Meal Plan August 13-17
It didn’t dawn on me until I sat down to write my first official weekly meal plan post, that this was going to be an easy one. Mark is on vacation with his family in South Carolina, so its just me this week.
I am a morning person, like no snooze, up and out.
Because I am off to the gym before work, I generally do not eat my first meal until I am already at the office. For the last 7 or 8 years, I have done fasted cardio and morning workouts. Getting the gym out of the way in the morning keeps me on track and stress levels down. The end of the day is often unpredictable and I lose motivation. Definitely a downside being of a morning person, I have very little motivation at night. It doesn’t take much for me skip a workout, that’s why I stick the A.M. schedule. But that definitely doesn’t work for everyone.
Morning Smoothie (8:30-9am)
I am a creature of habit. My morning meal has been either a smoothie or some form of eggs for years. But before you say, BORING, this doesn’t mean I eat the same exact food every day.
This has been the summer of smoothies. On Sunday’s I make and freeze my smoothies in mason jars. They are defrosted by the time I am ready to eat; my favorite is when it is like ice cream and I top with granola. Some days I let it melt all the way or re-blend it to make it drinkable.
Makes 2 smoothies:
- 1 Koia of choice, this week was Vanilla Bean and Coconut Almond.
- 2 Blender Balls, I have a monthly subscription of the Cacao Peanut Butter
- 1 heaping cup of frozen strawberries, blueberries, cherries and kale
- 1 medium banana
*Topped with granola for a little crunch.
Approximately – 325 calories 35g carbs 5g fat 12g protein
Mid-Day Meal (11:30-12:30pm)
Also in rotation for the last few weeks has been a surprisingly filling cucumber salad with celery, bell peppers, red onion and feta cheese. I mix with Yasou!, a Greek dressing that can only be found locally here in MA but can be purchased on Amazon.
Makes about four – 1 cup servings:
- 1 whole English cucumber sliced and quartered
- 1 whole bell pepper
- 3-4 stalks of celery, approx. 3/4 C
- 1/2 red onion, approx. 1/2 C
- 1/4-1/2 C Feta Cheese – I use Athenos Crumbed Traditional
- 1/4 C dressing of your choice, I recommend something with oil and a little will go a long way
This week with the Cucumber Salad is dry rub buffalo chicken thighs, with a rice and quinoa blend.
The recipe for the rub can be found here. This recipe by Chunky Chef is perfect for any cut of chicken. I original tried this for chicken breast on the Traeger last week, and made extra spice mix to keep on hand.
* I did leave out the ground mustard, but only because I did not have any on hand.
Afternoon Snack (3-4pm)
Snacks this week:
- Bounce – Coconut & Macadamia Energy Balls
- Earnest Eats – Chocolate PB Baked Bars
- Also on hand, in case I am extra hungry Sargento – Balanced Breaks
I try to keep snacks around 200 calories and around 10 grams of fat.
Dinner (6-7pm)
Dinner Menu
Monday – John Legend Breakfast Sandwich from Chrissy Teigan’s cookbook
Tuesday – Taco Tuesday! Beef and Cheese Tostada (dinner for 2)
Wednesday – Shrimp and Riced Cauliflower (dinner for 2)
Thursday – SweetGreen
Friday – Pizza on the Traeger, probably this Grilled Quadruple Cheese Pizza
Saturday – Date Day/Night!
Sunday – Depends on the season. Note, football is a big deal in our house.
Grocery List
- Bananas
- Frozen Smoothie Fruits + Greens
- Koia Protein Drinks or other nut/oat milk
- Any other smoothie add in peanut butter, honey, flax seed, etc, if you aren’t using Blender Bombs
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 lb lean 93/7 grass fed ground beef
- 1 lb wild caught shrimp
- 1 English Cucumber
- 2 Bell Peppers
- 1 Red Onion
- 1 Yellow Onion
- 1 bunch celery
- Crumbled Feta Cheese
- Greek dressing (oil based) of your choice
- 1 head of Cauliflower or already prepared riced cauliflower
