Today I have to go grocery shopping. I'm really horrible at planning, I'd like to shop for 3 or 4 days worth of meals today. Someone mentioned a humus and tomato filled pita, that sounded yummy, so I think I'll get stuff for that this week. But otherwise, I'm stuck! I do very well at breakfast and snacking because I naturally like to load up on fruit, but lunch is hard, especially now that I'm going back to school twice a week. Dinners are the worst. I have to feed the family, and I usually go to old standbys that probably aren't that great for weight loss efforts.
So, can y'all help me come up with a shopping list? What is your favorite packed lunch? Your favorite quick dinner? Any others?
For lunch, I like soup (you can get the "healthy request" ones with less salt), salads with tuna fish and some cheese, turkey and ham on a wrap with hummus and veggies, chicken salad sandwich (you can buy canned all white chicken breast and mix with fat free mayo) on a wrap, I could go on and on!
For dinners, I make big dinners on the weekend (Sunday mostly) and then we have leftovers for the week. This week I made Shepherd's pie, but you can also make a whole chicken or two, a turkey or turkey breast, etc and then keep frozen veggies around to microwave during the week as a quickie side for your leftovers. Otherwise for dinner, stir fry is REALLY quick. A pound of chicken tenders, some frozen peppers and onions, and some broccoli in a frying pan with some teryaki sauce and then serve over some brown rice. Takes about 25 minutes to make!
For lunch, I love the South Beach Diet wraps (its like a lunchable for a grown-up).
I trick my DB by making whole wheat pasta for dinner, but mixing frozen veg into it, making the ratio like.. 2 veg: 1 pasta--- he thinks hes eating tons of pasta that way. I also try to make everything we make into a salad-- steak becomes cubes and goes on my big salad, chili goes on my salad, just about anything.
I need to start putting stuff on salad more often. My grandmother is big on that. She'll put ANYTHING on a salad. Pears and corn together are actually pretty yummy in a salad, believe it or not.
Just yesterday I was making an effort to plan for a week of food. My plan is always to have cheerios and coffee for breakfast a salad for lunch and a healthy dinner. I always make sure I have bagged lettuce, tomatoes and protein for my salad. I like to cook chicken breast or hard boiled eggs for a few days worth of salad, then it is easy to assemble in the morning. I also will dump on whatever left overs or extra veggies I can find.
Here are some great (quick) dinner ideas:
Marinate chicken in teriyaki sauce, cook it and combine it with frozen asian veggies and stir fry. Serve with rice.
Turkey burgers or veggie burgers are low in calorie and high in protein. You can have yours open face if you are worried about carbs.
Baked potato with veggie chili (The Stagg chili is best)
Get low fat/whole wheat tortillas and fill it with grilled veggies, turkey, etc for a delicious wrap.
Whole wheat pasta (Healthy Harvest) is a great way to lighten up your usual pasta dishes.
Breakfast for dinner: Make omelets and make yours with egg whites only. If you dislike the taste/texture of egg whites, you can combine one full egg with one egg white and you wont notice a difference.
Well, now you know what I've been eating for the last week and a half! Good luck shopping!
Shopping Day
