I don't know about you, but menu planning is a huuuge challenge for me.

Lately, I just put it off, put it off, put it off - and throw together whatever I have on hand at the last moment. I do keep plenty of fish/chicken/beef in the freezer and buy assorted veggies and cheeses weekly, so I usually have stuff to work with. But still. It's kind of chaotic and I am in a rut, always reverting to the same few things.

SO: Would anyone be interested in challenging themselves to a post a weekly menu plan?

I'm thinking we should post them after the weekly grocery ads come out. In my area, they are delivered on Tuesdays. In fact, I just picked up my mail, and that's when I got the idea of posting menu plans to help keep me accountable. A nice perk of doing this challenge is, once posted, you *could* highlight your post, print it out and post it in your kitchen for a reminder.

Here's the format: just copy it, paste it into a new message box, fill it out, and hit 'submit reply'. (fill in whatever stuff you make plans for. Not necessary to do all 3 meals, but I am going to try to)

Monday:
B:
L:
D:

Tuesday:
B:
L:
D:

Wednesday:
B:
L:
D:

Thursday:
B:
L:
D:

Friday:
B:
L:
D:

Saturday:
B:
L:
D:

Sunday:
B:
L:
D:

Any joiners? Seems like a big commitment even to me ! But I found this little inspirational poster online, and it's been sticking in my mind:

OMG I DID IT! Lunch and dinner anyway. Lol

I worked on this a LONG time and can't concentrate any longer to get the breakfasts planned. I'll get back to it.

First, I went through the grocery ads, circling stuff that was on sale. Second, I plugged in basic foods: some of the sale foods, some things that were in the freezer. For example, at first I just had "pork tenderloin' on Monday's dinner. When I decided what to do with it, I changed it to "Chile Verde". I spent some time looking around in my journal for recipes, and tried to think of meals we don't usually have.

What I came up with is infinitely more varied than what the week *would* have been.

Now, to shop for all of this tomorrow!

edit: I forgot my menu week is starting with tomorrow! I moved the days all around

Wednesday:
B:
L: Ginger Tuna Salad Wrapped in Collard Greens (ginger, vinegar, splenda, mayo)
D: Roast Chicken, Spinach 'Soufle', Oven Roasted Turnips/Rutabagas

Thursday:
B:
L: Chicken Salad: Chicken, Sour Cream, Dill, S&P, Celery - on lettuce
D: Ribeyes, Sauteed Swiss Chard & Red Pepper, Mashed Cauliflower

Friday:
B:
L: Chicken dipped in "honey" mustard, romaine/tomato salad w/oil & vinegar
D: Shrimp, zucchini, in alfredo sauce, Butter Lettuce salad w/vinagrette (spaghetti for fam)

Saturday:
B:
L: Romaine salad with avocado, tomato and blue cheese
D: Chile Verde w/Pork Tenderloin, Steamed Chayote Squash, MexiRice for fam

Sunday:
B:
L: Lunchmeat & cheese in Romaine leaves
D: Tilapia, Broccoli Bake (sour cream, mayo, cheese), Rice Pilaf for fam


Monday:
B:
L: Taco Salad: Taco-seasoned ground beef, shredded Cheese, romaine
D: Hot Wings w/celery and Ranch or blue cheese. Home Fries for fam.


Tuesday:
B:
L: Cucumber Salad with sour cream; 2 deviled egg halves
D: Swordfish, skillet cauli/sugar snaps/red peppers, roasted red potatoes for fam


Snacks: Deviled eggs; beef jerky; jello/sourcream dessert


Maybe next week: Eggplant chips, Revol-oopsie rolls, Portobllo Mushroom Pizzas, Eggplant Lasagna, Spinach-Artichoke Dip with Red Pepper Strips, Jalapeno eggs

Love this plan! I'm on a serious budget atm.. but I would live to try. Great ideas for yummy meals BTW.

I'm glad to hear your starting to plan, I have been making a weekly menu for years. Its hard to know what to shop for if theres not a menu. I don't always follow the day vs food exactly, but I mark them off and torwards the end of the week, we eat the meals we missed on the menu. Works great, I always try to use up whats in the freezer first, saves money!

I was thinking I'd probably not follow the days in exact order. I am already seeing the flaw of me having Physical Therapy twice a week at 11 a.m. for 2 hours, half an hour away. I think I'll eat breakfast right before I leave so I'm not too hungry when I get out.

I always do ok with shopping: pretty much meats, veggies, dairy + carbs for the boys. I just cook on the fly, but it gets repetitive.

Ok so yesterday wasn't a raging success lol

I took my car in to get brakes, and figured I'd grocery shop when it was done. Well, it was done at 5:30 and I needed to buy a chicken to roast. I realized it was too late to do that, so I'd switch days and do the rib-eye. Well, Vons was out of rib-eye ($3.99!) so Plan C was Tilapia. I could not for the life of me remember the sides to that and I forgot my list!

Anyway I got home in a ravenous state, found out that neither of the boys was going to be home for dinner, so I put the groceries away while drinking an Atkins Shake and had scrambled eggs for dinner and pickles for a snack.

TODAY I'll roast the chicken. haha

I really liked the cucumber salad I had for lunch today:

2/3 of a hothouse cuke
1/4 c. sour cream
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1/2 c. sliced green onions
sprinkle with pepper

The recipe called for 1/2 tsp salt, which seemed like a lot, so I put in 1/4 tsp and it was way too salty still. I ended up rinsing it and starting over and lightly sprinkling salt over the top and stirring it in. That was unnecessary even. I liked it better without salt! I think it would be great with a few cherry tomato halves thrown in.

It's a keeper.

Friday nights, I take the kids to there fathers house and go shopping afterwards. Thats when I always screw up, I'm hungry when I drop of the kids at 6. By the time I'm done shopping, I'm starving and by the time I get home, I don't want to cook and usually grab the wrong things. The shake and eggs were a very passable option. I do my dambdest to not eat in town, I'm tired of Mc D's cheap burger, so I just go hungry till I get home.

Yeah, I forgot to factor in that I usually get fast food after PT and on nights like last night. Gong to try to avoid for the next 2 weeks. After that I go back to work so all hell is probably going to break loose!

we had a Delicious taco salad for supper..
can share the recipe if anyone wants it

I *would* like it. I've been using the same one since, oh, 1977. :/

SO...tonight I actually baked the chicken. I love crispy skin on chicken, but the skin isn't all that crisp. There is something wrong with my oven and it won't go to 500 degrees, only about 460. Anybody else have a technique that doesn't involve temps of 500 degrees? I will admit I have very limited experience with cooking whole chickens, but I heard Alton Brown say you should use 500.

I totally got off track with my menu plan! I thought, I have collard greens left over, I'll make those instead of spinach. And without even looking at the MP, I 'remembered' that mashed Cauli was the other side dish and just made it. D'oh! Should have been the roasted turnips and rutabagas. ADD, anyone?

SO:

Tomorrow is:


L: Chicken Salad: Chicken, Sour Cream, Dill, S&P, Celery - on lettuce
D: Ribeyes, Sauteed Swiss Chard & Red Pepper, Not Mashed Cauliflower lol

We'll see how I do. Hah.

I did a search for 'collard greens' before dinner tonight, hoping to find a recipe that didn't called for a long period of boiling & found this ancient thread. http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...595#post5752595



I steamed the greens for 7 minutes (they seemed kind of tougher than usual) and they came out perfectly. I melted about 3 tablespoons of butter, mixed in 2 minced cloves of garlic, some cracked pepper, and a healthy couple of squeezes of lemon and tossed it in. Seemed to need salt so I gave the bowl a light sprinkling. Really good.

I would like to try to do this- but I don't know if I can plan 7 days ahead...can I just post a few days at a time?

Sure! I am off plan right now because of being severely plugged up. (consiptated) I am very uncomfortable, wake frequently at night, etc. I've taken many OTC remedies, none of which have worked too well. Ugh. I can't even begin to think about putting something dense into my body. So for now I am eating very little, and only salad or veggie. Although last night I ate falafel, not knowing it is made with (some) wheat flour. Booo. I am not eating grains!

But do it! You will have more variation in your diet by making a plan, and that makes LCing much more enjoyable!

I have been making a weekly menu for years. Its hard to know what to shop for if theres not a menu. I don't always follow the day vs food exactly, but I mark them off and torwards the end of the week, we eat the meals we missed on the menu. Works great, I always try to use up whats in the freezer first, saves money!