Meal Planning

I have been compensated by Glucerna for this post; however, I am sharing my own thoughts. All opinions are my own.Talk with your health care provider about a diabetes management plan that’s right for you. #GlucernaHungerSmart #CollectiveBias

For the past year I have been on journey to live a healthier, more vibrant life. My main reason for this path of health-mindedness? I am currently living with Polycyctsic Ovarian Syndrone, or PCOS, one of the most common hormonal endocrine disorders for women in this country. 

Living with PCOS essentially means that the hormones produced in the ovaries aren’t functioning as normal. With this syndrome hormones, our bodies chemical messaging service, regulate all physical responses needed to properly process growth and energy production. With PCOS, these same hormones aren’t relaying messages correctly, which leads to an extreme hormonal imbalance. Moreover, PCOS affects women of all ages, races, weights, and heights, and if left untreated, PCOS can lead to permanent infertility, Type 2 diabetes, depression, a stop of your period cycle, and obesity.

Women are at higher risk for PCOS if they:

• Have a mother or sister with PCOS.
• Are obese.
• Have a family history of heart disease.
• Have a family history of Type-2 Diabetes.
• PCOS can be passed down from either your mother’s or father’s side.

As you may have guessed, living with PCOS can sometimes be a daunting task. PCOS side effects affect the very essence of what it means to feel feminine and healthy, including cystic acne, infertility, weight gain, facial hair, and thinning scalp hair. Not only are these symptoms difficult to control, but are also embarrassing to speak of even with close friends or physicians.

But there is hope! Over the past year I have found a lot of affirming research that proves that PCOS symptoms can be managed by simple, fun, affordable methods at home. Here are my nine favorite personal tips for how I manage the symptoms caused by PCOS.

Researchers have found that one key to living with PCOS is managing insulin levels. To keep on top of my blood sugar levels, I test my blood sugar levels with a blood glucose system daily. I also monitor the foods I consume weekly as past experience has shown me that when I dine on carb-heavy fare my blood sugar levels experience insulin spikes. These spikes lead to changes in hormonal balance, and can greatly affect my PCOS. To prevent these spikes, I make the conscious effort to limit carbohydrates and refined sugar-based products, such as diet sodas, candy, dried fruits, refined grains, juices, and coffeehouse drinks to between 10-12 grams per day. For me, it’s all about choices. I can either have a small almond milk frappuccino or a cup of pasta with a meal. I cannot have both. 

Fiber is a girl with PCOS’s BFF. Fiber both balances blood sugar levels and aids in removal of excess estrogen from the body. Excess estrogen can worsen PCOS, creating an imbalance of hormones. I eat 2-4 ounces of fiber-rich foods such as whole grain oats, brown rice, quinoa, flax seeds, chia seeds, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, celery, or celery daily. 

Do you remember those awesome, old-school food pyramids from elementary school cafeterias? The charts which showed dancing fruit characters designed to encouraged kiddos to consume our hearts desire of fruit each day. While fruits can be healthy food options, veggies are the real franchise players for those living with PCOS.

As fruits have more concentrated sugar, known as sucrose, which can affect those who are more sensitive to carbohydrates, such as individuals living with PCOS. To ensure my hormone levels stay consistent, I make sure to remember my 3:1 Veggie-To-Fruit ratios, which is three servings of veggies to one fruit consumed per meal, per day.

This strategy also allows me to not only help naturally stave off blood sugar spikes, but to consume most of my daily allotted vitamins naturally, limiting the amount of supplements and vitamins I consume. This is also a great money-saving strategy, as the money previously spend on vitamins can help supplement the cost of pricey organic produce. 

This one is by far the hardest for me.  You see, I’m a cheese-loving gal. I adore melted, gooey cheese. Now before anyone says, but cheese is good for you, consider this. Though dairy is rich in calcium, dairy is also rich in naturally derived hormones from cows, and avoiding the consumption of any extra hormones is critical to those living with PCOS symptoms. As a result, I limit my personal dairy consumption to only organic cheese, yogurt, and spreads three times a week, in 2-3 ounce servings, no more than three times per week. 

It goes without saying that exercise is a blessing for those living with PCOS symptoms. Exercise helps my body remove excess insulin  from my bloodstream, essentially leveling out my hormone levels. By working out each weekday for 30 minutes, I’ve been able to lose sixty pounds, feel more energized, and feel better about myself too! 

Researchers have found that one of the best way to avoid hormonal imbalances is to avoid saturated fats, especially those found in animal products. One way I help limit saturated fats in my diet with Meatless Monday meal options. For each Meatless Monday, I opt for vegan meals rich in fiber, protein, folate, zinc, iron and magnesium dishes. Some of my favorite meat-less ingredients are beans, lentils, peas, pumpkin seeds, hard-boiled eggs, legumes, and hummus. Not only is this a health-conscious option, it also helps save my budget a whopping $240.00 annually. 

Women with PCOS are more prone towards experiencing depression and mood swings due to excessive hormone levels. I myself often find myself more emotionally frustrated with my PCOS symptoms, as it seems that my own bodies seem to purposefully work against me.

With everything from weight loss issues to having difficulty conceiving, PCOS has in many ways taken a toll on my emotional well-being. To combat this, I intentionally make time for myself. I make relaxing my mind and body a personal priority. I like to indulge in budget-savvy ways of rejuvenation such as a bubble bath, watching an old movie, devouring a new book, or simply taking an afternoon nap. These small, purposed moments have helped me maintaining a more positive attitude towards all aspects of my life. 

Another way I help keep my PCOS symptoms at bay has been to implement minimalist menu plans. Why minimalist meal plans? These meal plans focus on simple, repetitive, organic food options. When creating meal plans  include 1-2 rotated breakfast and lunch options and varied, themed dinner options which help me plan, prepare, and present my family with consistent meals each day. An added bonus? Not only will these planned options not spike my insulin levels, these meals each generally cost under $5.00 per meal to create. 

Here is the minimalist meal plan my family will be having this week:

Monday
Breakfast: Organic granola cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey slices, carrot sticks, and celery , with diet light lemonade. 
Dinner: Three bean vegetarian chili and steamed green beans.
Dessert: DIY Greek yogurt and blueberries.

Tuesday
Breakfast: Organic granola cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Sliced pork tenderloin, carrot sticks, and apple slices, with diet light lemonade. 
Dinner: Taco Tuesday.
Dessert: DIY Greek yogurt, granola, and strawberries.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Organic granola cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey slices, carrot sticks, and celery , with diet light lemonade.  
Dinner: Chicken, carrot, broccoli, and quinoa bake, with diet light lemonade.
Dessert: DIY Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Thursday
Breakfast: Organic granola cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Sliced pork tenderloin, carrot sticks, and apple slices, with diet light lemonade. 
Dinner: Chicken breast, Zucchini, Greek yogurt, and quinoa gyros, with diet light lemonade.
Dessert: DIY Greek yogurt, granola, and strawberries.

Friday
Breakfast: Organic granola cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey slices, carrot sticks, and celery , with diet light lemonade. 
Dinner: Meatball hoagies, side salad with boiled eggs, carrots, and DIY Greek Yogurt dressing.
Dessert: DIY Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Saturday
Breakfast: Organic granola cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Sliced pork tenderloin, carrot sticks, and apple slices, with diet light lemonade. 
Dinner: Crockpot Chicken mole, served with quinoa, corn, and diet Light Lemonade.
Dessert: DIY Greek yogurt, granola, and strawberries.

Sunday
Breakfast: Organic granola cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey slices, carrot sticks, and celery , with diet light lemonade. 
Dinner: Crockpot Asian chicken, broccoli, and quinoa rice, with diet Light lemonade.
Dessert: DIY Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

When you have PCOS and insulin resistance, healthy snacking is a vital part of your successful healthy lifestyle plan. While I strive for a 1,200-calorie diet, I know that eating three small meals and three portion controlled snacks each day is the only way to help normalize my menstrual cycles and blood sugar levels.

In terms of portion control, I make sure to include lean sources of protein with each meal. And when snacking, I also opt for whole-grains, fibrous fruits, and vegetables, seeds, and nuts  rich in healthy fats like olive oil, nuts, seeds and avocados. Snacking time are also spread throughout the day. I generally snack around 10:30 AM, 3:30 PM, and an evening snack around 7:30 PM. These pre-planned snacking times also stave off food cravings, so I don’t feel compelled to binge. This is done to both keep my metabolism up and my blood sugar levels stabilized. 

A fun tip: I generally prep bento box snacks, such as homemade trail mix or a piece of fruit for on-the-go snacking.

Also, some of my favorite on-the-go snack options are:

• 1/4 cup hummus with raw cucumber
• 2 squares of good-quality chocolate (70% cent cocoa content)
• 1 tablespoon almond butter six celery sticks
• 2 boiled egg halves with half a sliced avocado
• A sliced apple with 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 1/3 cup sliced chicken breast, mixed with DIY Greek Yogurt & lemon juice on celery
• 2 pieces of sliced turkey breast rolled with raw veggies
• 1 cup unsalted Popcorn, 15 cashews, and 1/8 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

And to maintain healthy blood sugar levels each evening, I drink a chilled Glucerna® Hunger Smart™ shakes. These shakes help me maintain my healthy, PCOS-friendly lifestyle. Glucerna® Hunger Smart™ help me to manage my hunger, and with CARBSTEADY®, are a delicious way to safely include digestible carbohydrates designed to minimize my nighttime blood sugar spikes.

I like having choices and variety in my evening snacks. Knowing that I can opt for Glucerna® Hunger Smart™ Shakes, in both yummy chocolate and vanilla, gives me great, daily snacking options. What’s also nice is that each shake is a total protein powerhouse as each shake contains 15 grams of protein, only 6 grams of sugars, and 1 carb choice per bottle. 

Another bonus? Glucerna® Hunger Smart™ Shakes are specially designed for people with diabetes. I know that I can indulging my nighttime sweet-tooth with these awesome shakes, I am in no way undermining my daily blood sugar monitoring success. 

What’s even better? Not only do these shakes have 50% more protein than leading weight loss shakes, but they contain 66% less sugar, making them a very smart choice to easily manage food cravings. 

Now when I really want to indulge in a really luxurious treat I have other options as well. I use the Glucerna® Hunger Smart™ Vanilla Shakes to make a cool, creamy Strawberry, Peanut Butter & Chocolate smoothie treat!

To make this smoothie I simply blend up the following, per serving:

• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 Glucerna® Hunger Smart™ Vanilla Shake
• 2  squares of good dark chocolate
• 1 dollop of dairy-free, sugar-free whipped cream

As you can see, these Glucerna® Hunger Smart™ Vanilla Shake smoothies are especially scrumptious during the humid heat of Summer here in Dixie! With Summer soon upon us, this will be my go-to nighttime treat!

No matter how you serve Glucerna® Hunger Smart™ shakes they are out of this world! But what I really love about these shakes, are that they help enrich my diet with a good source of digestive supporting fiber and  25 additional vitamins and minerals. And if you live with diabetes and PCOS symptoms as I do, you know that managing blood sugar spikes can be challenging, and so it’s the little wins that count!

Keep in mind, when consuming Glucerna® Hunger Smart™ shakes, or any other health shake, this should only be done so under the medical supervision of your health care provider. 

I encourage you all to check out these awesome snack options the next time you are in-store at Walmart Super Centers, right in the Diabetic supplies aisle. And for those savvy-saving online shoppers, it’s worth noting that Walmart is currently offering a bundling deal for the Glucerna® Hunger Smart™ shakes, where you can get $3.00 off when you buy two packs by mail. Just another great way to save money, while staying healthy! 

So friends I hope this list will help manage PCOS symptoms. Do you have PCOS or diabetic symptoms that you daily manage? Have you ever tried Glucerna® Hunger Smart™ shakes? Do you have any tips for living with PCOS symptoms? I’d love to hear about it!

Here’s to better living!

Hello, hello everyone! Happy Meal Plan Monday! This week’s menu will be a continuation of this month’s Minimalist Meal Plan Monday’s. Here’s a recap for those new to minimalist meal planning. There are the five categories I took into consideration when setting up this month’s minimalist meal plan:

Consistency: The goal of minimalist meal planning is to consistently prepare and present my family with home cooked, healthy meals each day this month.

Cost: Posted meal plans are based on seasonal sales cycles with attention paid to both frugality and minimalist efficiency. This weeks menu reflects our budget of $160.00 monthly for a family of three. 

Power Consumption: I wanted to plan meals that do not require vast amounts of energy zapping stove-top and range preparation. A little food for thought: did you know that it costs an average of 18-24 cents an hour to run a gas range, 24-30 cents an hour for an electric range, 16-20 cents an hour for a microwave oven, a mere 3-5 cents an hour to run a toaster oven or convection top. With this in mind, I will be gearing this month’s meal planning to encompass dishes that utilize minimalist power consumption standards. Meals this month will utilize my toaster oven and convection stove top for all my baking and needs. 

Streamlining: I was a little apprehensive about whether or not my family will be turned off of the idea of food simplicity. I quickly realized that my family love whatever I cook them, and with this in mind extreme food plan simplicity will give me an extra hour each day to devote to spending time with my family and not in my kitchen. In order to streamline my meal plans, to have a true minimalist food strategy I am going to assign each day of the week with a single meal. 

Travel: I wanted meals that could be planned monthly in advanced and shopped for locally (I live in a small town with limited mass shopping or chain retailer options) either weekly or monthly, depending on need. As I shop in reverse, buying groceries on rock bottom pricing and then shop from my pantry, this keeps weekly food costs low. 

1. To create your own minimalist meal plan, think about which dinners are your family’s favorites that don’t take too much effort to prepare.
2. Consider which do you prefer to cook?
3. Think comfort meals. Think simple and keep it basic.
4. When creating your meal calendar this week assign one meal to each day of the week, taking into account school, work, and activity schedules. Leave your least busy days for meals that take the most amount of time to prepare.
5. Leave one day open each week for creativity in the kitchen, for ethnic, slow-cooked, heavy on the ingredient, new to you from Pinterest meals for weekends or Tuesday and Thursdays when poser usage rates nationally tend to be 20-30% lower on average. Focus on energy, your own and your household power usage as well!
6. Themes can be your best friend in minimalist cooking plans. Think Meatless Monday’s, Meatball Monday’s, Taco Tuesdays, Tofu Tuesday’s, Stirfry Wednesday’s, and Slow-Cooker Sunday’s!
7. Adjusting two meals a week to meatless options can help lower your grocery budgets by a quarter each month. This month we will be trying to expand Meatless Monday’s to also be Meatless Thursday’s as well. 
8. This month breakfast, snacks, and lunches will be standardized. We will be having sandwiches for lunch, cereal and smoothies for breakfast. And yes you could do without snacks and increase lunch and breakfast portions, but I find smaller meals several times a day work better for my health, and so that’s how we will be rolling. 

So what does this leave me with? My new monthly minimalist meal plan will consist of default meals streamlined around items already on-hand that require less than a half hour to prepare, and cost under $5.00 per meal to create.

Monday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade. 
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Three bean vegetarian chili, steamed corn, and corn bread. 
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Tuesday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Taco Tuesday.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Chicken, carrot, broccoli quinoa bake, with Crystal Light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Thursday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Bakes Zucchini, Greek yogurt, and quinoa gyros, with Crystal light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Friday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Meatball hoagies, side salad with Greek Yogurt dressing, and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Saturday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snacks: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Chicken mole, served with steamed rice, corn, and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Sunday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Crockpot cheddar, chicken, and broccoli rice, with green beans and Crystal Light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Cost of food shopped from pantry and freezer: $26.45

So that’s all, everyone! I’m hoping that this streamlined plan will leave me feeling anything but restricted. With my family eating well and meal planning becoming more automated, I’m thinking of bringing back Family Game Nights!  Incorporating minimalism into my weekly meal planning will help me be a few steps closer to realizing my minimalist dream. That said, if this streamlined plan doesn’t work for my family this month I can always change my plan again!

I’m ready to take back an extra hour from my day, each and every day this month. I’m ready to devote more time on creative endeavors, taking advantage of work opportunities, spending time with my family, and not slaving over a hot stove.

So, that’s what we will be having this week. I’d love to hear what’s on your menu as well!

Here’s to Monday meal plans, 

Hello, hello everyone! Happy Meal Plan Monday! This week’s menu will be a continuation of this month’s Minimalist Meal Plan Monday’s. 

Here’s a recap for those new to minimalist meal planning. There are the five categories I took into consideration when setting up this month’s minimalist meal plan:

Consistency: The goal of minimalist meal planning is to consistently prepare and present my family with home cooked, healthy meals each day this month.

Cost: Posted meal plans are based on seasonal sales cycles with attention paid to both frugality and minimalist efficiency. This weeks menu reflects our budget of $160.00 monthly for a family of three. 

Power Consumption: I wanted to plan meals that do not require vast amounts of energy zapping stove-top and range preparation. A little food for thought: did you know that it costs an average of 18-24 cents an hour to run a gas range, 24-30 cents an hour for an electric range, 16-20 cents an hour for a microwave oven, a mere 3-5 cents an hour to run a toaster oven or convection top. With this in mind, I will be gearing this month’s meal planning to encompass dishes that utilize minimalist power consumption standards. Meals this month will utilize my toaster oven and convection stove top for all my baking and needs. 

Streamlining: I was a little apprehensive about whether or not my family will be turned off of the idea of food simplicity. I quickly realized that my family love whatever I cook them, and with this in mind extreme food plan simplicity will give me an extra hour each day to devote to spending time with my family and not in my kitchen. In order to streamline my meal plans, to have a true minimalist food strategy I am going to assign each day of the week with a single meal. 

Travel: I wanted meals that could be planned monthly in advanced and shopped for locally (I live in a small town with limited mass shopping or chain retailer options) either weekly or monthly, depending on need. As I shop in reverse, buying groceries on rock bottom pricing and then shop from my pantry, this keeps weekly food costs low. And in terms of monthly shopping as a minimalist, this week was the first week this month I purchased additional groceries which can be seen below:

• Vanilla Bean Flavored Espresso, $1.00 (Submitted for $0.25 iBotta credit)
• Hillandale 8-Count Eggs, $0.50
• Hills Black Beans, $1.00
• 2 Mucinex 6-packs (each pack sells at Walmart for $4.98 each, a savings of $7.98)
• Tie Farms Frozen Broccolli, $1.00 (Submitted for $0.25 iBotta credit)
• 2 Pict Sweet Steamables, $0.50 each
• Total: $6.00 after rebates

• 1 bags of Celery, $0.49 each bag
• BOGO Borden Shreds, $1.99 for both bags
• White bread loaf, $0.49
• Vowell’s Kosher Salt Canister, $0.39
• 10 pounds bag of red potatoes, $1.50
• Oreo Singles, $0.69 each (Submitted for $1.00 off two from Checkout51)
• 18-count eggs, $1.50 
• 2 Vowell’s brand gluten-free pasta, $0.69 per bag
• Total: $6.43 after rebates

• Value brand strawberry yogurt 4-pack, $1.00 
• 2 bags of Carrots, $0.69 per bag
• Sweet potatoes, $1.58 per bag (submitted for 20% back with Saving Star App)
• 2 Dr. Thunder 2-liters, $0.88 each
• Value brand wipes, $0.88
• Value brand Unsweetened Almond Milk half gallon, $2.68
• Value brand toilet paper 4-packs, $0.58 each
• Smithfield marinated pork roast, $5.01 (submitted for $2.00 iBotta rebate)
• 2 Suave body washes, $1.29 each (submitted for $1.00 iBotta rebate)
• Organic Blue Agave, $3.98 (submitted for $1.00 iBotta rebate)
• Ajax, $0.88 (submitted for $0.20 iBotta rebate)
• Zote bar, $0.98 (submitted for $0.50 iBotta rebate)
• Antacids, $0.88 (submitted for $0.50 MobiSave rebate)
• Total: $17.08 after rebates

1. To create your own minimalist meal plan, think about which dinners are your family’s favorites that don’t take too much effort to prepare.
2. Consider which do you prefer to cook?
3. Think comfort meals. Think simple and keep it basic.
4. When creating your meal calendar this week assign one meal to each day of the week, taking into account school, work, and activity schedules. Leave your least busy days for meals that take the most amount of time to prepare.
5. Leave one day open each week for creativity in the kitchen, for ethnic, slow-cooked, heavy on the ingredient, new to you from Pinterest meals for weekends or Tuesday and Thursdays when poser usage rates nationally tend to be 20-30% lower on average. Focus on energy, your own and your household power usage as well!
6. Themes can be your best friend in minimalist cooking plans. Think Meatless Monday’s, Meatball Monday’s, Taco Tuesdays, Tofu Tuesday’s, Stirfry Wednesday’s, and Slow-Cooker Sunday’s!
7. Adjusting two meals a week to meatless options can help lower your grocery budgets by a quarter each month. This month we will be trying to expand Meatless Monday’s to also be Meatless Thursday’s as well. 
8. This month breakfast, snacks, and lunches will be standardized. We will be having sandwiches for lunch, cereal and smoothies for breakfast. And yes you could do without snacks and increase lunch and breakfast portions, but I find smaller meals several times a day work better for my health, and so that’s how we will be rolling. 

So what does this leave me with? My new monthly minimalist meal plan will consist of default meals streamlined around items already on-hand that require less than a half hour to prepare, and cost under $5.00 per meal to create.

Monday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade. 
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Three bean vegetarian chili, steamed corn, and corn bread. 
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Tuesday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Taco Tuesday.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Chicken, carrot, broccoli quinoa bake, with Crystal Light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Thursday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Bakes Zucchini, Greek yogurt, and quinoa gyros, with Crystal light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Friday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Meatball hoagies, side salad with Greek Yogurt dressing, and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Saturday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snacks: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Chicken mole, served with steamed rice, corn, and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Sunday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Crockpot cheddar, chicken, and broccoli rice, with green beans and Crystal Light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Cost of food shopped from pantry and freezer: $26.45

So that’s all, everyone! I’m hoping that this streamlined plan will leave me feeling anything but restricted. With my family eating well and meal planning becoming more automated, I’m thinking of bringing back Family Game Nights!  Incorporating minimalism into my weekly meal planning will help me be a few steps closer to realizing my minimalist dream. That said, if this streamlined plan doesn’t work for my family this month I can always change my plan again!

I’m ready to take back an extra hour from my day, each and every day this month. I’m ready to devote more time on creative endeavors, taking advantage of work opportunities, spending time with my family, and not slaving over a hot stove.

So, that’s what we will be having this week. I’d love to hear what’s on your menu as well!

Here’s to Monday meal plans, 

Happy Monday, everyone! Well, it’s time for another Meal Plan Monday! So, how was my first week of minimalist meals? Pretty good. No complaints thus far, and I haven’t felt the need to add, swap, or replace older food options for this coming weeks meal plan. I went an entire week without having to prep breakfasts, snacks, or cook anything for my families lunches. I wasn’t a slave to my meal plan and kitchen, and yet we consumed wholesome, non-processed meals. This feels like such an awesome victory to me!

In terms of meal planning, what did change this past week was a personal realization that the foods I actually enjoy eating are simple and minimal in nature. Apparently I enjoy eating an abundance of vegetables: I’m particularly fond of avocados, spinach, broccoli, and green beans—not just because they taste good, but because these foods makes me feel outstanding. And this last week I intentionally avoided processed foods and I feel amazing!

Also this past week I took time to food journal for the first time in months. I realized that my ideal meal looks, well minimal. My perfect meal would resemble something like this: a bowl containing rice, half an avocado, a large piece of grilled salmon, a handful of almonds, and a massive spinach-carrot-cucumber-cherry tomato side salad with avocado oil, Greek seasoning, fresh mozzarella, and lemon juice. I also came to see that these would be foods could be both affordable and reasonable to fix for myself and my family this coming Summer. And that’s just the cats pajamas, in my opinion!

This week I also took time to think of foods I want to avoid moving forward. There are quite a few foods I’ve drastically reduced from my regular family meal plans and want to continue to eliminate over the next few months including non-gluten-free pasta, refined sugar, red meat, most dairy products, and anything processed or packaged.

And last but not least, this past week I made sure to add proper supplements to my diet. This included: a multivitamin, vitamin B-complex, folicate (for my MTHFR gene mutation and PCOS), and an omega-3 fatty acids Creel supplement for heart health. Depending on your diet, these may not be necessary for everyone, but I noticed a considerable difference in my body after taking these supplements for just this past week. 

Monday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade. 
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Three bean vegetarian chili, steamed corn, and corn bread. 
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Tuesday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Taco Tuesday.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Chicken, carrot, broccoli quinoa bake, with Crystal Light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Thursday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Bakes Zucchini, Greek yogurt, and quinoa gyros, with Crystal light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Friday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Meatball hoagies, side salad with Greek Yogurt dressing, and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Saturday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snacks: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Chicken mole, served with steamed rice, corn, and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Sunday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Crockpot cheddar, chicken, and broccoli rice, with green beans and Crystal Light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

This weeks meal plan cost: $26.45

So, that’s what we will be having this week. I’d love to hear what’s on your menu as well!

Here’s to Monday meal plans, 

Happy Meal Plan Monday! This week’s menu is well, different. Knowing that Meal Plan Monday was looming just around the corner, I spent a great deal of time this past weekend thinking about how I can reflect my personal journey into minimalism into my weekly meal plan posts. 

So, here are the four categories I took into consideration when setting up this month’s minimalist meal plan:

Consistency: First, it’s time for a little confession. While I’ve posted weekly meal plans for the past year, and each and every plan required a myriad of conscientiousness, creativity, and care, not every plan has been as streamlined as they perhaps could have been. I want to plan, prepare, and present my family with consistent meals each day this month.

Cost: Generally, posted meal plans are based on seasonal sales cycles with attention paid to frugality rather than simple, minimalist efficiency.  And yes, in recent months there have been weeks where I’d inadvertently abandoned my meal planning while I took a blogging break over this past holiday season, and due to personal crisis eating out and last-minute meals started to become second nature in my home. And you know you’re in trouble when frozen pizza become your new normal. So to say my meal planning skills have been all over the place would be the understatement of the year. While I want meal plans that focus on maintaining my monthly family food budget of $160.00 for a family of three, creating food that is healthy is just as important too. This weeks menu reflects this budget.

Power Consumption: Still another meal planning dilemma, unregulated meal prep energy consumption. I wanted to plan meals that do not require vast amounts of energy zapping stove-top and range preparation. A little food for thought: did you know that it costs an average of 18-24 cents an hour to run a gas range, 24-30 cents an hour for an electric range, 16-20 cents an hour for a microwave oven, a mere 3-5 cents an hour to run a toaster oven or convection top. With this in mind, I will be gearing this month’s meal planning to encompass dishes that utilize minimalist power consumption standards. Meals this month will utilize my toaster oven and convection stove top for all my baking and needs. 

Streamlining: I was a little apprehensive about whether or not my family will be turned off of the idea of food simplicity. I quickly realized that my family love whatever I cook them, and with this in mind extreme food plan simplicity will give me an extra hour each day to devote to spending time with my family and not in my kitchen. In order to streamline my meal plans, to have a true minimalist food strategy I am going to assign each day of the week with a single meal. While I really love to cook, my foodie heart will be all the better for having invested an extra seven hours each week spending quality one-on-one time with my family.

So what does this leave me with? My new monthly minimalist meal plan will consist of default meals streamlined around items already on-hand that require less than a half hour to prepare, and cost under $5.00 per meal to create.

1. To create your own minimalist meal plan, think about which dinners are your family’s favorites that don’t take too much effort to prepare.
2. Consider which do you prefer to cook?
3. Think comfort meals. Think simple and keep it basic.
4. When creating your meal calendar this week assign one meal to each day of the week, taking into account school, work, and activity schedules. Leave your least busy days for meals that take the most amount of time to prepare.
5. Leave one day open each week for creativity in the kitchen, for ethnic, slow-cooked, heavy on the ingredient, new to you from Pinterest meals for weekends or Tuesday and Thursdays when poser usage rates nationally tend to be 20-30% lower on average. Focus on energy, your own and your household power usage as well!
6. Themes can be your best friend in minimalist cooking plans. Think Meatless Monday’s, Meatball Monday’s, Taco Tuesdays, Tofu Tuesday’s, Stirfry Wednesday’s, and Slow-Cooker Sunday’s!
7. Adjusting two meals a week to meatless options can help lower your grocery budgets by a quarter each month. This month we will be trying to expand Meatless Monday’s to also be Meatless Thursday’s as well. 
8. This month breakfast, snacks, and lunches will be standardized. We will be having sandwiches for lunch, cereal and smoothies for breakfast. And yes you could do without snacks and increase lunch and breakfast portions, but I find smaller meals several times a day work better for my health, and so that’s how we will be rolling. 

Monday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade. 
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Three bean vegetarian chili, steamed corn, and corn bread. 
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Tuesday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Taco Tuesday.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Chicken, carrot, broccoli quinoa bake, with Crystal Light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Thursday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Bakes Zucchini, Greek yogurt, and quinoa gyros, with Crystal light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Friday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Meatball hoagies, side salad with Greek Yogurt dressing, and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Saturday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snacks: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Chicken mole, served with steamed rice, corn, and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Sunday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Crockpot cheddar, chicken, and broccoli rice, with green beans and Crystal Light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

This weeks meal plan cost: $26.45

I’m hoping that this streamlined plan will leave me feeling anything but restricted. With my family eating well and meal planning becoming more automated, I’m thinking of bringing back Family Game Nights!  Incorporating minimalism into my weekly meal planning will help me be a few steps closer to realizing my minimalist dream. That said, if this streamlined plan doesn’t work for my family this month I can always change my plan again!

I’m ready to take back an extra hour from my day, each and every day this month. I’m ready to devote more time on creative endeavors, taking advantage of work opportunities, spending time with my family, and not slaving over a hot stove.

So, that’s what we will be having this week. I’d love to hear what’s on your menu as well!

Here’s to Monday meal plans, 

Happy Monday, savvy savers! This week is starting off to a sunny, cool, and somewhat stressful start here in Dixie.

Early Saturday morning, my husband and I discovered a pool of water under our side-by-side fridge. This was soon followed by loud clicking sounds and fridge’s compressor stopping . After having a repairman out the same afternoon and $168.00 later we were informed that our old, faithful fridge had seen it’s last.  This was truly saddening to my zero-waste heart! 

With our fridge inoperable, hubby and I scrambled to move food items around as quickly as possible, including 80 lbs. of frozen, marinated poultry! We also decided to not purchase a new fridge immediately. Mind you this was not an economic decision, but a matter of practicality. Thankfully, with clever planning, sorting, and cramming we were able to make everything from the freezer fit into our deep freeze, and the contents of our fridge was transferred to our under counter kitchen fridge and electric wine cooler. What could not fit, a handful of larger, bulk items from Sam’s Club, were gifted to our neighbors. 

 The upswing? Not having a fridge will save our family of three over $30.00 annually in power charges, lower our household carbon emissions, and help us maintain a more minimalist home. While I’ll have my feelers out for a fridge in our local online classifieds should a cash-only fridge purchase should come available down the road, I’m in no hurry to run out and purchase a new fridge. Total non-consumer score! 

But this does mean that this week’s menu and subsequent menus for the foreseeable future will reflect our need to eat down our food stockpile. We will have to consume everything we have on-hand first, so our week-to-week purchases aside from dairy and produce will consist of rebate app deals, freebie coupons, Zaycon meats (as available), and Amazon Subscribe and Save deals only. 

The cost of this weekly menu is only $8.59, and it feeds a family of three, with leftovers rolled into lunches.

Here’s what we purchased this week:

Dollar Tree: 

• Chicken Leg 6-pack bag, $1.00 (submitted for $0.25 rebate from Shrink App)
• 64-ounce Bleach Jug, $1.00 ( submitted for $0.25 Mobisave App credit)
• String Cheese 3-pack, $0.50 (submitted for $0.25 Mobisave App credit)
• Spent: $2.50, plus applicable sales tax
• Submitted for $0.75 app rebates
• Final Cost: $1.75

Walmart:

• Tony’s Pizza, $1.98 (submitted for $0.25 Mobisave App Credit)
• 2 Mr. Pibb 2-liters, $2.00 (submitted for $0.25 Mobisave App Credit on the purchase of 2 drinks)
• Italian Deli Loaf, $0.50 (submitted for $0.25 Mobisave App Credit)
• 1 Gallon 2% Milk, $2.98 (submitted for $0.25 Shrink App Credit)
• 1 Head Cabbage, $0.69 (submitted for 20% back on the SavingStar App)
• 1 Head Iceburg lettuce, $0.98 (submitted for $0.25 back on Mobisave App)
• 1 Roma tomato, $0.33 (submitted for $0.25 Checkout51 App Credit)
• 1 Avocado, $0.88 (not pictured) (submitted for $0.25 iBotta App Credit)
• 1 Dozen Large eggs, $1.98 (submitted for $0.25 iBotta App Credit)
• Ivory 3-bar pack, $0.88 (submitted for $0.30 Mobisave App Credit)
• Ajax dish soap, $0.88 (submitted for $0.25 Mobisave App Credit)
• Aspirin 60-count bottle, $0.88 (submitted for $0.50 Mobisave App Credit)
• Hand soap, $0.88 (submitted for $0.25 Mobisave App Credit)
• Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soap, $2.98 (submitted for $1.00 iBotta App Credit)
• Used $4.14 Coin Star Voucher
• Used $1.60 Walmart Savings Catcher Rebate e-gift card
• Used $4.10 balance on Sam’s Club/Walmart gift card
• Spent: $10.96, plus applicable tax
• Submitted for $3.80 in savings app rebates
• Submitted for Receipt Hog /credit ($0.10 value, used with code drog2894)
• Submitted for Walmart Savings Catcher (received $0.22)
• Final total: $6.84

This weeks shopping total was: $8.59 for $24.32 worth of groceries. 

Monday
Breakfast: Avocado, Banana, and Almond Milk Smoothies.
Lunch: Salad with strawberries, almonds, string, and Italian dressing. 
Snack: Strawberries and String Cheese.
Dinner: BBQ Cola Crockpot sliders with corn on the cob and green beans, with Crystal Light. 
Dessert: Gluten-free brownies.

Tuesday
Breakfast: Cereal, with Almond milk.
Lunch: BBQ Cola Crockpot sliders with corn on the cob and green beans, with Crystal Light leftovers.
Snack: Strawberries and String Cheese.
Dinner: Crockpot Creamy Greek Chicken with steamed green beans and corn bread.
Dessert: Gluten-Free Brownie ice-cream sandwiches.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Avocado, Banana, and Almond Milk Smoothies.
Lunch: Crockpot Creamy Greek Chicken with steamed green beans and corn bread.
Snack: Strawberries and String Cheese.
Dinner: Crockpot Chicken Curry; steamed peas, steamed rice, and crystal light.
Dessert:  Gluten-Free brownie ice cream sandwiches.

Thursday
Breakfast: Cereal, with Almond milk.
Lunch: Crockpot Chicken Curry; steamed peas, steamed rice, and crystal light leftovers.
Snack: Strawberries and String Cheese.
Dinner: Grilled tarragon turkey burgers served with sweet Potato Fries and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Brownie flurries with leftover brownies.

Friday
Breakfast: Avocado, Banana, and Almond Milk Smoothies.
Lunch: Grilled tarragon turkey burgers served with sweet Potato Fries and Crystal Light
Snack: Strawberries and String Cheese.
Dinner: Crockpot Orange Chicken with Almonds, Steamed Peas, and crystal light.
Dessert: Brownie flurries with leftover brownies.

Saturday
Breakfast: Cereal, with Almond milk.
Lunch: Crockpot Orange Chicken with Almonds, Steamed Peas, and crystal light.
Snacks: Strawberries and String Cheese.
Dinner: Chicken mole; served with steamed rice, corn, and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Brownie flurries with leftover brownies.

Sunday
Breakfast: Cereal, with Almond milk.
Lunch: Chicken mole; served with steamed rice, corn, and Crystal Light.
Snack: Strawberries and String Cheese.
Dinner: Spiral Honey Crockpot Ham, macaroni and cheese, green beans, and rolls.
Dessert: Apple Cinnamon muffins.

This past Sunday’s 1-hour freezer cooking prep:

1. This morning I tried to pair and purpose part of the 40 lbs. of chicken purchased from Zaycon foods, so I made several new crock pot-ready freezer meals, made from stockpiled veggies and chicken breasts already on hand.
2.  I prepped three meals of Creamy Greek Chicken. 
3. Also, I’ll be making DIY Greek yogurt for additional snacks as needed. 

So this weeks last step was of course to put the menu on both our chalk menu board and my Living Well Spending Less Planner menu section for the remainder of March. 

So, that’s what we will be having this week. I’d love to hear what’s on your menu as well!

Here’s to Monday meals,