It’s the beginning of February and I have been struggling to get back on track with my eating and exercising. I’m not terribly upset about the number on the scale but more so with how I’ve been feeling. I notice a huge difference in the way I feel when I eat healthier foods – I have more energy and just feel good in general.
Last week I sat down and wrote out a food plan to get me back on track. It helped a lot and I’m already feeling better. It’s much easier to eat healthy when I plan out my meals and prep everything for the week.
This week has been going so well that I’m back at it again. Here is what my food plan looks like for next week (February 6th – 12th). I apologize in advance if it looks really boring. I eat a lot of the same foods over and over again because I know that they work for my body. Once I am back to feeling myself again I will slowly start adding in other kinds of foods.
You’ll notice that I’m planning to eat scrambled eggs and some kind of fruit all week. I never get tired of eating eggs and I really look forward to eating them in the morning. Sometimes I will throw in some bell pepper, red onion and spinach as well.
Monday
I will be making Grilled Bruschetta Chicken with green beans for dinner. Here is how I make the chicken:
- 2 – 3 chicken breasts
- 4 roma tomatoes, chopped
- 1/4 red onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- pinch of sea salt
- fresh ground pepper (to taste)
- handful of basil, chopped
Mix chopped tomatoes, red onion, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil and sea salt together in a bowl. Put it in the refrigerator while you prep and cook the chicken.
Heat grill to medium high heat. While the grill is warming up, lightly sprinkle sea salt and pepper over both sides of chicken.
Grill chicken on one side of the grill until they are 2 minutes away from being fully cooked (about 8 minutes). Carefully place a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil over the grill grates on the opposite side of where the chicken is currently cooking. Place chicken on top and in the middle of the foil sheet. Pour entire tomato/balsamic vinegar mixture over the top of the chicken breasts and let them cook for another 2 minutes, or until done (juices run clear).
Remove foil sheet with chicken/mixture from the grill and let chicken rest.
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Tuesday
I will be making Lime Cilantro Chicken with zucchini for dinner on Tuesday. I have done a post on this dish before. You can find it HERE.
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Wednesday
I will be making Grilled Tilapia (in foil packets) for dinner on Wednesday. This recipe is for 2 servings.
- 4 oz. tilapia filets
- 3 roma tomatoes, chopped
- 1 cup spinach
- 1/4 cup green onion, chopped (you can also use red onion)
- 1/2 cup basil, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups asparagus, chopped (or you can leave them whole)
- olive oil
- lemon (juice only)
- Mrs. Dash seasoning (or any type of seasoning you prefer)
- Old Bay seasoning
- 2 sheets of aluminum foil
(You could also add other vegetables such a carrots or zucchini.)
Heat grill to medium.
Repeat these steps for each piece of tilapia.
Rub a small amount of olive oil on the center of foil so the fish and other ingredients do not stick. Place spinach in the center. Rest the fish on top of the bed of spinach.
Sprinkle Mrs. Dash seasoning and Old Bay seasoning on the fish. Then top with tomatoes, green onion (or red onion), basil and asparagus.
Sprinkle lemon juice over all of it and then wrap the foil around loosely (so it can steam) to make a packet.
Grill packets for 8 – 10 minutes until fish is cooked all the way through.
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Thursday
The sauteed chicken with soy sauce is super simple to make.
I cut the chicken breast into chunks. Heat a non-stick skillet with a small amount of olive oil (I’ve even used a splash of low sodium chicken broth instead of oil) to medium heat.
Put the chicken chunks in the pan and let them cook for a few minutes. Sprinkle sea salt and pepper over the top. Then sprinkle whatever seasonings sound good to you – I typically use garlic powder, onion powder and Pampered Chef’s Bell Pepper Herb Rub.
Once chicken is cooked halfway through, flip the chunks over and allow the other side to cook. Turn the heat down between low and medium. You can add fresh garlic at this time if you’d like. Then pour a small amount of low sodium soy sauce over the chicken.
Let it finish cooking for another couple minutes. That’s it!
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Friday
For my steak on Friday, I will season it with a small amount of Worcestershire sauce, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and some Montreal steak seasoning. Then I will grill it.
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Saturday
Here is how I will make the grilled shrimp on Saturday.
Peel and clean shrimp and place them in a bowl. Turn on your grill to medium heat. Prepare a foil tray for the grill. This is what I will cook my shrimp in. You could also cook them on skewers.
Sprinkle sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and Mrs. Dash (either Lemon Pepper or Garlic & Herb) on the shrimp. Then squeeze the juice of 1/2 of a lemon. Mix it all up in the bowl and then transfer to foil tray.
Cook on the grill (mixing the shrimp occasionally) for about 5 – 7 minutes or until they are done. The shrimp should be pink on the outside and the meat inside should be white.
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Sunday
Here is how I will make the Parchment Baked Chicken for dinner on Sunday.
- 2 – 3 chicken breasts (cut in half)
- 4 – 5 roma tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
- 2 tsp fresh sage, chopped (dry works well too)
- arugula leaves
- olive oil
- salt/pepper
- parchment paper (4 – 6 sheets depending on # of chicken breasts)
- toothpicks
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Repeat these steps for each half of chicken breast.
On a sheet of parchment paper, dab a little olive oil in the center and smooth it around. Place a handful of arugula in the middle and rest a piece of chicken on top.
Sprinkle salt, pepper, sage and rosemary over the chicken. Then place 1/4 cup of tomato on top. Lightly drizzle olive oil across the top.
Fold and close the parchment paper pack using toothpicks to keep it closed.
Place packets on a baking sheet in the oven for 20 minutes or until cooked all the way through (juices run clear). This may take longer depending on how large your chicken halves are.
OK I believe that’s it… I’ll be back next week with a new weekly meal plan!
Anyone else meal planning for the week? If so, what are you planning to eat and do you find yourself eating the same foods over again?