Meal Planning/Prep 101

August 18, 2017August 17, 2017 Jamie BodenLeave a comment

I am known for being quite the planner. I plan my workouts, I plan time hanging out with friends and family, I plan activities at work, and I especially plan my meals. Every week I sit down and map out a plan for what I am going to cook for the week. I believe that this practice has really helped me to be successful in my weight loss. Every week I know exactly what I need to eat and there is very little wiggle room. This helps me to stay on track and not get caught up in cravings.

So, in hopes of inspiring you to start meal planning I wanted to provide a Meal Planning/Prep 101 post. I will walk you step-by-step through my meal planning/prep process. By following this process it should help save some money at the grocery store and to stay on your healthy eating plan!

Step 1: Find a good way to record your meal planning

I prefer to use pen and paper for this step. But you could easily use an app or computer program to record your meal planning. You need to have somewhere you can have a weekly calendar and a grocery list. You will be referring back to this record frequently to know what to buy and when to prep and eat your meals.

Rainbow Salad

August 9, 2017August 8, 2017 Jamie BodenLeave a comment

As promised on my Instagram here is my recipe for Rainbow Salad. (And if you are not following me on Instagram you really should! There you will see more of my day-to-day updates :))

Insta Rainbow Salad My Beautiful Ideal

Healthy Shepherd’s Pie

July 31, 2017August 7, 2017 Jamie Boden6 Comments

Yes, you read the title of this post right! The words healthy and shepherd’s pie put together! You could even add low-carb and Ideal Protein friendly in there too. Even with all the healthy recipes that I have posted this is by far my favorite. I was blown away by how similar it tasted to the real thing. I couldn’t figure out how it tasted so good and was still on protocol. I literally had to review the recipe to make sure I had not screwed anything up!

Bunless Steak and (Maybe) Cheese

July 26, 2017July 25, 2017 Jamie Boden3 Comments

Lately, I have been missing one of my favorite sandwiches – a steak and cheese. Philly or otherwise I love a good steak and cheese! However, when you aren’t eating bread it’s hard to fulfill this particular craving.

So, I decided to make a bunless – sort of deconstructed – steak and (maybe no cheese) version. 🙂 When I took the pictures for this post I decided to slip in a piece of provolone cheese, but it is equally delicious without the cheese. If I don’t do the cheese I usually add some hot sauce to spice up the whole thing. You could also serve this recipe in some lettuce leaves to make a steak and cheese “wrap.”

Roasted Zucchini and Eggplant Dip

July 18, 2017July 18, 2017 Jamie BodenLeave a comment

Last week at work my group hosted a dip party. Everyone was to bring their favorite dip to share. But what dip could I bring that I could enjoy? Most dips have cheese…all the cheese. I considered salsa, but that seemed boring! I was sure someone else was going to bring salsa anyway.

So, I did a Google search for vegetable based dips. They seem to be few and far between, but I came across baba ganoush – the delicious eggplant based cousin of hummus. I thought this would work perfectly! But, how could I put my own spin on it? I decided to add some zucchini that I also had in the fridge – and the results were so good! I served the dip with cucumbers and pretzels so folks would have an option. For the full recipe keep reading!