Help me plan a menu! Low sodium & lower carbs!

Meal ideas for you:

Pork tenderloin and sauerkraut

Whole chicken to roast with veggies and make soup with leftovers

Beef stew

Chicken breasts in crockpot with salsa, then shred and and serve over lettuce with sour cream and cheese

Chil soup

Veggie soup

French Onion soup

Salmon with veggies

Baked pork chops , with sides of veggies and cottage cheese

Breakfast bake (warms over great)

Salad and add your favorite protein and some berries

Pulled pork for sandwiches

I also like the Morningstar Farms black bean burgers, roasted and grilled vegetables, lean ground beef. Hope this helps. I shop the perimeter of the store only unless I need to go down an aisle to get a spice or soup.

I have been cutting my salt intake as much as possible and MFP still says I'm consistently over my sodium amounts so I wouldn't be too hard on yourself with being over, just try to not add salt, pick lower sodium options, and drink plenty of water (or seltzer, tea, etc.) to help flush the excess.

As for lower carb (which is my goal too, btw), I focus on putting more meat and veggies on my plate while minimizing pasta, rice, etc. No more than 1/2 a plate is a good goal to start. Beans are a good alternative to plain rice or pasta and go well with most meals, even just mixing in some into your pasta or rice will lower your overall carb intake since you'll eat less rice and pasta. I recently made a spanish rice with chunks of pork tenderloin and red kidney beans and it was a big hit and very filling. They offer a good source of protein too. Canned beans have lots of salt though (even the lower salt ones) so if you can, try making dry beans. Slow cookers and pressure cookers work well cooking them consistently, but if you can't, get the lower sodium ones and rinse them before cooking with them.

Something to try, especially since the temps are dropping now, is making chili, soup, or stews. The total calorie range on my soups is 1,000 - 1,300 but it makes enough for 3 hearty adult servings and 1 toddler meal, about 10 ladle-sized scoops. The carb amounts are 150-160g total carb (112 - 133g net carbs) but again, that's for 10 ladles of soup and I can't do more than 4 at my absolute hungriest. For a hearty 4 scoops, it's 400 - 520 calories and 60 - 64g total carbs (45 - 54g net carbs). PM me if you want any recipes. Making your own bread and rolls can help you pack lots of nutrition into your carbs too. I have a Panasonic bread machine that works very well and it's easy to do too - just throw everything except the yeast into the machine, put the yeast into the dispenser on top, tell it what to make, then hit start. It counts down so I know just when to make the soup or chili to have it all ready together.

If you have pinterest, that's a good place to look Jen :-)