

small can of green chilis

1/2 C. or your favorite salsa

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup frozen (or canned) corn

1 can kidney beans, rinsed & drained

2-3 T. chili powder

1t. cumin

Directions:  Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and cook turkey until it’s browned and cooked through. Meanwhile, soak cornmeal in broth, whisk and let sit for about 5 minutes. Add cooked turkey and cornmeal mixture to the crock pot along with all of the other ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 7-8 hours.

Optional toppings:  reduced fat shredded cheese, low-fat sour cream, black olives, avocado, whatever you like 🙂

Nice for a chili weekend, get it?! 😉

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Cleaner Eating Challenge, Day 4

Yesterday was Day 4. Does this look like sacrifice people?  I keep waiting for it to get harder, but I think it’s actually getting easier.  I know my ‘weak’ times, and I avoid missteps by planning ahead and having healthier, cleaner alternatives to the quick, easy, mindless snacks I would have typically been grabbing for during those times of day.

So everyday, all year round, starts with a Christmas mug-o-coffee.  That’s a given.  After my workout, which was TurboFire 45 (the most funnest workout ever!) I had my Shakeology (yawn…haven’t we done this before?).  Hey, I’m a creature of habit, what can I say?  I think we all stick with what works.  This is one of the fast, convenient foods that takes the place of junk alternatives or food that requires a little more prep time.

I love a good salad!  This one was delicious!  It was romaine, tomatoes, reduced fat feta cheese, sweet peppers, onion, avocado, craisins, almonds plus homemade dressing (1 T. olive oil & 1 T. balsamic).  I threw this in a “to go” container and ate it while I was waiting for the kids to finish a class.

I was a little hungry when I came home, so Ezekiel toast, almond butter and 1/2 banana to the rescue!  I made a tasty chicken, pea pod, pepper, pineapple (lot of p’s!) for dinner and had mine with a side of quinoa instead of rice.  It was so filling!  I love warm pineapple!  Something about it just makes me happy.  🙂

I was way low on calories so I had a bowl of popcorn for a snack after dinner.  I even popped it in a little oil and put a little real butter on top.  Everything in moderation, right?  My calories still came in slightly on the low side for the day, but I didn’t feel hungry at all.  Eating 5-6 smaller meals during the day is really key to keeping your metabolism going as well as staying on top of your appetite.  You know how they say that if you ‘feel’ thirsty, you’re already getting somewhat dehydrated.  Well, if you ‘feel’ hungry, that’s when you grab for food that’s not always your best choice.  Keep yourself hydrated and fed throughout the day to avoid disaster!  And download a slick app like My Fitness Pal to help you track your calories throughout the day.  If you don’t know how many calories you should be shooting for each day, go to www.freedieting.com and use the handy calorie calculator to figure out your daily calorie goal.  Once you get the hang of it, it’s a piece of cake…well maybe that’s a bad comparison!  It’s a piece of fruit! 😉

Stir fry recipe here:

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Clean Eating Challenge, Day 3

Yesterday morning I awoke to such a glorious smell…I lept out of my bed with delight and anticipation of the coming glories of the day. Well…not exactly, but you get the idea. Anyone who knows me also knows that there sure isn’t any ‘leaping out of  bed’ in the morning. Mornings and I have never really gotten along. But, yesterday was a little better. The night before I had plopped all the fixin’s for apple cinnamon steel-cut oatmeal into my crock pot, and that wondrous little machine cooked my breakfast for me while I slept! The kids really enjoyed the oatmeal, too.  As a matter of fact, 5 out of 6 Hunts agree: this recipe is a winner! You can make Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal, too!  Click here if you’d like the recipes.

For lunch I had some Un-refried bean burritos (I told you that recipe makes a ton!) with avocado slices, reduced fat cheese and homemade salsa. I had Shake0logy for an afternoon snack and some fuel before my workout.  I lifted pretty heavy, and today I’m walking a little funny, I’m not gonna lie to you.  That just means I did it right.  🙂

For dinner I grilled up some Costco Extra Lean Turkey Burgers (only 200 calories) and made baked sweet potato french fries.  I used sweet potatoes from the farm. They were SO delicious!  I could have eaten a lot more just because they tasted so darn good, but I didn’t need to.  This was a very satisfying meal!  Sometimes, if I just take my time and enjoy every little bite, I find that I’m content with just 1 serving.  I once heard that it takes your brain about 15 minutes to register that your stomach is full.  Do me a favor and DON’T shove the food in quickly in an attempt to fool your brain.  It’s not a smart strategy.

Later on, I needed a little snack so I toasted up some Ezekiel bread, spread it with natural almond butter and had an organic dark chocolate square on the side.  I really was totally satisfied all day.  It’s amazing what mindful eating does for your daily diet.  It’s funny, because I now know what my ‘weak times’ are.  When the kids start reaching for snacks in the afternoon, that’s when I would typically grab a handful of whatever it is they took out of the pantry:  a few chips, crackers or pretzels.  Not that any of those things would put me over the edge, but it’s processed food that my body doesn’t need, especially if I had planned ahead and ate accordingly.  🙂  Day 3 is done…only 27 more to go.  I’ve got this!