SIMPLE meal plan?

prestonbunch

Can anybody point me in the direction of a SIMPLE family-friendly meal plan? I'm a working mom of three and I'm planning to start doing the Focus T25 exercise program this week. I have looked at the nutrition guide with it and plan to follow the 1600-calorie a day plan, but I'm not a fan of quite a few of the foods in the guide and I know what will happen if I try to pinhole myself into a really restricted meal plan with foods my family doesn't like . . . it won't last long.

I'm looking for a meal plan that has SIMPLE meals with ingredients I can find in my rural grocery store and meals that don't take an hour of preparation. I am not having much luck. If I even found just a week's worth of meals I could repeat that would be great.

Any suggestions? I know I could set out to make one from scratch, but time is a precious commodity for me. There's an ice storm coming and I want to leave for the grocery store soon. LOL. Help!

chickwithguitar

If you are already doing t25, you can get a membership on teambeachbody.com that customizes a meal plan for you. That's what I did! It tells you each meal for each day and it plans it according to which workout program you are doing. It's so easy, I love it!

jhmomofmany

Just a thought, but maybe start by modifying the meals you are already eating. By working within your existing meal plan (assuming you have one?) your family will get familiar foods and you can make small, gradual changes which will improve everyone's health.

VelvetMorning

What kind of foods are you looking to get more of/less of? Are you looking for any primary staples?

GoMizzou99

Crock pot recipes ok?

This one is fan-freakin'-tastic. The whole family loves it. Super easy to make. #1 downloaded recipe of 2012.
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/02/crock-pot-santa-fe-chicken-425-pts.html

Another suggestion is Jambalaya - crock-pot again. This one is really good. I serve it over rice so I can control the rice calories. Real jambalaya has rice in it. This is everything but the rice. Make the rice on the side.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Colleens-Slow-Cooker-Jambalaya/Detail.aspx?evt19=1
Don't berlieve the calories on allrecipes.com. I measured them yesterday and it is about 190-200 calories a cup - plus the rice.

VelvetMorning

Crock pot recipes ok?

This one is fan-freakin'-tastic. The whole family loves it. Super easy to make. #1 downloaded recipe of 2012.
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/02/crock-pot-santa-fe-chicken-425-pts.html

Another suggestion is Jambalaya - crock-pot again. This one is really good. I serve it over rice so I can control the rice calories. Real jambalaya has rice in it. This is everything but the rice. Make the rice on the side.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Colleens-Slow-Cooker-Jambalaya/Detail.aspx?evt19=1
Don't berlieve the calories on allrecipes.com. I measured them yesterday and it is about 190-200 calories a cup - plus the rice.

Best way to cook rice:

12 ounces of water
1 cup dry rice (640 calories)
Place into pressure cooker (if it's electronic, put the setting on high pressure)
wait 8 minutes
PERFECT RICE. :P

VelvetMorning

If you don't have a pressure cooker:

2 cups water into a pot w/ 1 cup rice. Bring to simmer on high heat. Lower to lowest heat setting, cover, leave it alone for 15 minutes. No peaking! Remove from heat after 15 minutes, DO NOT OPEN and let sit for 10 minutes.

PERFECT RICE!

Francl27

We make very easy meals here. Basically frozen veggies with a protein, and sometimes we add rice, egg noodles, couscous, potatoes or squash, which are all pretty easy to make. For the meat, we just buy sausages, fish, chicken (thighs, drumsticks or breasts), steak, ham or pork (not often because I don't like pork that much) that we can just put in the oven or in a pan for 20 minutes. Sometimes we just have tacos (just brown the meat and then we make our own with fixings) or pasta. I admit it's easier in Summer as my husband just grills a lot of things, and we buy more steaks then.

We do recipes once in a while (turkey meatloaf, shepherd's pie) but they're a pain to track so we often don't bother.

So anyway, all we have to do is keep the freezer and pantry stocked with frozen veggies, egg noodles, rice, potatoes, couscous (and frozen meatballs for the days we want pasta), and then we just need to buy enough protein for a few days at the store - can be what's on sale or whatever. Like yesterday I just bought some fish and sausages, as we still have chicken in the fridge. Doesn't get easier than that.

prestonbunch

If you are already doing t25, you can get a membership on teambeachbody.com that customizes a meal plan for you. That's what I did! It tells you each meal for each day and it plans it according to which workout program you are doing. It's so easy, I love it!

I only have the free membership on beachbody.com. Apparently I can't use the meal plan feature with that?

prestonbunch

What kind of foods are you looking to get more of/less of? Are you looking for any primary staples?

We like chicken, ground beef primarily. My hubby likes steaks but the kids and I could live without those. We have pork once in a while. We don't eat much fish except white tuna. I like almost any vegetable, but my family is pretty much peas, corn, potatoes. I like any kind of fruit.

We normally eat stuff like tacos, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken and potatoes, etc.

Mdin1029

The best thing I think you can do is try to eat healthy nutritious foods and drink enough water. Maybe try something like this:

Breakfast:
lemon water
green smoothie (Mine is 1 cup water, 2 cups baby spinach and baby kale or other greens, 1/2 banana, 1/3 cup blueberries, I also add 1/3 cup greek yogurt or 1 tbl peanutbutter for protein-I don't like protein powders, a few mint leaves, cilantro leaves, a tiny bit of ginger)
2 boiled eggs with salt, pepper, paprika, and a little extra virgin olive oil

Snack:
1/4 cup raw unsalted almonds or other nuts

Lunch:
lean chicken or fish
lots of veggies (especially green)

Snack
1 gala apple or other fruits/veggies

Dinner
lean chicken of fish
lots of veggies (especially green)
sweet potato

LOTS of water, add lemon, cucumber, mint if you want

After dinner "tea":
1/4 lemon juice
few mint leaves
few cilantro leaves
tiny bit of fresh ginger
add boiling hot water, drink after a few minutes

Some form of activity as often as possible every day. (cardio 3x, strength 3x, walking whenever possible)

Medjool dates for any sweet cravings. A high quality multi-vitamin might be worth adding as well. The idea here is to work towards a healthier lifestyle that involves foods that nourish the body with vitamins and minerals, not just empty calories.

You might want to add in rice (brown or basmati), regular potatoes.

Don't worry, it is not boring at all. Chicken and fish can both be cooked in thousands of different ways. There is a huge variety of fish to choose from, a huge variety of fruit and veggies to choose from. Eating processed foods or fast food at a calorie deficit may get you the weight you want but perhaps with clogged arteries, high BP, and low energy. For me the goal is always optimal health, energy, and body composition, not just the number on the scale. Eating healthy natural foods also improves my mood and skin, but that's just me. I don't believe in "a calorie is a calorie" and nor does my doctor. (I have been at a healthy weight for 2 years). The idea here is to work towards a healthier lifestyle that can be sustained. I really hope this helps.

Tabua3

I agree with the person who said about adapting what you currently do. I am also a working mum and so far have just focussed on weighting the food and portion sizes. I have been using the Recipe Calculator BEFORE I start cooking for those meals like Spaghetti Bolonase where I'm not sure what the Calories or serving size should look like. One big difference in dinners is I weight or measure the carbs.

jshay295

A good way to sneak more veggies in is to mix it in with your meat sauce and use a healthier option for noodles instead of basic white. (there are TONS of options at most grocery stores now) .

Making small gradual changes is probably the easiest and most realistic . I'm not sure if this helps, but I remember reading another mother of a few children saying that when she started to cook healthy for her family by simply switching in healthier substitutes and dishing out proper portions she didn't point it out to her family .