Timesavers

Eating real food all day, every day is a ton of work!  I now understand why so many people comment that their second or third Whole30 experiences were better than their first.  It’s because they finally figured out that meal planning, careful shopping, a stocked pantry and fridge, and a bigger grocery budget are the keys!

Being OK with repeating meals for a few days is truly a big thing, especially if you are like me and generally just cooking for one person.  By week two, I knew that if I kept endeavouring to keep things interesting I would never get out of the kitchen!  So I did what I always do when faced with trouble…put on my thinking cap and got some planning done! 

Tricks that saved my life during W30…

• bake 4-5 yams on Sunday evening.
• boil at least a half dozen eggs on Sunday evening.
• every time veggies are being chopped, chop extra.
• grill up extra chicken sausages while using the BBQ on the weekend.
• pre-washed spinach.
• fresh fruit, Larabars, raw cashews, dry roasted macadamia nuts, and organic apple chips.

 

• invest in a few extra food storage containers and a box of freezer bags.
• spend one night each week making homemade mayo, homemade almond milk, homemade chicken stock, and clarified butter when needed.
• pre-portion and pack as many breakfasts and lunches as possible at the beginning of the week.
• batch cook.  chicken soup, bison chili, salmon cakes.
• rely on canned tuna and bagged salad.

What are some other good time and money saving tips for a real-food heavy diet?

What can you eat?

The biggest question I got throughout the Whole30 process was “well, what CAN you eat then?!”.  It does seem overwhelming to people when you say you are currently not eating any grains, dairy, legumes, soy, sugar, additives, corn, peas, potatoes or booze.  But there are tons of things you CAN eat…you just have to put some thought into it.

I thought I’d share a typical work day meal plan. 

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with onions, peppers, and spinach served over yam hash cooked in coconut oil and topped with kalmata olives or avocado.  grapefruit on the side.

Lunch:  grilled chicken breast, 1/2 a baked yam with cinnamon and coconut oil, sautéed kale topped with pecan pieces.

Pre-workout:  over easy egg with sliced avocado or a handful of natural almonds.

Dinner:  sautéed shredded Brussels sprouts cooked in clarified butter, roasted carrots and beets, pan seared wild salmon filet, all drizzled with olive oil.

On Friday evenings I would throw in Dessert for Michael and I:  chopped Altaulfo mango and sliced banana with whipped coconut milk and chopped almonds.

You’ll notice there is no photo for Post-Workout.  I struggled the most with this meal because I workout after work…so I’m really ready for dinner when I get home from the gym.  But the plan asks you to eat a portion of protein and a good carb right after your workout and this mini-meal shouldn’t replace a regular meal. So I would generally go for a hard boiled egg or a cold leftover chicken sausage and either some baked yam or some steamed carrots…really had to make sure I had some leftovers kicking around in the fridge. 

10 things that keep me sane on a diet

I don’t know about you, but when I’m on my ‘diet’ game I owe a lot of it to being organized, planning ahead, and knowing what works for me.  My grocery lists become a little more static as I ensure that my arsenal of ‘safe’ and ‘helpful’ foods make their way into the house each week.

I thought I’d share a few of my favourite things to keep on hand to help ensure a less snacky, satisfied and healthy me.

Fresh lemons and limes

Not only do they make my water more enjoyable but I’ve been squeezing lime on all sorts of things to give it a fun, fresh kick.  Watermelon. Avocado. Salad. Turkey burgers. And fresh lemon in tuna salad is the best.

UVAB

Best thing ever for smoothies, oatmeal, and homemade cafe au lait. There’s a reason this is so popular…low calorie that doesn’t taste like low calorie!

Avocado

I put that shit on everything!  Who needs cheese when you’ve got avocado?

Triscuits + avocado + lime squeeze + salt = delicious snack!

Watermelon, grapes, berries

I save these fruity snacks for my after dinner treat.  They are perfect for keeping my hands happy when they might otherwise reach for chips, M&M’s, or some other such snacky badness.

Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt

The ONLY chocolate that satisfies my sweet tooth with a small portion.  When I crave chocolate, I crave a family sized KitKat.  But somehow this particular dark chocolate does the job for me most days.

Light Laughing Cow

Is there anything it can’t do?  Substitute for cream cheese, mayo on sandwiches, sauce for chicken, dip for strawberries.  Eat it up.

Soda Water

When everyone else is drinking beer and cider I can fake myself out with a fizzy glass of soda water as long as it’s snazzed up with lemons, limes, oranges or a splash of pineapple juice.  Or if I do want to partake in the boozing then I kick it old school with white wine spritzers or a icy cold flavoured vodka and soda.

Apples with cinnamon and nut butter

This one works for any meal or snack as far as I’m concerned.  Just slice, sprinkle and dip (measured of course!).  Nom.

tuna, pre-cooked chicken, boiled eggs, canned beans

Taking the time to make a bigass salad doesn’t seem so bad when the protein is already prepped.

Pickles

Next to no calories and satisfy most crunchy, salty cravings.

Obviously there are other foods that work for me too (but I thought hummus and veggies seemed pretty obvious!). 

What are your favourite go-to groceries to help make a healthier, happier you?

Reader Request: Single Gal Shopping

This post is a long time coming!  And even though I’m not technically a single gal these days (hi Honey!) I still shop as a single gal because this bachelorette pad is mine all mine.  :)

Any of you that read here regularly know that I like to be a somewhat frugal grocery shopper.  I tend to only buy what’s on sale, shop around for good produce prices, and don’t like to overstock my fridge, freezer and cupboards.  I’m also a big proponent of meal planning.  Meal planning is not just for families!  It’s really the lifeline to keeping grocery costs down and perishable food waste to a minimum.  It is also a huge timer save and meal-stress reliever!

So here’s what works for me… I generally manage to pull this off for probably three of the four weeks per month.  There is usually one week (this last week is a good example) where I just don’t feel like meal planning, or I know there’s enough to scrounge up around here that it’s not necessary.  The kicker to that is that I ended up at the grocery store three times this week looking for something to complete a meal idea…which isn’t a big deal if you can get in and get out with only whatever you actually need!  I may or may not have wandered out of the store with some completely unnecessary chocolate covered almonds.

Step One:  Meal Planning

Take a look in your fridge/freezer/cupboards for main meal ingredients.  For me this means checking to see what kind of proteins I have on hand to base a meal on.  For this example week I literally had no meats or beans on hand!  If you have anything, think of what you’d like to do with it.  If you have nothing, it’s time to check your grocery flyers.

I like to write out a quick list of the days of the week and list my meals and snacks for those days.  I’m generally planning out Monday to Friday…breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.  Friday dinner I usually leave off in the hopes of Michael feeding me.  :)

Base your meals on what you like and what you have…then decide what you need to complete the ideas.  This will form your grocery lists.

Breakfasts and lunches are pretty standard.  Salads can be made from all kinds of reasonably priced veggies, and breakfasts are one of three or four favourites depending on the seasons.

Step Two:  Grocery Lists

I refuse to drive around to multiple grocery stores just to save a buck or two, but we do have a really great produce market here that has lots of local items and generally much better prices on seasonal goods.  Aside from that I stick to my favourite grocery store and if I don’t like the price of something I probably just won’t buy it.

Conveniently both of these stores have their weekly flyers online so I just take a quick look through those to see what the deals of the week are and that generally helps me decide on what I’m going to eat. 

For this example week, boneless skinless chicken breasts and pork loins were on sale so that’s what I went with.  I know that most packaged meats will feed me at least two servings so right there I have four dinners planned.  Then all I have to do is have a look at what produce is on sale (or things I know are always cheap…like maybe zucchini) to help decide on side dishes or recipe preparations.

I also keep my eyes peeled for regular pantry items I might need to pick up…ie: rice, mayonnaise, eggs, oatmeal, etc.  As well as items I consume every week like soy milk or yogurt or bananas….some stuff just never goes on sale and I have to suck it up and pay full price, but you’d be surprised how much you can save by just giving in to a different brand of yogurt for one or two weeks here and there.

If money is a real issue make sure you know what your MONTHLY grocery budget is.  Each week probably won’t be exactly the same spend so keep in mind that you might be able to save a few dollars this week but you will probably need them next week when you run out of dish soap or cheese goes on sale.  (I keep a lose estimate in my head while I’m writing up my grocery list).

Step Three:  Grocery Shopping

First and foremost, make a freaking list.  And use it!

Also, the rule about not shopping when you are hungry/sad/bored…it’s totally true.  Pay attention to this!

Go in knowing that you will probably buy something that is not on your list.  Sometimes I end up realizing I missed something in the flyers…like toilet paper is on sale, or I walk past something and it reminds me I’m running low.  If it’s a good price and I need it, I get it.  If it’s full price and it can wait, I wait.

If your budget has room, allow yourself extra items or a splurge.  For this example week I ended up with a couple of things…mainly a special container of cheese.  When I saw it in the deli case I had to buy it because it’s a seasonal item.  It’s never going on sale and it’s only available once in a while…I had room in my budget and knew I would find multiple uses for it…so into my basket it went. 

While waiting to pay, double check your list and your items as you unload them.  If you find yourself with multiple extra items use this chance to really think about if you want/need them.  Almost every time, I’ll end up putting something back and never miss it once I’m home.

And that’s really it!  You just have to stick to the plan now that you have the stuff.  It’s not saving you any money or groceries to get lazy after you’ve made it this far.  Stopping for drive-thru or ordering take-out because you are tired/busy/lazy one night is just going to be a waste of the groceries you just bought.  Of course I’m not saying to give up last minute plans with the girls, or a date night or something, but it’s just something to keep in mind.

Other notes:

I’m not a stockpiler.  My cupboards will generally have a decent selection of baking supplies and I always try to keep some soup, beans, tuna, pasta, etc on hand but I don’t buy extras “just in case”.  I buy what I need when I need it.

My fridge is what most people would call “sparse”.  I have lots of the typical condiments, etc but again…I don’t stockpile.  One or two salad dressings are fine with me, one variety of pickles is good, and the only reason I have two jars of salsa is because the sale was so good I couldn’t pass it up.

I aim for around $300 a month.  This includes all of my groceries, anything I contribute to meals made at Michael’s, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and kitty litter.  Unless I totally run out of everything at once, this is pretty doable.  (Dog and cat food comes from a different budget).

I’m human.  This is “best case scenario”.  I buy treats.  I blow the budget.  I get lazy and pay too much for avocado because I need it for a recipe.  But just like anything else in life…if you have good intentions things seem to work out pretty close to the plan.

So….

Was this helpful?

Do you meal plan?  make grocery lists? 

What other reader requests should I do?

Amazingness All Around

Proof that our blogging community is totally awesome?

YES.  The Great Fundraising Act blew the roof off of the blog auction world this week when hundreds of people banded together and raised a whopping $26,000 for Balance Susan.  Insane and amazing.  I only wish I’d had the money in my bank account to bid on the year’s supply of Chobani!

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Three guesses what I had for breakfast yesterday.  Hint: I could totally recycle the photo all week.  :)  If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

In order to keep the leftover Greek Pasta Salad pictures more interesting I used a different bowl and added red leaf lettuce to the mix.

Biggest item on today’s to-do list?  Buy more grapefruity Perrier.  Stat.

Afternoon snackeroo was to be an apple with cheese, but upon biting into said apple I actually spit it out.  It was THAT awful.  Cucumber instead.

Week’s ago Ingmarie suggested a few of us gals get together for a picnic dinner.  That’s the ticket to the group of us finding coordinating time to hang out…planning ahead!  So last night Ing, Tiffaney and I made our way over to Tia’s (Rose we missed you!!) for some girl talk and delicious, healthy eats.

Just enough sun and residual heat from the day made us able to actually eat outside.  Nothing like a little girlie patio action.

Dinner consisted of all light, lovely, vegetarian fare!  Ingmarie brought a creamy avocado dip topped with roasted baby tomatoes.  Tiffaney made a gianormous leafy green salad with arugula, bocconcini and homemade balsamic dressing for drizzling.  And Tia contributed her amazing quinoa salad chock full of crunchy veggies, almonds, and dried cranberries!  On the side we had fresh bread, crackers and Boursin.

My offering for the night was dessert!  Tiffaney demanded requested I make the same awesome Creamy Citrus Tart I took to the shrimp boil a few months ago as she has been drooling about it ever since.  :)  I was more than happy to oblige.

(This recipe can be a weeee bit pricey because of the condensed milk and cream cheese so I portioned it out for us gals and saved some leftovers for Michael and his fam…and you know, maybe a teensy extra piece pour moi.)

We sat and chatted about this, that and everything (Greeeeece!) for a few hours before calling it a night.

Before hopping into bed I pulled out his handy-dandy USB to AC converter that came with my Kindle (thanks for the tip Ali!) and sure enough it works for plugging my iTouch into the wall.

So curious to see what Sleep Cycle has to say about my sleep habits and patterns.  Of course, last night’s might be a bit skewed because I set it to run before deciding I just HAD to watch Sunday’s Big Brother before going to sleep.  Nerd alert!

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After posting my meal plan/calorie count for Monday a few of you expressed concern that I starved myself.  Let me reassure you that no one was truly starving over here!  I just gave myself one day of strict planning to help jumpstart me into less snacking and mindful choices.  Those calories counts were totally guesstimates and in no way did I under eat. 

And if you are still worried then just look at Tuesday’s numbers!  I stopped counting at 880ish calories and still had that glorious dinner and dessert which I didn’t count because it would just be too hard to figure it all out.  I don’t feel I over or under ate at all…I was just very mindful of everything I put in my body…which is really all I’m after at this point.

Cheers! :)

Paper Calories

So ya.  The weather was so deliciously nice this weekend that I let it convince me to buy coffee specific to the iced variety.  Then come Monday morning our crap weather came back.  For the record: this makes fine hot coffee too.

The worst thing a food blogger can do is fall in love with a meal and repeat it daily.  Sorry kids.  Squirrelly toast with PB & nanner.  AGAIN.

In an effort to kickstart some semblance of a healthy diet over here I planned a very low calorie day using up some of the nutritious stuff I have on hand around here.  Hence yogurt, granola and a whack of blueberries for lunch.

If you see this amazing grapefruit Perrier on sale, please email/tweet me immediately.  I think I know where my daily Starbucks allowance is about to go.

Snackypoo:  Rosemary & Olive Oil Triscuits (where have you been all my life?!?) with light Laughing Cow and TJ’s artichokey stuff.

What happens when you eat non-fat yogurt and blueberries for lunch?  Oh yeah, you are starving by 5:15.  Leftovers to the rescue.

Greek Pasta Salad bumped up with chickpeas for proteiny goodness and tzatziki for creamy deliciousness.

Evening snackeroo…fresh shucked peas (with matching napkin).  They kept my hands busy the same way popcorn/gummy bears/M&Ms would, but didn’t kill my ever present evening sweet tooth.

But that’s what 70 calorie blue Creamsicles are for, right?  Riiiight.

Keepin’ it real on paper, yo.  Every time I try to track my menus online with MyFitnessPal or something similar I get irritated at how long it takes me to input everything.  For the most part I can guesstimate calories myself and slap out a hand written meal plan in under 5 minutes.

Overestimation is my friend.  Keeping it simple is my sanity. 

I tried out this cool app Michael told me about when I hit the hay last night.  Sleep Cycle.  It helps show sleep patterns, etc and includes an alarm (which eventually will become intuitive to your natural waking time).

What I realized though is that they tell you to keep your iThing plugged in for a reason.  This app killed my battery overnight.  What sucks is iTouch doesn’t come with an AC adaptor…so keep it plugged in can’t happen.  I may have just wasted 99 cents.  Bugger.

On a bright note: my insomnia hasn’t been so bad lately. *knock wood*

According to Plan

Yay, berries other than strawberries were actually on sale!  Still can’t wait for fresh, local Summer berries but having raspberries to add to my yogurt and Kashi this morning was a welcome change.

When I was going through my cupboards making this week’s meal plan I came across a can of navy beans…that immediately made me think of making enchiladas…but instead I turned them into a quick and easy bigass salad topper.

In the big silver bowl: spinach, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, red pepper…dressed with 1tsp olive oil.

Toppings:  1/2 cup navy beans warmed with 1 tbsp salsa, 1 oz finely shredded old white cheddar, 1 tbsp salsa and 1 tbsp light sour cream.

Would have been perfect with some crunchy taco chips! 

Australian Gingerbread People to the snackeroo rescue.

Dinner tonight took place while viewing another Canucks vs Blackhawks game at 5th Street Bar & Grill.  Let’s not talk about that game though.  *sad face*

Going into the evening I knew I had to plan ahead to make a good meal choice and keep the cost reasonable.  Maybe I should think about getting cable…it would be cheaper than going out to watch every game!

I planned for one beer so started out sipping Diet Coke until after I ate.

For dinner I knew I wanted the chicken strips as long as I could get salad instead of fries.  No problem on the substitution…yay! 

I was still a bit hungry and stole one (!) chicken wing from the other girls but I walked out very pleased with myself for sticking to my plans!

Too bad our Canucks didn’t stick to the plans!

[photo source]

At home after the game it was still relatively early and my tummy started to rumble so I decided to calm it with half of an apple with almond buttery goodness.

Chances are I’m going to be hungry laying in bed trying to sleep like I was last night.  I always have so much trouble with extra water, veggies and fruit actually making me feel super hungry…but the only way around it is to ignore it.

Anyone else struggle with that feeling?

PS:  Did you see my first Sooke Harbour House post?  It was a fun time, I promise.

Monday Meals

Another Monday.  Another new meal plan.  Another attempt at balance.

Meal plan said to eat up the yogurt and strawberries that are still kicking around.  So I did!

Meal plan also said that the English muffins aren’t getting any fresher so I’d better eat up the last one.

So I did.  “Bacon” and egger with light Laughing Cow.  Deeeelish.

Carrot and apple slices on the side.

Afternoon tea.

Pre-gym protein.  Half scoop of Amazing Grass SuperFood, 1 tbsp Trader Joe’s flaxerific almond butter, and 1 cup vanilla soy milk.  Shake shake shake!

For the first time in a couple of weeks I decided to show my bad back who’s boss and headed for the gym after work.  The only way to make this thing better is to strengthen it up, even if it hurts like bejesus.

According to MyFitnessPal I burned 555 calories between cardio, strength training and doggie walking.  Word.

Meal plan told me to eat mucho veggies in the form of a bigass salad…  Well OK!

In the big silver bowl: spinach, cucumber, red pepper, red onion, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, and these handy dandy radishes I found.  Dressed with olive oil and lemon juice.

6oz chicken breast marinated with honey, garlic, parsley, s&p, and olive oil.  Cooked up on The Griddler… I ate half.

Nom nom nom.

All those burned calories accommodated some after dinner snackeroos.  Yummy old white cheddar (weighed 1oz) with the rest of my lunchtime apple.

And the best 100 calorie snack in the house.  Popchips!

I just updated my Facebook status: “Jaime has taken the first steps to getting her good triceps, back and waist back. Look out.”  I guess I’m on the hook now, eh? :)