Monday, March 28, 2011

Part 2: Making the menu


A common theme is going to emerge throughout this blog. Losing weight and maintaining a healthy eating lifestyle all take a lot of time and planning. Planning what you are going to eat throughout the week will help you avoid unhealthy options like fast food.

Due to my husband’s pay schedule, I make a two-week menu. Since I am currently in school, we also have to stick to a strict food budget of $150 for every two weeks. We buy the majority of our groceries at Walmart due to the low cost. We buy things that are on sale (or that are regularly inexpensive and higher quality) at Lowes Foods and Food Lion.

Lowes Foods
Food Lion
Cinnamon rolls
BOGO
FL tuna
2/$1
LF pinto beans
$0.65 ea
Salami
$4.99/lb
Hot Pockets
$1.69 ea
Raw shrimp
BOGO
Picnic pork
$1.19/lb
3lb gala apples
$2.99 ea
10lb chicken leg quarters
$5.50 ea
Green grapes
$0.99/lb
Sweet onions
$0.99/lb


Charmin
$4.49 ea



I make a menu for just the dinners that I am going to cook throughout the week. I also keep easy breakfast foods on hand like homemade bread for toast, yogurt, cereal and oatmeal. I also keep things on hand for healthy, easy lunches like tuna, carrots, celery, bread for sandwiches, etc. Then I don’t have to actually plan what we are all eating for those days, but I know that I am prepared.

My menu is based off what proteins (meats or beans) are on sale at the two grocery stores that I shop at. I like to buy protein that I can cook once and then turn in to the majority of my meals for the week. This helps with the cost of groceries and with limiting the portion size of meat. Things that I love to see in the weekly circular are: roasts, Boston butt, pork picnic, whole fryer chickens or large quantities of chicken on the bone. This week, 10 pounds of chicken leg quarters are on sale and this is a great buy. It will feed a family of 3 like mine for at least 5 meals. Plus, you can use the bones to make chicken stock for future uses. Other inexpensive protein sources that we use a lot: dried beans, canned beans, ground pork, and frozen edamame.

Now that I know that I will base a lot of my meals around chicken, I will look through my collection of recipes. I am a foodie so I have a lot of recipes both in cookbooks and stored on my computer. I try to stick to one cookbook and the recipes on my computer to make sure I don’t overwhelm myself with options. It can be annoying to eat the same protein every day for a week so it is good to add some diversity to the meals that you are planning.

After I know what meals we will be eating, I make a grocery list based on these items. I directly copy the ingredients from a recipe (or my brain if it is something I commonly cook) into my grocery list spreadsheet. I can then go through and edit this to remove items I already have on hand. When you have a very good grocery list, it is easier to avoid the unhealthy foods. Just stick to what you have on the list.

A side note: I get kidney and salivary gland stones. I have to limit my oxalate intake, so I can’t have the following in my diet: tea, spinach, tahini, miso, sesame seeds, and beets. If you want to use my menus and recipes, you will see that we eat kale instead of spinach. Feel free to replace the kale with spinach or try something new!

Biweekly Meal Planner
Saturday 03/26/11
Sushi for anniversary
Sunday 03/27/11
Bibimbap ("Japanese dirty rice")
Monday 03/28/11
Creole black beans and rice
Tuesday 03/29/11
Sausage and egg pizza
Kale caesar salad
Wednesday 03/30/11
Taco Wednesday
Thursday 03/31/11
Creamy Mexican corn soup
Corn fritters
Friday 04/01/11
BBQ chicken tenders
Baked french fries, fruit
Cut up chicken
Saturday 04/02/11
Braised chicken and garlicy kale
Homemade bread
Cook the rest of the chicken, make broth
Sunday 04/03/11
Braised chicken with saffron cream sauce over pasta
Homemade bread
Monday 04/04/11
Texas stew
Tuesday 04/05/11
Chicken pot pie soup
Wednesday 04/06/11
Taco Wednesday
Thursday 04/07/11
Leftovers
Friday 04/08/11
Chili lime chicken tacos
Spanish rice

Need
pancake mix
polska kielbasa
From Oriental Market
shampoo
cereal
chicken
Hoisin
razors
cornmeal
tortillas (3)
Rice wine vinegar
litter
toffee bits
frozen green peppers
Shaoxing
water bottle
shake em ups
frozen corn

velcro
cannellini beans
frozen green beans

socks - Matt
tuna
pot pies

eggs
crushed tomatoes
onions

yogurt
diced tomatoes
kale

crackers
stewed tomatoes
lemons

coffee creamer
rigatoni
red onion

milk
pizza crust
green onions

parmesan cheese
dried ancho chile
jalapenos

soda
canned baby corn
parsley

laundry detergent
picante sauce
limes

toilet paper
taco shells
celery

ziplocs
coffee
carrots


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