5 days of healthy eating

If I were to provide you with a 5 day healthy eating meal plan, with 3 meals and 2 snacks per day would you be interested in trying it out? Nothing complicated and difficult – I am a busy mom too. Just real, healthy foods. You test it out right along with me for 5 days and see if you drop a few pounds, and I get to have your feedback on the meal plan when the 5 days is up. Who would like to join me?

Comment below or send me an email at thegoars@gmail.com

It's crock pot freezer meal time

Well it’s that time again!  I have run out of my crock pot freezer meals and we are busy beavers with the kids’ sports every day during the week.  I plan on taking a few hours this weekend to put some together to get us through the next while.  I am a bit tired of my regular rotation of freezer meals so I grabbed a few new recipes to try this weekend.  I like to look for quick, easy recipes that don’t take a lot of prep time.  I also lean towards healthy, kid friendly meals. 

These are the new recipes I will be trying out and will be happy to report back when we try them.  Note – I prep the meals all the way up to the crock pot part, then toss them in a gallon size Ziploc.  I write the instructions with a sharpie on the bag and throw into the freezer until I use them.

Enjoy!

Salsa chicken

2 pounds (32 ounces) chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

1 cup salsa, homemade or purchased

1 cup petite diced canned tomatoes (choose low-sodium)

2 tablespoons Taco Seasoning

1 cup onions, diced fine

1/2 cup celery diced fine

1/2 cup carrots, shredded

3 tablespoons sour cream, reduced fat

Place the chicken in a slow cooker. Sprinkle the taco seasoning over the meat then layer the vegetables and salsa on top. Pour a half cup water over the mixture, set on low and cook for 6-8 hours. The meat is cooked when it shreds or reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. When ready to serve, break up the chicken with two forks then stir in the sour cream.

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Chicken stew

2 pounds chicken, without skin or bone

2 cups carrots, chopped

4 cups potatoes, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

8 oz mushrooms

1 tsp each garlic powder, thyme, oregano, marjoram, basil, bay leaf, black pepper

4 cups water with 1 tsp lemon juice added

Directions

Chop chicken, carrots, potatoes, celery, and onion and put them in the slow cooker.

Pour the mushrooms on top.

Sprinkle on the seasonings, pour in the water and lemon juice, and put the lid on cooker.

Let cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for the day.

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Balsamic chicken

Ingredients

6 chicken breasts, cut into strips

1 10 oz. bag of frozen vegetables (corn, peas, carrots)

1 onion, cut into wedges

1 green pepper, cut into strips

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons ground oregano

1 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Place vegetables in slow cooker, then place chicken strips on top. Sprinkle garlic and spices over chicken, then pour balsamic vinegar over chicken. Cook 3-4 hours on high (or 6-7 on low). Half way thru the cooking time, remove lid, baste chicken with juices in slow cooker, and stir. Serve over rice or noodles

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Chicken and white beans

2 cans (15-1/2 ounces each) either Navy or Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained

2 carrots, sliced

1 stalk celery, sliced

1 small onion, diced

1/2 cup low calorie Italian salad dressing

1 cup water

salt and pepper to taste-

4- 3 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders

Directions

Place beans, onion, carrots, celery in slow cooker, put the chicken on top of bean mixture. Pour the salad dressing over the chicken. Add salt and pepper, if desired. Pour 1 cup water over all.

Cover and cook on low 3 to 4 hours, until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

A look inside my daily meal plan

People are always asking me how often they should be eating, or even what my daily meal plan looks like.  So today I thought I would give you a look at what a typical day looks like for me with my meal plan. 

I always try to keep it simple with easy snack ideas and quick recipes for dinner.  I recently did a few rounds of the 21 Day Fix and my eating was pretty structured then, but now I am back to my own plan, but I have incorporated the 21 Day Fix portions and style of eating into my everyday life.  Check it out below:

Breakfast (7am):  Shakeology – always, lol.  I usually make chocolate with 1 tablespoon peanut butter, ¼ banana and 6 almonds.  Delish!!!

Snack (10am): 1 whole wheat tortilla with peanut butter and ¼ banana (do you sense a theme here?  Haha).  Handful of grapes on the side.

Lunch (12:30pm):  Spinach salad with feta cheese, walnuts, cucumbers and grilled chicken.  I use my own homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing (I’d love to share the recipe with you, hit me up!)  4-5 strawberries on the side.

Snack (3pm):  Roughly ½ cup plain greek yogurt with blueberries.  1/8 avocado sliced (so basically one half of one half of an avocado) on the side.  I sometimes like to add a few crushed red pepper flakes to them for a little kick.

Dinner (between 6 and 7 depending on our hectic kids’ sports schedules):  Steak (usually filet mignon) and grilled veggies with diced green chiles.  Our favorite is squash and zucchini.  For us, these types of meals are usually kid friendly meals because our kids love steak and veggies.  Your mileage may vary J

If I am starved between afternoon snack and dinner I may have a small snack to tie me over until dinner – a piece of fruit or some trail mix.

You’ll note I try to eat every 3 hours as it helps increase your metabolism while keeping you just full enough in between meals where you aren't ravenous and eating everything in sight. 

I also drink water, all day every day!  You need to be drinking half of your body weight in ounces every day.  It not only helps keep you feeling fuller, it aids in digestion and just overall makes your body work better!