Whole30 Day 18 Menu

Breakfast- eggs

Lunch-  Leftovers

Dinner-  Slow Cooked Cinnamon Pork Lion with Parsnips

Whole30 Day 16 Menu

Breakfast- eggs

Lunch- leftovers

Dinner-  Italian Meatballs

Whole30 Day 12 Menu

Breakfast- Smoothie

Lunch- Leftovers

Dinner- Crockpot Stuffed Peppers

**So, dinner tonight was a flop.  This is the first meal that I've ever cooked that my husband couldn't finish because he didn't like it.  I was not hungry and we were going to do a glow in the dark run, so I didn't try any, but he said it was very bland and I think that he may have gotten a bitter pepper, so that didn't help.  I may try again and add extra spices, but probably not any time soon.

Whole30 Day 10 Menu

Breakfast- Smoothie

Lunch-  Leftovers

Dinner-  Milani Chicken (without the cucumber dressing)

Whole30 Day 9 Menu

Breakfast- Eggs and apples

Lunch-  Leftovers

Dinner- Crockpot Cashew Chicken

Whole30 Day 6 Menu

Breakfast-  Scrambled eggs and smoothie

Lunch-  Avocado Tuna Boats

Dinner- Dinner with friends- I am bringing a veggie side dish :)

Whole30 Day 5 Menu

Breakfast- Scrambled eggs and smoothie

Lunch-  Leftover lemon garlic chicken

Dinner-  Everyday Meatloaf from Everyday Paleo

Whole30 Day 4 Menu

Breakfast- Scrambled eggs and smoothie

Lunch-  Leftover Pecan Crusted Chicken

Dinner-  Lemon Garlic Crock Pot Chicken


Last night's pecan crusted chicken was yummy just like we remembered.  We had mashed turnips as a side.  It was my first time with trying turnips and I have to say I wasn't really impressed.  I am trying to try out new vegetables to get more variety in our meals, and I will probably try a different turnip recipe again another time.  The turnips were a bit bitter and when I looked up recipes for turnips, most of the ones I found said to add a little sugar to cut the bitterness.  So for now, I am looking for another turnip recipe to try.

Whole30 Day 3 Menu

Breakfast- Smoothie and scrambled eggs

Lunch-  Leftover Apricot Chicken

Dinner- Pecan Crusted Chicken from Everyday Paleo.  This is a super easy, very yummy recipe that we have had before.

Whole30 Day 2 Menu

I'm not the biggest fan of leftovers, but I have planned to make extra of dinner foods so that we have extras for the next day for lunch.  I hope it doesn't become too repetitive, but I don't think it'll be that much of a problem.  The one meal that I don't mind being repetitive is breakfast.  There may be days on the weekend that I branch out a bit, but for the most part I am planning on a green smoothie and eggs for breakfast.

Breakfast- Smoothie and scrambled eggs

Lunch-  Leftover Meatballs and veggies

Dinner-  Slow Cooker Apricot Chicken

Day 1 Review

Day 1- not so bad. I followed the plan that I had laid out and that made today very easy. Breakfast was a couple of scrambled eggs and a green smoothie made of an orange, a little bit of pineapple and about a cup of spinach. It was different to have my smoothie without the protein powder, but it was still good. I was definitely satisfied after my short run and felt full until lunch.

For lunch I made tuna salad with homemade mayonnaise and served it with avocado and had a side of raw carrots. The homemade mayonnaise was a little different, but it was still really good.

I did feel my usual afternoon slump around 2:30-3:00, but I wasn't expecting this to go away immediately. That tired feeling stayed for about an hour or so, but I started making dinner and by the time it was time to eat, I felt fine again.

I modified dinner from the recipe. As I was cooking the artichokes and onions I got the idea to just brown the ground turkey, add the spices and then add a couple cans of crushed tomatoes. Basically instead of making meatballs, I just made a sauce. I let the sauce simmer for about an hour or so and then served it over some steamed broccoli. I was very happy with this dinner and it got me two thumbs up from everyone! I finished off the meal with a handful of cashews- the meal was missing a little bit of fat.

Overall today was a good day, I did attempt a short run- but I've had a bit of a cold/allergy thing going on, so I was having trouble catching my breath. I didn't have too many sweet cravings, just a couple times throughout the day.

I'm trying a new recipe tomorrow, hopefully that one is met with a positive response as well :)

Whole30 Day 1 Menu

Today is the day!  It is day 1 of our Whole30 experience.  Each morning I will be posting our menu for the whole day.  There will be lots of new recipes, so I will do my best to do reviews as well!


Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs and fruit smoothie

Lunch:  Tuna salad and veggies

Dinner:  Turkey Basil Artichoke Meatballs and veggies

Sunday Meal Planning

This week I am trying to make meals that I know will have leftovers because I am headed out of town for a long weekend.

Monday-  Dinner out

Tuesday-  Turkey Meatloaf with Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

Wednesday-  Grilled Chicken and Baked Spaghetti Squash and Cheese- this time I am going to add broccoli and mushrooms to the spaghetti squash, we'll see if that makes it more appealing to the two who didn't like it as much last time.

Thursday-  Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes-  everyone liked these last time (which doesn't mean they'll like them again!), and I need a crock pot meal because it'll be a busy day.

Friday-  Pizza movie night for the family....something in Disney for me!

Saturday-  Skinny Tuna Noodle Casserole (leaving this for them to have while I'm gone

Sunday-  They're on their own :)

Next week's meal plan will also be shortened because I won't be back until late Tuesday night.  I'll leave some ideas, though my husband is more than capable when it comes to keeping the monkeys fed!

Meal Planning

Getting back into the swing of things after being out of town is one of the hardest things for me.  By planning ahead, I can avoid getting too far off track.

Monday- This is my travel day, so I'll be having food on the go, not sure what they'll be having at home.

Tuesday- We are going to go to Firehouse Subs after gymnastics, my plan is to go grocery shopping at some point during the day so I'm prepared for the rest of the week.

Wednesday-  Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Thursday-  Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

Friday- We have a birthday to celebrate today, so it's the birthday boy's choice for dinner :)  And a cupcake of course!

Saturday- Chicken Divan

Sunday- Leftovers or dinner out.

No new recipes this week- everyone seems to like these, so it should make for an easy week as far as cooking goes!

Sunday Meal Planning

The past week has gone really well with meal planning.  It was very nice to have everything planned out and for the most part ready to go each night.  We've got a couple changes to our after school activities for the week, so a couple changes to the plan as well.  If these changes stick, I'll be looking for ideas of meals to take on the go for both me and the kiddos.

Monday:  Crock Pot Potato Cheese Soup from Sparkpeople.  This was on the menu over the weekend, but we didn't get to it since we were invited to dinner with friends.
Tuesday:  Trying out a new gymnastics class that will have us out later than normal, so I'm planning on taking dinner with us (or grabbing dinner from Subway, since it is just across the street)
Wednesday:  It's the littlest's 3rd birthday, so it's her choice.  My guess is she'll choose mac and cheese (and not the yummy homemade kind!) or Chick Fil A
Thursday: Late gymnastics again, same plan as Tuesday
Friday:  Pizza night
Saturday:  Skinny Tuna Noodle Casserole  from SkinnyTaste  We've had this one before, and it was one that everyone liked.
Sunday:  Leftovers or dinner with friends

Sunday Meal Planning (on Monday)

I was a little brain-numb yesterday after the half. I had meant to plan ahead like I did after the princess, but last week really got away from me. So, after a great night's sleep (I love how great I sleep after a race!), I got one kiddo off to school and then sat down to plan so that I can still get to the store a little later today.

Monday ~ Picnic dinner: oldest kiddo has baseball practice from 5:30 until about 7:30. Since it is his first one, I'm planning on giving him a heavy snack before practice and taking sandwiches and stuff for the rest of us to eat while he practices and then giving him something else after practice.

Tuesday ~ Tacos- we have some leftovers from our fajita dinner on Saturday evening, and since we have gymnastics, we will need something quick.

Wednesday ~ Chicken Pot Pockets (didn't have these last week)

Thursday ~ Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Friday ~ Skinny Tuna Noodle Casserole

Saturday ~ Kid's Choice- I'm trying to do this once a week as a treat for them. They are really great about eating the healthy choices that we have the rest of the week. A few weeks ago my oldest said something about really wanting chicken nuggets or something (and we do still eat out on occasion) and I told him that we are trying to eat more healthy overall. We were talking about what are good choices for us and what are not so good choices for us. I'm also hoping that by giving them a choice, they will learn to make good choices for themselves eventually. I am also hoping that by allowing them to choose they will also learn about moderation, because I truly feel that is the key.

I'm kind of glad I don't have to cook today. I can spend the day getting ready for the rest of this week. It's a pretty normal week for us here, just adding in the start of baseball :)

Sunday Meal Planning

This week I am getting ready for half marathon #3 of my deployment challenge. It is crazy to think that I am already getting ready for my third half since January 2012. This time next week, I will be finished with #3 and most likely going to bed early!

Monday- Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken

Tuesday- Tacos- I have several packages of ground turkey because of a sale. So, I'm planning on tacos for Tuesday night because of gymnastics. I can make it ahead and have it in the crock pot for when we get home.

Wednesday- Chicken Pot Pockets This is a big favorite, the kids love it when I make these.

Thursday- It is school night at Chick Fil A, so we will be going there.

Friday- kids choice

Saturday- Chicken Fajitas- a yummy pre-race meal

Sunday- Leftovers

Sunday Meal Planning

Ok, so I'm not at home right now, but I wanted to correct a mistake I made when I traveled last month for the Tinker Bell half marathon in California- I didn't plan ahead. Because I didn't plan ahead, I was not prepared at all for the week after the race and it showed. I didn't make bad decisions, but I also didn't make the best decisions- using more frozen meals than cooking. So this time I'm trying to make sure I am prepared for the transition for the week after.

Monday: Traveling, so we're back to making good decisions while on the road.

Tuesday: Not sure, my friend will still be in town so we may take the kiddos out for dinner this evening.

Wednesday: Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken from SkinnyTaste

Thursday: Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken from Weight Watchers

Friday: Chicken and Broccoli Noodle Casserole from SkinnyTaste- this is a new one. I'm thinking that it'll be a hit for us, we all love broccoli, chicken and noodles. Look for the review later on!

Saturday: Kid's choice- I would like to give the kids a chance to choose dinner. We've got a few busy weeks and weekends coming up, so I want to give them a chance to choose something fun :)

Sunday: Leftover night

Sunday Meal Planning

This week will be different. I'm getting ready to head out of town on Friday for the Disney Princess Half Marathon. So this week I'll cook a little but not as much as normal. This week also includes packing making sure everything is ready for the kiddos while I'm out of town.

Monday: Chicken and Dumplings from Weight Watchers I didn't end up making these last night because we had our dinner out last night instead. I am looking forward to trying them because it is supposed to be cold and rainy again tomorrow (much like it is today), so it'll be nice to have some comfort food!

Tuesday: Going to do an easy night for this week. I've got some leftovers we can use or

Wednesday: Chicken Pot Pockets from Hungry Girl This was such a big hit the last time that I hope it is again for the kiddos!

Thursday: Pick up dinner from Chick Fil A. I will be picking up my best friend from high school at the airport Thursday afternoon and then we will be getting the last minute stuff together to get ready for our trip to Florida! Half marathon #2 will be done by this time next week!

Friday: Traveling. Trying to make good decisions while eating on the road.

Saturday: Again, making good decisions while on the 'vacation ' part of my weekend.

Sunday: Dinner at Chef Mickey's. Definitely a celebration meal :)

Sunday Meal Planning

Yesterday was a bit crazy for us. A birthday party in the morning that went into the afternoon and a dinner that evening, squeezing in a run just didn't seem like a good idea. I went with reorganizing the kitchen instead. But I will say that skipping that early morning run was a bad idea. My attitude is definitely affected by a lack of exercise. That was a mistake that I fixed this morning! I actually waited on everyone to get up (I decided that after seeing it was going to be a high of 39 this morning that it was going to be a pj day), after getting them all fed breakfast, I got on the treadmill and got started. I didn't go as far as I had planned, but I decided to make a 5k out of it. I finished 3.1 miles in 46:20. Pretty great since my last 5k was almost 55 minutes. Tomorrow is a short interval day. I really think that these intervals are making all the difference.

So the recipe reviews- both the Buffalo Chicken Dip and the Skinny Taco Dip were great! I would make both again. The only thing I would change about the taco dip is I would not add as much salsa- it made it a little more runny than I like, but it tasted amazing! I added avocado also because I just love avocado. I just cut it up and added it to the tomato layer. I loved them both and so did everyone else!

This week's meal plan:

Monday: Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken from SkinnyTaste

Tuesday: Crock Pot Italian Turkey Meatballs from SkinnyTaste

Wednesday: It is my kids school's night at Chick Fil A, so we will be there for dinner- planning ahead will make all the difference

Thursday: Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli from Weight Watchers

Friday: I'm going out with for a progressive dinner. I do know the restaurants that we are going to, so again, planning ahead is key!

Saturday: Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken from Weight Watchers

Sunday: Leftover day as we get ready for the week!

We didn't have the crusted honey mustard chicken last week because of the last minute things we were invited to, so since I already had what we need for it, it just makes sense for us to have it this week!