Happy Monday!
I promised y’all my batch cooking/meals from last week plus groceries, as we usually do on Meal Plan Monday.
The strategy for last week was to have everything cooked ahead of time Monday-Wednesday, because I had no idea what my schedule was going to look like. Thursday and Friday I planned meals that I could prep the night before and Matt could cook for us, in case I didn’t get home in time to do it myself.
As I’ve mentioned, I no longer am responsible for my lunches, as these are provided for me now through my internship. This past week everything was pre-selected for me, while in the future I will be using my meal card to buy my lunch at the various hospital cafés/cafeterias.
However, Matt still needs lunch – so this system ended up working SO well. He took all the various leftovers for lunches the next day and I didn’t have to cook anything when I got home at night. We are definitely going to have to keep this system going, or I fear one/both of us will end up eating out every night.
Groceries
I did my grocery shopping just at Trader Joes, though I had to stop by Target for a few extra things the next day that I forgot. I also went to Kroger mid week after I revised my snacking ideas/schedules and grabbed a few extra snacks.
Fruits/Veggies: Bananas, two types of salad mix, sunflowers, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, plums, strawberries, zucchini, avocado, baby carrots, cucumber
Meats/Dairy: 99% lean turkey breast, 93% lean turkey, chicken breasts, mozzarella cheese, canadian bacon, fat free ricotta, eggs, sliced turkey
Pantry/Etc: microwave popcorn, multi-grain frozen waffles, tomato sauce, sliced almonds, dog treats, refried beans
Other items I picked up on my other two trips: granola bars (clif mojo), cereal bars, raisins, tortillas, jalapeno, whole grain rice mix pouches, whole wheat hamburger buns
Meals
So first – here’s everything I made on Sunday.
Lasagna cups (I’m obsessed with these)
Sweet onion and pepper turkey meatballs, hard boiled eggs, tomato e ceci pasta sauce
His and her salads (mine had spring mix, his had butter lettuce) with carrots and cucumbers; cut broccoli, cut cucumbers
The Maple Almond Quinoa muffins with added almonds from the Weight Watchers Power Foods cookbook. (the half in the bag went in the freezer for this week!)
And here are the meals we ate for dinners throughout the week:
Sunday: green pepper and canadian bacon pizza on homemade whole wheat pizza dough
Monday: the meatballs, pasta e ceci sauce and parmesan cheese on top of sauteed green bell peppers and zucchini. Matt had his with pasta, but I choose veggies instead.
Tuesday/Wednesday: 2 lasagna cups, fresh cucumbers, salad and strawberries
Thursday: buffalo chicken breasts (made by Matt) on top of salad with green peppers, cucumber, avocado and salsa. On the side – refried beans and a buttered tortilla.
This day was meant for tacos. Matt had his with brown santa fe rice too. We had fajitas for lunch that day, so I wanted a salad instead of eating everything together like I had at lunch. This was also supposed to have tomatoes, but they molded before we could eat them!
Friday: before the Ranger’s game we made homemade turkey burgers on whole wheat buns, with Alexa fries on the side.
Breakfasts for the week, eaten in the car: maple almond quinoa muffin, hard boiled egg and a plum
Snacks were for the most part mojo bars every day, but also raisins, a quaker granola bar we were given and this plate of veggies/pretzels given to us too.
As for lunches – I only snapped one picture of what we were fed.
Some sort of Hawaiian chicken, roasted potatoes, green beans, a roll and salad.
The other days we ate: out one day; boxed lunches with sandwiches, fruit and a cookie; fajitas with rice, beans and fruit; and salads with a cookie.
SO there you have it – meals for the week, plus groceries and batch cooking. I’m warning you – the dinners I’ll post next week is going to look fairly similar, as we are still getting a hang of these cook and re-heat meals again.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
woah. i am so impressed by all of your prep work last weekend! i used to be in such a good routine of prepping a bunch of food on the weekends, but i’ve totally fallen out of the habit.
i’m definitely going to try those lasagna cups! they look delicious.
Ha this is all out of necessity! I spent a ton of time this summer planning everything based on how busy I will now be/commuting. If left to my own devices, I wouldn’t do it
Step 1) Laura somehow gets me to try/like some of the food items that are in this post. (raisins, peppers, cucumbers, etc.)
Step 2) Laura helps me find the motivation to batch cook at the beginning of the week and save my sanity come lunch/dinner time!
Also: Those lasagna cups I am definitely trying. They look so good!!!
Let’s get started!
Haha, you ARE obsessed with those lasagna cups but I can’t blame you–so am I!! As you know, I just gobbled some down for lunch. That pizza looks deeeelish!
Could you just come cook for me?
I’ve been trying to cook 1-2 nights a week, but I’m doing simple stuff right now. On a delay for my paycheck from my new job, so I’m living on free meat that my mom gave me. Last week I baked pork chops. This week I’m making ham steak with pineapple and corn on the cob and tacos.
yes, come on over!
also – you’re doing great. Planning/cooking at home is the key – doesn’t matter how often or what you are making!