Amanda's Meal Planning + Food Recap

Day 1 was more eventful than I anticipated, and I'm thankful for my stocked up groceries.  It was easy for me to stay on track!!  I had more fruit than they recommend (Less than or equal to 1 serving a day).  I'm used to eating 2-3 servings of fruit a day.  Cuties are my absolute FAVORITE. 

 I think each of our recaps would look differently. I'm not sending this via email because I don't want to inundate your email with my food log.  Ha! :)  I'm writing out the Day 1 Recap as an example.  I do not to intend to share my food log on daily basis or my weekly meal plans. I am always happy to help teach how to create one though! :)  And eventually, I'd like to have a recipe tab on the blog for us to use. Here is a recap from today:

Day 1: Food Recap
Meal 1

• 2-3 Boiled Eggs 
• 1 Banana 
• 1/2 Avocado 
• Coffee (no sugar/creamer etc.)

Meal 2: Salad

• Mixed lettuce
• Ham
• Olives
• 1/2 Avocado
• 1 Tbsp olive oil + balsamic vinaigrette
• Topped with Italian seasoning
• 2 Cuties

Meal 3: Shrimp Wraps

• 2-3 Boiled Shrimp/Wrap 
• Romaine Lettuce (2 large)
• Celery "Noodles" (used potato peeler on celery)
• Shredded Carrots 

Not on Wrap:

• 1 cutie toasted with Sauce (I peel it and stick them in the toaster oven for about 3/4 cycle)
• Olives

Shrimp Wrap Sauce:
I made this up so I'm not sure of the exact amounts, but I will generalize...  

• Olive Oil (3 TBS)
• Balsamic Vinaigrette (3 TBS)
• Unsweetened coconut flakes (2 TBS)
• Arrowroot (1 TSP)
• Crushed red peppers (1/2 TSP)
• Ginger (Dash)
• Onion Powder (Dash)
• Garlic Powder (Dash)

Meal Planning***
This is how I personally Plan out my meals to create a grocery list.  I use the old fashioned paper and pen method.  I cannot figure out how to add a table to the blog so here goes a lot of written details.  

I create 8 columns and 4 rows (or 4 columns and 8 rows either way).  

Skipping the first column on row 1, I write out the days of the week across the top in row one columns 2-8 (starting with grocery day).  

Saturday Sunday   Monday   Tuesday  Wednesday....

On the first column second row, I label it after the meal.  Since this is new, I also add Protein, Fat, Veggie, Fruit so I make sure I'm getting everything I need.

Meal 1
   Protein:
   Fat:
   Veggie:
   Fruit:

Meal 2
   Protein:

   Fat:
   Veggie:
   Fruit:


Meal 3

   Protein:
   Fat:
   Veggie:
   Fruit:


It looks something like this:
              Saturday
Meal 1
             Protein: Eggs + Salmon
             Fat:  Avocados 
             Veggie: Red Onions, Broccoli 
             Fruit: None

View a template here.  Happy Meal Planning!!!!!! :)

Almond Battered Chicken on Baby Arugula with Avocado Sauce

Almond Battered Chicken on Baby Arugula 

with Avocado Sauce

Almond Battered Chicken
Ingredients:

• 3 Chicken Breasts Sliced
• 1-2 Cups Almond Meal (varies on how much you make)
• Ginger to taste (Tim used about 2tsp-3tsp)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Olive Oil (enough to coat the pan)

Preparation:

1. Heat oil slowly in pan.
2. Mix ginger, salt and pepper, into almond meal with a fork in a medium sized bowl.  There shouldn't be any lumps.
3. Put chicken in the bowl and coat evenly with almond meal.
4. Cook slowly about 5-8 minutes per side until golden brown.

Baby Arugula 
Ingredients:

• 1 cup arugula (per person)
• 2 tsps Balsamic Vinegar
• Italian Seasoning (to taste)
• Ginger (to taste)

Preparation:

1. Place arugula on plate.
2. Add in all other ingredients on top.

Avocado Sauce
Ingredients:

• 1 avocado
• 3 tbs canned fire roasted tomatoes (with sauce)
• 2 tbs light olive oil
• 1 tbs chopped basil (extra for garnishment)
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• salt to taste

Preparation:

1. In a blender mix the tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice, salt.
2. Add in the avocado gradually. 
3. Mix until it's a creamy consistency.

Vanilla and Ginger Carrots
Ingredients:

• 1 bag of frozen carrots
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp ginger

Preparation:

1. Follow the directions on the bag of frozen carrots.
2. Add in 1 tsp vanilla and ginger.

Variation: substitute ginger with garlic.