Biggest Loser healthy meal planning thread

[dumbo_buddy]

Hello Planning Peeps!

LTS, if pjlla salutes your planning skills you know that you have reached the pinnacle of planning! She is hands down the best planner of the BL crowd but it looks like she may be sharing that title soon with you!

Buffy, I bet you will be a number one planner here in no time.

Pamela, I would like to hear more about your fried rice recipe. We have tried many fried rice recipes at home -- they just aren't the same -- probably missing all that tasty fat!

We are getting ready to go to Seattle and Vancouver for a few days for spring break next week so this is use it or lose it week. I only had to buy a little meat and a few veggies this morning to get through the week. Some of my menu items may not sound as "lifestyle friendly" as they could but I easily take care of that with portion control and cooking just enough so there are no leftovers.

meatloaf
mashed potatoes
green beans

burritos (w/ fat free refried beans)
yellow rice
frozen broccoli/cauliflower

chicken curry w/ veggies
brown rice

spagetti w/ meat sauce
salad

Now that I have that out of the way I will need to think of my plan for our travels. Luckily we are staying at my Mom's house all but one night so we can cook for ourselves. The bad news is that Mom is a snowbird and just taking her place back from a rental so we will be starting from scratch with everything. I think she is thinking that we will eat out more because she keeps saying "we are on vacation!"

lisa i like your plan for the week. can we come over? how do you make your burritos? i really like mexican food and so does DH but i just don't know how to make anything outside of buying the taco kits at the grocery store!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Yikes! Tough crowd!

told ya!!!!!!

 

[lisah0711]

lisa i like your plan for the week. can we come over? how do you make your burritos? i really like mexican food and so does DH but i just don't know how to make anything outside of buying the taco kits at the grocery store!

You can come over for dinner anytime, Nancy!

The burritos are very, very simple. Just some fat free refried beans heated up and spiced up with a little tabasco. You can add black beans, green chiles (canned), a little meat if you wanted, just about anything. We will add onions, a little shredded cheddar cheese and iceberg lettuce.

I lived in Arizona for a long time and was married in New Mexico. They think everything is better with green chiles! I have a couple of good recipes. I will post them on the the recipe thread and post a link when they are done later this week.

 

[pjlla]

Pamela, I would like to hear more about your fried rice recipe. We have tried many fried rice recipes at home -- they just aren't the same -- probably missing all that tasty fat!

We are getting ready to go to Seattle and Vancouver for a few days for spring break next week so this is use it or lose it week. I only had to buy a little meat and a few veggies this morning to get through the week. Some of my menu items may not sound as "lifestyle friendly" as they could but I easily take care of that with portion control and cooking just enough so there are no leftovers.

Now that I have that out of the way I will need to think of my plan for our travels. Luckily we are staying at my Mom's house all but one night so we can cook for ourselves. The bad news is that Mom is a snowbird and just taking her place back from a rental so we will be starting from scratch with everything. I think she is thinking that we will eat out more because she keeps saying "we are on vacation!"

I'll try to remember to post the fried rice recipe in the next few days. Remind me if you need to!! It isn't "authentic" (doesn't totally taste like take-out), but I think it is delicious and much healthier.

Have a great trip! Hopefully you can find a way to stay OP if you end up eating out a lot with your Mom. Thanks for coming over to chat here!

told ya!!!!!!

Yes.... you did warn me!!

I had a few more thought for you.

When pancakes are in demand for dinner, you could make FiberOne pancakes. If you dont' want to make them for everyone, you could just make them for yourself. I make a single serving and add chopped, lightly cooked apple, cinnamon and walnuts sometimes. Or sometimes chopped banana and chopped walnuts.

If you are looking to make standard pancake mix a bit healthier for everyone, I usually add a big scoop of wheat bran. That plus a bit of cinnamon (a good antioxidant) and a splash of vanilla. The cinnamon and vanilla colors ddarken the pancakes and "hide" the wheat bran a bit.

Would the kids enjoy fruit pancakes?? You could make banana or apple pancakes for them as well.

How about something new like crepes?? Bisquick has an easy crepe recipe. You could fill them with almost anything... cooked chicken with cheese, sauteed veggies, or even fruit. I'll post the recipe I have if you would like.

Do your kids eat yogurt? How about the yogurt parfait night like I had? They could use whatever kind of fruit they like and customize the parfaits. I put out slivered almonds, FiberOne cereal, granola, chopped fruits, Craisins, raisins, cinnamon... lots of choices.

How about a customized macaroni salad night (when the weather warms up)? Make a whole wheat (or whole grain or high fiber) pasta salad with some light dressing (Paul Newman's light balsamic vinagarette is a good choice)... chopped tomato, chopped cucumber, onion, celery... however you like your pasta salad. Then put out a selection of diced chicken breast, plain tuna, chopped egg, grapes, golden raisins, peas, shredded lowfat cheese, croutons. Everyone has a scoop of the pasta salad topped the way they like it! Even better if you serve the scoop of pasta salad on a bed of greens!

That's all for now................P

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

They don't like anything in their pancakes.
DS14 and DH love crepes, the rest of us have never had any. DH wants a crepe pan, I need to go buy one.
DS14 and DD like yogurt, but the rest don't.

Sigh, I'll figure something out. At this point I'm just going to keep working at the list and just eat less of what I cook.

 

[pjlla]

They don't like anything in their pancakes.
DS14 and DH love crepes, the rest of us have never had any. DH wants a crepe pan, I need to go buy one.
DS14 and DD like yogurt, but the rest don't.

Sigh, I'll figure something out. At this point I'm just going to keep working at the list and just eat less of what I cook.

Sometimes that it just what it comes down to.... eating less of what I prepare for everyone else. And I will sometimes make an additional green veggie, just for me.... especially if I am serving a starchy side dish (rice, pasta, potatoes) that I don't plan on eating.


Just wondering how everyone is doing with their meal planning? It seems like many folks struggle trying to avoid fast food.... and it seems like advanced meal planning is the way to go to avoid that! I think many people just make this too complicated in their heads. It is really simple!! I know that my description of how I do it was really lengthy.... and it sounds more complicated than it is. But honestly.... it has made a very stressful part of the day for me, so much easier!!!!!

Buffy.... still giving some thought to your situation. I haven't come up with any great ideas yet..... but I'm still thinking!!

Do your kids get a hot lunch at school during the day? If so, could you consider that their "dinner" and serve a lighter meal in the evening? That way the pancakes or whatever, wouldn't seem to out of place. And you could have your heavier meal at noon too.


Just wanted to check in........................P

 

[lovetoscrap]

I wasn't sure what our plan would be for today. Everyone was feeling kind of blah. We had leftovers/scrounge last night. I had a few chicken breasts I had thawed on Friday so I knew I had to use those.

It was COLD here today so I decided I wanted soup or chili. My family is not big on soup, especially DH but I have been slowly trying things and have had some success. I found a recipe for Chicken Chili in my South Beach cookbook so started it on the stove and let it simmer in the crock pot all afternoon. It turned out really good! It was thinner than I wanted and really it was more of a Taco Soup than a chili. It was too spicy for me (DH loved it!) so I added some sour cream to the whole thing then we put cheese, guacamole, corn and some tortilla chips in it at the table. I had to remind everyone that the cheese and chips are a GARNISH not a side dish! We also had a small salad with it.

So that turned out to be a pretty good "unplanned" dinner. In fact I have been asked to add that to the menu rotations! I have to figure out the next 3 days and then the kids and I will be on vacation and DH will be on his own. I am sure he will make all the things that I don't like-- probably lots of green peppers and onions!

 

[pjlla]

HEY..... this thread is heading too far south! How is everyone doing with their meal planning? Spring is coming (eventually) and we will all be busy in the afternoons and evenings with baseball, lacrosse, nice outdoor walks, etc, etc... so its a good time to start making sure that your meals are planned ahead.

And don't give up on the crockpot even though the weather is getting warm. The crockpot isn't all about soup and stew! I've made applesauce in my crockpot, dessert in the crockpot (don't ask for the recipe.... nothing healthy about it! ), baked potatoes, whole roaster chickens, packet meals.... you name it! Perfect for this busy nights when you only have one hour between the end of the school day and the start of the evening activities!!

I'd be happy to come back on here and share some more meal plan ideas if anyone is still interested! TTYL..............P

 

[mizzoutiger76]

i'm so bad at preparing meals without directions. you know those people who look in the fridge and pantry and come up with what to make? yeah, i can't do that.

That's me too! The best I can do is chicken with a can of diced tomatoes I HAVE to have a recipe!

You should check out Women's Day online. They've got a ton of great low-fat recipes, I especially like the Month of Menus.

Here's one of my favorites:

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin Recipe

o 1 pork tenderloin (about 1-1⁄4 lb)
o 3 scallions, trimmed and cut lengthwise in strips
o 5 strips lower-sodium bacon

Recipe Preparation

1. Heat oven to 425ºF. Make a long slit lengthwise down center of pork, being careful not to cut all the way through. Open like a book. Place scallions on one cut side of pork; fold pork back over to close.

2. Wrap bacon slices around pork to cover completely. Place in small roasting pan. Rub 1⁄2 tsp pepper and 1 Tbsp sugar over bacon. Roast 20 minutes or until instant-read thermometer inserted in center reads 150ºF. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Different Takes
Spread pork with Dijon mustard before wrapping with bacon.
Rub bacon with brown sugar instead of granulated sugar. this was awesome!
Substitute fresh chopped herbs for the scallions.

Nicole

 

[lovetoscrap]

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43821744&postcount=1058

My advice is that you have to wear your Nike and Just Do It. You have to just commit to sitting down and making a plan and the first time will take longer than it will after you have it organized. What I suggest is that you start by making a list of ALL the meals that you usually make-- anything and everything that your family will eat. Obviously you want to focus on the healthy stuff but you can also add in the not so healthy. Then I took my list and separated it by protein type-- Beef, chicken and pork for us (we don't eat seafood). You can also further break it down into prep type/amount of time it takes to cook. Then get a calendar-- I make my own in World just by making a Table with 7 blocks across and 4 blocks down, but you have to see what works for you. You can also search for free printable calenders, buy a calender or look for free menu planning calenders.

Start by putting the kids activities in, all meetings etc so you can see what block of time you have to cook and eat. Then look at your Master list and see what you can make that will fit into that schedule and write it down for that day. I try to alternate between beef and chicken because my family doesn't like chicken so much so they would revolt if we had to several days in a row. Then you can add in your plan for Breakfast, lunch and snacks. I find it easiest to figure out dinner first since it involves the whole family. Around here Breakfast, lunch and snacks are all done on our own. I don't actually write those down for myself any more but when I did WW points I had everything planned out so I knew I was going to be within my points for the day. Because I usually have a pretty good idea of our schedules several weeks out I try to plan for a minimum of 2 weeks at a time and sometimes have even gone as far as planning for 2 months at a time.

I keep a list of "emergency meals" that I don't include on the plan most of the time because they usually end up getting thrown in anyway! Things like Spaghetti, hamburgers, quick and easy soups, salad, pizza-- the things that my family can throw together without any prior planning. Very helpful when the day ends up not as planned or you forgot to thaw the meat or buy the ingredients. Once you have your plan the most important thing is to BE FLEXIBLE! Be willing to swap out something for a different day because sometimes it just isn't possible to stick with what you planned. At this point I actually don't even put a date on my plan. I put it in the order that I like and try to stick with it but if we skip a planned day by having an emergency meal or going out then I can just pick right back up the next day, or I can switch one meal out for another if I feel like it.

Here is a link to another thread when I posted my meal plans: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=645 We are just now at the end of that plan and I have 2 meals planned for this week and want to sit down and make a plan for the next month.

 

[pjlla]

Wow.....thanks for the bumpity-bump-bump-bump! This thread is nearly a year old, but maybe there is some new interest??

I'll pop and start with another meal plan here!

My not-so-famous Red, White, and Green chicken chili (recipe found here) http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=43667704#post43667704

carb side of choice (we skip it, but biscuits, muffins, or corn bread would be good),

sauteed spinach with red onion.

This is a stove-top meal, but I've made it and then kept it warm in the crockpot on low for a few hours. I also made it all the way to the point of adding the "sauce" and then frozen it..... then defrosted in crockpot until warm and then added freshly made "sauce" over it. All ways seemed to work equally well.

That's all I've got for now, but I'll take a peek for a few new(er) recipes and meal ideas!.................P

 

[lovetoscrap]

Just did my Menu Planning for the next 2 weeks. I just have the Main Entree planned. For sides we usually do a vegetable of some sort depending on what looks good at the store or that we have on hand, and a starch of some kind for DH and my DD's. They like plain sides so the veggies are just steamed and then starch is plain noodles/pasta, plain white rice (they won't eat brown), or a potato. Sometimes I will add an extra veggie for myself if I am really hungry, usually zucchini or mushrooms because my family won't eat those.

No dates on these-- the plan is to use them roughly in the order I list them because I balance the different protein types and also try to do several days of really light meals and then throw in a heavier one. Not an off plan type of heavy, but usually it uses cheese or cream or butter to make a sauce and isn't something you want to have very often during the week. But of course sometimes life happens and I have to switch the order or go with a backup plan like Hamburgers, tacos, chili, spaghetti or salad.

The recipes with a * are actual South Beach Diet recipes from their books.

Chicken Monterey
Spring Rolls
Sesame Chicken*
Roast Beef
Easy Chicken and Wine Sauce *
Ham Steak
Chicken Cordon Bleu
London Broil *
Baked Chicken Breast
Beef Stir Fry
Tuscan Chicken with White Beans Stew (new recipe we haven't tried yet)
Steak Diane
Grilled Chicken
Pork Chops
Beef Tips and Gravy
Lemon Chicken*
Steak
Chicken Stir Fry
Meatloaf

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

*My Index Card tip*

Writing an entire meal with all of it's components on an index card is an easy way to make planning ahead easy. On the front of the card write:

• Protein or main component
• Side #1 (at least one veggie please!)
• Side #2 (2 veggies are even better!)
• Side #3 (usually a starch)
• any other sides? Add them!
• adaptations for other family members

So for tonight my card would say


On the back of the card write the grocery list for this meal


This way you can quickly see what you need and check if you have enough of everything.

*Advanced Index Card Tip*
Buy a pack of assorted colors and designate one color for each type of protein. My family hates having chicken too many days in a row so I try to really mix things up.
Green: Poultry based meals
Pink: Beef based Meals
Yellow: Pork based Meals
White: Seafood based meals
Blue: Vegetarian/ Meatless Meals

This helps you to easily see if you have a variety and to pick something.

Just found this thread due to Pamela mentioning it over on BL . I am definitely impressed by your planning skills ladies Think this is a great idea so I'm going to check the fridge and freezer and will get back to you with my plans for the next week or so

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

okay here goes

gammon, mashed potato and sweetcorn,
sweet and sour chicken
spaghetti bolonaise
pork stew
veg soup
home-made burgers and potato wedges
chicken stir fry
beef casserole

Thats it for now. By the time this lots done I will have cleared out my food stock and hopefully had time to browse the BL recipe thread for fresh ideas

 

[pjlla]

okay here goes

gammon, mashed potato and sweetcorn,
sweet and sour chicken
spaghetti bolonaise
pork stew
veg soup
home-made burgers and potato wedges
chicken stir fry
beef casserole

Thats it for now. By the time this lots done I will have cleared out my food stock and hopefully had time to browse the BL recipe thread for fresh ideas

What is gammon?? Care to share the pork stew recipe? We eat a lot of pork in my house due to DS's poultry allergy....................P

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

What is gammon?? Care to share the pork stew recipe? We eat a lot of pork in my house due to DS's poultry allergy....................P

Gammon is a large ham joint. I normally steep it in water overnight (to remove some of the saltiness) and then boil it for 20 mins per lb plus 20mins. Then I finish it in the oven with a brown sugar/maple syrup and pinapple juice glaze. I will post the pork stew on the BL recipe thread

 

[pjlla]

Okay folks.... I'm taking my menu planning to a whole new level! Thanks to some input and ideas from Lovetoscrap, I've got a whole new system that far exceeds my old "print a blank calendar and write on it" system! Working on it now, nearly done.... will post pictures when it is complete!................P

 

[pjlla]

Okay.... here is my new menu planning system! A big SHOUT-OUT to lovetoscrap for the inspiration and ideas!

I am using 12 x 12 page protectors that hold six 4 x 6 cards on each side. Each card lists a complete meal, although without specifics such as type of vegetable. That will be determined on a daily/weekly basis taking into consideration what's on sale, what's in the fridge/garden, what's in season.

Blue is fish/egg/meatless meals, orange for chicken, pink for beef, purple for pork/bacon.

The backs of the cards hold notes for things like cookbook name and page number (if it isn't a recipe in my "personal" collection), size of meat portion and how many it served (if I had made notes about this in the past), etc. In the future I may go back and add other information such as calories/Points.

I also have some "filler" cards for days when we are away or on vacation, or out for a celebration meal, or for when Mom is away or it is leftover night.

I also have some "idea" cards that include ideas for hot vegetable dishes, salads, and starches.

I have modified two page protectors together to hold a full week's of menus on the fridge.

There is definitely some tweaking to do regarding this system and I will obviously be adding new meal ideas over time and eliminating others. Plus I can already see a few flaws (such as the cards where the typing is too high and it is covered by the day-of-the-week label on the page protector). I bought plenty of these colored cards on sale at Staples, so I should be able to keep it consistent over the next few year.

.........................P

 

[camnhan]

Okay.... here is my new menu planning system! A big SHOUT-OUT to lovetoscrap for the inspiration and ideas!

I am using 12 x 12 page protectors that hold six 4 x 6 cards on each side. Each card lists a complete meal, although without specifics such as type of vegetable. That will be determined on a daily/weekly basis taking into consideration what's on sale, what's in the fridge/garden, what's in season.

Blue is fish/egg/meatless meals, orange for chicken, pink for beef, purple for pork/bacon.

The backs of the cards hold notes for things like cookbook name and page number (if it isn't a recipe in my "personal" collection), size of meat portion and how many it served (if I had made notes about this in the past), etc. In the future I may go back and add other information such as calories/Points.

I also have some "filler" cards for days when we are away or on vacation, or out for a celebration meal, or for when Mom is away or it is leftover night.

I also have some "idea" cards that include ideas for hot vegetable dishes, salads, and starches.

I have modified two page protectors together to hold a full week's of menus on the fridge.

There is definitely some tweaking to do regarding this system and I will obviously be adding new meal ideas over time and eliminating others. Plus I can already see a few flaws (such as the cards where the typing is too high and it is covered by the day-of-the-week label on the page protector). I bought plenty of these colored cards on sale at Staples, so I should be able to keep it consistent over the next few year.

.........................P

PLEASE COME TO MY HOUSE!!!
That looks amazing. DH and I have really been talking about the weekly meal planning as we are always on the run with kids and events and need to get eating and spending under control.
Am going to have to try this..especially because DH will actually cook on the days he is home if I have it planned out for him!!

 

[walkdmc]

Love this thread so much I just subscribed! Thanks for all the great ideas. I am a chronic eater-outer and it's getting old. I would love to start cooking more at home and look forward to contributing my meal plans soon. In the meantime, I'll steal yours!

I saw a magnetic chalkboard in a pretty frame on a kitchen counter and the mom wrote the family's meals for the week on that. It was a great idea and I'd love to get such a chalkboard.