Tag Archives: meal plan

Garden update + Meal plan {04.14.2013}

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Finally, Spring arrived and we have had an amazing amount of pollen fall this week. This picture was my attempt to try and sweep the pollen of the deck. Yes, all that yellow dust is pollen. I have lived in several places, and North Carolina is the only place I have seen this visible layer of pollen.

Good news, with the warmer weather, my winter vegetable garden has taken off. I picked the first lot of spinach, which we made into a salad for dinner tonight.

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My first head of broccoli is nearly ready, I am thinking I can harvest it over the next day or two.
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The cabbages, carrots and cauliflower are coming along. We tried a couple of the carrots but they are still quite small – the rest of these will be ready in the next 3-4 weeks.

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Our meal plan this week includes some of our fresh vegetables, which saved us a little money. I did really well this week with staying away from sugar and process foods. I even got outside one lunch, at work, to exercise !!!

DAY BREAKFAST DINNER EXERCISE
Saturday Granola + Soy Yoghurt + Banana Beef tips (from meat house) + Spinach salad
Sunday Whole wheat banana buttermilk Pancakes Broccoli + Tomato Fettuccine (GF) Walk 3-4 miles
Monday Bircher Muesli “Fried” Rice (Brown rice and vegetables – prepared over the weekend)
Tuesday Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie Vegetarian Burgers + Salad 3-4 Mile Walk
Wednesday Bircher Muesli Zpizza (Pizza with whole wheat crust and organic ingredients) 20 mins. HIT
Thursday Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt Vegetable Pasta Bake (prepared over the weekend)
Friday Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie Grilled fish + salad 20 mins. HIT

We are usually spending ~$70 a week only, for our meals. This week we were well under…here is our shopping list:

GROCERY LIST (NEW STOCK) IN THE CUPBOARD/FRIDGE
  • Strawberries (TJ)
  • Blueberries (TJ)
  • Bananas (TJ)
  • Baby carrots (TJ)
  • Mushrooms (TJ)
  • Lettuce (TJ)
  • Tomatoes (TJ)
  • Soy Milk (TJ)
  • Low-fat herb cream cheese (TT)
  • Juice (TJ, TT)
  • Brown Rice (TJ)
  • Gluten Free Pasta (TT)
  • Vegetable Stock (TT)
  • Onions (TJ)
  • Spinach (from the garden)
  • Broccoli (from the garden)
  • Bell Peppers(TJ)
  • Cucumber (TJ)
  • Garlic (TT)
  • Apples (TJ)
  • Butter (TJ)
  • Flour/ WW and GF (TT)
  • Granola (TT or BJ)
  • Oats (BJ)
  • Frozen Peas + Corn (TJ)
  • Vegetable Patties (TJ)
  • Sultanas (TT)
  • Stir Fry Sauce (TT)

NOTE: We shop majority at Trader Joe’s (TJ), Target (TT) with an occasional visit to Whole foods (WF), BJ’s , Harris Teeters (HT), Lowes Food (LF) and Fresh Market (FM).
NOTE: We do not typically use coupons mainly due to time.
NOTE: Items indicated by * are specials for the week we took advantage of.

How are your vegetable gardens going? What meals do you have planned this week? Leave a link in the comments below and I will check them out.

Week recap and Meal Plan (week 11)

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We are repeating the meal plan from last week, as we ate mostly soup this past week. Why you might ask instead of the wonderful plan we posted…..well, Monday at breakfast, hubby’s middle back tooth broke and on Thursday had it extracted, ready for an implant in 6 months time. He is doing fine, thankfully.

So, here are the meals (once again) we are trying this week:

DAY BREAKFAST DINNER EXERCISE
Saturday Egg + Fruit ^Split Pea and Ham Soup (slow-cooker)
Sunday Oatmeal + Banana + Almond Butter + Soy Milk Creamy Vegetable Shepherds Pie 3-4 Mile Walk
Monday Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt Eggplant, herb and feta patties + Salad
Tuesday Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie Stir Fried Curry Brown Rice + Cashews *
Wednesday Oatmeal + Banana and Almond butter Tomato, Onion + Goat Cheese Tart (Gluten free crust) + Salad (replacing zPizza this week)  3-4 Mile Walk
Thursday Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt Gluten-free Spaghetti + Broccoli, herbs + hazelnuts crumbs
Friday Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie Vegetable Biryani *  3-4 Mile Walk

* Some ingredients will be pre-made/pre-cooked, for example a batch of brown rice

Now, hopefully my car is ok…..the engine light came on so, I am taking it to the mechanic this week. I am thinking I just need a new petrol (gas) cap as it keeps loosening. But who knows 😉

Stay tuned…Next week, I plan to start including a grocery list, we are keeping on track to spending ~$70-$80 a week on groceries.

My Winter – Spring Garden and Meal Plan – Week 8

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The winter has been a little longer and colder which means my vegetable garden has been producing very slowly. This is my first winter garden and it seems to be going ok. Lessons I have learned:

  1. My swiss chard did not survive as something ate that – not sure what. So, next time I may have to place little wire cages around them
  2. Next year, I will invest in some recycled windows to create a cover so I have a mini hot house

Two surprising things happened with this crop:

  1.  My plants survived the snow and ice. I will definitely get a crop of  broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and cabbage (respectively in photo’s below)….and a little bit of spinach.
  2. And my parsley which had died out came back to life and is flourishing.

Broccoli Cauliflower Carrots
Cabbages Parsley

In the meantime, waiting for this crop to grow, we are buying our veggies (still within the $70 budget). Here is our meal plan for this week – it will be similar to last week (its better not to even talk about it :-)). I have decided to cook most of the meals in the weekend to see if that it is easier to stick with the plan.

DAY BREAKFAST DINNER EXERCISE
Saturday ^Breakfast Sandwich Creamy Vegetable Shepherd’s Pie (thanks to Kristel’s list and links)
Sunday Bircher Muesli (with soy) Chicken and Vegetable Cacciatore + Quinoa or Wheat berries 3-4 Mile Walk
Monday Bircher Muesli (with soy) Vegetable Frittata
Tuesday Whole Grain Cereal+Soy Vegetable Soup (Slow Cooked) 3-4 Mile Walk
Wednesday Oatmeal with Banana and Almond butter ^Pizza @ zPizza (love the options at this place)
Thursday Whole Grain Cereal + Soy Slow-Cooked Indian Dal
Friday Smoothie Vegetable Pasta Bake + Quinoa Pasta 3-4 Mile Walk

^ indicates my splurge for the week