Monday oh Monday, you seem to come so quickly these days! I hope you all had a stellar weekend! Back to the grind today, so here we go!
As I’ve mentioned before, Monday is my grocery shopping day. Sunday evening I take the time to plan our dinners for the week, I make a list of the groceries we need from the menu (and other needed items), and head out on Monday after work to tackle my list. This method really seems to work for us. It allows my grocery store visits to be shorter, it’s easier for us to stick to our grocery budget, and I don’t have to think about what we’re going to eat each night because it’s already planned. Cody loves it because he can see ahead of time what we’re having for dinner. I love it because he doesn’t ask me. 
I don’t do this regularly, but I thought I’d share with you our dinner menu for this week. I used to have a cute pad of paper that was specifically for writing out a weekly dinner menu, and I would post it on our fridge. I just recently ran out of it, so I need to find a new one. I haven’t looked super hard, but I do know they don’t have any at Wal Mart. Any ideas as to where I could find one? As of now, I just use a piece of paper and stick it on the fridge. Here it is!
A few things to note from my list… 1) I always make sure we have a vegetable with dinner; 2) at least one night of the week we have leftovers for dinner to eat up extra food; 3) Wednesdays and Sundays are both usually saved for easy prep meals or leftovers since Wednesdays we have church and Sundays we have Bible Study or I just feel lazy.
Another thing I thought I’d share: I love “healthifying” traditional favorites. And when I say “healthifying”, I mean making them taste just as good as the traditional but being better for you. There’s small steps you can take with each meal you cook that will slash calories, lower fat, and add more produce without losing the quality taste of a good meal.
For example, let’s take a look at my above menu for the week. Today (Monday) we are having turkey soup, whole wheat rolls, and salad. I chose whole wheat rolls instead of regular white rolls to add in some extra fiber and whole grains to our meal. Wednesday we are having breakfast for dinner (woo hoo! – one of my favorites). I plan to make pumpkin whole wheat waffles with an egg frittata that will have a bunch of veggies thrown into the mix. See where I add the veggies in wherever I can? Thursday we are having chicken and veggie fajitas. I planned chicken to keep the meat leaner over steak, I am adding in a lot of extra veggies to pack into our fajitas, and I’ll use whole wheat tortillas for extra whole grains. Friday we are having homemade pizza. Pizza is a food that instantly sounds unhealthy to most, but I love to “healthify” it, and make it taste just as yummy as a traditional pizza. I use whole grain pizza crust, cover the pizza with mostly vegetables, and sprinkle a thin layer of mozzarella cheese rather than going crazy with it. See what I mean? Making simple swaps can make huge differences in the nutritional quality of each meal.
What are you waiting for?? Make some simple swaps today! Feel free to email me or comment with questions about how to “healthify” some of your traditional favorites.
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Questions:
- Do you make a weekly dinner menu for you and/or your family?
- How do you “healthify” some of your traditional favorites?
**Congratulations to Elisabeth! You won a dozen 6 oz. containers of Chobani from the Chobani giveaway! Email me at ashlw0304@yahoo.com with your shipping information, and we’ll get the Chobani on its way!**
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t always get a menu done before the week, but I’m so happy when I do. Evenings are packed so I get totally stressed by having to come up with something last minute — even for the two of us! Because I want it to be healthy and good. And I like to experiment. Someday in a few years, I hope to have like a giant rotating calendar. We’ll see if I ever get that organized.
I like to healthify by switching for whole grains, adding veggies, and substituting nonfat Greek yogurt/Melt for whatever!
i love using greek yogurt for substitutions too! i love how versatile it is!
I do my shopping on Sunday, but I too make a list for the entire week. I healthify recipes by occasionally halving the required oil and doubling the veggies.
I love meal planning and healthifying recipes! I always add extra veggies and reduce oil/butter whenever I can. I did a really small grocery shopping this week while picking up some baking supplies at Walmart – now I’m hoping to successfully meal plan backwards…I think I can do it. We have a ton of stuff to use in the pantry/freezer, including a chicken potpie we were gifted – that’s next on my list to healthify! I’m thinking of just doing a top, whole grain crust and adding a ton of veggies.
yum – i love chicken potpie! i healthify it by using low fat cream of chicken soup, pack it with a ton of veggies, and only do a top crust instead of a full pie crust. just as delicious and satisfying!
I still live with my parents so I don’t have to plan out meals, but once I move out I will deff be planning my meals on Sunday night. It seems so helpful!
it definitely is – i highly recommend it!
I do the same thing- planning out meals make it less stressful during the work week. Plus, it becomes a lot easier to get all the food shopping done in one trip. I get my weekly food planning pads at Michaels. The pad is magnetic and sticks right to the fridge. I’ve also found them at Target in the dollar bins.
perfect! i was thinking of looking at michael’s or joann’s, so i’m glad to know they are there. thank you!
I wish I could plan ahead – I just never know what my hubby and I will end up doing all week long!
my husband and i are so “routined” in our weeks that it’s not too difficult for me. ha! over the weekends i keep it a little more “up in the air” since we don’t always know what we’ll be up to then, but during the week it’s just the “usual”.
This is something that I really want to work on! I think I just had this idea of planning EVERY meal and that just seemed so daunting to me. But you know what??? I think I could actually plan my dinners! Cooking for one is a little difficult, but I am really gonna do this. Breakfast and lunch are pretty much a given so just planning out my dinner shouldn’t be all that difficult.
P.S. I found a Quinoa chili recipe on Allrecipes that I am going to try. It looks really yummy!
Have a great day!
i usually just buy the staples for our breakfasts and lunches – bread, lunch meat, peanut butter, fruit, oatmeal, milk, etc., and then go from there. since dinner usually involves some different ingredients and more prep work, it is nice to plan them out. you can totally do it! and cooking for one can be nice sometimes because then you’ll be able to have lots of leftovers for later! quinoa chili sounds great! let me know how you like it.
i hope you had a great day too, brandi!
Boo, so sad I didn’t win that chobani haha. I try to healthify my meals as well..and you basically hit it on the nail as to how I do it! It can be so easy to make meals much healthier and they still taste so good! I really need to start planning my meals because usually I have no idea what to do and that means I probably spend more at the grocery store. Perhaps this should be a goal for me when I come back to school next semester!
that sounds like a great goal! i think it’s fun too because it encourages me to search for new recipes rather than just cook what is familiar to me all the time.
Uhhh that is SO cool! I love this. I need to do better with meal planning…..
We always have salad with dinner-it is a rule. I grew up with it, so it does NOT feel like a dinner without a salad. Haha.
we had salads a lot growing up too! love ‘em!
I meal plan each week but still allow myself to modify it as the days go by depending on how tired/lazy I’m feeling. No extra grocery shopping though! I love how you healthify your meals. I take a lot of the same steps too! Have a great Monday girlie
i do that some weeks too depending on how i’m feeling. some days i just REALLY want what i planned for the next day, so i just swap them.
i hope you’ve been having a great monday too!
That looks like a healthy and yummy meal plan! Plus so organised!
I can’t plan anything coz I’m on the road right now, but when at home I love to cook and I agree- try to healthify things and add vegies as much as possible.
I want to make a mac and cheese that tastes as delicious as the full fat one- still working on it!
ooo a healthified mac n cheese sounds like a great idea!! when you master it, let me know!
You are seriously my hero. I think I might just copy your meal plan each week….keep posting them:) I am drooling a little bit. Way to take the time to healthily your food….once again you are my hero!
haha that dinner menu exhausts me! although the thought of anything involving thinking exhausts me after an Evidence final. But serious kudos to you for putting in a good effort to make healthy meals for you and Cody!
I love meal planning, I agree it definitely helps