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Meal Planning

This past week I searched Pinterest looking for new recipes and healthier food options. There are so many diets to choose. Vegan, vegetarian, low carb. I guess it all depends on your goals. I need to lower my bad carb intake. My doctor recommended that I cut out anything white i.e. bread, sugar, pasta, etc. 

During the month of December I fasted from breads, chips, cakes, and candy. Basically all  junk food. I did give myself three pass days, which included Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and one additional day for a party I attended.  I think this is something I will incorporate again because it's so easy to gain extra pounds during the Christmas holiday with the office parties and co-workers bring in treats throughout the month. Fasting  gave me a time to reset spiritually and focus on preparing goals for 2019. It also made me realize how much junk food I was consuming. If I stopped by the superstore I would grab a bag of chips. If I walked by the candy dish at work I would continually grab a piece of candy. When I wanted an afternoon snack at work I would go to the convenience store in the office building and get some chips. I also discovered Magnolia Bakery which is conveniently located in the building where I catch the train. On a few occasion their delicious  red velvet cake or banana pudding was sufficient for my evening dinner. I really didn't realize how bad it had become.  Just fasting from junk food alone allowed me to drop five pounds. 

So I'm starting off slow and hoping some new recipes will motivate me.  I prepped a few meals, which are listed below along with the link to the Pinterest recipe that served as inspiration.  Each item that I made, while they were pretty basic, were very flavorful and delicious. I totally found an appreciation for meal planning and prepping items for the week.  It helped me to portion control, save time and stay within my grocery budget. I also wasted less food, because I had well planned out meals and didn't purchase unnecessary items. There were so many benefits to meal prepping  that I will definitely keep it up. 

Menu for the Week
Breakfast Options 
  • Oatmeal with bananas, blueberries and almonds. (I like the Better Oats Bare or Steel Cut with almond milk) or
  • Cheerios with almond milk
Lunch/Dinner Options
  • Turkey wrap with orange sweet peppers, blended Mexican cheese, guacamole, Asian chopped salad mix  https://pin.it/yj34gqxmmmmo25
  • Aldi's Little Salad Southwest Salad  with added tomatoes, cucumbers, and oven roasted turkey 
  • Aldi's Little Salad Asian Chopped Salad with added tomatoes and oven roasted turkey
  • Beef stew meat with green peppers, onions, teriyaki marinade (made in the slow cooker), brown rice and green beans (note:this made quite a bit so I portioned it into the appropriate serving sizes and had it for either lunch or dinner throughout the week. I portioned it into seven meals) 
  • Turkey Italian sausage with roasted red and yellow sweet pepper and onions. On the side I had whole grain pasta with a dash of olive oil and a little Mrs. Dash table seasoning. This was my favorite meal. So much flavor!  https://pin.it/74z2tewkjpyp3o
  • Crispy baked wings https://pin.it/5htfoxbmqtlrtd (If you cook them on a raised wire rack they will cook evenly all around without having to flip them and I cook them on 450 degrees for extra crisp for about 40 minutes)
Snacks

  • Mandarin oranges
  • Honey crisp apples
  • Almonds
  • Cucumbers with guacamole
  • Munchies Chips (not an item I should have had, but I did)

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