Meal Planning Monday - 21 April 2014

After two days of eating way too much chocolate I am ready to get back on the healthy eating wagon. My diet has been pretty good over the past few months. I've cut out a lot of processed carbs and generally had a much more positive attitude to what I eat. I've focused on increasing protein and vegetables, and eating better during the day so I can train better in the evening. It's very frustrating than making time to get to the gym (something that can be difficult for anyone with family demands) and getting my kit on, only to find I have nothing in the tank, as it were, when I get there.

Breakfast:
Protein shake with protein powder, almond milk/milk/water, fruit, spinach, almond butter/coconut oil

Lunch:
Omelette with spinach, ham, tomato
Left over dinners
and maybe Quinoa and vegetable soup

Dinner:
Shepherd's pie with cauliflower and sweet potato mash x 2
Beef curry with butternut squash and rice
Roast chicken with veg and gravy
Quinoa with leftover chicken, roasted broccoli, and balsamic vinaigerette
Creamy Caprese Quinoa Bake

I have no doubt that I will need to cook something separate on quinoa nights. My husband is not a fan, and if I can't get my kids to eat carrots without pulling faces I have a snowball's chance in hell of getting them to put quinoa anywhere near their gobs.

Don't forget to catch up with more Meal Planning Monday posts at Mrs M's.

Meal Planning Monday - 22 April 2013

Hello and Happy Monday!

Surprise, surprise, I have no meal plan this week. In my defense it's because I have been given a new eating plan to follow and am yet to work out what meals I'll be making. Time, or lack of it, is driving me bonkers at the moment and I feel like a blue-arsed fly. I've taken the plunge and signed up for some personal training sessions which involve me eating 4-5 times a day. That is a LOT of meals to get my head around, never mind wrap my stomach around, and it's taking a little bit of effort.

A typical day now looks something like this: omelet with peppers & spinach; smoothie with strawberries, porridge oats, low fat yoghurt & skimmed milk; chicken stir fry with veg & noodles; meatloaf (added courgette) and veg. This day also included a bowl of chocolate yoghurt made with natural yoghurt, cocoa and a bit of honey but I ate that before I could photograph it. No calorie counting, but portion control and avoiding processed food and white carbs. I now need to go through the list of what sort of foods I should be trying to eat at specific meals and find recipes that fit. Once I have done that meal planning should be easy (she says, hopefully)

 If you have any protein breakfasts that don't include eggs please could you share them with me? I think that's going to be the trickiest meal to sort.

You'll find more Meal Planning Monday posts on Mrs M's linky

Meal Planning Monday - 15 April 2013

Welcome to another Monday. I'm just going to gloss over the fact that my Meal Planning posts are a little sporadic lately. You can rest assured I am eating, it's just that blogging is taking a bit of a back seat to everything else that is going on lately. I spend so many hours looking at a PC writing for other people's sites that there are occasions when writing for my own is simply not fun.

Here is what I have on the menu

Slow cooker beef and veg stew with cauliflower mustard mash

Chicken and mushroom pasta with roasted vegetable sauce (Ok, I confess... Asda fresh pasta and sauce!)

Chicken breast roasted with tomatoes & served with wilted spinach

Quorn stir fry with egg noodles

Brown soda bread, egg white omelet, ham and spinach

Crumpets, Quorn sausages, baked beans, crumpets, 2 x egg whites

Quorn shepherd's pie with butternut mash

If you haven't guessed by the omission of egg yolks and significant quantities of Quorn, I am trying to shift a few kilos (plus I had a lot of Quorn in the freezer from when it was 3 for £5 last month) 

I have to tell you about my favourite new food find this week: Rankin's Brown Soda Bread. Man, this stuff is delicious. All nutty and substantial, and really delicious with savoury or sweet toppings.

My other favourite foodie find this week is A Tasty Love Story.  It's written by a Danish woman and I like it as much for the photographs and styling as I do for the recipes. This recipe for Baked Breakfast Bars is on my list of new things to bake

Have a great week! Remember to hook up with Mrs M's linky and check out more Meal Planning Monday posts.