Meal Planning: Succes!

  It's been a few days since my last Real Food post. Sorry about that! I have though been eating real food!

  Wednesday I went grocery shopping for the 2nd time with this whole "Real Food" thing in mind. Last time I didn't make a list just went and pretty much just shopped the perimeters of the grocery store. It worked well. But I felt lost making my meals and didn't really know what I needed to make before it went bad. (I tend to forgo the vegetables unless I have a meal planned to use them in.)
 
  This time I sat down and made a list and what?? A week long meal plan! My first one ever!

  First I looked in my fridge and cupboards and made a list of foods I could make with those items in mind so they wouldn't go to waste. After I figured that out I made a list. I don't have a fancy meal planning calendar (and I wasn't about to use my regular calendar... I'm particular about my calendar...and journals...most things that I write on actually!) instead I just used a little notebook I have.

I wrote down each day and then added my meals in. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. I planned to make 5 different dinners using the leftovers for the extra days and also for some of my lunches. Here's what my meal plan looked like:

Wed: D-chicken salad

Thurs: B-Oatmeal   L-Chicken sandwich (using leftover chicken from previous night) D-Burger/rice/green bean goulash
 
Fri: B-Pancakes (Click here for my post about them and link to recipe) L-Egg Salad with Triscuits
D-Leftovers

Sat: B-Granola Cereal (Recipie here. I'll post my version after I make it tonight)   L-left over egg salad with Triscuits   D-Tacos

Sun: B-Pancakes/eggs   L-Chicken Sandwich/pb&j    D- Potato Dish with pork

Mon: B-Granola cereal   L-Tuna  D- Chicken/egg/rice dish

Tue:Oatmeal  L-Kale smoothie (What I used to make it here) / Pb&J  D - Leftovers

Wed: B-Eggs (with bell peppers, onions)

After I had my meals all written out I made a list of all the ingredients I would need. Including a few snack ideas. Then off to the store I went! It was so much easier shopping with a solid list! I was also so happy to find out that my grocery store carries:

Lara Bars - They are like Quaker or other snack/power bars. Except they only have 5-6 ingredients (Or less)  and are: Dairy, Soy and Gluten Free. They are also Non-GMO, Vegan, and Kosher.  How awesome is that! (I found about Lara Bars here.)

Almond Butter. They carry MaraNatha Organic Raw Almond Butter! Even though my little man seems to be fine with Butter I'm glad I can substitute a lot of our butter use with this.

Triscuits- I knew they carried these but what I didn't know is that only contain 3 ingredients! (I also found out about those here)

I was so happy with my finds! :) What things have you been happy to find at your grocery store? Comment below! :)

My little man is trying to eat my mail so I must go. I'll be back with more soon!

~MissC