I’m now several weeks into my Summer Meal Planning Challenge, and I’m feeling the looooooonnnnnng days…which is exactly why I wanted to simplify my weekly meal planning system even further so I could enjoy the season.
I’ve been pretty good keeping up with the challenge, even though I haven’t been keeping up with the blogs or Pinterest – I promise to do better. Since it’s been awhile, here’s a recap of the challenge before I share my updates:
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Maintain a weekly food budget ($160) for 6 lunches and 7 dinners for my family of 3.
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Reduce the amount of time I spend on planning and preparing ingredients.
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Clean up my diet and eat less processed food.
Full disclosure, my grocery bill has exceeded $160 a few times because we needed some infrequent items like laundry detergent, body soap, and cooking oil. Yes, I shop for most of our household items through the food store because it saves me a stop and while I may pay a little bit more, I earn points and rewards that pay off in other ways (free items, discounts on groceries, and discounts on gas) – it’s justified in my head. That said, the food parts of my weekly food bill have been within the $160/week budget.
I’ve cleaned up my diet and eat less processed food by making a “juice” in the mornings made of blended frozen cucumber and pineapple with a tablespoon of sprouted chia seeds in a mason jar of water, a splash (or more) of lemon juice and about 7 grinds of Himalayan pink salt. This keeps me full until lunch and as long as I’m not in my luteal or menstrual phase, I haven’t been snacking between lunch and dinner. I started a post for Dirty Dishes about this drink, and apparently I never finished it…I’ll link in here once it’s up. Back to the challenge update, I’ve also been keeping more of a variety of fruits in the house so I feel good about eating less processed food and eating cleaner overall.
Lastly and the part of the update I am most excited to share…
My family and I love to travel and we recently went on a surf trip to Mexico, so I’ve been consuming a lot of travel and packing content on YouTube…like a lot! Anyway, something I kept coming across as a minimalist, outfit-repeater, and carry-on/hand luggage only (besides my longboard) enthusiast, was the 3x3x3 or Sudoki capsule wardrobe. I thought to myself, buying similar ingredients week after week provides a predictable budget, so this could be what saves me planning and prep time…and by-golly, it works!
Three (3) proteins, three (3) starch/grains, and three (3) vegetables gives you at least 15 different meal options – that’s more than I need to cover 6 lunches and 7 dinners. And since I shop weekly, I don’t feel super locked into a boring food routine because I change out the different elements based on what’s on sale or around certain ingredients that you can’t buy in small amounts. Chicken thighs are on BOGO, we’re eating lots of different preparations of chicken next week. Bacon is on sale, look for Brekki for Dinner and bacon-wrapped something on the weekly menu. You get my point…I hope…thus I give you, the Weekly Eats version of a Capsule Weekly Meals Grid.
My regular proteins have been: chicken, ground turkey, and fish or pork. Veggie picks have been: salad greens, broccoli, and carrots or brussel sprouts. The starch/grains in rotation have been: rice, dried beans (black or garbanzo), and sweet potato or pasta.
Let me be clear, there is not ONLY 3x3x3 on my shopping list; this is just my base framework so I don’t overthink or overextend future-Heather. Adding a protein, vegetable or starch will help if you’re feeling too limited. For instance, if pork roast is on sale, I’ll also buy ham so I can make Carnitas Tacos for dinner and Cubanos for post-surf lunches for Hubby and me for the weekend.
How’s your summer going? I’m ready for a weekend of good waves and good grinds…Cheers to the weekend!
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