meal planning, week 4.

Happy Sunday, friends! If you're here in sunny Ohio, I hope you're making the most out of the beautiful weather we've had this weekend. It's been a nice change from the grey weekends we've had so often this summer, and I managed to make the most of it by getting outdoors, spending some much needed time with Rob and the dogs, and getting in some seriously awesome activity. But that's for another post. You're here for meal planning, right?!

I'm pretty excited about this week's finds. After last week's expensive trip, I was feeling discouraged about my grocery shopping trips and my ability to provide you with the best bang for your buck. That being said, we had some pretty awesome meals last week - we tried several new recipes, which you may remember from last week's meal plan and Rob even requested a few of them again this week - WIN! I always get nervous when I invest in ingredients for a new recipe, for fear that we'll HATE it and I will have wasted the money for nothing. Last week's menu included these fabulous new additions to our regular meal catalog:

Emily Bites Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese "Muffins"

Skinnytaste Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps &
Skillet Mexican Zucchini

I'd make both recipes again in a heartbeat. The only thing Rob and I weren't a huge fan of was the blue cheese flavor in the mac and cheese cups - I don't like blue cheese anyway, but I think when I make it again, I'll use low fat ranch dressing instead of blue cheese. The turkey taco lettuce wraps with skillet mexican zucchini are on this week's list again! I would highly recommend them both - but obviously the lettuce wraps are probably better for you in that they're full of whole, natural clean ingredients. But god, I love me some mac and cheese.

In addition to leftovers for lunches this week, I am making Thai quinoa salad - a new recipe recommended to me by a friend who recently made it and loved it. It holds up great for leftovers and I plan to munch off it all week - it's packed full of veggies, protein and tons of flavor and will go well with our Thai chicken planned for Tuesday. It's also something different from the inevitable go-to salad. Speaking of salads, though - Kroger has these pre-made guys and I love picking up one to break up my boring lunch routine:

At just 6 Points Plus, this guy makes a fabulous addition to your lunch hour. Just sayin. I've also been looking for low-point snack options and something to curb the insatiable sweet tooth I've had all summer. Rob and I, despite being better about eating out, have made more ice cream runs than real runs this summer, putting a dent in our weekly budget and a couple extra hundred calories added on to our days. To combat it, I've picked up an idea from Weight Off My Shoulders - she uses VitaCakes mixed with fresh strawberries and a dollop of fat free Cool Whip as a delicious dessert for just 1 Points Plus. I also picked up individual sized ice cream cups (tell me you've seen these) for Rob - who, unlike myself, doesn't last long on the low-fat dessert alternatives. This at least gives him some portion control, and who doesn't like things that are mini?

Now that we've got dessert covered (in the words of my grandmother, "Life is uncertain, eat dessert first") we can move on to the real meat of this post - the meal plan and shopping list. Here's the dirty details:

Total spent: 

$81.00, + $7 spent at my fancy local market to get a few items = $88 total

Sunday:

Garlic & herb chicken, corn on the cob

Monday:

Hamburgers on the grill, sweet potato fries

Tuesday: 

Thai chicken with Thai quinoa salad (SO excited to try this!!)

Wednesday:

Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps with Skillet Mexican Zucchini 

Thursday:

Spaghetti squash with Italian turkey meatballs and marinara

Friday:

out to dinner

Saturday:

Emily Bites Taco Cupcakes

 Before I make my grocery list, here are the things I had at home and didn't need to pick up: 1 pound of frozen chicken breasts, sriracha, sesame oil, low sodium soy sauce, PB2, honey (all the ingredients for Tuesday's thai chicken skewers are worth the investment - you'll have them on hand and only need chicken and a few fresh ingredients to whip this meal up), queso cheese and salsa for my taco cupcakes, cilantro paste (purchased last week for skillet mexican zucchini), and cheese slices for hamburgers. I know this sounds like a lot, but once you invest in the ingredients once, they tend to last at least two rounds (or more), so I just so happened to be on an off week for purchasing them. 

Produce:

corn on the cob

3 limes

lettuce head

spaghetti squash

4 zucchini

cilantro

1 tomato

green onions

1 jalapeño

1 red pepper

1 red onion

1 white onion

red cabbage

shredded carrots

4 baked potatoes (for today's potato skin lunch)

strawberries (fruit for the week)

Dairy:

Land O'Lakes Saute Express (Garlic & Herb)

Low-fat sour cream

reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese

Laughing Cow Queso wedges

Egg Beaters Southwestern

Meat:

chicken

Italian turkey meatballs

1 pound ground beef

4 hamburgers

99% fat free ground turkey

Aisles:

Cashews (ended up omitting these from my quinoa salad - nuts are too damn expensive)

marinara sauce

black beans

hamburger buns

VitaCakes

fat free Cool Whip

And, since every week, I find myself learning something new, here are a couple observations:

- My list was heavy on produce, light on aisle foods - proof that buying fresh foods isn't always more expensive than its processed enemies in the neighboring aisles. 

- Nuts are expensive. I ended up omitting them completely. I also hesitated big time on making the quinoa salad because it does call for tons of fresh vegetables, which add up in cost. I played around with my meal plans to see where else I could use the ingredients, and found that I'd use green onions, red peppers, onions and limes in at least one other recipe. Winning. 

- Spaghetti squash isn't really in season until this fall, so when you catch them in the store through the summer, I'm more than willing to plow someone down in pursuit of it. That, paired with Italian turkey meatballs and marinara sauce, is a super cheap meal that you can do for about $6 total (we get 3-4 servings out of it, you do the math). This always helps keep my bill down, and I fully intend on experimenting with different spaghetti squash recipes this fall. 

- I've learned that the ticket to actually eating the meals we plan is to make sure they're good. I mean, it may take a little more work, but this whole thing is really just a trick of the mind. I tend to crave "bad for me" food on the weekends, so by planning Emily Bites' taco cupcakes, I'm more inclined to eat at home. Loaded with meat, beans, queso and salsa, these babies totally hit the spot without ruining your diet. 

Alright - I think that pretty much wraps it up. My apologies for making this entirely too long. I clearly get really excited about food. Understatement of the year. I wish I could rant for this long about workouts? Hope everyone has a great week!