I haven't had too much time lately to even cook an actual meal nevermind come up with new recipes for my blog. I knew the extra time I had when I started my blog wouldn't last very long once this class started. But I thought I might share some of my tips on meal planning ( or lack there of). I had a hard time planning meals when I first started paleo. I ate the same things all the time, if I wasn't in the comfort of my own kitchen I had no idea what I was supposed to eat, and if I was in a rush I usually didn't make the right choices. So i'm sure there are alot of people out there who have the same problem as me. Here are a few tips and meal ideas I have come up with.
Breakfast:
-I always have hard boiled eggs in the fridge. This is my on the go breakfast, I pack two hardboiled eggs and berries for breakfast to eat at school. My classmates don't enjoy when I crack them open during break in lecture, but oh well! At least i'm not eating donuts and muffins from the coffee shop downstairs!
- If you like protein pancakes, you can make the batter the night before and stick it in the fridge to save some time in the morning.
-Egg Bake this is yummy hot, cold, warm, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Bake it then portion it out and wrap and saran wrap, then you can just grab and go!
- a few months ago, Coach Jays friend Caleb gave me the idea for muffin pan egg bakes. This is a great idea if you want to portion out your breakfast. Same idea as the egg bake but you can add whatever you want to the egg mix and pour it into the muffin pan then you have your pre-portioned mini egg bakes.
Snack:
-Lara Bars
-protein bars
- Apples and almond butter ( I try to save as much time as possible, I even buy the pre-sliced apples from trader joes.
-baby carrots
- Cantaloupe wrapped with prosciutto- not the best, but delish. Try and find low sodium proscuitto
-Celery and almond butter
- Turkey Jerky --Deb Bocuzzi just bought a new toy to make her own Jerky. I'm jealous! Check It out Its Jerky Time
Lunch:
- My favorite quick and easy go to lunch is turkey, lettuce, and cherry tomato roll-ups. Exactly how it sounds, with a cherry tomato rolled up in the middle.
-I got this idea from my friend Tina G. Red Pepper Turkey Sandwhich. Two slices of Red Pepper with some turkey between. Spice it up with some hot sauce, or you can also add some mayo-even though its not Paleo.
-Chicken Salad- Rotisserie chicken is the best invention ever for me right now. Get every last bit of meat off of that poor little guy, put some in a container for chicken salad, some for dinner. I make my chicken salad with a not so great organic mayo from trader joes and sometimes I add walnuts, celery, or carrots for a little crunch. I am yet to find a decent mayo without soy, anyone have any pointers?? I tried to make my own the other day, but after trying to make it I was too grossed out to eat it. Chicken salad would be good on the red pepper "sandwhich" as well.
- I also like to toss chicken salad in with some baby spinach and make a salad, that way you don't feel like you need any dressing
Dinner:
-Rotisserie Chicken!!! The fast food of paleo eating! You can't get it at a drive through, but its the closest your gonna get to fast healthy food. Try and find the unseasoned chicken though, read the label for sodium content if you can't find an unseasoned chicken. I eat some for dinner usually with broccoli ( my latest kick--i'll probably hate broccoli in a few days) then I take the rest and portion it out into containers. One for chicken salad and one container to snack on, add to an omlette, toss on a salad, etc.
-"Chicken Tenders"- I don't have kids...yet...But I know all they ever want to eat is chicken tenders. My chicken parm recipe is great for chicken tenders too. Buy some chicken breast tenders and make the coconut breading. I know kids love to dip, skip the ketchup, if it won't cause a melt down, and drizzle a little honey on. I don't know how you people do it, kids, work, gym, cook, eat, sleep. But if it were me, i'd make a batch of these one night and freeze them, and toss them on a baking sheet next time I needed a quick meal!
- Sweet potato Fries- They sell them pre-sliced at trader joes. All you have to do is toss them on a cookie sheet with a little olive oil and sea salt and you have your side dish.
- Brussel Sprouts- They have these at trader joes also, in a bag you can steam them in, doesn't get much easier than that! Good luck getting your kids to eat these though!
-Chicken lettuce wraps- get some of that rotisserie chicken out, dice it up, put it on a big piece of lettuce, toss on some tomatoes, onions, maybe some quacamole or some Hot sauce, and roll it up like a burrito.
Post your quick fixes in the comments section! Enjoy!
I don't think you can buy a healthy mayo...you are stuck making it yourself. I tried the one from Mark's Daily Apple last week and failed, but I'll give it another try. Excellent info.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of fast food, the west coast does it right...since I am out in LA on business I have had to eat out for most of my meals, but they have a fish place next to my hotel that you can get to go fresh grilled fish and grilled vegetables for $9 and it is freakin tasty. What's the deal with CT, why don't we have these places? I also stopped into the whole foods and it made the one in Milford look like a quick stop convenience store.
I tried to make it, and failed also! Whole foods to me is like the mall is to most women, could spend hours there! I'm going to LA in May, I can't wait to check out the whole foods.
ReplyDeletei'm surprised CT doesn't have more healthy fast food options since it is supposed to be the "wealthiest state".
Nicki! These are great tid bits of info...I'm trying to be paleo too now and I feel like I will fail fast...haha. Its just the breakfast part that has me kind of confused...but I will have to try some of your ideas! :)
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