Menu planning! « Back to Group Discussions

[Megmoira]

Hey y'all... My morning sickness disappeared, leaving me a bottomless pit of cranky hungry- which is good, because I'm down five pounds! But being pregnant has messed with my sense of taste and willingness to eat the same thing every day for breakfast and lunch. So I came up with a meal plan thinger, and figured since this was so much work (eww, work) and because I'm not quite sure it's good nutritionally, I figured I'd post it here and let you all see it, steal it, edit it, suggest things and what not. This past week was not so good- I just had snacky food on hand, because its what I could tolerate, at the time.

I don't like fish cooked (man do I miss sushi), and this menu plan is for two people (me & DH) so that's important to know... It's based off of the Stop & Shop's sale flyer.

Breakfast: oatmeal (cooked with milk and trail mix added in) or a (vegan) banana cranberry walnut muffin (its http://caloriecount.about.com/vegan-banana-muffins-recipe-r954174 this recipe, with 3/4-1 C cranberries and 1/2 C walnuts substituted for the almonds and raspberries.

morning snacks: apple, pistachios, orange, strawberries, yogurt

Lunches: Hummus & veggie sticks with string cheese, chicken salad (from leftovers) sandwich with spinach salad, leftover pork stir fry, fruit salad, spinach salad with egg & avocado.

afternoon snacks: string cheese, veggie sticks, hummus & crackers, walnuts or pistachios

Dinner: Orange 1/2 chicken, mashed potatoes & mix veggies, Pork with snap peas and rice, chicken skillet meal (leftover chicken, egg noodles and veggies with some sort of sauce), Pork tenderloin with mustard sauce, hassleback potatoes, veggie. 

This leaves my husband to come up with two meals, one of which will most likely be "lets visit my parents." I love them, and not just because they feed me. Wednesdays are just me for dinner, so I'm not sure what to eat then. Most likely an omlette.

This is intended to cook half a chicken, and one pork tenderloin cut in two for two meals... they're usually just under 2 lbs. I spatchcock my chickens so they cook quicker (and so I don't waste food). I'll most likely be making a stock from the bones, because YUM- way better than the box stuff.

So if anyone has suggestions, wants recipes, or wants to share (please share!) have at it!

~Meg

[cadybh]

I love and hate meal planning with this morning sickness, lemme tell ya....

We eat mostly organic, local, whole foods whenever possible so we're a bit limited by what's in season or accessible in dried/frozen/preserved form. Our weekly dinner menu is based off what we receive each week from our farmer in the CSA offering. It's unpredictable and creates a challenge, for sure! Right now my aversion to most cooked vegetables is NOT on my side, unfortunately.

Breakfast is cereal (hot or cold, with some dried/frozen fruit) or eggs if I'm home to cook. Lunch is leftovers or raw veggies/hummus/bread or wrap or crackers. This week dinners have included chard/squash/bean soup, pizza (arugula pesto and churico marinara with mushrooms), baked ham with corn-off-the-cob and sweet potato fries, roasted chicken with mashed turnips, and grilled cheese on homemade bread with tomato soup.

[Megmoira]

This week we've decided to do some batch cooking, just in case the frankenstorm knocks out our power. We've got ice in the freezer, and we'll be making a half chicken on Monday, and a pot of chili on Tuesday. We've a gas stove, so we won't be completely boned if the power goes out. I'm going to trust that the city water will still work, because it'd take something catastrophic to knock that out. Since we're prepared, I think we'll be ok, but I wish my neighborhood would be a bit more proactive about clearing the leaf litter off of the storm drains. I'm on a hill, I'm ok. But I like our downhill neighbors, they're good people. Lunches will be hummus & veggie sticks, with yogurt parfaits (plain yogurt, honey, frozen berries & freeze the containers, granola on top and it should thaw by lunch). We also got canned soups and dry beans and rice, so we should be good. 

That reminds me, I should hard boil the eggs. Not because they'll go funny or anything, just because I want 'em for breakfast and prefer to be lazy in the mornings.

[CoBabyMaker]

Megmoira, Hope everything goes better than expected!  We don't live in an area where natural disasters are common so trying to process something like that makes my head spin a little though I know I should probably be more prepared.