Hey there, friends. On Sundays I often share things I am cooking over on my Instagram stories. After a few requests for meal plans and a deeper dive into what I eat I decided to share more. While I don’t work off of strict meal plans, I do use meal planning of our food for the week to shop and then cook accordingly. A lot of you said you wanted to see this IRL, so here is my first attempt at sharing how I plan and feed myself and my fiancé each week. I do a bunch of cooking on Sunday. Dustin takes over on Monday nights and cooks whatever is left to do while I teach group fitness classes. Sometimes we need to cook a quick veg or protein on a Tuesday or Wednesday, and do so as needed.
P.S. I don’t have diet restrictions (except higher FODMAP items) however, if you do, simply choose a substitute or eliminate foods as needed. For instance, if you don’t eat fish, choose cubed chicken instead. Don’t eat broccoli? Use asparagus. Can’t have wheat? Choose a GF option.
Okay, lets get to it.
planning process
I sit down Saturday or Sunday and talk with Dustin about his week. Are there any days we won’t be home for dinner? Maybe he has a work lunch planned. Maybe we have a date night. Maybe I have plans with friends. I take these things into consideration as I plan for Monday breakfast - Friday lunch. Friday dinner is rarely prepped food. Usually we think of something yummy we want and one of us stops at the grocery on the way home. If there is any food left in the fridge we try to finish it off for Saturday’s lunch. I am also considering our time to cook, if we are out of town for the weekend I am usually selecting easier meals that use more quick cook freezer items.
week 1: what we eat in a week
This particular week he had lunch plans one day and I did not eat dinner at home another day so we only ended up requiring one back-up meal.
breakfasts
I usually choose a breakfast that will get us through 4 days and then Friday we usually put together an egg sandwich or something of the sort. It helps us not get bored. We always have extra eggs in the house.
Hard boiled eggs (in the Instant Pot) + bacon + banana or english muffin
Meals
I select 2 meals that will incorporate our starch, protein, vegetables, and fat. We batch cook (large portions) so that we are fed from it ideally 3-4 times each. If this requires me to cook a larger protein portion than stated in the recipe I will increase some of the spices slightly. We do not cook a hot meal each night. It is too much work and planning and our schedules are pretty packed. Who wants to cook after a long day? Not this girl.
Ginger beef stir-fry (used just over 2 lb beef)+ stir-fry rice noodles (prepared according to package) + Stir fry vegetables (did not mix with the noodles for prep or storing)
Curried chicken salad (about 2.5lb chicken) bowls with roasted cubed sweet potato (cooked 2 large) + chickpeas + roasted broccoli + shredded cabbage (was leftover from stir-fry recipe) + feta + arugula
Back-up Meals
I have an idea of what my back-up meals will be based on whats in the freezer and pantry or leftover. I also always have lettuce in the house because you can make a salad with anything.
Tuna salad w/ lettuce on Dave’s Killer Bread
Snacks
I pack us each a morning and afternoon snack. These are snacks we have on hand that I mix and match each day based on each of our needs.
Yogurt + almonds
Tumeric quinoa (made in IP, stove top option included in link)
KIND bar or Health Warrior Chia Seed Bar
Rice cakes + cheese stick
Grapes, frozen mango and strawberries (snack or dessert)
PB&J on thin sliced Daves Killer Bread
Let me know if this post set up is useful. Let me know what else you do or don’t want to see. I am going to try to start posting these regularly and I am open to adjusting the format until it works for you! Prefer to see all links at the end in one place? Link to the exact products when applicable? LMK!!! I want this to help you!
