Healthy Eating Week One

Hi all - it is Saturday night and the start of my healthy eating plan.  Today I have made up a menu of  seven breakfasts, seven lunches and seven dinners which I have listed below.  I am making up a shopping list and heading to the grocery store tomorrow.  Instead of setting up menus Monday (don't all diets start on Monday!?) to Sunday, I decided it would be more flexible to decide on seven menus for each meal of the day.

I'm going to weigh myself on Monday mornings (and no, I'm not sharing) but I will give you lbs lost.

I'm allowing myself snacks of fruit, vegetables, yogurt, cheese, nuts or pickles (olives or dill - not sugary ones).  I will be drinking water, coffee, or tea this week and allowing myself one alcoholic drink. out

I'm attaching a shopping list as well as a list of what I consider staples.  You can print this post if you want a ready made list.  The shopping list when it indicates quantity is based on one serving so increase accordingly for your family.  I would advise you to make the chili, spaghetti sauce, butternut squash soup and cornbread on Sunday and freeze in serving sizes.  These are the only meals that you have to make a larger quantity than one serving but they all freeze well and it's always nice to have an easy meal in the freezer.  Everything else you will be able to prepare quickly to make life easier.

Seven Breakfasts

1.  Wholegrain Cheerios with 1% milk and a serving of fruit
2.  Wholegrain Cheerios with 1% milk and a serving of fruit
3.  Steel-cut Oatmeal with 1 Tbsp of Maple Syrup or Brown Sugar and a serving of fruit
4.  Steel-cut Oatmeal with 1 Tbsp of Maple Syrup or Brown Sugar and a serving of fruit
5.  Toast and Jam (no butter)
6.  Toast with Peanut Butter and a sliced Banana
7.  Poached Egg on dry toast

Seven Lunches

1.  Salad of Lettuce and mixed vegetables with 1 oz cheese and 1 boiled egg with calorie reduced dressing
2.  BBQ all-beef hot dog on a bun with relish, mustard, onions
3.  Butternut Squash soup *
4.  Sliced chicken sandwich with no butter, a little reduced mayo, some veggie (lettuce, tomato or cucumber)
5.  Veggie tray with homemade herb dip
6.  Toasted Tomato sandwich with cheese, a little mayo, no butter
7.  Pork Wonton soup with green onions and cabbage

Seven Dinners

1.  Grilled Salmon with lemon, New Orleans red rice * and stir-fried vegetables
2.  General Tso Chicken with brown rice *
3.  BBQ Steak with stuffed mushrooms *, garlic roasted potato and green beans
4.  Chicken Souvlaki * with brown rice, Greek salad * and grilled peppers and onions
5.  Chili with Cheddar Corn Bread * - use low fat sour cream and 1 Tbsp of grated cheese
6.  Pork Schnitzel, with homemade spaghetti sauce *, wholewheat pasta and mozzarella cheese
7.  Cheesy Jalapeno Popper Baked Stuffed Chicken, with Salad *

Recipes already listed on the blog are marked with an asterisk.
Most other menu items do not require recipes except for Cheesy Jalapeno Popper Baked Stuffed Chicken which I will blog the night I prepare it.

The homemade herb dip will be made with a little sour cream and mayo and chopped fresh herbs from the garden (I'm going to use dill, parsley, thyme and tarragon with a sprinkle of cumin).  The pork  wontons are going to be ready-made ones from the Chinese market but I will make homemade ones for you some day.

For stuffed mushrooms, use olive oil instead of butter, replace the cream with milk and omit wine (use a little water if required) in the stuffed mushroom recipe and omit the Parmesan cheese from the stuffing but put a little on top.  Use Pork souvlaki recipe and prepare a chicken breast per person instead.  I buy the pork schnitzel already prepared from my butcher shop but you could pound out a piece of pork tenderloin out and dredge in some egg and bread crumbs.  The salad for #7 will be the same one from the grilled salmon recipe on my blog.  You can use any fruit or nuts in the salad and for the salad dressing, if you don't have mango vinegar, you can substitute 1 Tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar and 1 Tbsp of honey.

I hope you'll join me.  I need all the help I can get.  If you have any questions, please add a comment and I will respond.  Good Luck,

Julie

STAPLES REQUIRED FOR FIRST WEEK

whole grain bread

bread crumbs

whole wheat spaghetti

brown rice

all purpose flour

corn meal

cornstarch

sugar

baking soda

maple syrup or brown sugar

honey

eggs

1% milk

fresh herbs

fresh ginger

fresh garlic

sweet onions

bay leaves

nutmeg

cumin

red pepper flakes

oregano

salt and pepper

olive oil

red wine vinegar

low fat mayonnaise

low fat bottled salad dressing

jam

peanut butter

relish

mustard

black olives

pickled beets

2 large tetrapaks of chicken broth

3 large cans of diced tomatoes

can of red kidney beans

chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

soya sauce

oyster sauce

sesame oil

rice wine vinegar

sherry





GROCERY LIST

Savoy cabbage

3 or 4 peppers 

mushrooms (enough for chili/spaghetti sauce and 2 large for stuffing)

green beans

celery

green onions (scallions)

cucumber

broccoli

butternut squash

carrots

lettuce

1 medium new potato

1 jalapeno pepper (2 servings)

1 large tomato

cherry tomatoes

1 pear (for soup)

2 lemons

2 limes

bananas

apples

oranges

berries

any other fruit you like

wholegrain hot dog buns

2 lbs lean ground beef
1 striploin steak
all-beef wieners
1 salmon filet
pkg of pork wontons
1 slice bacon
1 pork schnitzel
2 1/2 chicken breasts

small package low fat cream cheese
low-fat feta cheese (for Greek Salad)
low-fat mozzarella cheese
low-fat cheddar cheese
Parmesan cheese
low fat sour cream
buttermilk
low-fat yogurt

Whole Grain Cheerios