So, I made some adjustments to my visual menu. I am gradually working on inputting the calories and macros for each meal so there are still some blanks. Here is next week!
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Visual Weekly Menus
One week into enjoying prepped dinners along with my other meal preps. Now that my mind is re-organized for menus, it makes it easier for me to refocus on what I am really putting in my body again. So I started logging, just to see how over I was on calorie consumption (WAY OVER!) and start monitoring my baseline numbers for my macros. I have made some tweaks and adjustments throughout the week to make it more attainable to move back toward weight loss. Now that I'm paying attention, I'm seeing how these small bad habits make a huge difference!
So, I made some adjustments to my visual menu. I am gradually working on inputting the calories and macros for each meal so there are still some blanks. Here is next week!
So, I made some adjustments to my visual menu. I am gradually working on inputting the calories and macros for each meal so there are still some blanks. Here is next week!
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Visual Menu for March and April
Time to prep!
Here is my visual menu. Since there are two weeks left in March, I will do half of March and prep for April.
*Here is another tip: You will see some ingredients on you monthly shopping list that may say "buy cook day only". This will typically be on the perishable items like produce that goes into the recipe but would go bad if you won't utilize it until cook day. To remind me to buy it in the right week, I am going to start adding those to the visual menu since that's what I refer to weekly to add my sides to the list.
Here is my visual menu
March Meal Plan
March
I have two more tips for you to consider:
- When looking at the shopping list, shop your cabinets first, especially for the seasoning. Shopping was a lot at the beginning because I didn't have a huge choice in seasonings. Now that I cook all of the time, the majority of the items on my list that are perishable, I usually already have. It can save you a ton of money to shop your cabinets before going to the grocery store.
- Olive oil: You will see that MANY of the recipes call for olive oil. On the recipe cards, I multiply the quantity as it corresponds with the rest of the ingredients. That results in a MASSIVE amount of olive oil. I almost NEVER use olive oil in my cooking. When you cook and freeze, it's rarely necessary. I almost always grill or use the crock pot, so it isn't necessary. I will use a tiny amount if I am skillet cooking. You will notice that a lot of the recipes call for you to cover the chicken in olive oil before placing in the bag. I save on the calories an do not do that. The chicken will be marinating in the other ingredients and, for flavor sake, it does not need olive oil. You will see the recipe cards and shopping lists always lists large quantities of olive oil but use at your own discretion. I probably buy new olive oil once every 6 months or so (if that).
- Lastly, there is a lot of cheese in this month. I am dairy free. I either modify to not include cheese at all or I will use Daiya cheese. Just a thought for those who have restrictions. I try to make these recipes work for my families sake. Avocado is another fun substitute for cheese.
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
February Meal Plan
February Recipes and List
Here is another tip that occurred to me as I was making this list. Beware of produce and breads. DO NOT buy for the month if it is an ingredient used only for cook day. For example, this month features a yummy flatbread meal. I will need to buy 12-16 flat breads for the month but if I buy them all at one time, they will go bad by the time I use them since I don't actually assemble the flatbread until cook day. That particular recipe calls for freezing the meat only and the remainder of the prep is on cook day. I like to do these recipes on weekends/days I am not working since there is more work on cook day.
All lessons I have learned as I grew through this process.
January Recipe Cards and Shopping List
January Meal Prep
As I create these documents, I am trying to think of a way to best explain how to adjust the ingredients. Again, the original recipes are on my Pinterest board, so start there, don't start from my prepped documents. It takes time to learn how to adjust. I create for 12 servings per month, so you have to see how many servings the original recipe is laid out for and then go from there. Every recipe is different. You would prepare for chicken breast different than you would a pot of spaghetti. The easiest advice I have for you is to do the math from the original recipe. So if it called for 4 servings and you are prepping for 16, multiply every quantity by 4. That is how you adjust for your family. You will learn as you go and make mistakes. Trust me, I know. I usually overbuy which I would rather have instead of under buy. My husband has had to make a run or two.
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Phase 2: Photos of dinners and directions on how to make visual menus
Visual Deliciousness
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| January Dinners |
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| February Dinners |
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| March Dinners |
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April Dinners
Visual Menus
This is the part where people start to wonder if they can do what I do. For some people repeated meals is an issue and they worry about getting bored with their foods. I do not have that issue and since the meals change monthly I don't see variety as an issue. So you may ask, how does six meal options get you through the entire month? Well, I quadruple each recipe, eating it FOUR TIMES throughout the month. I prepare the meals in two different freezer bags, having one cook day per back, with the following day always being a left over day. So essentially, I cook the same recipe twice in a month, two weeks apart.
To give you a visual of what I mean, I have included a sample visual menu to illustrate my process.
Below is an old February visual menu, featured in an earlier post. You will see the following dinners: 1) Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore 2) Man-Pleasing Chicken 3) Slow Cooker Chiken Teriyaki 4) Chicken Carnitas Burrito Bowl with Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice 5) Chicken Fajitas 6) One-Pot Chicken, Quinoa, Mushrooms & Spinach Recipe How I created it: - I place, the dinners on the calendar, always skipping a day and always skipping Sunday. The empty day is always leftovers and I always write in what sides I need for that dinner. This helps tremendously with my weekly shopping. - Once I have placed all of the dinners. I repeat. - Always take into consideration late evenings you won't be home to cook or vacations you are going to take so you don't end up with a tremendous amount of food at the end of the month. I like to pad in some days because there are a lot of evenings we are not home. I only like to allow us to eat out on Sundays so I don't cook on that day. This is also my weekly food prep day. 
For now, I won't make the visual menus for the year, but if I do, I will post them.
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