I wanted to spend a little bit of time explaining how I meal plan for a week. In this post, I'll show you the recipes I choose, and my reasoning behind them. I'll also make a few notes for those who are trying to conceive, pregnant, feeding their families, or just working toward optimum health.
Additionally, I am also updating my meal plan weekly to show how I adapt and roll with the punches when life gets in the way. Everything written in italics in previous weeks has been written as an update. Meals have been featured in chronological order with the most current meals closest to the top.
Remember that the most important characteristic about a meal plan is that it fits your lifestyle and that it is adaptable. Think about your schedule, your energy level on certain days, your desire to cook, and the resources at your disposal. You may need to factor in days devoted to meal prep kits, leftovers, restaurants, and convenience meals in order to create a realistic meal plan.
Week of February 6th- 8th
After reflecting on the last few weeks, I realized that the 2nd half of each week was a hot mess. I decided it might be better to just plan half the week at a time, so I can reassess life mid-week. I'll update this post on Wednesday.
Sunday
-Dinner: Marcella Hazan's Bolognese Sauce from The New York Times with homemade pasta and spinach
Explanation: Since this recipe ended up going down the drain last week, I decided to give it another shot. Cross your fingers that all goes well!
Thoughts:
-Protein: ground beef, egg in the pasta
-Fiber: onion, carrots, celery, tomatoes, salad
-Veggies: same as fiber
-Healthy fat: oil; less healthy fat from beef too (nobody panic!)
Monday: Leftovers with bagged Trader Joe's salad
Tuesday:
-Dinner: Ginger Sesame Vegan Meatballs from Minimalist Baker, served with rice and broccoli
Explanation: It will definitely be time for some plant-based protein after two nights of bolognese. I may serve it with Right Rice if I can find a neutral flavor. I've been wanting to try it, and since this meal technically already has a grain, this might be a good opportunity.
Thoughts:
-Protein: black beans, quinoa
-Fiber: black beans, quinoa, green onions, mushrooms, ginger, broccoli, rice (brown, wild, Right Rice)
-Veggies: mushrooms, green onions, broccoli, ginger
-Healthy fat: sesame oil, sesame seeds
Wednesday:
-Dinner: Best Baked Salmon from Food Network with potatoes and asparagus
-Explanation: I saw this recipe on Instagram posted by @dianemorrisey. I'm sticking with salmon this week because I know I'll like it, and I'll get lots of omega-3s!
-Protein: salmon
-Fiber: potatoes, asparagus, parsley
-Veggies: asparagus, potatoes, parsley, lemon
-Healthy fat: salmon
Week of January 30th- February 5th
Sunday:
-Dinner: Spinach salad with rotisserie chicken, honey goat cheese, pomegranate arils, wild rice, and a blood orange olive oil dressing.
-Explanation: This may sound fancy, but it's really just an excuse for me to use up a bunch of dying spinach and not use a recipe. I'm trying to spend most of my time working and cleaning today, not cooking and recleaning the kitchen. Making a salad with ingredients from my fridge and pantry will be a lot simpler than following a recipe. All I need to buy is the chicken and the pomegranate.
-Protein: rotisserie chicken, some from wild rice
-Fruits and veggies: spinach, pomegranate arils, just from a blood orange
-Fiber: spinach, pomegranate arils, wild rice
-Healthy fat: olive oil; goat cheese will add fat as well
Thoughts: I'll likely use a wild rice blend in this salad because it is way cheaper than pure wild rice. Although the chicken adds enough protein to this meal, wild rice makes the salad hearty enough to be a filling meal. I will probably buy a whole pomegranate, but buying pre-prepared pomegranate seeds can make this ingredient more convenient. This salad is easy to customize: to make it vegetarian, I'd replace the chicken with raw or roasted chickpeas. Toasted nuts could add more protein and staying power. Pomegranate arils can be replaced with berries, apples, pears, or dried fruit.
*If you are trying to conceive or pregnant, ensure that any cheese you use is pasteurized. You may also want to buy and prepare the pomegranate yourself. Reheat rotisserie chicken or grill a chicken breast instead.
This was delicious. I highly recommend it.
Monday:
-Dinner: Crispy Tofu with Balsamic Tomatoes
-Explanation: I'm planning to make plant-based protein tonight after chicken last night (and leftovers for lunch). I recently subscribed to New York Times Cooking, and I am extremely excited to use some of their recipes. Tofu is hard to make, but when done correctly, it is really yummy! I'll plan to serve it with brown rice to round out the meal with a whole grain.
-Protein: tofu
-Veggies: cherry tomatoes, red onion, garlic, cilantro
-Fiber: see veggies; brown rice
-Healthy fat: olive oil
This meal was also delicious, and it might be one of my new favorite recipes. Jackson and I were swooning over the onions. Between the two of us, we almost finished the whole recipe (a block of tofu, onion, and pint of cherry tomatoes). Jackson had some leftover dough, so he made some focaccia to go with it. We served this instead of the brown rice I had originally planned.
Tuesday:
-Dinner: BA's Best Bolognese with homemade pappardelle and a light green salad
Explanation: I rolled this recipe over from last week. The pasta will be a labor of love, so I'm planning to make it on a day that should be relatively uneventful. I'm crossing my figures this works out!
Thoughts:
-Protein: ground beef, egg in pasta
-Fiber: onion, carrots, celery, tomatoes, salad
-Veggies: same as fiber
-Healthy fat: oil; less healthy fat from beef too (nobody panic!)
I will probably freeze some of the sauce and fresh pasta for later.
I decided to switch the Bon Appetit sauce for the New York Times bolognese recipe. I had already made the fresh pasta and started the sauce when I glanced down at the recipe and saw the sauce was supposed to simmer for 3 hours. Whoops..... It was already 6:30 at that point, so that wasn't going to work. I thanked my past self for buying some backup meals. We ate frozen meals for dinner, and I continued to simmer the sauce for the rest of the night. Fortunately, dinner was already ready to eat the next night! Or so I thought....
Wednesday:
-Dinner: leftovers pasta
-Explanation: Documenting my meal plans and outcomes for the past few weeks has shown me that I am truly a hot mess on Wednesday and Thursday. Leftovers and simple meal options are a must.
Thursday:
-Dinner: Easy Rice Bowl from A Couple Cooks
-Explanation: As I mentioned, Thursday is a hot mess kind of day. I will probably keep a few frozen meals as backup in case even this easy meal is too much. I do have some frozen brown rice from Trader Joe's, so that may help! Despite being pretty easy to make, the idea of cooking rice is often a barrier for me. I opted for another vegetarian meal after two nights of beef.
-Protein: black beans, yogurt (in dressing)
-Veggies: cherry tomatoes, corn, avocado, red onion, garlic
-Fiber: brown rice, black beans, veggies
-Healthy fat: olive oil, avocado, dressing (some of the fat in the dressing is healthy- some is less healthy)
Since we were not able to eat the bolognese on Wednesday, I saved it for Thursday. I was excited all day to have a delicious dinner already prepared. I began reheating the bolognese. I tried it and it was almost flawless. The one thing I didn't love was how greasy it looked. There were pools of oil on the top. This made sense because the recipe called for a ton of oil and butter. The food freedom part of me told myself to calm down and enjoy. Tragically, the diet culture side of me won out. I decided to attempt to drain some of the oil out. I slowly poured the excess oil into the sink, and just as I was finishing, my gorgeous sauce all fell into my nasty kitchen sink.
Jackson and I were both super disappointed, but at least we still had the fresh pasta. I made a sauce with anything I could find in my kitchen- diced tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, white beans. In the end, it was actually really yummy. It just wasn't quite the sauce I'd had in mind.
Friday:
-Dinner: leftovers
-Explanation: you know why!
Saturday:
-Dinner: Oven-Fried Fish and Chips from Eating Well
-Explanation: As you know, I have been trying to eat a different type of fish each week. Last week was super gross. This week, I specifically googled "fish recipes for picky eaters" to see if that would help. Not surprisingly, all the recipes were fried or pseudo-fried. Although this recipe only received four stars, the commentary in the reviews was positive. I'll serve the fish. and potatoes with some roasted broccoli. Wish me luck in my fish endeavors this week!
-Protein: fish, egg whites
-Veggies: broccoli
-Fiber: potato, cornflakes
-Healthy fat: avocado oil (I'm using this instead of the suggested olive/ canola- it withstands high heat better than olive; canola is a whole different rabbit-hole I'm not going down right now)
After the sauce disaster and last week's horrifying Chilean Sea Bass, Jackson and I decided more fish was too risky. The kitchen had not been my friend. He also became kind of a diva and said cod was a gross fish. Instead, we got my favorite General Tso's cauliflower from a restaurant down the street. So yeah... this week was a hot mess. Hopefully, next week goes a little smoother.
Week of January 23rd-30th: The Plan and What Actually Happened
Sunday: With lots of chicken curry in the fridge, we'll take it easy today and just have leftovers.
I was true to my word and did in fact have leftovers!
Monday:
-Dinner: Pan-Roasted Fish Fillets with Herb Butter served with roasted beets, potato, and greens
-Explanation: fish stresses me out. You have to worry about mercury, farm-raised vs, fresh, the ethics of overfishing, fatty vs. lean... And they're so freaking weird. Slimy but muscular. Blechsdkndskjf. From a nutrition standpoint, however, (aside from the mercury debacle), fish really are superfoods due to their protein and varying saturated fat content. They also have vitamins and minerals that can be difficult to obtain otherwise. Because they are so nutritious, (particularly for fertility and pregnancy) and my husband loves fish, I am trying really hard to add it to my diet. I've made progress- I now love salmon. Unfortunately, I prefer Atlantic salmon, which is always farm-raised, so I need to work on that. I also need to work on the variety of seafood in my diet. Salmon is great, but variety is key in nutrition. In order to avoid salmon this week and replace it with something different, I chose a recipe from The New York Times with 5 stars and over 2600 reviews. I have to like this, right??
I figured this recipe would be best on the day that I am grocery shopping so that the fish is fresh. I also work over by the store I buy fish, so it will align with my schedule well. To serve, I have some beets in the fridge that are on their last leg. I'll roast those and a medium potato and serve them over greens. Look out for a post on why beets are such a trendy food for fertility, wellness, and athletics.
-Thoughts:
-Protein: fish
-Fiber: beets, greens, potato
-Veggies: beets, greens
-Healthy fat: fish, oil; because I am still learning to like fish, I'm okay using copious butter to make it taste good. It might not get eaten otherwise!
EW EW EW EW. I must have really messed this recipe up because even though it had great reviews, it was awful. I'm going to attribute this to my general dislike of fish and my relatively little experience cooking it. I was worried about undercooking it, so I checked it with a thermometer frequently while cooking. The thermometer readings were all over the place, and I'm pretty sure it ended up wayyyy overcooked. Despite the fact that I butchered some expensive Chilean Sea Bass, I am still proud that I made and tried something outside of my comfort zone.
Tuesday: I rolled this recipe over from last week since I never had the chance to make it
-Dinner: Spicy Black-Eyed Pea Nourish Bowls from Minimalist Baker
-Thoughts:
-Protein: black-eyed peas
-Fiber-filled carb: sweet potato, black-eyed peas
-Veggies: onion, red pepper, collard greens
-Healthy fat: avocado oil
This recipe is already a wonderfully balanced vegan meal. It is full of protein fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. A reminder that plant-based protein is good for fertility! That being said, I may switch the liquid smoke out for a strip of real bacon.
I really, really loved this recipe. It was relatively easy, thanks to everything being done in the Instant Pot, and it was a vegetarian meal that both Jackson and I enjoyed. I didn't end up adding bacon or liquid smoke, but I think both would have been good. I now think that some chicken sausage or chorizo would make it even better- the vegetarian version is still a 9/10 though!
Wednesday: Leftover day! Wednesday is a busy day, and we should have lots of food leftover from yesterday.
Jackson was on-call Wednesday night, so he ate vending machine food while I ate delicious leftovers!
Thursday: Frozen food day! I have enough barley stew frozen from last week to make a meal for two. I'll thaw the stew and serve with some crusty whole-grain bread.
Thank the Lord for leftovers. There's no way I could have cooked a healthy meal on this particular night. The store I went to had gross-looking bread (I'm a snob about some things, sorry), so I went with the safest option- a sourdough baguette. With the leftover barley and kale soup, this was a decent meal.
Friday: BA's Best Bolognese with homemade pappardelle and a light green salad
Explanation: I wasn't sure what I wanted to make this week, but I knew I wanted something cozy. We're getting some snow this week and at one point its going to be -4 degrees. For those who don't know, I'm new to Wisconsin from the South, so I'm baffled by this. I decided some homemade comfort food was in order. I love making homemade pasta, and I love bolognese, so this will be the perfect treat to hold us over for the weekend. It's not something I would label as a "health food," but nutrition is all about balance. I'll serve the pasta with a big green salad.
Thoughts:
-Protein: ground beef, egg in pasta
-Fiber: onion, carrots, celery, tomatoes, salad
-Veggies: same as fiber
-Healthy fat: oil; less healthy fat from beef too (nobody panic!)
I will probably freeze some of the sauce and fresh pasta for later.
By the time Friday came around, I was exhausted. I couldn't even get myself to the store to buy the ingredients for dinner, much less make homemade pasta. Instead, we thawed the turkey chili I had frozen a few weeks ago and ate it with tortilla chips.
Saturday:
This will be a super yummy leftover bolognese day for a chill weekend.
We didn't have leftover bolognese, but Jackson made some amazing homemade pizza dough. He uses the biga dough from Ken Forkish's book Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast to make the most incredible pizza dough. It has to be started a day before, but the long process is 9000% worth it. We scrounged up whatever toppings we could find in the fridge, and made a delicious pizza. I'm sure I'll post a picture of it at some point in the next few days.
When I think about indulgent homemade food like this pizza) in the context of nutrition, I always think of two of my college professors.
Sweet Kelly Frazier- she was an energy bunny in the Health Science department and taught some courses in wellness and nutrition. I had her for an internship experience where I was a novice personal trainer for Furman faculty and staff for a few months (this definitely amuses me now). She had a philosophy that if you wanted a treat, that was fine, but you should make it from scratch. Have a hankering for chocolate cake? Get in the kitchen, and don't you dare use mix from a box. Her theory was that the time and effort it takes to make would keep you from eating treats too frequently. I agree and also believe that it helps to make your taste buds slightly more discerning. You may not want the bland store-bought cake after making several of your own. My own mother has ruined me in this way. This concept certainly applies to pizza. The pizza we ordered the previous two weeks pales in comparison to Jackson's homemade pizza. If I could take back those two mediocre pizzas, I would replace them with another easy convenience food with more nutritional value (frozen Amy's meals or something from the Whole Food's hot bar) and save the pizza time for the really good stuff.
Dr. Sarah Worth was a philosophy professor with an interest in food. I took the class "Philosophy of Foods" with her and I went on a 3 week trip to Italy to learn about the Slow Food Movement with her. The ideology of this movement is that food should be "good, clean, and fair." We should focus on where our food comes from, how the farmers, animals, and crops are treated, what processes are used to produce the food, how it is cooked, and how it is eaten. This mindset is without a doubt a privilege. People who don't know where their next meal will come from can't think about these things regularly. That being said, those of us who have the privilege to consider the environmental impact, ethics, and quality of the food we eat absolutely should. Taking time to cook food is a major part of the Slow Food Movement. It isn't always realistic, but whenever I take the time to make something I would normally buy, I remember the idealistic time I spent in Italy.
Week of January 16th-22nd The Plan and What Actually Happened
Sunday: The last of the leftover chili from last week. We ate the chili for the 900th time and literally still had more leftovers. That recipe is definitely meant to feed a crowd!
Monday:
Dinner: Sheet Pan Teriyaki Salmon and Veggies from Skinnnytaste
Explanation: I'm rolling the recipes I didn't make last week over to this week. Like I mentioned before, I like to eat fish as soon as possible after grocery shopping, so it doesn't get gross. Since I'm shopping on Monday, I'll make the salmon on the same day.
Thoughts: It's ideal to have fatty, low-mercury fish 2-3 times per week, especially when trying to conceive. The recipe serves four, and I'll likely eat 2 of those servings. I'll probably eat a second serving for lunch the next day. I'll be adding roasted potatoes to my meal because carbs are important and delicious! Some good options are white potatoes, sweet potatoes, or a whole grain like brown rice or quinoa.
Protein: salmon
Fiber: veggies and potatoes/ whole grain
Veggies: broccoli, rainbow peppers
Healthy fat: salmon (omega-3s!), avocado oil (for roasting), sesame oil (for marinade)
Tips: If you're feeling lazy or too busy to chop a bunch of veggies, frozen veggies and potatoes are a great shortcut.
The salmon portion of this recipe was excellent and I will definitely be making this recipe again. The vegetables left a lot to be desired. I don't think I'm a fan of veggies roasted in sesame oil. Next time I'll use avocado oil, salt, and pepper, and cook them separately because I felt like timing the veggies with the fish didn't work out very well. Also, I will definitely just use a couple of large peppers next time. Cutting and getting rid of the seeds in all those mini peppers was unnecessary work (no matter how cute they are!)
Salmon: 10/10
Veggies: 4/10
Tuesday:
Dinner: Carrot Barley Stew with Kale Sauce from Naturally Ella
Explanation: This recipe is also rolled over from the week before. It is another plant-based recipe to follow the animal protein-based meal from the day before.
Thoughts: Although this recipe gets some protein from whole grains (barley), cruciferous veggies (kale), and dairy (parmesan), I will likely make this stew with bone broth for added protein. If you want to keep the recipe vegetarian, but think you need an extra protein boost, you could top with some nutritional yeast or pinenuts. White beans would also make an easy protein addition. This stew looks delicious with the piece of whole-grain bread pictured. That being said, if you add this extra carb source, I would make sure to add that extra protein source!
Protein: barley, kale, parmesan, any additional ingredients such as bone broth, beans, nutritional yeast, or nuts
Fiber: barley, kale, carrots, onion, garlic
Veggies: kale, carrots, onion, garlic
Healthy fat: olive oil
Tips: To make this recipe gluten-free, replace the barley with an alternative grain, such as farro. This stew should also freeze well if desired.
Oh goodness, I had to make A LOT of changes to this recipe. For some reason, my stew turned out very bland. I used the "salt, fat, acid, heat" method to spruce it up. For salt and some umami, I added tamari to taste. For fat, I topped with an obscene amount of parmesan cheese. For acid, I added some rice vinegar, and for heat I added some red pepper flakes. In the end, the stew was good, but it took a lot of trial and error. It also tasted significantly better the next day, so maybe making it ahead of time would be best. I wasn't in love with this recipe, but I am excited to make more recipes from this blogger.
6/10
Wednesday:
Leftover night! I'm sure we will have some leftover stew from the night before. As I mentioned last week, Wednesdays are long days for me, so after work, I'll go grocery shopping and call it a day.
I ended up freezing the stew for another day and thawed the chicken enchiladas I made and froze last week. Variety is so important in nutrition, so mixing up meals when possible is helpful. This is an easy way to keep leftovers interesting and to enhance the variety of nutrients consumed in a given week.
Thursday:
-Dinner: Curried Couscous with Chicken and Zucchini from Epicurious
-Explanation: I decided chicken was probably a good thing after two plant-based days. Thursday will probably be my second grocery shopping day of the week, so the chicken will be fresh.
-Thoughts: Not everyone realizes that couscous is not a grain. It is actually just really tiny pasta. This is important to be aware of so you know if you are eating a refined grain or not. Regular white couscous is made from refined, white flour. I will probably look for whole wheat couscous, and if I can't find it I'll either do white couscous or substitute quinoa. I will also probably substitute the heavy cream for whole milk. Evidence does show that full-fat dairy is better for fertility, so heavy cream is not a bad choice! I personally am not trying to conceive and am more concerned with the calories and saturated fat content. Another adaptation I will make is to use half of the butter called for and to replace the rest with avocado oil. The calorie content will stay the same, but the ratio of unsaturated fat to saturated fat will be better. Finally, I'm going to add a bunch of spinach to the recipe. I try to add greens to recipes whenever they need more veggies or color.
-Protein: chicken breast
-Fiber-filled carb: couscous (if whole wheat)
-Veggies: onion, garlic, zucchini, cilantro, spinach
-Healthy fat: whole milk/ heavy cream (healthy if trying to conceive), avocado oil
I was very PMS and cranky, so we decided to order pizza again. Pizza likely isn't the best cure for erratic hormones, but life is short. That being said, we should probably calm down with the pizza for a while now!
Friday: We will have leftover chicken from yesterday. 3 chicken breasts for two people will definitely leave us with more than enough!
Jackson was sweet enough to plan and cook dinner on Friday. He made a stir fry with tofu noodles and frozen veggies. And the tofu noodles were 100% his choice. I had nothing to do with it. I've clearly influenced him over the years... I had heard of edamame pasta, but I had never actually heard of tofu noodles, so that was fascinating. Jackson wasn't a fan, but I actually really liked them. In the future, I would mix half tofu noodles with half brown rice or soba, etc.
Saturday:
-Dinner: Spicy Black-Eyed Pea Nourish Bowls from Minimalist Baker
-Thoughts:
-Protein: black-eyed peas
-Fiber-filled carb: sweet potato, black-eyed peas
-Veggies: onion, red pepper, collard greens
-Healthy fat: avocado oil
This recipe is already a wonderfully balanced vegan meal. It is full of protein fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. A reminder that plant-based protein is good for fertility!
Since I didn't make it on Thursday as planned, I made chicken curry Saturday night. I cut the amount of fat in half because it called for an unnecessary amount of butter. I also used whole milk instead of cream. I might try half and half next time because the milk curdled a little bit. The only other change I made was to add some extra veggies. I had some scallions and cherry tomatoes that were getting old so I added the scallions with onions and the tomatoes with the zucchini. I would definitely make this recipe again.
8/10
Week of January 9-15th The Plan and What Actually Happened
Sunday:
-Dinner: Warm and Roasted Winter Salad Bowl from Oh She Glows
-Explanation: this meal will be yummy for dinner, but it will also provide portable leftovers to bring for lunch on Monday. Plant-based meals often take a lot of prep, so I've picked a less busy day to make this meal.
-Thoughts: I always evaluate a recipe to see if it has a good balance of protein, fiber-filled carbs, non-starchy veggies, and healthy fat. This is particularly important when it comes to vegan/vegetarian meals. That being said, Angela Liddon from Oh She Glows reliably adds lots of vegan protein sources to her recipes, so it's almost never a problem.
-Protein: quinoa and pepitas (I'm adding chickpeas too)
-Fiber-filled carb: quinoa, potato (and the veggies count here too!), chickpeas
-Veggies: garlic, kale, onions, avocado
-Healthy fat: avocado, pepitas, and olive oil
Vegan food can be a little bit confusing because protein, carb, and fat sources tend to overlap. Your protein source may very well be a fiber-filled carb, etc.
-This recipe has plenty of prebiotic fiber to keep your gut healthy! Garlic and onions in particular provide plenty of nourishment for your gut microbes.
-Tips: If you have any degree of insulin resistance or difficulty balancing your blood sugar, you may need to take a little bit of extra time when planning vegan/ vegetarian meals. I recommend combining at least two plant-based protein sources, particularly if they are also rich in carbohydrates. For example, quinoa is high in protein, but it is also a whole grain. Adding pepitas give you an extra protein/fat/fiber boost. These three nutrients help you absorb carbs slower so that your glucose and insulin levels do not spike. Taking your blood sugar is the only way to know how you will react to different food combinations, so I recommend measuring your glucose and taking notes for next time.
Add chickpeas for more protein.
One week later: This recipe was a solid 7/10. I may just not be a red wine vinegar fan. Regardless, it made enough for both Jackson and me to have leftovers for lunch the next day.
Monday:
Dinner: Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas from Well Plated
Explanation: I try to eat meatless meals at least every other day. I've had to add a little bit more meat to the menu to keep my husband happy. I can't complain too much because meals with meat are almost always faster to cook and add variety. I try to alternate plant-based meals with more traditional meals to keep things interesting!
Thoughts: When it comes to recipes with meat, I worry a lot less about protein and a lot more about veggies, healthy fats, and ensuring carbs sources are mostly high quality.
-Protein: chicken breast, cheese, Greek yogurt
-Fiber-filled carb: whole wheat tortilla
-Veggies: bell pepper, onion, tomato, chilis
-Healthy fat: olive oil (there's definitely some saturated fat in the cheese, but I'm not stressing about it- I will likely buy full-fat cheese and 2% or full-fat yogurt. Life is WAY too short for reduced-fat cheese).
Tips: Either freeze half of the recipe or double it and freeze the second portion. Enchiladas are great freezer meals to have on hand for future nights.
One week later: the filling of this recipe gets a 10/10. It was absolutely delicious. I dipped chips in the filling before rolling the enchiladas and it was so. freaking. good. I think my choice of tortillas and enchilada sauce hurt the overall quality of the recipe. It might be worth making your own enchilada sauce for this one.
I was also able to freeze half the batch and still have enough for lunch the next day. I froze them just after rolling and topping with sauce and cheese but before baking.
Tuesday:
Dinner: Lentil Meatballs in Lemon Pesto from the Sprouted Kitchen served over sauteed greens
Explanation: Another plant-based meal following yesterday's chicken
Thoughts: Because this recipe contains a lot of fiber from lentils and other veggies, it may be necessary to tone down the fiber in some places depending on your tolerance to fiber (the more you eat, the more you're able to tolerate). Eating too much fiber too quickly can cause GI symptoms. If you're not used to a ton of fiber, serve the meatballs with white pasta or rice or a combination of brown and white. You can also opt for white breadcrumbs instead of whole grain. plan to serve the meatballs with sauteed greens, but I will likely use white bread crumbs.
Protein: lentils, eggs, pinenuts
Fiber: lentils, garlic, pinenuts, basil
Veggies: garlic, basil, greens
Healthy fat: eggs, pinenuts, olive oil (ricotta, parmesan- contains saturated fat- mainly added for pleasure))
Tips: If you don't eat all of the meatballs or plan to take them for lunch the next day, they can be frozen in the sauce for another time.
This meal is where my plans began to unravel. When Jackson found out I was making lentils for dinner, HE ORDERED A PIZZA. What an asshole. Just kidding... he actually had some valid reasons. He was having a bit of a Crohn's flare and lentils sounded especially abrasive on the stomach. Fair. But also... is a pizza much better??? In the end, it worked out. I didn't really want to cook and the pizza was pretty good.
Wednesday:
-Dinner: Something frozen/ premade from the store/ leftovers
-Explanation: My Wednesdays tend to be long days, and I will likely spend time after work grocery shopping for the second half of the week. I'll avoid putting extra pressure on myself to cook for now
-Thoughts: Frozen/ premade food can be a lifesaver and depending on your lifestyle, you may need to rely on it often. This is completely okay. However, the more frequently you eat convenience foods, the more important it is to consider some of their drawbacks and attempt to choose some of the "healthier" products. Some considerations include salt content, macronutrient balance, BPA and phthalates from plastic packaging, and food safety concerns for those who are trying to conceive or already pregnant (this applies more to prepackaged than frozen food).
-Tip: You can always ADD veggies and protein to premade and frozen food.
Because we had pizza the night before, I still had all the ingredients for the lentil meatballs and pesto. Jackson was still not down for lentils, so I bought some chicken meatballs at target (I do not recommend) and made a pesto with the ingredients from the recipe. I added ricotta instead of olive oil just to use up the ingredient I had bought before it went bad. I served the meatballs and pesto with greens and brown rice pasta.
Thursday:
Dinner: Sheet Pan Teriyaki Salmon and Veggies from Skinnnytaste
Explanation: I like to eat fish as soon as possible after grocery shopping, so it doesn't get gross. Since I'm shopping on Wednesday, Thursday will be a good day for salmon.
Thoughts: It's ideal to have fatty, low-mercury fish 2-3 times per week, especially when trying to conceive. The recipe serves four, and I'll likely eat 2 of those servings. I'll probably eat a second serving for lunch the next day. I'll be adding roasted potatoes to my meal because carbs are important and delicious! Some good options are white potatoes, sweet potatoes, or a whole grain like brown rice or quinoa.
Protein: salmon
Fiber: veggies and potatoes/ whole grain
Veggies: broccoli, rainbow peppers
Healthy fat: salmon (omega-3s!), avocado oil (for roasting), sesame oil (for marinade)
Tips: If you're feeling lazy or too busy to chop a bunch of veggies, frozen veggies and potatoes are a great shortcut.
Before I went grocery shopping for the second half of the week, I asked Jackson if he had any meal requests. He was on call twice and worked 14 hours on his birthday. I was feeling particularly sorry for him. He requested Souper Jenny's turkey chili, cornbread from Sally's Baking Addiction, and JoJo's (basically vanilla Oreos from Trader Joe's). You can find the chili and cornbread recipes here under My Favorite Recipes. I paired the chili and cornbread with a salad kit from Trader Joe's, and it was an awesome meal. It made a ton of food so we had tons of leftovers, and I was able to freeze a couple of servings of the chili.
Friday:
Dinner: Carrot Barley Stew with Kale Sauce from Naturally Ella
Explanation: Another plant-based recipe to follow the animal protein-based meal from the day before.
Thoughts: Although this recipe gets some protein from whole grains (barley), cruciferous veggies (kale), and dairy (parmesan), I will likely make this stew with bone broth for added protein. If you want to keep the recipe vegetarian, but think you need an extra protein boost, you could top with some nutritional yeast or pinenuts. White beans would also make an easy protein addition. This stew looks delicious with the piece of whole-grain bread pictured. That being said, if you add this extra carb source, I would make sure to add that extra protein source!
Protein: barley, kale, parmesan, any additional ingredients such as bone broth, beans, nutritional yeast, or nuts
Fiber: barley, kale, carrots, onion, garlic
Veggies: kale, carrots, onion, garlic
Healthy fat: olive oil
Tips: To make this recipe gluten-free, replace the barley with an alternative grain, such as farro. This stew should also freeze well if desired.
I did not make this recipe because we still had tons of pasta from Wednesday and Chili from Thursday. We had leftovers again. I'll roll it over for the next week.
Saturday:
Dinner: Leftovers or out
Explanation: For two people, 5 recipes should make more than enough food. I'll be ready for a break.
Thoughts: This "break day" can be moved around. The most important thing to realize is that meal plans should be adaptable. I like to include two break days, and move them around as I see fit depending on schedule changes, energy changes, etc.
This day went as planned. We had leftovers again!
Overall, I would say I strayed pretty far from the meal plan. Fortunately, we ate very healthy meals (aside from pizza night), didn't waste any groceries, and I can move the recipes I didn't make this past week over to this upcoming week.
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