food planning

Ever since I have decided to lose weight and eat healthier, I am obsessed with finding new and healthy recipes. Every day I look up food recipes and am finding things I never knew existed.

Have you heard of these things? flax seeds, agave nectar, chia, almond butter, quinoa. I don't know if I was just sheltered as a child or if it's because I started cooking myself.
Things I am learning:

HEALTHY FOOD CAN BE A LOT MORE EXPENSIVE, its why I've eaten bad food for so long. When you live in the lower class, you eat like lower class.

IT CAN BE AFFORDABLE BY CHOOSING A FEW OPTIONS:
             You either have to buy junk food, or healthy food.
             Buying them both can be a money problem

CHOOSE FRUITS IN SEASON.
           Now this one has been a hard one for me, because I LOVE FRUIT! I buy fruit year round                          regardless of the price. I have learned that you have to choose wisely though. Always have the cheaper fruit in your fridge or table. bananas, bags of apples, and oranges are fairly priced year round. If you want more fruit, pick one or two extras as a treat to yourself. In season, buy as much as you want! freeze them for smoothies or baking, or just to nibble on during the winter.

LEARN HOW TO BAKE!
         This one I can not stress enough. Instead of buying packaged muffins, granola bars, and so on.. bake            them yourself! Even brownies and cookies, (if you find a healthier version you still get to enjoy nice treats like that) Try making and canning your own applesauce or spaghetti sauce. You can even make your own breads and yogurt.

SWALLOW YOUR PRIDE AND SHOP AT A CHEAPER STORE
         For the past 4 years, I have been doing all my shopping at Walmart. Sometimes they have great prices, but when you do all your grocery shopping there, it can really add up. Hit up a Sharp Shopper, or Aldis. I always stock up on my canned goods and freezer food from sharp shopper, but they have mostly snack foods there, so I went to aldis last week and found healthy and cheap food. I got a whole cart full for $155, where at Walmart I only get a few things and end up spending $100 dollars every time.

MAKE A FOOD MENU
        Plan your meals throughout the week. It will help you use what's in your pantry, not have food waste, use up your leftovers, and only buy what you need for the week.



READY TO BEGIN? 

Here is what I make sure I have on hand every week:
fresh fruits and veges
whole grain breads and pasta
whole grain oats
honey
peanut butter
unsweetened applesauce
whole grain flour
string cheese
greek yogurt
tuna
chicken breasts
turkey burger
unsweetened vanilla almond milk


NEXT, FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST!
Laesha Henry

There I have all my recipes I use. breakfast foods, snacks, and dinners. Find the ones you like, find your own, start your healthy recipe search! 

food menu

This is our food menu for this week. I only plan out the dinners, but I thought I would write what I have for every meal in case you need some ideas for those too. I will put the recipes I use along with the link.

I have a salad with every meal and only eat a small portion of what I make for dinner.

WEEK ONE:

Friday:

Breakfast- chocolate oatmeal (1/2 cup oatmeal, 1 T cocoa, 1 cup water, 3 packets stevia or other sweetener. put in the microwave for 2 minutes) 170 calories

Lunch- chicken salad

Snack- fit and active chocolate protein bar

Dinner- waffle house

Saturday:

Breakfast- whole grain toast with peanut butter and banana slices, half a grapefruit. 

Lunch- tuna salad sandwich on a whole grain sandwich thin, salad, and some honey dew

Snack- string cheese, half an oatmeal muffin, and a small clementine

Dinner- turkey sausage pasta

Sunday:

Breakfast- oatmeal muffin and bowl of fruit

Lunch- whole wheat tortilla taco, and a salad

Snack- bowl of fruit, yogurt, and granola

Dinner- whole wheat pizza and a salad

Monday:

Breakfast-  Whole wheat toast, scrambled egg(whole + 1 egg white) 1/2 american cheese,

 mixed fruit

Lunch- whole wheat tortilla taco and a salad

Snack-  fruit smoothie (I used watermelon, blueberries, frozen strawberries, and some frozen yogurt)

Dinner- pineapple chicken and corn casserole

Tuesday: 

Breakfast- 1 cup cheerios with skim milk, 1 banana and a scoop of peanut butter

Lunch- salad and leftover pizza

Snack- fruit parfait (banana, yogurt, and granola)

Dinner- chicken taco chili

My waffle recipes

White Waffles

1/2 cup whole wheat oats

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup egg whites

mix with a blender

(makes 2 big or 3 smaller waffles)

153 calories for the whole batch.

Whole Wheat Waffles

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/16 tsp stevia or 2 Tablespoons agave or maple syrup

1 Tablespoon milk(increase to 3 T if using stevia)

1/4 cup plus 3 Tablespoons applesauce

2 tsp oil or 1 T more applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

mix dry ingredients together. mix wet ingredients. 

mix them together.

(makes 2) 135 calories for the whole batch.

Whole Wheat Waffles

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups almond milk

2 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 Tablespoon honey

Cottage Cheese Pumpkin Waffles

1/2 cup pumpkin pure

1/3 cup oatmeal

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

501 calories for the whole batch.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Waffles

1 1/4 cup oatmeal flour (oats grinded into flour texture)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 egg

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup milk

2 Tablespoons honey

2 Tablespoons olive oil

970 calories for the whole batch

Spicy Sausage Pasta

 

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lb smoked turkey sausage
1.5 cups diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (10 oz) can Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, Mild
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz penne pasta
1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, each
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions
1. Add olive oil to an oven-safe skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and onions and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
2. Add broth, tomatoes, cream, pasta, salt and pepper and stir. Bring to a boil, cover skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.
3. Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with scallions. Broil until cheese is melted, spotty brown, and bubbly.




Whole Wheat Pizza

3 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. yeast
1 1/3 cups cold water
1 Tbsp olive oil
Pizza sauce (fry up some onion, add tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic powder and simmer for about 15 minutes. I put it in the food processor for a smoother texture.)
mozzarella Cheese
turkey pepperoni
(i would definitely click on the link to read all 
the directions for this recipe.) 

Pineapple Crockpot Chicken

2 lb. chicken tenderloin chunks

1 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup soy sauce

Crockpot 6-8 hours

Creamed Corn Casserole

1 can corn, drained

1 can creamed corn

4 Tablespoons flour

4 Tablespoons sugar

1 stick of butter, melted

1 cup milk

2 eggs, well beaten

1/2 tsp salt

pepper

mix all of ingredients together. bake at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. 

Chicken Taco Chili

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can corn

16 oz tomato sauce

28 oz diced tomatoes

1 packet taco seasoning

1 tbsp chili powder

3 boneless chicken breasts 

6 hours high or 10 hours low in the crock pot.