Meal Planning and Sample Grocery List

I've had a few people ask me about meal planning each week, so I decided to post my grocery list and meals I have planned for this week. This can give you an idea of exactly how easy meal planning can be, and it also helps to make your grocery trip a lot easier and quicker. Brett and I also never eat lunch out, unless we have a day off together, so I also included lunch meals/ingredients into the grocery list. We often eat leftovers for lunch, however.

Almost all of these meals are gluten free, however I do use some soy sauce that contains gluten. I choose to eat gluten when we eat out, in moderation, because it doesn't bother me all that much. I also firmly believe in EVERYTHING IN MODERATION. No foods are completely off limits, unless they're horrible for you. Like soda, in which case, I have zero desire to drink.

Meals this Week:

Monday: Spring Rolls with Quinoa and Peanut Dipping Sauce
Tuesday: Chicken Sausage and Lentil Veggie Soup
Wednesday: Cauliflower Crust Pizza and Salad
Thursday: Pho
Friday: (Eat Out, Parent's in Town)
Saturday: Mexican Black Bean Pizzas
Sunday: (Eat Out)
Monday: Chicken with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Veggies

Lunches For Bree: Miso Soup with Veggies, Black Bean Patties and Salad, Zucchini/Cucumber Salad w/ Peanut Sauce, Tempeh and Veggies, Leftovers)

Lunches for Brett: Caprese Quinoa Salad, Leftover Soup, Leftover Cauliflower Pizza, Veggie Sandwich, Tomato Soup)

Breakfasts: Yogurt and Granola, Sweet Potato Muffins, Oatmeal and Almond Milk, Green Smoothies, Hard Boiled Eggs


This weeks menu is a bit different as I am having a flare up of silent reflux, and in order to get my acid back under control, I am having to cut back on all citrus, tomatoes, garlic, and onions. And sadly, coffee and wine, which is so hard for me. Anyways, back to this weeks grocery list. I put the meals that each ingredient will be used in in parentheses.

I go to two grocery stores because I know that some things are cheaper at certain places than others. And Whole Foods has certain ingredients that I can't get at Trader Joe's.


Trader Joes:

1 Pack Organic Zucchini       (Sausage Lentil Soup, Lunches)

1 Bag Organic Broccoli Florets    (Pho, Miso Soup, Tempeh and Veggies)

1 Bag Organic Baby Romaine    (Pho, Salads)

1 Bag Organic Spinach       (Pho, Salads, Green Smoothies)

1 Bag Organic Sweet Potatoes   (Chicken w/ Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Veggies, Muffins)

1 Cauliflower head      (Cauliflower Pizza Crust, Chicken and Roasted Veggies)

1 Organic Cucumber     (Spring Rolls, Zucchini/Cucumber Salad, Miso Soup)

5 Bananas           (For my reflux and Smoothies)

1 Bag of Organic Quinoa      (Spring Rolls, Caprese Quinoa Salad)

1 Box Organic Tomato Soup     (Brett's Lunches)

1 Dozen Eggs   (Breakfasts)

1 Box Ginger Miso Soup Broth      (Pho)

1 Box Low Sodium Organic Chicken Broth     (Sausage Lentil Soup)

1 Package Organic Free Range Chicken Tenders      (Chicken and Roasted Veggies)

1 Bottle of Dark Horse Cabernet Sauvignon   (MY FAVORITE)




Whole Foods:

1 Bunch Organic Asparagus  (Sausage Lentil/Veggie Soup, Chicken and Roasted Veggies)

2 Bunches Organic Kale   (Salads, Green Smoothies, Sausage Lentil/Veggie Soup)

1 Cantelope   (For my reflux)

1 Container Greek Yogurt   (Breakfasts)

1 Liter Almond Milk      (Breakfasts)

1 Bag of Dried Organic Black Beans  (Mexican Black Bean Pizza)

Aloe Juice   (For my reflux)

1 Package Raw Cheddar Cheese    (Mexican Black Bean Pizza, Snacks)

1 Bag Organic Brown Rice      (Just to have on hand)

1 Bag Organic Popcorn Kernels      (Snacks, Just to have on hand)

2 Perfect Bars    (Snacks)



Things I Already Had at Home:

Mozzarella Cheese   (Cauliflower Pizza, Caprese Quinoa Salad)

Condiments for Dressings/Dipping Sauces  

Brown Rice Thai Noodles     (Pho)

Dry Lentils     (Chicken Sausage Lentil/Veggie Soup)

Chicken Sausage    (Saved from last week and frozen for Soup this week)

Brown Rice Tortillas  (Mexican Black Bean Pizza)

Brown Rice Paper Wrappers  (Spring Rolls)

Coffee

Creamer    (So bad for us, but I can't live without my International Delight)

Tomatoes   (Caprese Quinoa Salad, Mexican Black Bean Pizza)

Garlic

Onions, Both Green and Red

Bread  (Gluten Free and Regular Crusty Table Loaf,  kept in freezer)

Organic Vegan Frozen Black Bean Patties       (Bree's Lunches)




There it is, I hope that's not confusing. Just an example of how I try to use ingredients all week so that as little food as possible goes bad. You don't have to buy all organic, I just try to.

As I've been doing research on Silent Reflux lately, I discovered that a lot of packaged foods have acid added to them to increase their shelf life. While this is much more convenient for me, it isn't great for someone with excess acid. In fact, it's probably not great for anyone. So as a result, I've been looking more closely at ingredients list on the labels and discovered that SO many things have absorbic acid, lactic acid, or citric acid added to them. Even organic products. That is why for this week, and probably from now on, I bought dried beans and zero canned ingredients. We will see how that goes.

Weekly Meal Planning

I have a secret obsession with meal planning and grocery shopping. Each week I literally have to stop myself from going to the grocery store too often. I can't help it, I love it. I often find myself stopping by Trader Joe's just to "look around". Similarly, I find myself doing this with Target as well, but that's a story for another day.

Each week I grab a piece of lined paper and I write down each day of the week we plan on eating at home. Then I glance at my Pinterest food pinboard, browse around foodgawker.com, and adamantly question my husband about what he would like to eat for dinners, lunches, etc. each week. I'm not sure why I obsess over it, or even why I take so much joy in it. It's quite boring actually. "In my free time I enjoy writing lists of foods and which days I'm going to make them...and then I dream about what ingredients to add and how to prepare the meals so I'm not rushing around trying to get dinner ready...and then I walk around Trader Joe's looking for new products I can try". I sincerely hope there are other people out there like me. My husband hates the grocery store. He gets anxiety from all the people and looks at my like a scared child who can't find his parents.

With that said, since my weekly meal planning obsession started a year or two ago, so did my obsession with not wasting food. It's a good habit to have, I'd say, but at times it's problematic. Trying to somehow put broccoli (that's about to go bad) into muffins or oatmeal isn't always a good idea. It's probably not ever a good idea--I dunno, you tell me?

Anyways, each week I write our dinner meals on a chalk board for Brett to choose from. He's a picky eater, and we can also both be indecisive, so it helps to have structure but also give us the freedom to be 'spontaneous'. I've had friends mention that they think it's a great idea to plan out meals, and that they want to start doing it--so here's my take on meal planning:

Each week, think of several meals you could make. When you're planning for just two people, there are often leftovers, so I try to plan around that. For instance, when I make chicken schnitzel, I save half of the raw chicken and freeze it or use it the next night for chicken tacos. I'll make a big pot of homemade black beans and throw some in turkey chili and some in black bean burritos (that I make ahead for Brett to take as lunch for work). I'll buy six bananas for the week and we'll only eat three, so I'll make banana bread for Brett to have for breakfasts. Right before any of my fruits go bad, I cut them up and stick them in a freezer bag to have smoothie ingredients on hand at all times. I'll make turkey meatballs with spaghetti and save half of the meatballs to put on homemade pizza the next night--just to name a few. This not only saves you a lot of money, but it also prevents eating out too much and helps you to eat healthier choices. It also allows controlling planners, like me, to feel good about themselves. By the way, I might be an obsessive planner, but you should see my car, desk drawers, or closets. Disasters. I am not organized when it comes to being neat.

So once I make my lists of meals I want to make, I then move onto creating the grocery list. Being an obsessive grocery shopper also gives me the opportunity to know which stores have the best deals. Trader Joe's is great for certain things, but Sprouts often has cheaper produce. So I make my lists according to grocery stores and where I can get what the cheapest. Then I usually knock it out in one day, or sometimes two when I'm short on time.

So there it is ladies and gentlemen, a guide to meal planning.