Meal Plan, Week 3

I really love this cooking once a week plan. It works very well! I'm cooking a few less things because there are leftovers to use. Here's what I'm cooking this week:

Meal 1: Quinoa Burgers

Meal 2: Baked Chicken Nuggets

Meal 3: Turkey Sausage, Kale, and White Bean Soup

Dessert: Light Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Meal Plan, Week 2

The first week of pre-cooking all of my main meals went very well. It was lovely to have everything already cooked and ready. Plus, it kept my kitchen quite a bit cleaner too!

I ended up putting the first two meals in the refrigerator and freezing the others. Then, I pulled out a frozen meal in the morning and put it in the fridge. When dinner time came around, I put the now-thawed meal into the oven. I cooked everything at 350 degrees until warm (usually around 25 minutes).

This week I discovered skinnytaste.com. If you have not been there, you must go now. Most of my meals this week are from that website.

Meal 1: Five Spice Roasted Chicken Legs

Meal 2: Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Meal 3: Skinny Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy

Meal 4: Turkey White Bean Pumpkin Chili

Dessert: Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies

Meal Plan, Week 1

I stumbled across this blog last night: http://www.canyoustayfordinner.com/

I was transfixed. I stayed up for an additional 3 hours reading page after page. I have never seen a weight loss story that so closely resembled my own situation and hopes for the future. I love her well-balanced, both physically and emotionally, approach to life and weight loss. I am so thankful that she has shared her journey with the world so that others can be inspired. Please take the time to read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of her entries called "What I Miss from 135 lbs ago."

How she has chosen to organize her cooking is to do all of it once a week and then reheat items throughout the week. I love this idea! My job as a Registered Nurse means that some days I am completely free and other days consist of little more than work. The problem that I have run into before is that even with well-planned meals for the week, on days I work I am simply too exhausted to cook anything. So, this should work well for those days!

I'm not comfortable with eating refrigerated leftovers that are 3-5 days old. Something about taking Microbiology and Infectious Disease classes did that to me. So, my plan is to prepare and cook everything on Day 1. Then freeze all the meals that are not to be eaten in the next 24-48 hours. I'll reheat them in the oven. When using frozen meals, I'll put them in the fridge in the AM so that they are defrosted a bit before it is time to cook them.

Here we go! Good thing my parents gave me perfect little Pyrex dishes for Christmas!

Meal 1: Lemon Chicken Cordon Bleu

Meal 2: Sesame Salmon with Stir-Fry Vegetables

Meal 3: Cheesy Stuffed Shells

Meal 4: Soft Tacos

Dip: Knorr Vegetable Dip (use fat-free ingredients)

Treat: Homemade Berry Newtons

Here we go! I'm off to the store for ingredients!