Meals for Week of August 2, 2010

A Journey

Stepping out on your own, no matter what the circumstance, can be a scary leap of faith.  For me, taking an idea such as meal planning and trying to make it into a business was a big leap of faith. Not only for myself but for my family who I depend on to support me in this endeavor.  It’s been just over a year.  I’ve enjoyed it, I still feel passionate about what I do, but I have a long way to go in meeting the goals I set for myself.

Along the way, I started to realize I was on another parallel journey of self discovery and self improvement.  I wasn’t just reading and researching all things related to food and spewing out information in my newsletters.  I was beginning to form my own opinions, gravitating towards resources and attitudes about food and wanting to share that information.  Except, that I wasn’t always LIVING it.  How can I pass along great information or impart my own ideas if I’m not following my own advice?  I discovered that I had a disconnect between what I believed in and what I was actually doing.

So over the past year I’ve been trying to change my household to have healthier eating habits.  I have always cooked and baked, so cooking from scratch is no problem.  Cooking from scratch with whole foods is healthy.  But the next step to that is cooking with healthier ingredients, eating the treats in moderation and being aware of the ingredients in the products you eat and making better choices for your health and the planet.  I try to strike a balance of implementing changes where I can and not radically shake everything up to the point where it’s met with resistance.  So I’m buying organic produce, checking ingredient labels, trying to reduce processed foods, doing most of it gradually.  Trying alternatives to overly processed favorites and looking at healthier recipes for meals.

And then there’s the whole matter of being accountable.  That’s the next step for me.  This week I started a 12 week training program through Mama Boot Camp.  It’s a once a week group training class that has me doing additional workouts as homework and tracking my food.  Clean eating, planning my meals and snacks isn’t so much the challenge, but pushing myself to workout hard and keep accountable requires a coach.  It’s the same story you so often here, the mother who is always taking care of everyone else but herself. That’s me.  And sometimes I’m not even really doing a good job of taking care of others because I’m not in top shape to do it. 

I decided to change from the subscription newsletter service to the blog because it was much more important to me to share the information than to make it only available to those who pay for it.  And because I’m on my own journey to eating better, learning more about food and being healthy, I want to share that journey with you and  I hope the blog platform will inspire you to share your own ideas, challenges and journey with me.

If you have not seen my previous newsletters, each week I will share a list of meals with the link to the recipe.  I highly recommend signing up for ziplist.com and use that free tool to create your shopping list.  In addition, I share links to interesting articles, cooking tips and other food related information that I think is relevant.  And from time to time I’ll share with you how things are going in my own house.  I hope you will sign up to receive the blog via email or in your RSS feed.

Meals for the Week of August 2, 2010

Meals are listed below with links to the recipe on another website or a down loadable document for you to open and save.  Choose however many meals you need for the upcoming week. Visit Ziplist.com and use their free tool to create your shopping list.


Orange Soy Glazed Salmon- It cooks up in just 10 minutes and used just a few ingredients.  Soy sauce and orange juice together makes for a great glaze and flavor combination with salmon.

Turkey Meatloaf- Very simple meatloaf, but it turns out tasty.  You might have your own favorite version.  You could also try using marinara sauce instead of bbq sauce if you want a different flavor.

Grilled Chicken with Balsamic Glaze- Recipe also includes an easy veggie stir fry that is not Asian flavors but using a little balsamic glaze.  It has a lot of flavor but very little added fat.

Chicken Nuggets- *COOK’S NIGHT OFF* These baked chicken nuggets are crusted with cornmeal which adds crunch.  The recipe includes making a blackberry mustard dipping sauce.

Citrus Ginger Teriyaki Steak- A fantastic sauce to use with a lean sirloin steak.  Use it when you grill or even on the stovetop.

Buttermilk Chicken Caesar Salad- Buttermilk creates delicious and moist chicken.  The dressing is not traditional Caesar, but a lower fat version.

Veggie Tacos- This recipe is very adaptable to use whatever veggies you want.  But it is perfect for this time of year when zucchini and other squash are overtaking your garden.

Pacific Pork Kebabs with Pineapple Rice- Bring a little Aloha into your home!  The recipe calls for canned pineapple, but if fresh and inexpensive pineapple is available to you, use that and get a can of juice to use in the sauce.

Stir Fried Turkey in Lettuce Wraps- Low fat and low carb.  Create your own stir fry combination with your favorite veggies.  Don’t be afraid of fish sauce; if you like stir fries and Asian food, I highly recommend having it in your pantry.  But if you’d rather not, just use soy sauce or add a little sesame oil, teriyaki sauce or some other kind of stir fry sauce if you want.

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili- Very easy to put together and keeps the kitchen cool.

Buffalo Chicken Salad- Spicy chicken breast tossed in a green salad with a low fat blue cheese dressing.

Quinoa and Grilled Zucchini- I love that she suggests cooking various grains like quinoa and brown rice in advance and freezing them.  It makes throwing together something like this dish very easy.

Side Dishes/Dessert

Panzanella Bread Salad- A wonderful way to use garden fresh tomatoes.  My preference is to also drizzle good quality balsamic vinegar over each serving.  This could be filling for a light eater, but is also perfect to accompany simple grilled chicken.

Green Bean and Potato Pesto Salad- A potato salad that doesn’t use mayo and can serve as a cool meal to eat on a hot night.  Hard boiled eggs provide great protein or eat it on the side with grilled chicken.

Mango and Avocado Salad with Black Beans and Lime Vinaigrette- If you wanted, you could add a leafy green to this you could or serve it in butter lettuce leaves.  This salad is a great combination of flavors.

Grilled Peaches with Cinnamon Sour Cream Sauce- If you haven’t tried grilled peaches, you must!  They are great just on their own, but the addition of a little sweet and creamy sauce is also good.  The recipe suggests Knudsen’s sour cream, I’m personally a big fan of Daisy sour cream.  Or try using plain Greek yogurt instead.  It’s a great source of probiotics as well as good protein.