Meal Plan Monday
On Monday’s I like to sit the the table with a cup of tea and plan out what we’re going to eat for the week. The majority of my recipes are made in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker. The Instant Pot really revolutionized dinner time in our home.
I needed a tool to help me make healthy dinners fast. If healthy eating was going to be a sustainable lifestyle choice for our family I knew that I needed something to help make it just as convenient as prepackaged, processed, ready made meals.
For the last ten months our family has lived on a clean, unprocessed, whole foods diet. We’ve seen many amazing things happen as a result. One of my husbands favorite things is that I haven’t asked him to bring dinner home in TEN months!
Read more about how the Instant Pot helped me lose 125 lbs., click here.
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My personality is very laid back, I don’t stress easy or often, but slap a time restraint on me and I get frazzled quickly.
I used to put off making dinner till the last possible second because of this, often times, it just wouldn’t get made. Not only did I need to makeover our diets, I needed to become more disciplined in my meal planning and prep. Making dinner was a job that I signed up for and I wasn’t fulfilling my end of the bargain with my family.
In January I issued myself a challenge. I decided that I was going to go an entire year without asking my husband to bring dinner home. With the help of handy kitchen gadgetry like the Instant Pot my husband hasn’t brought a single meal home since December of last year (2016)!
Instead of trying to make every meal look like something off the Food Network I’m more focused on just getting something on the table.
As I became more disciplined in my planning, I adjusted my expectations on what a healthy meal looks like.
Sometimes we have gorgeous cobb salads with homemade dressings and other nights we drink green smoothies and eat home popped popcorn with coconut oil and himalayan sea salt. All of it’s a win in my book.
As long as the bellies are full and we’re not eating Taco Bell, I’m happy! 🙂
To see a list of what I buy at Costco, click here or to read more about what I make when I don’t feel like cooking, click here.
MONDAY: Jalapeño Black Bean Burgers with Paleo Sandwich Thins
TACO TUESDAY: Instant Pot Chicken, Black Bean, and Quinoa Burrito Bowls
WEDNESDAY: Grain Free “Chicken” Nuggets
THURSDAY: Instant Pot Zucchini and Squash Spaghetti with Meatballs
FRIDAY: Chicken Teriyaki Stir-Fry
SATURDAY: Instant Pot Skinny Crustless Chicken Pot Pie
SUNDAY: Bruschetta Chicken
BREAKFAST: Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats
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These are amazing! Thank you!
I am really struggling with the sameness issue of waiting until the last minute (because i hate cooking) and then we end up eating out. Do you have any tips other planning your meal that help with procrastination? Ps I feel like the more i think about it the more the Nike slogan plays in my head like… Girl just do it!
Love all of the nutritious ideas
Aw, thank you so much Penny!
Hello, I am new to the instant loss community, and first let me say that your story is inspiring. I have been on your instant loss diet for about two weeks. I feel so much better energy wise, as well as there is something new each day to giving up processed and unclean foods. My question for you is this and I am not really sure if you have answered these questions on your blog. So here goes, My Husband and I are living on a budget we are faithful to the Financial Peace lifestyle and we are currently in Baby step #2, Is it possible to eat clean and healthy on a low to minimal budget. We have availability to these stores here Cost-Co Sam’s Club Krogers Walmart and Aldi’s food stores. As well as your Whole Foods and Sprouts. However the latter two are a little out of our budgeted price range. Have you ever done a meal plan on a slim budget or a months worth of food on a slim budget? I am open to suggestions tips and Ideas. Thanks again for Sharing your story its very inspirational and relatable.
I make my grocery list and go to aldi first to see what I can get. Then I go to a secondary store like Kroger to get what I couldn’t. The bill may seem high at first, but you have to consider it’s 3 meals a day + a snack for the whole family (or at least mom and dad depending on kiddo’s ages). When I divided out the cost per meal, there was no way I could eat out for any cheaper. The trick for me is to not change the plan once I buy it so I don’t waste any of the food.