Weekly Menu 1 - Chicken and Steak

So this round of monthly grocery shopping, the husband and I decided to prep for a week at a time instead of changing the menu out daily throughout the week. See last month's meal plan HERE

So we bought for 4 different weeks but the meals within the week stay the same, although 1 day each week I take a maintenance day at 1900 cals.

We thought this would be a good experiment to try out, and would make prep time a snap.

You see, we have two kids who are involved in sports, church, and music. Every night of the week (almost) one or the other has an practice or meeting. I usually have time to cook, but sometimes it gets a bit hectic.  The idea of getting it all ready to go ahead of time and then just grabbing to eat together sounded really nice!

So here is week #1's menu from the monthly shopping trip:

Breakfast	VenusCrossing PB&J Protein Oats 313 cals – 25 g carbs – 10 g fat – 31 g protein
Lunch	6 oz chicken breast ½ cup rice, cooked ¾ cup green beans 291 cals – 28 g carbs – 4 g fat – 39 g protein
Snack	Quest Coconut Cashew Protein Bar 170 cals – 23g carbs – 7 g fat – 20 g protein
Dinner	6 oz eye of round steak, cubed 1 cup sweet potato, roasted 1 cup baby kale 420 cals – 31 g carbs – 15 g fat – 38 g protein
Dessert	½ cup strawberries, sliced ½ cup 2% cottage cheese, unpacked 126 cals – 10 g carbs – 2 g fat – 16 g protein
TOTALS	1320 cals – 117 g carbs – 38 g fat – 144 g protein

We just picked a few meals we really like and are going to rotate through them for the month. Basically 4 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 4 snacks, 4 dinner, and 4 dessert options. We spent $503.37 for everything this month including extra options for our kids and household items like dog treats.

Breakfast: VenusCrossing PB&J Protein Oats

313 cals – 25 g carbs – 10 g fat – 31 g protein

Recipe HERE

I blended the oat water with spinach before cooking in the picture above. We buy the big containers of fresh spinach at Sam's Club. I freeze the spinach before it turns bad and continue using it frozen.

Lunch: 6 oz chicken breast

½ cup rice, cooked

¾ cup green beans

291 cals – 28 g carbs – 4 g fat – 39 g protein

What we did was cube up the chicken breast and sautee it with a bit of ancho chile seasoning that we picked up from Sam's Club. I made some white rice in the rice cooker, and steamed some french green beans. In the picture, I swirled a dab of Sriracha on top!

I freeze my lunches in the freezer in tupperwares. I just grab them and put them in my lunch bags in the morning before work.

Snack: Quest Coconut Cashew Protein Bar

170 cals – 23g carbs – 7 g fat – 20 g protein

I guy Quest bars from GNC. I have a little secret to getting them cheaper with couponing, find it HERE

You could also easily sub any 160-200 cal protein bar. My husband prefers Pure Protein bars which we can buy in bulk from Sam's Club. I really like those too!

Dinner: 6 oz eye of round steak, cubed

1 cup or 1 medium sweet potato, roasted

1 cup baby kale

420 cals – 31 g carbs – 15 g fat – 38 g protein

  What we did was roast sweet potatos in the oven at 400*F for an hour. While those were roasting, we cubed up beef eye of round steak (or roast depending on how the store labels it). We let the beef marinate in a ziploc for an hour with some all purpose meat marinade. (We used Plum Creek Marinade, but there are many other low calorie options.) We quickly seared the steak over high heat until just the outside was browned. We topped the meat with fresh baby kale to wilt over the heat of the steak. We buy the large container of fresh baby kale and the big bags of sweet potatoes at Sam's. The kale lasts in the fridge all month, the potatoes last on the counter all month.

Dessert: ½ cup strawberries, sliced

½ cup 2% cottage cheese, unpacked

126 cals – 10 g carbs – 2 g fat – 16 g protein

We buy the large tubs of cottage cheese, and buy frozen sliced strawberries. I defrost them in the microwave for about 30 seconds before mixing with my cottage cheese.

Next week, I will share weekly meal plan #2 for the month!

X- Liss