Menu Plan Sunday (2/6-2/13)

We have 4 members of our family - me & M (my lovely husband) & two small kids. Our boys are (almost) 5 & (almost) 4.

Quick review of a new recipe we tried last week - Thai Chicken Pizza. I made 2/3 of the pizza with the Thai Chicken, & pepperoni & cheese for the other 1/3 for the kids. I made my own Thai Peanut Sauce, from this recipe. I thought the pizza was very good. I want to experiment with it a bit more, but it tastes a lot like the California Pizza Kitchen kind.

Lunches:

• Sunday - Cashew chicken salad on crackers + fruit. Making this dip for the Super Bowl, later in the day.
• Monday - Leftover Thai Chicken Pizza + cottage cheese & fruit
• Tuesday - Leftover fajitas
• Wednesday - Leftover spicy chicken
• Thursday - Out to lunch with M.
• Friday - Leftover grilled chicken with pesto
• Saturday - Pizza party for our oldest son.
• Sunday - Picnic at the mountain. (S, my oldest son, & I take lessons on Sundays.)

Dinners:

• Sunday - Steak fajitas & guacamole *
• Monday - Grilled Chicken With Spinach Pesto * and crescent rolls + sauteed beans
• Tuesday - Giada's Spicy Chicken  * + roasted sweet potatoes *
• Wednesday - Herbed chicken parmesan with orzo + sauteed beans
• Thursday - Leftovers
• Friday - Ravioli with homemade pesto from the freezer
• Saturday - Birthday party for our son. S is turning 5!
• Sunday - Sauteed tilapia with lemon peppercorn sauce + corn risotto *

*asterisk indicates that it's the first time I'm trying the recipe. I try & post reviews of our favorites in the following week's menu.

2/5 - Fitness & Nutrition

weight = didn't weigh in. Forgot before breakfast, & I have a routine around what time I can weigh myself. :-)

I ate popcorn last night & feel bloated this am. Mistake. Wish I could take that back. Also, I tried Fage/Greek yogurt this morning, on M's recommendation. He loves it, & i know it's very healthy, but it's so sour! It tastes like eating a bowl of sour cream. Any ideas how to get used to it? I added a tiny touch of agave, diced pear, & a small handful of crushed cereal for crunch. It was still extremely sour.

Food:
Breakfast:
1/2 c Greek yogurt + 1/2 tsp agave + 2/3 pear + 1/4 c crushed cereal - 180
coffee + milk - 20

Snack:
costco samples - 150

Lunch:
cottage cheese - 130
edamame - 160

Snack:
bites of superbowl food as I was prepping it - 100

Dinner:
thai chicken pizza - 400
Cosmopolitan - 150

Total = 1390

Workout = 30 minutes elliptical & bike, 5 minutes of stretching.

2/4 - Fitness & Nutrition Update, or the "Why am I so hungry" post

Let me caveat this by saying. I'm STARVING. All day. It's all I can do not to shovel all of the food in the cafeteria in my face. Today was a horrible day in terms of eating a well balanced diet. Ahem, on that note, here we go:

Weight = 155.6. Yes! Yes! Yes! I'm only 2.6 lbs from my pre-baby #2 weight. Almost there! And, in 11.6 lbs, I'll be within 2 lbs of my total baby weight. (The weight I was at when I got pregnant with my first child).

Food:
Breakfast:
english muffin + egg + 1/2 laughing cow - 230
coffee + milk + fiber - 30

Snack:
1 piece cheese - 100
muffin - 180

Lunch:
lasagna - 190
1/2 bag edamame - 80

Snack: (I know - these are horrible choices. It's all I had in my desk drawer. Should have caved & gone & bought fruit, even if it's $3/piece in the cafe).
chex mix - 140
trail mix - 300
baked chips - 140

Dinner:
popcorn. (this is what happens when you're going to skip dinner because you've eaten too much crap during the day. Eventually, you're starving & you cave in & have junk. Lesson learned. Don't. Skip. Meals. Also, don't eat a bunch of crap during the day. You will feel like crap that day & the following)

Total = 1560

Workout:
25 minute elliptical, level 13
7 minute run

2/3 - Fitness & Nutrition

Weight = 156. Woo! Down again today.

Food:
Breakfast:
3/4 english muffin + 1/2 laughing cow + morningstar sausage - 220
coffee + milk + fiber - 30

Snack:
banana muffin - 180

Lunch:
1/2 turkey sandwich - 480
1 serving chex mix - 140

Dinner:
balsamic chicken - 220
1/3 serving chex mix - 40
cashews - 80

Total = 1390

Workout = 25 minute walk/jog/jumping jacks
10 minutes of weights & lunges
5 minutes of stretching

2/2 - Fitness & Nutrition

Weight = 156.4  - down .4 lbs since yesterday. I'll take it! I'm only 3.4 lbs from my weight when I got pregnant with baby #2.

 

Food:
Breakfast:

• 3/4 english muffin + 1/2 laughing cow + morningstar sausage - 220
• coffee + fiber + milk - 30

 

Snack:

• banana chocolate chip muffin - 180

 

Lunch:

• chicken pasta casserole - 300
• pineapple - 40
• cheese - 100

Snack:

• chex mix - 300
• small scone - 150

Dinner

• pretzels (feeling sick) - 200

 

Total = 1520
No workout

2/1 - Fitness & Nutrition

Happy February, all!

 

Weight = 156.8. Same as yesterday.

 

Food:
Breakfast:

• Persian bread + feta + homemade blackberry jelly - 250
• coffee + milk + fiber - 30

 

Snack:

• latte - 100
• granola bar - 140

Lunch:

• 1 pc cheese - 100
• Lasagna - 335

 

Snack:

• yogurt covered pretzels - 280

Dinner:

• tortellini with fresh tomatoes & 1 tbsp shaved parmesan - 250
• pretzels (my stomach is killing me tonight & wanted something bland to settle it. Let's see if it works.) - 100

Total = 1585
No workout today

End of January Net Worth Update

I updated all of my trackers & adjusted our net worth links based on February 1 numbers. Here are the highlights/lowlights:

Highlights:
-We continue to invest in our 401Ks each month, as well as pay down our 401K loans. The market also picked up quite a bit in some of our investments, so we had a big jump here.

Lowlights:
-Neither of our mortgage payments were reflected in the update, as they have been paid but haven't cleared the account yet.
-Our stock options declined slightly in value.
-Property value stayed the same. This is perhaps a highlight & a lowlight in the current real estate market. :-)

Net result:
Our net worth is up $15,470 from the end of December, bringing our current net worth to $806,458. This is a 2% increase from last month. I'm considering setting a million dollar net worth goal to keep us motivated & tracking this. I know we will be plugging away, but it would be nice to have a specific net worth target that we're shooting for.

Be sure to check out Budgets are the New Black for more monthly updates & prepare to be inspired!