June 28, 2010

Monday Meal Planning - June 28 2010

It's Monday, which means that my meal plan for the week is almost completely finalized! I'd like to thank Amanda from Not Your Mama's Martha for her comment and link to her blog last week...some of her meal planning tips are amazing, and if you're looking to start doing the same, check it out! (Link is in the left sidebar.) Also, I have to make mention of my own mother who I remember doing this same thing every week when I was a young child.

Here's what's on the list for this week!

All days: Breakfast is either plain Cheerios (in the yellow box -- not honey nut or any other variety because of the HFCS), or Banana Flax muffins, which I made on Sunday night. (To make them healthier, I used low fat buttermilk and half the amount of sugar, substituting turbinado (Sugar in the Raw) for table sugar.)

Monday:
Lunch: Leftover lasagna, salad (I wound up making last week's vegetable lasagna later in the week due to Scott's work schedule, so we still have some left over!)
Dinner: Tortillini, salad

Tuesday:
Lunch: Leftover lasagna, fruit
Dinner: Chicken Nuggets (for Angelica)/Boca Burger (for us), Glazed carrots

Wednesday:
Lunch: Leftover lasgana, fruit
Dinner: Mac & cheese with veggies

Thursday:
Lunch: Leftover mac & cheese
Dinner: Veggie tacos

Friday:
Lunch: Leftover veggie tacos
Dinner: Amy's frozen pizza

Saturday:
Lunch: Leftovers (or pasta, if none)
Dinner: Grilled cheese with veggies or salad

Sunday:
Lunch: Go out for lunch (if not, we'll eat any remaining leftovers or pasta, since I have tons of that!)
Dinner: Baked potatoes with cheese and vegetables

For some of these, I put "veggies" because it depends on what comes in our Thursday shipment from Orlando Organics.

To answer Anna's question from last week:
I find that my problem with doing that is I get bored and/or have cravings for other foods. Does that happen to you? If so, what do you do?

Fortunately, I haven't encountered that issue...yet. I think it's mostly due to the fact that right now I am trying a lot of new foods, and my biggest cravings are soda and chocolate. So I guess the answer is to keep your meal plan fresh and exciting, and if you start to get bored, cut that one off the list and add something fresh and new. For cravings, indulge them! I'm not a fan of demonizing any specific food because then you just obsess over it. I drink soda one or two times a week, and the other day I had a chocolate craving so I had a little bit. The size of a funsize candy bar. Above all else though, find what works for you and be patient.

Also, my veggie lasagna recipe:
One box whole wheat durum lasagna
One yellow onion
One green or red pepper
One carrot
One 16 oz container light ricotta cheese
5 cloves of garlic
One box of frozen spinach
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 oz pasta sauce
1 package of shredded mozzerella (The regular size sold at the grocery store...I forget how many ounces this is.)

Boil the lasagna according to package directions, drain, add a touch of butter or olive oil to prevent sticking if desired.
Chop the onion, pepper, and carrot.
Peel five garlic cloves off of a bulb of garlic and either chop or mince.
In a medium sized pan, heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium low heat. Add the garlic. Let it simmer for a minute.
Defrost the frozen spinach according to package directions.
Add the spinach, onion, pepper and carrot to the pan and saute' for about 5 minutes.
Mix the ricotta cheese and half the mozzerella in a large bowl.
In a large lasagna pan, pour just enough pasta sauce into the bottom of the pan to cover it. Add a layer of lasagna, cover with cheese mixture and veggie mixture, and a pasta sauce. Repeat until done. (I guesstimate how much is needed for each layer.)
On the last layer, cover with the remaining pasta sauce, then cover with mozzerella. Cook in the oven for 25-30 mins at 350 degrees.

Enjoy!

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