Is this week dragging for anyone else? I know it’s already Thursday, but…it’s only Thursday! Not even Friday which means not the weekend yet. Le sigh.
Last night, I got home, took Nina for her walk, and then proceed to tear up the kitchen (and the grill) for the rest of the night. I told Mitch I would cook steak and vegetables for him so that he wouldn’t have to when he got home from class, and since I re-stocked our frozen chicken supply after a Costco run, I also offered to make him a breaded, baked chicken cutlet for tonight’s dinner. (I’m trying to cook for him while I’m on my stupid diet so that he doesn’t have to come home late from school and resort to fast food or frozen dinners.
I also made my dinner, grilled chicken and bok choy. And while I had the oven going for the chicken, I baked some wild Alaskan salmon so I can eat that over the next few days. I think the frozen salmon from Trader Joe’s is the cheapest I’ve found, and since I’m really trying to make sustainable seafood choices, I was happy to see that salmon seems to be a regular item at my beloved TJ.
But I wasn’t done. I got asked to work overtime tonight, so I needed to get all my meals (minus breakfast) ready to go since I have to eat very specific things at specific times. So I packed:
- Morning snack: 2 egg whites, 1 egg scramble with hot sauce, onions, bell peppers, and jalapenos
- Lunch: salmon (see above) with spinach and red bell peppers
- Afternoon snack: two rice cakes with 1 T of peanut butter
- Dinner: 4 oz (canned) chicken breast, spinach and tomato salad, balsamic vinegar
- Evening snack: 1 scoop whey protein powder to mix with water
As I said, I was in the kitchen all night long, and had a ton of dishes to wash, but it was worth it as I made…well, a whole lot of meals (I’m too sleep-deprived to do math) that now I don’t have to think about…until breakfast tomorrow! I even won some “good girlfriend” points by prepping meals for my honey.
How much “meal prep” do you do? Do you plan and prepare or are you more of a “seat of your pants” (weird expression) kind of cook/eater?
I think one of my “takeaways” from this diet program will that it’s really not hard to take a few steps, like taking out frozen chicken to thaw or grilling extra veggies for the next day, and doing so can help you stick to your fitness (and honestly, financial) goals. Not every meal has to be a super-star…plain, broiled salmon and spinach will do just fine sometimes.
See you tomorrow for a recap of my week 8 weigh-in results! (Hint: it went well, por fin!)
P.S. I found this awesome e-book produced by Body + Soul magazine and everyone’s favorite organic yogurt purveyor Stonyfield. As it says on their website, download your free Going Greener Guidebook to discover more than 350 little ways you can make a big difference for the planet. It seems to have some cool (and actually different/new!) ideas so that made my little hippie heart happy.
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I prep ALOT. I make a weekly meal plan for dinners (and leftover lunches), create my shopping list, and generally stick to it 100%. Breakfast is usually thought up the night beforehand. Because of this, I have initiated my ImprompTuesday to try and get me to think outside the box, get more creative, and listen to cravings more. We’ll see how that goes.
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oh and on Sunday nights, we chop all our veggies for the week.
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I do my best to meal plan but I’m not great with it. I REALLY want to make overnight oats and an oatmeal breafast cookie, but I never have the foresight to do it the night before!
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wow i love how prepared you are! i try to cook a lot of stuff for meals at work at the beginning of the week, but i like to make dinner every night because i enjoy cooking. thanks for the ebook link!
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I am such a “plan aheader”..haha, not a word, I know. I usually take the weekends as a way to cook ahead for the week. I make meat for the week, and put it in the freezer, I cut canteloupe for the week and for Nick’s lunches, I made a week’s worth of PB&J for Nick’s lunches, and I cook about 3 days worth of vegetables. It really doesn’t take more than 2 hours, which isn’t bad for how much time it saves me, but the dishes DO build up, FAST! I enjoy it though. I only wish my kitchen had a window. When we move to a nicer place I will request a window so i don’t feel like I am in jail while I’m cooking!
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I’m a “seat of my pants” person. I like going with what I’m craving in that moment, instead of feeling pressured to eat leftovers or something that will go bad. I do like to make big pots of things and freeze it for easy microwave meals in the future though.
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I am really bad at meal planning. I’ve gotten where I’ll plan a few weeknight dinners, but that’s really it. It’s a start I suppose.
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I always prep! i wash and clean all my veg. cut them up. put them in bags or tupperware! and sometimes make “snack bags” or whatever if I need to run somewhere!
Look forward to reading more!
Awesome blog
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I do some prep – I plan my meals ahead of time, but cook them one meal at a time.
Thanks for the link to the ebook, I’ll have to check it out!
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I do some prep. Mostly it is cooking up a bunch of chicken to have ready to put quick meals together. I always make sure I have the other things on hand to make meal making easier.
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Thanks for the Trader Joe’s Almond Butter recommendation….I actually bought it earlier today…can’t wait to try it!!!
On Sundays I decide what I’ll be cooking all week and on Monday’s I’ll go to the store and get the ingredients I need. That’s the prep I do. I am usually just cooking for 2 (the kids don’t like most of the stuff I make for hubby and I) but I’ll make the full recipe of something (say it serves 4 or 6)and freeze the leftovers. On nights I’m tired or busy, I’ll pull out the leftovers of something…easy!
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