This entire time, since November, I've managed to eat SOMEWHAT well. Fairly clean, watching my portions most of the time. Drinking my Shakeology almost every day, even throwing spinach in it most days. But it has been anything but "on point." And recently, I've been giving into temptations - wine, ice cream, wine, baked goods (gluten free of course!), LOTS of carbs, wine - far more often than I should. It's summer, right?
No, not right. Finally, I looked in the mirror, and I didn't like what I saw. This has nothing to do with weight, it's really about how I feel and it's finally showing. I'm sluggish. I'm exhausted. And this is a real shame, because thanks to my surgery, I should feel the best I've felt in 15 years because all that debilitating pain is gone. But my insomnia has been at an all time high.
So, enough with the excuses. I'm wiping the slate clean and starting over. With some much needed coaxing and motivating from my husband, Keith, I've started getting up at (about) 5AM on work days to lift weights before I shower and head to the office. Not only that, but I also started working out in the evening with Beachbody's new dance program, Cize, which is so much fun! I created a hybrid workout schedule that includes Cize, 21 Day Fix, 21 Day fix extreme, and Pump. So far, it's going well. I didn't start 2-a-days until last Wednesday. This is my workout plan.
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So, on to my nutrition! I hear constantly from people, "I'm too busy to eat healthy or to meal prep." I've even fallen into that (recently even), but it's just not true. Even when I was working full time, in graduate school full time, and planning my own wedding, I figured out how to swing it. And trust me, I'm not even close to being super woman. It takes planning. And lucky for you, there are a lot of resources out there to help you with that, including me. I feel like I've become a pro at meal planning and prep. Almost every week I create something like this.
Which might be difficult to see, so here's the file:
new_meal_plan_8:17:2015.xlsx |
This weekend I finally had some time to play catch-up. After a week of working out a lot, and feeling hungry all the time (does that mean my metabolism is back?!), I needed to get some healthy, easy meals in my house. So, I came up with a plan for 6 different recipes to fill my freezer and I ran to Costco and Safeway. This was my plan:
Turkey Spaghetti Sauce
Turkey Chili
Chicken, Rice, and Quinoa Crock Pot Casserole
Crockpot Chicken Fajitas
Pork Carnitas
Beef Stew
Shopping list:
Ground Turkey (4 1lb packages for $18)
Chicken Tenders, raw and fresh (6 packages, each almost 1lb for $17)
Pork Loin ($18, I'm not sure how big this was, I forgot to look, but it was pretty darn big. We buy these a lot from Costco and cut each end off for roasts and cut the rest into 10-12 pork chops.)
Stew Meat (2.25 pounds of chuck roast for $10. I cut it up myself, trimming most of the fat off)
Bag of Carrots (I found organic for $1)
Russet Potatoes (3lb for $4)
Tomato Sauce (Case of organic for $8, I used 10 of them)
Bell Peppers (3 organic for $5)
Onions (2 organic for $3)
Kidney Beans (8 cans organic for $8)
Black Beans (8 cans organic for $8, I used 6 out of 8)
Rotel (3 cans for $2)
Salsa (1 16oz jar for $2.50)
Chicken Stock (Case organic for $12, I used half the case)
Cheddar (2lb block $7)
I already had olive oil, garlic, quinoa, and brown rice at home, as well as all the spices I needed and gallon and quart Ziploc freezer bags.
All that came to $131.50. AND I have 12 extra pork chops from the pork loin, as well as 1/2 a case of chicken stock, 2 cans black beans, 3/4 of a block of cheddar, a couple russet potatoes, a couple cans of tomato sauce. I know you can find quinoa for $14 for a huge bag at Costco (I used 1 and 1/2 cups for this), and brown rice for a couple dollars for a bag.
*Disclaimer: these are not super high in vegetables. The reason for that is that I'm not a huge fan of cooked frozen veggies, and Keith is really particular when it comes to what veggies he'll eat (he's gotten WAY better since we've been together, he actually asks for broccoli now). That being said, I usually add fresh, roasted, or steamed vegetables to every meal. Veggies on my tacos, a spinach salad on the side of my chili or stew, roasted cauliflower and broccoli with the casserole or spaghetti...You get the point. I eat A LOT of veggies throughout my day.
NEXT COMES THE PREP!! This part took me about 3 hours, plus bagging up the spaghetti sauce the next day.
First I started cooking up the ground turkey. 2 pounds for spaghetti in one dutch oven, 2 pounds for chili in another, both with a little olive oil. Once the spaghetti ground turkey was done, I got my sauce put together, put a lid on it, and let it simmer while I did everything else. Our recipe is posted below.
SPAGHETTI
2 pounds browned ground turkey
1/2 cup red wine
3 cloves crushed garlic
Several sprigs fresh oregano, chopped
Several sprigs worth of fresh rosemary leaved, chopped
Several fresh sage leaves, chopped
Handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
4 cans tomato sauce (make sure to use one that is super low in sugar, mine has only a couple grams)
2 cans worth water
Throw all together in a dutch over or large pot. Let it simmer away while you prep the rest of your freezer meals. Taste as it cooks and adjust seasoning as needed. We like ours to have a bit of a kick. Let it cool and divide it into ziploc freezer bags. I put 2.25 cups in each quart-sized bag and got 5 bags out of it. I would count 3/4 cup of sauce as 1/4 green, 1/4 purple, 1 red. Serve it over pasta (I love Tinkyada organic gluten free brown rice noodles), spaghetti squash, or zoodles.
CHILI
On to the chili. I divided the 2 pounds of cooked chili ground turkey meat up into 4 gallon size freezer ziplocs. Next, I rinsed 6 cans black beans and 8 cans red kidney beans, divided them up into the bags, added one can of tomato sauce to each one, and one cans worth of water to each, then I added the following spices to each one:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp cayenne
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Chili done and in the freezer! I'll pull it out the night before I want to cook it to let it thaw in the fridge, then cook on low for 8-10 hours in a crock pot. You can also add peppers and onions to this for extra veggies, I've tried, but I can't sneak them past my picky husband. I like to top mine with a little 0% Greek Yogurt. In the 21 Day Fix portion system, I would count 1 1/2 cups of this as 1 yellow, 1/2 green, 1/4 purple (tomato sauce), 1 red.
FAJITAS
Then I moved on to the fajitas. I made 3 fajita bags.
In each ziploc I added:
1 pound chicken tenders
1/6 sliced onion (I left it in big pieces, just for flavor. You can add extra and slice them more traditionally, if desired.)
1 bell pepper
1/4 cup of taco/fajita seasoning
2 cups chicken stock to each bag
Fajitas are done and in the freezer! I'll pull a bag out the night before I want to cook them to let it thaw in the fridge, then cook on low for 8-10 hours. The chicken will kind of just fall apart. I suppose these could be more of a taco than fajitas, but they have all the same flavors. Serve on corn tortillas or over a bed of lettuce with whatever toppings you desire. I like a little avocado, 0% greek yogurt, and salsa, with some baby spinach. I use my containers to measure it all out to make sure I get enough veggies to be equivalent to 1 green, enough chicken to be equivalent to 1 red.
CHICKEN, RICE, and QUINOA CASSEROLES
I made 3 of these as well.
In each ziplo, I put:
1 pound chicken tenders
3/4 cup brown rice
3/4 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup milk
handful shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Casseroles done and in the freezer! Same as the others, take it out the night before and let it thaw in the fridge. Then cook it in a crock pot for 4-6 hours on low, or until the rice is cooked. Shred up the chicken. Serve with your favorite green veggie. I've tried making this by adding broccoli to it before cooking, but I like my broccoli with a bite to it, and it just comes out too mushy for me. 1 1/2 cups of this is about 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 blue.
STEW
This is probably the least healthy of all of them. But I trimmed most of the fat off. And I tend to eat more of the carrots than the potatoes. It's all about balance and portion control. I still use my containers to figure it out. I made 2 of these. I seared off the stew meat in a little olive oil and divided it between 2 gallon ziploc freezer bags.
Then I added to each:
3-4 peeled and cubed russet potatoes (you could use sweet potatoes too)
4-5 peeled and cubed large carrots
1/4 onion
1 can tomato sauce
Stew is done and in the freezer. Like the others, pull out a bag the night before you want to cook it to let it thaw in the fridge. Then, cook in a crock pot on low 8-10 hours. Season as you want. I like mine with a little sprinkle of sea salt and a lot of fresh ground pepper.
PORK CARNITAS
I made two of these.
In each gallon ziploc freezer bag I put:
1 2-3 pound pork roast
1 1/2 cans rotel
1/2 jar salsa (I used Mrs. Renfro's Habanero for an extra kick)
1 tbs cumin
That's it! When you want carnitas, pull a bag out and let it thaw in the fridge then cook on low in a crock pot for 8-10 hours. Shred it up and serve over brown rice or corn tortillas with whatever veggies you like. I like to eat mine on corn tortillas, taco style, with diced tomatoes, sliced baby spinach, and some 0% Greek yogurt. The carnitas alone, count as a red container.
There you go! 19 bags worth of food ready to go in the freezer!! No excuses. I'm making healthy choices. What's great about these, is they are all pretty flexible, depending on what you have in your freezer and your personal choices, as well as what is on sale. My picky husband loves all these, he just eats them a little differently than I do...flour tortillas instead of greens or corn tortillas, extra cheese, extra pasta for his spaghetti, more potatoes than I eat out of the stew, less added veggies...You get the point. Doing this ever so often seriously saves us time and money.
I'm on the road back to a healthier, happier, better Tara.