Last year around this time we dug out our Simply for Life meal plans and followed them pretty strictly for about 5 weeks. That was what really got the wheels turning about making meal planning a priority and ultimately starting this blog. I've been mentioning the last few weeks that we've been trying to lighten things up to lose those extra summer pounds. I feel it's been working but thought I'd give the SFL menus another go. Note, I made a number of substitutions and I'm not including any details on serving sizes (since this would differ by person anyway) so I wouldn't suggest this in place of actually joining if you were considering it. If you were to join you would get customized meal plans, among other member benefits.
I debated even mentioning the SFL connection to this week at all because I don't think this plan sticks out as a "diet" or even looks much different than one of my normal weeks. I know there are various opinions on weight loss programs out there. I will just say this... we both had success with Simply for Life and Weight Watchers. While we are not members of either anymore I always find that when I feel my clothes are getting snug or I'm just feeling blah that taking a few weeks to follow either plan helps to retrain my brain on things like what normal serving sizes are and how to snack wisely, until it becomes second nature again.
Recipe Quick Links
Overnight Oats, Marin Mama Cooks
Apple & Havarti Quesadillas, Teach Eat Love
Whole Wheat Tortillas, 100 Days of Real Food
Kale Lentil Soup, A Spoonful of Sunshine
Kale Salad, Marin Mama Cooks
Fish Tacos, Canadian Living
Corn Tortillas, 100 Days of Real Food
Applesauce Muffins, Weelicious
Week in Review
Sunday - I don't always include what we ate on Sunday but since we knew that we were going to be getting a bit strict with our eating we decided to have a "Last Hurrah" day. And I enjoyed every bite of every meal! Overnight Oats with PB & Maple Syrup... ooey, gooey good! Apple & Havarti Quesadillas on Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas - well really... how could that be bad?? And then Marinated Sirloin Steaks, grilled to perfection served with a baked potato topped with butter and sour cream and a side of sauteed mushrooms. I think we said 'mmm' after each bite. This is one of Marin's favorites as well. You can find the marinade we use on the Favorites page.
Greek Quinoa Salad with Chicken - I LOVE this salad typically but there were a few problems... I made the dressing too tart, I forgot to defrost the chicken in advance (so I had to defrost in the microwave which always results in the edges starting to cook and throws the texture/taste off - yuck), and the biggest problem... I skipped the feta. I didn't think we'd miss it that much but we did. Don't let my mistakes deter you, this is typically delicious! Another enthusiastically kid approved meal as well. And it's super easy to make. Quinoa, veggies (tomato, cucumber, red onion), feta (NOT OPTIONAL!) and Greek Salad Dressing.
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| Greek Quinoa Salad |
Pan-fried Haddock and Roasted Veggies - To pan-fry the haddock I simply mix flour and pepper and dredge the haddock through it. Then I fry it with butter (I used only a small amount this week so they weren't overly greasy). I roasted a medley of veggies, tossing in olive oil with a little salt and pepper. Aren't they pretty? Again, kid approved. Marin loved the fish!
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| Roasting Veggies |
Pasta Salad with Tuna. On the SFL menu the dressing is Calorie Wise Italian. I don't stock that anymore so I simply made some pasta, added veggies, a can of tuna and drizzled on some olive oil, lemon juice and dried dill. It was fine, just too dry. I'd suggest mixing up your favorite dressing to give this more flavor.
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| Tuna Pasta |
Kale Lentil Soup. I really liked this soup but on its own with no roll, biscuit or crackers it left me feeling a little like the meal was incomplete. Dave was less than enthused and Marin said it was yummy but needed to be reminded about 100 times to continue eating and almost cried when I told her we were having it again the next night. On night two I gave her just a small serving of the soup and made her pasta with butter and nutritional yeast and a slice of avocado. I'm willing to bet if you served this soup with a side of garlic bread you would love it!
Shepperd's Pie - I have no recipe for this so it never turns out the same way twice. This time I used ground turkey and it really killed it for me. I like ground turkey in chili but there's something about the smell of it that really turns me off. No amount of seasonings seem to help. The topping was mashed cauliflower, sweet potato and parsnip which I do enjoy in place of mashed potatoes.
Chicken and Kale Salad - The plan was to bake the chicken but we needed to make this meal super speedy so I cut it into cutlets and cooked it in a pan with a little coconut oil. The Kale Salad was quick because I had pre-washed and de-stemmed my kale on Sunday... an awesome tip from Marin Mama Cooks! Marin looooved this meal (she also had a baked potato with sour cream). This dialog actually happened at supper:
Marin: Mmm... this salad it TOO good!
Me: I know... I really love it too!
Marin: Good thing we're not having that soup again.
Funny, but again I stress... the soup was actually really good! Just not Dave and Marin's "thing" apparently.
Chicken & Rice Salad w/ Creamy Asian Sesame Dressing - Really good, I love this dressing. This was just extra chicken from supper diced up with a mix of fresh vegetables, black rice (soba noodles would be an excellent substitution in this dish) and Asian Sesame Dressing. This dressing came from a Weelicious recipe - better than store-bought by far. Dave rated this meal best of the week! It was good but he was clearly not counting Sunday as part of the week.
Fish Tacos on Corn Tortillas - I wanted a fun Friday supper that would satisfy and make us feel like we were splurging without totally offsetting our efforts this week. Fish Tacos fit the bill and I made another batch of corn tortillas (I remembered last weekend how much I liked them)
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| Corn Tortillas |
Late Night Berry Snack - one of the biggest changes for me this week was not snacking in the evenings. It makes me realize how I rarely snack in the evening because I'm hungry... it's simply habit. So this week I was snacking on frozen blueberries and raspberries. A small bowl takes a long time to eat because they're so cold but they're full of flavor and totally satisfying.
Applesauce Muffins - Marin wanted to hold a Monkey Birthday Party on the weekend so we HAD to make cake (or muffins!). I've become a total baked good addict so we each had one warm out of the oven and then froze the rest so that we can make them a once or twice a week treat... as opposed to what was becoming daily.
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| Monkey blowing out the candles on his muffins |
Happy Weekend!
Sandra
