TRYING TO MEAL PLAN BUT I NEED HELP!!!

-I make a big pot of chili, portion it, freeze it and pull a bag or two out during the week.
-I cook some ground beef, add in rice and black beans with some hot sauce. I portion it, freeze it and pull out a bag or two a week.
-I chop up chicken, broccoli and baby corn. Cook those in a pan or on a wok, add in soy sauce and rice.
-I slice up chicken and add fajita seasoning then pack tortillas.
-I make a variety of soups, portion and freeze them.

Hi, I know the feeling getting tired of same thing. So eventually I realised if I set one day aside for food prep say a sunday. I make a big pot of soup and say a Bolognese sauce or curry heavy on the veg... Then portion it all up freeze half of each dish. Then on a Wednesday I may do another pot dish and portion and freeze that two. By mixing and matching what I have in the freezer with a few fresh dishes it means I only have a full day cooking every second week or so. The freezer is my friend and I use bags to save on space.

JennieT7161 wrote: »

I cook dinner every night. I plan out our meals and grocery list on Friday and go shopping Saturday or Sunday. I find a lot of my recipes on Pinterest so I made a board called On the Menu. I pin things to my regular Recipes board and then as I plan and add a meal to the week, I also pin it to On the Menu. That way it's super quick to find the recipes. For lunches, I have leftovers from the night before. If there isn't enough left, I keep sandwich stuff and Progresso soup in the house for quick grab and go lunches.

Pinterest Buddy! I do LUV this place to find new healthy/not so healthy meal ideas! I also meal plan daily... I tried to meal prep for a week and ended up wasting sooo much food, because my kids just don't like 2nd day chicken or 3rd day beef stew... I don't know it just doesn't taste the same when cooked the same day or days before. So now I just try to plan it for the week and make it when I get home after thawed or marinated in the morning. So far this works for me and maybe repurpose it for lunch the next day.

Made this the other night and it kicked *kitten*!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/pork-tenderloin-with-seasoned-rub-recipe.html

with:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-new-red-potatoes/

with:

Some fresh green beans that I steamed and added a little butter to.

Bonus condiment to add to pork (it paired sooooo well):

http://www.stonewallkitchen.com/shop/speciality-foods/chutneys/130801.html

I typically eat the same & cook on sundays for Mon-Thursdays' meals. A regular staple for me is rice, chicken/steak/ground beef with veggies. I typically try adding low/no calorie sauces - buffalo, BBQ or low sugar ketchup to my food. You should also try switching up your carb source for regular or sweet patatos or any other ones that you like.

Another good one is cabbage soup...will last a couple of days

JennieT7161 wrote: »

... I find a lot of my recipes on Pinterest so I made a board called On the Menu...

I am TOTALLY using this idea. Hubby depends on pictures to rouse his appetite, and he prefers restaurants with pictures in the menu (i.e. Denny's, Smitty's). I have been busting my brain trying to figure out how to stimulate his interest in home-cooked meals, and a link to "On the Menu" might be just the trick.

usmcmp wrote: »

-I make a big pot of chili, portion it, freeze it and pull a bag or two out during the week.
-I cook some ground beef, add in rice and black beans with some hot sauce. I portion it, freeze it and pull out a bag or two a week.
-I chop up chicken, broccoli and baby corn. Cook those in a pan or on a wok, add in soy sauce and rice.
-I slice up chicken and add fajita seasoning then pack tortillas.
-I make a variety of soups, portion and freeze them.

Use Quorn 50/50 with your ground beef you won't know the difference and it reduces the calories in the meat part by 40% and fat from 20 % to 0.2%. - 100 x - yes 100 times les.

I find omelettes very good as I add several different ingredients in. I had one yesterday and did 2 eggs, dash of milk and whisk, I steamed some brocolli, chopped onions and mushrooms and even thinly chopped some potato( not much) throw them in a frying pan with a few sprays of fry light, add your beaten egg and milk and cook it until golden brown. Add salt and vinegar if preferred or maybe some Lea and perrins

I have been doing meal prep on Sundays for the week. I always hard boil about 4 eggs to have on hand to grab on my way out the door in the morning. I roast a pan of veggies (broccoli, peppers, green beans, brussel sprouts) and also a few sweet potatoes. I make some type of protein (a marinated chicken or turkey meatballs, or pork). Last I do some kind of soup. Once all of that is prepped I make a bunch of meals for my lunches and dinners. I always have a few left from the week before so I usually have 3 or 4 different meals I am eating in a week. It has kept me from resorting to last minute high calorie meals and still has variety!

Here is a meal plan I made for my picky mother a while back:

Day 1:

Breakfast: English Muffin w/ egg white, cheese, and patty sausage (Pref turkey)
Lunch: Grilled chicken tenders, green beans, & ½ sweet potato w/ light butter & cinnamon
Dinner: Bun-less turkey burger w/ side salad w/ light dressing
Snacks: Fruit in gel cup, baked tortilla chips & salsa, greek yogurt ranch dip & carrots

Day 2:

Breakfast: 2 Cups of grapes & 1 egg + 2 egg whites
Lunch: Whole wheat tuna wrap (You may use LIGHT mayo sparingly to make tuna, but I prefer you use greek yogurt). Add tomatoes, lettuce, and light cheese to make a tasty/healthy (bigger) wrap. Roasted carrots.
Dinner: 2 Chicken apple sausages, sautéed (or grilled) onions and peppers, turnip greens
Snacks: LifeChoice Extreme Peanut Butter Bar, 1 stick light string cheese & 10 almonds, Skinny Cow Ice Cream treat

Day 3:

Breakfast: ¼ C Oatmeal (Or 1 flavored packet) & 2 pcs link sausage (Again pref turkey)
Lunch: HALF BLT on wheat w/ Light Mayo + 1 Can of Light Soup
Dinner: Steak Salad (See recipe attached)
Snacks: Yogurt/Fruit/Granola Parfait, Sugar Free Jello or pudding w/ Lite Cool Whip, broccoli or cauliflower with 2 tbsp hummus

Day 4:

Breakfast: 1 Serving Cheerios Protein cereal + Skim or Vanilla Almond milk
Lunch: 1 serving of left-over steak salad from last night’s dinner
Dinner: 1 grilled chicken breast + stewed squash
Snacks: strawberries w/ Splenda, Skinny Cow chocolate candies, 1 light string cheese & turkey pepperoni

Day 5:

Breakfast: 1 piece whole wheat toast, 1 boiled egg, 2 slices of bacon, and tomato slices if desired
Lunch: Two turkey cheddar sausages + 1 whole pkg of Green Giant Steamers Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Carrots in cheese sauce (or teriyaki – it’s GOOD)
Dinner: Scrambled turkey or chicken with onions & peppers in a lettuce wrap + black beans
Snacks: 1 grapefruit, LifeChoice Protein Bar, Fruit Cup in gel

Day 6:

Breakfast: 1 Eggo whole wheat waffle, 2 pieces of turkey sausage (patty or link) + strawberries and splenda. You may use sugar free syrup if desired.
Lunch: Chicken Burrito Bowl (See Recipe Attached)
Dinner: Grilled or Oven-baked salmon (Just try it..it’s tasty. Stop frying things. Stop it. Fish is delicious and doesn’t need to be fried. Ahem.) Baked sweet potato fries. Cabbage.
Snacks: Baked tortilla chips + Salsa, wheat thins + hummus, Skinny Cow ice cream treat

Day 7:

Breakfast: 1 bagel w/ cream cheese + 2 pcs turkey sausage
Lunch: Baked imitation crab meat (W/ lite butter and parmesan cheese) + ½ C. brown rice + steamed broccoli
Dinner: Grilled chicken tenders + Green beans -or- a side salad with light dressing
Snacks: Apple slices + 1 tbsp peanut butter, Sugar Free Jello or Pudding w/ lite Cool Whip, Light String Cheese & 10 almonds