I have never meal planned before, outside of just making mental notes of when to use what items for meals. I just play by ear and have not usually any idea of what I'm eating at each meal, it's usually a surprise.
I wanted to try meal planning so I am doing a month of meal planning my breakfast and lunch meals. The benefit to meal planning is how accomplished you feel with a complete list of meals and notes; so you feel in control. I find the biggest benefit to meal planning is it helps cut back on fresh food waste, as with meal planning, you are freezing and thawing items by schedule, on top of making notes of what items you should eat when, to cut back on tossing out spoiled food items.
I am in no way a health food person or nutritionist or someone to guide you properly through eating habits, diets and eating plans. I am just making this for fun, as I love watching what others are eating, so I wanted to do the same.
Note: I am away February 19th and 20th, so there will be no breakfast or lunch meals.
Note: I do eat snacks between meals and there are even days where I eat an extra meal. I will though only be noting the two meals I planned. I have never planned this much before, I usually just go in kinda blind.
Today is February 8th and I have planned KFC for breakfast and lunch haha. One thing about me is I eat whatever I want at whatever meal I want. I can eat whatever foods at whatever time or have whatever meal for breakfast, so yes I am enjoying greasy food for breakfast. I don't often order take out but I do on occasion.
I ordered a chicken bucket, chicken tenders, popcorn chicken (that I didn't personally eat, I don't like them) and fries, of course with a large gravy.
Today is now February 9th and I have planned a mini charcuterie board for breakfast and tuna macaroni salad for lunch.
I had water crackers, two types of cheeses, cotton candy grapes and mini pepperoni with a Mexicali cream cheese dip, it was delicious. The crackers weren't great but did the job and the grapes were so odd, I had never tried them before but they were certainly cotton candy haha, they didn't go well with the rest of the items but good anyway to try at least once but the plate would've been better with regular grapes.
I made tuna macaroni salad, where I added celery, green peppers and seasoned salt, nothing fancy but I enjoy this meal. I have to confess I eat it both hot and cold, most people eat it cold but I enjoy both. I vividly remember eating this on a picnic as a kid, what a throwback.
Today is now February 10th and I have planned chicken sandwich for breakfast and Korean bbq stuffed peppers for lunch. I wanted turkey meat for the sandwich but they only had chicken, which I eat quite a bit of already haha, so I'm not thrilled again to eat more chicken but it's fine.
I wanted to actually do wraps but I forgot tortillas, sigh great. I have though bread and I can also do breadless version later on if I prefer.
This sandwich has chicken deli slices, shredded nacho cheese, lettuce and mayo, with a side of grape tomatoes.
These are my Korean bbq stuffed peppers. I used Korean bbq seasoning, beef, seasoned tomatoes, brown rice and shredded nacho cheese.
Today is now February 11th and I have planned waffles with chocolate and strawberries for breakfast and southern breaded chicken and veggies for lunch.
I really enjoyed this breakfast. I used both buttermilk and chocolate chip waffles, with Kraft chocolate spread and strawberries.
I love this southern breading mix for the chicken, it was delicious and the veggies I had were: yellow and orange carrots, snap peas and shelled edamame. The mix also has whole baby corn and garlic sprouts that I did not make today.
Today is February 12th and I have planned chicken wraps with a side of potatoes for breakfast and a meat and veggie pasta for lunch.
These are my wraps: with chicken deli meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and mayo.
Here are my parsley potatoes, they turned out not too bad. These are good with various dipping sauces, you could do ranch or chipotle or whatever you like; or even eat them as is.
This is my meatball and veggie pasta, with Mafalda Corta pasta, seasoned tomatoes, green peppers, Italian pasta sauce and Swedish meatballs.
Today is February 13th and I have planned a smoothie for breakfast and a salad for lunch.
This smoothie has strawberries, banana and orange juice. Throughout the month I'll also have smoothies with pineapple juice and milk, as well as other fruits (I have a bag of peaches, mangoes and strawberries mix). I wanted mango juice, as it's my favourite for smoothies but I don't have any.
Today is February 14th and I have planned a Quesadilla for breakfast and another salad for lunch.
This is my cheese quesadilla, using a nacho cheese blend (cheddar, Monterey Jack and jalapeno), I had it with a side of salsa.
Had another salad, same toppings as last time and yes the photo is chaotic, it's befitting haha!
Today is February 15th and I have planned a waffle with chocolate and strawberries and a butter croissant for breakfast and tacos for lunch.
I didn't realize till now how much I love the hazelnut chocolate and strawberry combo, it's so nice! The croissant was nice too, flaky, buttery and soft.
Here are my tacos: I did seasoned beef, onions, peppers, corn, seasoned tomatoes, salsa and mild sauce.
Today is February 16th and I have planned another waffle with chocolate and strawberries for breakfast and chicken wraps for lunch.
I'm planning to mix up the toppings, I've just been addicted to this combo lately haha. I plan to do (in no particular order): peanut butter, butter and syrup, with also bananas.
Enjoyed more wraps today, I swear I could scarf down 10 of them. I had the same fillings as last time.
Today is February 17th and I have planned oatmeal for breakfast and spaghetti for lunch.
I had peaches and cream oatmeal, it's not my favourite but very nostalgic, I've been eating instant oatmeal since I was young.
This is my spaghetti, I decided to do a meat sauce, I used seasoned beef and Italian pasta sauce.
Today is February 18th and I have planned a smoothie for breakfast and meatballs, veggies and mashed for lunch.
Today's smoothie is: strawberries, bananas and pineapple juice. I prefer the pineapple juice to the orange juice, as I find the OJ is too strong but I still enjoy the OJ.
Here are my homemade herb and garlic mashed potatoes, Swedish meatballs and mixed veggies. I honestly prefer the other brand of veggies I've been using, today's veggies were not great overall but I did really enjoy the red pepper and onions.
I am now away on my overnight trip, for February 19th to February 20th. I am not having any meals at home and I will not be documenting my food plans while away.
Today is now February 21st and I have planned waffles with syrup for breakfast and sweet and sour chicken stir fry for lunch.
Simple breakfast today, I don't often use syrup anymore; not like I did as a kid but I thought today was a nice day for childhood nostalgia.
Here is my chicken stir fry: with chicken breast, sweet and sour sauce and mix veggies. A pretty good meal.
I want to mention that when it comes to pasta and rice dishes I'm usually good at making single servings or two servings. The odd time I make quite a bit of pasta but that's pasta for you haha!
Today is February 22nd and I have planned waffles with chocolate and bananas for breakfast and sandwich with a salad for lunch.
Thawed bananas look gross but they aren't too bad, I wish I had fresh ones I really do haha! Still was a nice breakfast but I prefer the strawberries if I'm honest.
This was a very simple sandwich just: mayo, lettuce and chicken meat. My toaster wasn't working properly today, it was set at 4 and barely toasted my bread SIGH.
This salad has: green peppers, tomatoes, lettuce and bacon Caesar dressing.
Today is February 23rd and I have planned a corn and cheese quesadilla and smoothie for breakfast and a frozen dinner for lunch.
I don't often buy frozen dinners anymore, or I only buy a few each month, I enjoy them but they are a bit pricey and small in serving; unless I purchase the larger portion ones but they are even more costly.
This smoothie is; strawberries, banana, mango, peaches and pineapple juice.
I had General Tso's chicken, was pretty good, I don't love this one but I hadn't had in a while so I wanted to grab it, I'm usually grabbing the same pastas, it was time for a rice dish haha.
Today is February 24th and I have planned waffles with butter for breakfast and alfredo pasta for lunch.
I ran out of butter so I'm having my cinnamon toast waffles with margarine haha, I know it's not great for you but I enjoy it nonetheless. I wish I got a better brand of waffles but this is still my favourite waffle flavour.
I made fettuccini alfredo with broccoli, it was delicious but I think I over did my broccoli a little bit haha.
I put together my own version of Raisin Bran, it's expensive so I decided to make it myself. I had a box of Frosted Flakes from the dollar store, name brand but only 2 bucks and then I got a bag of raisins for 1 buck, much more affordable than the original cereal haha. I though prefer Raisin Bran, maybe one day soon I'll splurge a little for a good box.
I had beef stew, I'm a lover of stew and I like it ALMOST as much as I enjoy soup haha. I enjoyed this stew with crackers but it's also good with various breads.
Today is February 26th and I have planned two quesadillas for breakfast and stuffed chicken with rice for lunch.
I had two of these and I was so full haha! I finished off the corn I had and I'm done with corn for a while now, I'm tired of it! It's back to just cheese for me haha!
I made ham and cheese stuffed chicken and broccoli cheddar rice, the rice wasn't great but I wouldn't do it again.
Today is February 27th and I have planned waffles with syrup for breakfast and veggie pasta for lunch.
Cinnamon toast waffles and syrup again today. I have to be honest I like the idea of syrup but I'm not crazy about the texture and that it's sticky, I got a problem with textures haha, I enjoy it sometimes though but it's probably my second least favourite waffle topping.
This is a pasta and veggie bag, garlic flavour and not too bad. It's very plain but you could add different meats or meat alternatives to spice this up. This is also a good meal for someone who doesn't like strong flavours or sauces on their pasta, I'd think it could be good for different types of people, maybe even children but you know how hard it is to even get them to eat their veggies haha.
Today is February the 28th and I had planned on ordering take out for breakfast, getting French toast with a homemade smoothie and pasta with veggies again for lunch.
I'm going to be doing a review on this French toast (it may be up before or after I post this monthly meal plan) and you can search it on my blog or stay tuned for the upload!
I made this smoothie it was with strawberries, banana and milk. I prefer my smoothies with juice but I had with milk today.
I've eaten so much of this today and yesterday, I'm so full of it! I really think this would be nicer with chicken but I need my chicken for another day of stir fry haha.
Today is March 1st and I have planned a cheese quesadilla for breakfast and a frozen dinner for lunch.
I'm out of tortillas now but still have lots of cheese haha. I don't have anymore quesadillas planned for the rest of the blog post but I still plan to eat them between meals. I really enjoy them, I still wish I had chicken but I'm not fussed, these are simple and still really good.
I had fettucine alfredo with chicken and broccoli, I really enjoy this chicken haha even though it's a frozen dinner. I preferred the one I made but it was indeed missing the meat haha.
Today is February 2nd and I have planned a smoothie for breakfast and more veggie pasta for lunch.
This smoothie has strawberries, bananas, mangos, peaches and orange juice. This one is nice, I enjoy all the various fruits, I prefer mango juice but again I had none this time.
Today is now March 3rd and I have planned chicken wraps for breakfast and chicken stir fry for lunch.
I was able to grab another pack of tortillas yay! These wraps are a little more simple, since I ran out of fresh tomatoes haha. These have chicken deli meat, lettuce, cheese and mayo.
My chicken stir fry this time looks a bit different, there's less sauce here than last time; as I have to break the bottle into 3 meals and I went a little overboard the first time haha. Also I used the onions and peppers mix instead of the mixed veggies bag. Overall I preferred the taste of last time's stir fry but still not a bad meal.
Today is March 4th and I have planned waffles for breakfast and quesadillas for lunch.
I had waffles with chocolate today, no fruits as I'm running low and I need them for smoothies haha. I still enjoyed this breakfast, it was nice.
Two final cheese quesadillas, they are done for this month haha! I'm taking a break but these are so simple yet I think are delicious!
Today is March 5th and I have planned cereal for breakfast and pasta with veggies for lunch.
I rarely eat Froot Loops anymore but I got a little bag to enjoy, holds a lot of childhood nostalgia.
Here is my final bowl of pasta and veggies, I'm glad it's over haha.
Today is March 6th and I have planned a waffle with peanut butter and a smoothie for breakfast and stuffed chicken with rice for lunch.
I wasn't crazy about the peanut butter on a waffle but I'm doing it again haha, I much more prefer the chocolate.
This smoothie is strawberry, mango, peach and orange juice, I didn't have bananas prepped for today's smoothie, it's more so a texture and consistency thing than a flavour thing for me anyway.
The last ham and cheese stuffed chicken with chicken and wild rice. I love this chicken again but the rice was just okay, I wouldn't get it again.
Today is March 7th and I have planned cereal for breakfast and a frozen dinner for lunch.
Froot loops again haha, I bought a little bag that's good for 2-3 bowls, it's cheaper and better than buying a box, where I get tired of them quick and not want to eat them anymore haha.
I love this penne polo pasta, I really wish it was in a grande version, as there's never enough. They do make I think two grande types, we need more!!! I think the grande ones are their fried chicken which I dont like and the beef mac and cheese which I would like but don't often buy.
Today is March 8th and it's the final day, I have planned peanut butter with banana on a waffle for breakfast and veggie stir fry for lunch.
I don't like thawed bananas, for texture and flavour, I'm not doing this again haha, I also don't plan to do peanut butter on my waffles again, it is better on toast or just regular bread.
Here is my final stir fry, no chicken this time. I have to admit I wasn't a fan of this sweet and sour sauce, I'd not get it again. The stir fry overall wasn't too bad but I missed the chicken haha.
I'm finally at the end of the month of meal planning, what a tiring time I've had. While it felt kinda cool and put together, I wouldn't do it again. I'd rather just eat as I go or plan only a few meals with meats and fresh produce. I found this plan each day felt so out of sorts for me, to have to stick to what I planned or move things around if I wasn't up for something. I do though like how it forced me to eat and eat properly, sometimes I'm caught up in work or mental health makes me wanna prolong or skip meals, this is good for that. I do though enjoy how it felt to be planned and ready for each meal, it just wasn't for me overall. Hope you enjoyed the blog post :)!
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