Weekly Meal Planning - Week of July 15th

Review from last week (well, technically, still this week)...

The pizza chicken was fantastic.  Greg LOVED it and it took me only about 5 minutes to prep and 25 minutes to bake.  We made Ben's on a piece of Texas toast instead of a chicken breast, and he was very happy with that, too.

The salmon rub I had talked about was not quite as good as the steak and chicken rubs had been.  It was still very flavorful, but it made the salmon a little smokier than Greg and I like.  We have decided to purchase a few cedar planks for when we cook up the rest of the salmon in our freezer.  Also, miracle of all miracles, Greg has decided that he likes asparagus now.....AND....Ben ate some. 

And the triple protein burgers - hamburger, bacon, hot dog.  So freaking delicious.

Quick side note - eliminating the every day breads, pastas, and carby snack items has been surprisingly easy for us.  I think it helps that our mantra has been: When something looks REALLY delicious, we should have some.  That seems to help us not to want to purchase it for at home.

Snacks lately have been:

• 0% Fage yogurt, berries (with plenty of splenda)
• Protein shakes - I read about this one and made it.  SO delicious.
• Kind bars
• Hard boiled eggs
• Cheese - I'm obsessed with the Babybel light cheese right now
• Raw or dry roasted nuts
• Lots of egg scrambles with veggies and cheese
• Salads with lean meat, hard boiled egg, a tiny amount of olive oil and roasted red pepper hummus as the dressing.  I know it sounds strange, but it is so quick and easy to make.
• Guacamole (essentially, I mash up an avocado with salt and some of the pre-made pico de gallo that they sell at Fred Meyers) - I try to eat this with bell peppers, but SOMETIMES I cave and eat it with multigrain chips.
• Naturebox snacks

Monday: Chicken Paillard with Lemon, Capers and Olives

 

Tuesday: BBQ at the Cougan's!  Halibut tacos (prepared by Peter) and a Superfruit & Nut Arugula Salad (prepared by me).

Wednesday: Mexican Salad

 

Thursday: Summertime Grilled Corn, Chicken + Blueberry Chopped Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette

Friday: Grilled Hamburgers (wrapped in lettuce) and sweet potato fries.

Saturday: Greg will be out of town for the night on Saturday at Collin's bachelor party, so I won't be planning anything fancy for me and Ben.

Sunday: Artichoke Lemon Pesto Chicken Pasta

Nature Box

Have you heard about Nature Box yet?

As a person who has been a big fan of the monthly delivery boxes (particularly Stitch Fix and Citrus Lane, both of which I have recently cancelled simply so that I could try other things), when I heard about this program I immediately got on board.

I feel like I am always on the hunt for a new and healthy snack, particularly one that would also be healthy for Ben, and one that is easy to throw in my purse when we are spending an afternoon out.  This program has helped to make the search a whole lot easier for me!

For $20/month (with free shipping), Nature Box will send you 5 bags of snacks each month (with a bonus 6th snack in your first box to welcome you).  All of these snacks are nutritionist approved and contain NO:

High fructose corn syrup
Partially hydrogenated oils
Trans fats
Artificial sweeteners/coloring/flavors\

In my first box, I received 2 bags of Peanut Butter Nom Noms, Salsa Spiced Nut Mix (my favorite), BBQ Kettle Kernals, Cherry Ganache Granola, and Guacamole Bites.

I am signed up to get the Discovery Box each month, but they have several different boxes to choose from.  If you are interested in trying it for yourself, you can use this link to get $10 off your order (and give ME $10 off MY order).  Gotta love that!

Anyway, these snacks aren't necessarily wheat/carb/gluten free, BUT I do feel a lot better about us snacking on these items when we are on the go (which seemingly is all the time these days).