We are back!

After 9.5 hours in the car, 3 coffee stops, and pouring rain and wind we made it safely.

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I am exhausted. I need sleep and have a lot of work to catch up on not to mention our house looks like our cats decided to have a big party while we were gone.

Oh, and my cats decided to take advantage of the food I left out for them (I usually feed them 2x per day) and completely gorged themselves.  Needless to say they are going on a diet now that momma is home! They are not pleased.

 

I need to get back on track with my eating too. I have done the best I could while traveling, but I am in need of some good home cooked meals and less eating out! I am so excited to get some normalcy back in my life for a little while.

I honestly never thought I would say that I am sick of eating out, but I am!

 

I am in the process of doing my first round of meal planning.

I have to keep a couple things in mind when planning our meals for the week:

1. Healthy/Clean Recipes

2. Budget friendly recipes

3. Husband friendly recipes (he tends to be a pretty bland eater)

 

Balancing out meals when one of us is recovering from an injury and the other is running over 100 miles a week is definitely something I have to keep in mind.

Of course I can practice portion control, but there are certain things that Wes needs for his high training that I just don’t.

 

I have divided my meal planning into 4 sections:

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1. Dinners (3) – I am assuming the other nights we will eat leftovers.

2. Side Dishes (2-3)

3. Healthy Snack (1)

4. “Treat” Snack (1)

 

I am starting out slow to get the hang of it and then once I get better I can expand my horizons.

All my main dinners need to contain a protein and healthy carb.

The healthy snack will consist of something sweet that is healthy and can be used to combat sweet cravings.

I know my husband is a big sweets man so by cooking 1 not-so-healthy treat per week it will limit it some, but still allow him to enjoy his favorite things!

 

After I have the meals picked out I list everything I need to buy at the store and make sure to go to the store and shop on Sunday night so that I have everything ready to go.

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My favorite meal planning resource websites so far:

Pinterest (duh!)

Pinterest

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Pinterest is one of my favorite websites to use to find new recipes. It takes some time and can become very addicting, but you can find some awesome and easy meals.

ZipList

My Recipe Box   ZipList com

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I actually just came across this site recently. You can store recipes, create grocery list, find local grocery coupons and deals, and meal plan for the week all in one place! This is a great way to keep myself organized.

You can also store recipes directly from your favorite blogs to reference later.

 

My first week of meal planning is planned and ready to go – let’s see how it works! I will check back with you all later in the week and let you know how it goes!

 

Do you meal plan? What are some of your tips? 

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