Ready, set, DONE!

This morning I spent about 2 hours in the kitchen prepping some of our snacks for the week.  I love being able to just grab & go in the mornings, no hassles no stress.  Sure makes life easier.  Here's some quick photos to share with you all.  When I get home this afternoon I will make the 2 items that I will be packing for our "main" lunch item, and prep stuff for the 2 dinners we're having.  Then I will basically be done for the week in the kitchen, other than cooking our actual dinners.  How awesome is that?!!  

Meal Plan, Shopping Trip, Recipes and ideas!

I shared the pictures of my grocery shopping trip this morning and had a couple of requests for my plan for the week. I spent $99, and this should last us 10 days.  I do have a few things on hand, like frozen chicken breasts and ground beef that I will be using as well.  

Here's what I bought!

Fruits: 

Bananas

3lbs Red Grapes

4 Apples

Blueberries

2lb bag of Lemons

1 Lime

1 Grapefruit

Veggies:

Grape Tomatoes

Romaine Hearts

Trio of colored peppers

Celery

Cucumbers

Jalapenos

Tomatillos

Green Leaf Lettuce

Zucchini

Cilantro

Refrigerated Section:

Sharp Cheese

Yogurt for Russ

Greek Yogurt for me

Sour Cream

Almond Milk

Boiled eggs

(Yes, I buy them already boiled and peeled.  Judge me if you must, but it's a huge time saver.  Not to mention I have not been able to easily peel eggs here in Florida, it's always a struggle and I end up with more wasted egg than anything.)

Baking:

Whole Wheat Flour

Pam Spray

Cream of Tartar

Condensed Milk x 2

Applesauce Cups (I use them for baking.  One is just shy of 1/2c)

Taco Seasoning (I need to make up another batch of my own!)

Misc:

1lb Turkey Breast

Hershey Kisses for Russ

Tostitos

Dried Cranberries

Frozen Chicken Strips

Alfredo Sauce

Fettuccine 

(These last 3 are because Zach came home unexpectedly for the day and I needed something quick to make him for dinner!)

This is my meal plan for the week.  Please ignore how messy it is, I didn't realize I'd be sharing it when I made it!  Russ's is on the back side, it's similar to mine with a few changes based on our personal likes.  We both always have a Complete Shake for breakfast, and the days Russ works at JSO we will also have a Shake for dinner.  He doesn't get home until almost 7pm and neither of us like eating that late.  I work from 6am-2pm so I have my shake while I'm getting the kids breakfast, then I always eat 2 boiled eggs around 9 and sometimes a yogurt.  After the kids are fed at 11:30 I eat my lunch.  Then I eat a snack around 3 and we have dinner when Russ gets home at either 5:30 or 7pm.  I am a creature of habit and can eat the same things everyday for weeks without getting tired of it!

I tend to make things on the weekend that I can take to work throughout the day for my lunch.  This weekend I am making Chicken-Sprouts Casserole but I am altering it quite a bit to bring the calories down.  I am also making the Broccoli, Bacon & Blueberry Salad* that we love.  I have 1 steak in the freezer that I will cook and slice up to put on top of our salad Monday night. Tuesday night we are having Verde Chicken Soup*.  Friday night will be leftovers, and Saturday we will be in Daytona visiting Zach at College for Family Weekend.  Wed & Thursday nights we'll have a Shake.

The things I planned for our snacks this week are:

Grapes

A variety of raw veggies w/ Hummus (homemade)

Pistachios

Almonds

Turkey/Lettuce Wraps

Cucumber/Tomato/Onion Salad

Apples

I also made these Chocolate Muffins for Russ for a treat, cause I'm nice like that :)

And I made these M&M Chocolate Oat Bars for Zach to take back to school with him.  I know, I know... you're all wondering what's up with me today because I hate to bake!  

 Here are the recipes for the above mentioned meals:

Broccoli, Bacon and Blueberry Salad
10 slices of bacon cooked and chopped into bite sized pieces (I use turkey bacon)
2lbs fresh broccoli (2-3 large crowns) rinsed well and cut into bite sized pieces
1/2c fresh blueberries
1c mayo (I use 1/2c mayo and 1/2c Greek yogurt)
4 Tbsp sunflower seeds
half of a red onion, diced (too much for me, I use 1/4 c)

Mix all together and let sit for a few hours before eating.


And the soup...

I hope this helps those of you that asked me for ideas, or how I plan our menu's and my shopping trip!