My Meal Planning: Templates + Grocery List + Recipes

Hi there!

After some of my friends commented that they would like a copy of my personal grocery list, I thought I would do a typical meal planning post just to help out or give some of my busy friends and family a couple of new ideas on healthy dinners.


I am also doing this (and will do some more in the future if this actually interests anyone) so that I can also use this time to search out new ideas for our own family's dinners. If I am doing this meal planning anyways, then I might as well share some of our things if it can save someone else some time on their meal planning.

I will include:
1. Meal Ideas
2. The grocery shopping list for the week
3. The recipes

I can tell you now that I spend around $150 a week. That is also including the fact that we have a toddler that I buy organic: milk, baby food jars (because she loves them still...ugh), snacks, etc. So if you are okay with spending about $100-140 a week or less if you are single...this should be good for your budget. (FYI: I do my big shops at Whole Foods as I can find all of these grocery items there and for better organic prices since the demand is higher for them there.)

Keep in mind, I will probably have a meat for only about 3-4 days of the week as we are cutting back on eating animal foods for health reasons. Calcium and protein which is popularly thought to come from only animal foods like dairy products and meats/fish, are also in plant based sources without the harmful effects like high cholesterol, for example.
Eating more plants and less animal is a very easy way to improve your health and decrease your risk, for example, of memory loss later on in life, cancer, and heart disease ---just to name a few.
Might as well get the nutrients from better sources is the way we look at it.

Okay, let's begin! You can get organized by using a free printable template if you'd like. I just started using them and they really help me go through and remember random things as they section off the parts of the store into categories.

You can find one that I use here to print off for yourself -
All 6 are free.
I tried to add a simple one in each section because the others are pretty girly looking. Sorry, I didn't make them...

Meal Planning Templates: 

Free { Monthly } Meal Planning Template

Free { 2 Week } "Colorful" Meal Planning Template 

Free "Simple" Meal Planning Template

Grocery List Templates: 

Free "Simple" Grocery List Template

Free "Colorful" Grocery List Template

Free "Chevron" Grocery List Template 

Weekly Dinner Ideas:

Sunday: Quinoa Pasta + Apple Chicken Sausage/ or Meatballs with Tomato Sauce

Monday: Lettuce wraps + Asparagus-Quinoa Risotto 

Tuesday: Mini Burgers Over Tomato Slices and Topped with Avocado Cilantro Spread + Sweet Potato Fries + Side Salad

Wednesday: Taco Salad + Black Bean Tortilla Soup

Thursday: Grilled Veggies Over Jasmine Rice + Side Salad

Friday: Salmon Over Steamed Veggies + Butternut Squash Apple Soup 

Saturday: Grilled or Steamed Veggie Tacos + Tomato Cilantro Avocado Salad

Grocery List 

Approximately 31-35 items you need to buy depending on the size of your family) 

This is for a family of 2 being that some of Ava's food is not included on here

Please buy organic ingredients if available 

Keep in mind: Homemade versions of some of these things are always better but I am a mom to a toddler right now and I am lucky if I get to brush my hair some days. 
Also, some of the grocery list's items are only included in one of the days even though you will use it more than once. I did this so that you do not buy double of something and keep cost down. If you don't follow the entire list, just take a look at the recipe to get an idea of what you will need. 

All grocery items are in bold font

Sunday:

Quinoa Pasta of your choice 

 

Organic Sausage (We like Aidells Chicken&Apple for a sweet taste) Choose any kind you like - there are several:

              

Organic Pasta Sauce of your choice

 (or use your mama's homemade sauce that you have in the freezer at all times if you lucky like me!) 

Monday: 

Package of 3 Romaine Hearts

Head Cauliflower

Coconut oil or olive oil (I suggest you buy coconut oil if you do not already have it on hand because you will never want to go back once you start cooking with it!) 

                                                  

Package of Asparagus

1 Small Onion

1 bulbs of fresh Garlic

1 package of Quinoa

Himalayan salt

Vegetable stock (Pacific is the brand we buy)         

 

1 lemon

½ cup cashews

Tuesday: 

Organic, Grass-fed beef

1 (pasture-raised) egg  


2 large tomatoes 

avocado

3 limes

fresh cilantro

1 sweet potato

package of organic mixed greens

Wednesday: 

Amy's Organic Black Bean Soup  + (you will use the mixed greens, cilantro, tomato, avocado you already have from above)
                                                 


Tortilla Chips (MUST BE NON GMO as you do not want GMO Corn chips! ...and blue, organic chips are even better) 

                                                                    

Thursday: 

Lundberg Jasmine Rice 

Lundberg rice is a main staple for us

Pack of Shiitake Mushrooms       

1 Red Pepper

1 Zucchini

1 Squash 

Can of Garbanzo Beans 


Friday:

Wild Caught Salmon 

(you will already have vegetables, rice, quinoa, etc. for you to chose to pair for this night on this list)

1 Butternut squash 

Organic Coconut milk 

Organic vegetable broth 

Dried or fresh thyme

2 apples

Fresh Rosemary 

Saturday: 

Blue, Organic (Whole Foods 365 brand) Taco Corn Shells 

Blue corn has more natural antioxidants and costs the same. Deal! 

                                                           

Salsa 

Can of black beans

(you will have the remaining ingredients already on this list)





Recipes: 

Sunday: Self explanatory...Boil pasta and heat up sauce and sausages
(Most of the organic sausages are precooked so they just need to heat in your tomato sauce. 

Monday: 
Asparagus Lemon Risotto Recipe Found Here
We did not add the parsley for a garnish, curry powder, or the sour cream since we barely eat dairy products. 

Take the Asparagus Lemon Risotto and fill Romaine Leaves. 

Tuesday:

-Mix the package of ground beef (about 1 lb.)  with 1 egg 
-Season with Himalayan salt + your other favorite seasonings 
-Form into small patties and cook them stove top on coconut oil (or grill if you are up for it) 

-Peel and slice sweet potato into fry size slices - season with Himalayan salt / cajun seasonings/ whatever - and bake 450 degrees for about 25-30min 
-Slice up a large tomato serve your mini burgers on top of them 
-Top Mini Burgers with Avocado sauce (blend together 1/2 large avocado, small handful of fresh cilantro, lime juice) 

Wednesday:

Prepare a salad with your: mixed greens, fresh cilantro, tomato, avocado, some black beans, blue corn tortilla chips, salsa, lime 

and heat up your Amy's black bean soup as a side 

Thursday:

-Boil Jasmine Rise
-Top with sautéed (in coconut oil) or grilled vegetables of your choice: Peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, squash, etc.

-Prep a side salad

Friday:

Start Butternut Squash Apple Soup: (Found on this blog post)

1. Cut and scoop out seeds of butternut squash then cut into big pieces to steam in large pan with 1/2 cup water. 

2. Sauté (low to medium heat) 6 garlic cloves in Olive oil 

3. Add in ingredients below to top two cooked ingredients: (all into blender) 

•1/2 cup coconut milk

•2 cups vegetable broth 

•Few dashes of thyme (fresh if you have it) 

•2 chopped up apples 

•Sprig or two of fresh Rosemary 

•Few dashes of Himalayan salt 

and 

•Pepper(optional) 

4. Blend on High for 7 min. 

(If you aren't working with a Vitamix, heat in sauce pan afterwards.

If you are using a Vitamix, then the soup will already be heated after the 7 min blending process.) 

Prep the salmon 

-Season the Wild Salmon cook stove top in coconut oil or olive oil if not on high heat (as olive oil becomes toxic when heated at HIGH heat)

-Place salmon over a bed of Quinoa, veggies, left over Asparagus Lemon Risotto, or left over Jasmine Rice. Get creative :)

Saturday:

-Cook veggies stovetop or grill (peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, squash, etc.)
-Heat up left over rice, quinoa, beans
-Chop up some cilantro and tomato



-Fill taco shells with all of the above
-Top taco filling with a avocado dressing (blended avocado, lime, cilantro) and/ or salsa
-Pair with a side salad: mixed greens, tomato, cilantro, avocado, etc. and some left over left over Butternut Apple Squash Soup if you have any. 


Hope that helps! If I don't hear any feedback then I will assume no one will be using this and probably not do it anymore since it took me about 3 hours.
( I will continue if this actually helps people though! :)

XO 
Christina 

my AWESOME day!!!!! + Eating Vegan?! + Recipes

Ok, so let me start this post by saying to those who do not know me well on a personal level that I have a woman crush on a food blogger. 

Not just any blogger but the Food Babe. 

"Why?! Lame!" you might say... not to me. 

I was blogging shortly after Mark and I got married and I just found out who this Food Babe blogger was about 2 years ago. Basically, I had been blogging about 2 years before I even knew what a GMO was or why someone would blog about them and their harm in our food supply. So this woman crush of mine has nothing to do with the fact that she is basically a professional blogger. 

I am such a fan of her because she started FoodBabe.com in April of 2011 to inform us about what is REALLY in our food supply. Her family and friends were asking her to blog so that they could also learn about how and why she eats the way she does. She had health problems of her own and decided to take matters into her own hands since doctors were not helping the situation. 

She recently left her full time corporate job to blog and travel now that she is making heads turn. I remember my mom would come over and say, "You have to go on this Facebook page called the Food Babe and see what she's talking about. She is talking about those "GMOs" I was telling you about... remember?! The high fructose corn syrup stuff and all of those.." 

After listening to my mom jabber on and on about this amazing food babe person, I decided to just "like" the Facebook page already so that my mom could leave me alone about it and I could just say "Yup I saw it already" each time she posted something. 

Well, my mom knows me better than I know myself. From the 1st post I read of hers, I was hooked. She knows everything! She writes it in simple, every day terms so that it is not only easy but empowering to read. She completely made me realize that food was not just food but full of a lot of man made chemicals that are simply not okay and have not been tested long enough to know the effects on our health. Between the skyrocketing rates in food allergies, gastrointestinal issues, Cancer, Autism, Alzheimer's, Infertility (both men and women) Diabetes, Obesity, etc. that have soared since GMOs have come into our mainstream food supply, I was so now hooked on this information. It was like a puzzle coming together and dozens of "aha" moments that I kept having. 

I read and researched until now I was the one teaching my mom things instead of the other way around. I thank my mom for introducing this world to me because it has forever changed me. I don't look at food the same way and I am so grateful that. I, as well as many of my loved ones out there, are figuring it out sooner than later because of people like Vani Hari, the creator of Food Babe. She and people like her that are not afraid to speak up and make change happen. She has shown the one person can create a movement. With big help from her readers, she has made positive changes in our food supply time and time again. 

***Side story that happened yesterday: 

My mom befriended this woman about my age at Whole Foods who she ran into there today while we were shopping. The woman was telling us about how her dad loves to eat junk food like Oreos and has recently been diagnosed with cancer. 

She turned to me and started saying that my mom was helping to explain to her about food and how it effects our health in relation to cancer and that she also mentioned I could send her whatever I wanted to her Facebook account because she wants to learn more..." 

I started saying how it would be good for her dad to lay off the processed foods because sugar and artificial sweeteners to the body is like throwing gasoline on a fire when you are trying to prevent or survive cancer. 

She looked at me stunned and said, "So you mean what you eat really matters in surviving cancer?!" 

A bit taken back, I responded, "Of course! It has everything to do with it. Your body's cells literally become what you eat. The blood, the tissues, everything. If you eat things like say an Oreo full of GMOs like high fructose corn syrup, your body isn't going to know what the hell that is because it isn't found in nature. Sure, corn is but not genetically engineered corn that has been genetically altered to withstand increasing amounts of pesticides and grow its own insecticide to kill bugs and weeds. The people who created the GMOs are also the ones who created the RoundUp pesticide that they are selling more of by doing this to the patened corn seeds that they sell to farmers. It is a perfect business model to them but is only creating super weeds now and not making more of a crop yield. The only thing it is doing is hurting farmers financially, killing our soil, killing our bees (which we are SUPER DEPENDENT on as a civilization), and killing us through a whole LOT of disease now. 

The FDA claimed that these GMO foods were safe because their 90 day study (I believe it was) was WAY too short to see the actual effects on human health over time. Well, now with all of the health issues we are facing today (not to mention what happened to the animals that were tested with GMO feed), especially in this country where it is still legal for these GMO ingredients to still go unlabeled. Most Americans do not even know what a GMO is and how could they?! When something says corn or soy on their ingredient label rather than genetically modified corn - how would we know? It is a lie and a very unfair one that many around the world do not have to deal with. They label their foods appropriately or just outright ban these kinds of ingredients from being imported from our GMO companies. They have the mentality of "Studies have not shown that these kinds of ingredients are safe so we are not going to let our citizens eat them until we have sufficient evidence that it is safe." 

Whereas, in this country, our government's mentality is "Well, we don't know that GMOs aren't safe for humans so we will allow our citizens to eat them until we see that it isn't safe."

Mad yet? 

I WAS LIVID and still am when I learned about that. 

So yes, when you eat foreign things to nature, your body which made from natural elements not genetically engineered ones, fights it as a such because it doesn't know how to process it appropriately, and wa- laa...disease, food allergies, obesity, etc ! 

It most certainly matters what you eat when you are trying to nourish yourself rather than creating disease and illness. "

Sorry for my LONG side story but I get worked up. That's really how it went in the store too. She ended up walking us to the cars because I kept talking, and she kept wanting more information. My mom said to the lady, "And my daughter use to think I was crazy...now listen to her. She can't stop learning." 

^ And yes, referring to that baby photo above, this country allows GMOs in American BABY FORMULA!!! WHAT THE F*$&$^#&(#(#&*#&$&$*?!??!!?! 
 And we're wondering why every other kid has a food allergy now!? I mean it isn't rocket science! Or even if mom breastfeeds, she is still passing them on through her milk...or in a recent study I was reading where they are finding the GMOs in the fetuses of pregnant women! Sad because babies don't have a choice and don't know any better.) 

Okay, back to my AWESOME day!!!

I was on my Instagram account where I post more photos than I do on Facebook - especially my health stuff. As I was looking around I came across the FOOD BABE! My favorite lady! I instantly "followed" her and commented on her most recent photo that she posted. 
Shortly after, I had a notification and it was.......FROM HER!!!!!
She not only replied to my comment but...also.......HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS..............SHE FOLLOWED ME BACK! 

I am still on cloud9 about this. I know, I know #NerdAlert. Most people are star struck when they meet a singer or an actress. Not me, apparently. 
I will think you are the cooler than the other side of my pillow if you make a positive difference in our American food supply.

She has about 500,000 followers, is now regularly given air time on CNN, FOX, ABC, Good Morning America, Dr. Oz, The New York Times, USA TODAY, The Doctors, and so many others. She has come a LONG way in the short 3 years that she has been blogging for fun on FoodBabe.com while also working in the corporate world.
Food Babe has investigated companies like Kraft, Chipotle, Subway, Chik-fil-A, Panera, and the list goes on. 
Her nearly 500,000 followers, she's lovingly termed 'The Food Babe Army", puts the heat on these companies by signing her petitions, Facebook comments, emails, phone calls, etc. and asks them to please take these harmful ingredients out of their foods. 

More often than not (actually I haven't seen a case where they have not) the company will welcome her in and work with her to better their ingredients. Taking out things found in yoga mats, butane, beaver's anus glands, etc. There is a ton more but that would take me all day to list. 

So now, on her Instagram, she is following 80 people and I am one of them!!!!!!! The pressure is on :) I need to step up my game. Needless to say, I was super inspired that of the almost 10,000 followers on her Instagram account she only follows 80  - and little 'ole ME is ONE of them now!!!!

Woohoo! Happy dance moment for me yesterday as I was calling Mark's office. Poor guy has actual work that he's doing and I am bothering him with my Food Babe moment. 
(Just so you know, Mark knows EXACTLY who the Food Babe is too and was SUPER excited for me. I love him for that. haha) 

So, if you do not follow her already, do yourself a favor and "Like" her Facebook page. You will LEARN A LOT in very simple terms. It is no surprise that she is getting so much attention. She is helping American companies improve their food quality while also helping families improve their health by learning what is going on in their bodies with these questionable ingredients. 

So after THAT happened, Ava woke up from her nap and ate lunch. Since I was feeling inspired, my mom and I went over to Marando Farms in Ft. Lauderdale - Tucked away near Tap42 off of Davie Blvd. 
Ava loves looking at their animals and I love looking through their local and organic goodies. After that, we went to Whole Foods for a food shop. 

Another great moment: 
Last Sunday, Mark was working on his laptop and I was about to start listening to lectures on my iPad for school when he said, "So I have been thinking....I think you should include me in on your vegan meals when you make them and then we can cut back on eating meat together." 

{uhhhh... Are you okay? I wanted to ask him. This is Mr. Meat & Potatoes, after all!}

He then added something like, "It is no secret that less animal in our diet is healthier overall so I want to see how I feel by eating less of it. We can do the vegan dinners like 4 nights a week and meats 3 nights a week." 

This. is. awesome. My husband is on board with me and did so all on his own! I guess he has been seeing me make my meatless dishes while still giving him his chicken or beef in his dinner. 
He would joke, "Oh, you're giving me the cancer I see..."


So while I was at Whole Foods, I decided that it was a PERFECT day to make some of Food Babe's recipes. I came home and started cooking while Mark fed Ava her dinner. 
We liked both of the recipes and both we super easy to prepare. If I can do it, anyone can! ha 

That's the fun part about vegan meals that I am noticing, very simple... 
All fresh, simple ingredients. 
So, while we are not full blown vegans, we are enjoying eating a lot less animal and more plants the way nature intended. 

While I am learning and understand that some people should have some animal protein in their diet from time to time to feel healthy, some do not - it can even depend on your blood type (I still need to learn more about that). 
Most of us do eat WAY TO MUCH animal every day and that is simply not healthy. Think about hunters and gatherers in cavemen days, even they had to hunt for their meat and work for it. It was a treat and survival  - not eating sausage in the morning, cold cuts for lunch, and a burger for dinner. That's a ton in an average person's diet. 
...just look at the heart disease rates here - I think it is the #1 or #2 killer now with our love of processed animal food. 

Personally, when I cut the dairy about a year ago (which I thought would be harder than it was), I felt so much healthier! My skin cleared up, I lost that annoying 7 lbs. that I always hovered around making me feel bloated and heavy all the time, and my digestion is just better overall. Although I do have my slip up's (I am human!) I do enjoy a non dairy life now so much more. 

I need a bigger pan.

Pouring in my cashew butter that I made in my Vitamix

(Cashew butter: Blend 1/2 cup cashews, 1/4 water, sprinkle of Himalayan salt. 
Serves as a "cheesy", creamy addition to a dish - pretty awesome to get that from nuts rather than cows+ a ton of other ingredients, huh?!)

A new option for taco shells when I want something fresh tasting :) 

So thank you, Food Babe (and mom)!
These recipes were super easy and we enjoyed our vegan dinner. Tomorrow night will include leftovers because it makes a lot for two people. And when I look at the cost, vegan cooking is A LOT less expensive and makes a ton of food. Score for me and having more time in the evenings with my husband! 

Here are the recipes if you would like to try them:
(taken from FoodBabe.com) 

5.0 from 11 reviews

Food Babe’s Quinoa Avocado Tacos

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

Serves: 2 – 3

Ingredients

• 2 romaine hearts or 1 head of romaine lettuce
• ½ cup dry quinoa cooked to package instructions + 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 large ripe avocados diced
• juice of one lime
• 1 and ½ cups of cherry tomatoes diced in half and squeezed of excess liquid
• ¼ cup white onion diced
• handful of cilantro diced
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• ¼ tsp fresh cracked pepper
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 jalapeno or serrano pepper diced with seeds removed

Instructions

1. Combine quinoa and chili powder in water and cook to package instructions
2. Make guacamole by putting all ingredients except romaine in a bowl and combine well
3. Place washed and thoroughly dried romaine leaves on a platter
4. Serve family style – Make the tacos by using a romaine leaf as the shell, adding a scoop of quinoa and a scoop of guacamole to the middle
5. Make it fancy by adding slices of lime, salsa, hot sauce, tortilla chips, sour cream and/ or goat cheese to serve as toppings or on the side

Notes

***Please buy all organic ingredients if 

possible***

4.8 from 13 reviews

Food Babe’s Asparagus Lemon Quinoa Risotto

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

45 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• ½ head cauliflower, chopped into pieces
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil, divided
• salt and pepper to taste
• ½ pound asparagus, trimmed and chopped into 1” pieces
• ½ small onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• ½ cup quinoa
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 to 2½ cups vegetable stock
• ½ teaspoon curry powder
• zest of 1 lemon
• parsley to garnish
• Choose either cashew cream or sour cream for top:
• ½ cup cashews, ¼ cup water and pinch of salt (if making cashew cream)
• sour cream

Instructions

1. Heat your oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet toss the cauliflower with 1 tablespoon of oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tender and slightly browned.
2. While the cauliflower is cooking, bring a pot of water to boil and blanch the asparagus for 1 minute. Drain under cold water and set aside.
3. In a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil until hot. Add the onion and saute for 3-5 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute 1 minute.
4. Add in the quinoa and salt and saute for 2 minutes.
5. Add in 1 cup of stock at a time, stirring after each addition until the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is cooked.
6. When the cauliflower is done, toss with ½ teaspoon curry powder and place in a food processor and pulse until it looks like the size of rice.
7. Add the cauliflower to the quinoa mix and fold in the lemon zest, cashew cream or sour cream and asparagus and continue to cook 2-3 minutes.
8. Top with fresh chopped parsley and serve.
9. To make cashew cream: Place cashews, water and salt in a blender and mix until a thick consistency is formed. *There will be some cream leftover if you wish to add more to the recipe or use for leftovers.

Notes

***Please choose all organic ingredients if possible.***

We did not use sour cream. 


These recipes can also be found directly on FoodBabe.com
Click here: Lemon Asparagus Quinoa Risotto
and
Click here: Quinoa Avocado Tacos


Have a great day, everyone!
XO
Christina