Menu Plan - Week of 1/12

Planning a few meals just for myself worked really well last week. I managed to eat breakfast every morning. As a result, I felt less hungry throughout the day and I had more energy. It also helped at lunch time to keep me from mindlessly eating a meal that would have been too contradictory to my goals of losing weight. That meant I didn't feel guilty eating whatever I prepared for dinner, although a slightly smaller portion than usual. Overall, I'm feeling great.

Now that I have the routine down for myself, I'm going to try not planning individually for myself this week. There will be days when I may eat a different breakfast or lunch, but now that I'm in the habit, I'm not worried about mapping it all out. We'll see how that works. If it doesn't, I'll start doing it again next week.

Breakfast

• M - Banana muffins, smoothies
• T - Applesauce bread, hard-boiled eggs
• W - Multigrain hot cereal w/cranberries & oranges (recipe below)
• Th - Cheesy scrambled eggs and toast, kiwi
  
• F - Mini puffed pancakes w/fresh strawberries
• S - Banana-nut oatmeal, smoothies
• Su - Bacon waffles

Lunch

• M - Tuna salad sandwiches, oranges
• T - Black bean burgers, carrots & celery
• W - Pizza grilled cheese, peaches
• Th - Falafel, cucumber salad
• F - Apple slices, crackers, peanut butter, cottage cheese
• S - Quesadillas, grapes
• Su - Mushroom & barley soup, maple-oat bread

Dinner

• M - Chicken hash, salad
• T - Southwest pasta bake
• W - Meatball stew, biscuits
• Th - Chickpea, spinach & bacon pasta
• F - Chicken pot pie
• S - Homemade taco pizza
• Su - Cap'n Crunch chicken, sweet potato fries, oven-roasted broccoli

Ya' know, a funny thing happens when you half-heartedly try to weed through the cookbook mess in your baking cabinet. You invariably find a buried cookbook that you had completely forgotten about.

I found Martha Stewart's Favorite Comfort Food. I immediately threw everything back in the cabinet and got lost in the recipes. Everything looks so great! I'm planning to add at least one recipe from the book every week.

Here's the pick for this week:

Multigrain Hot Cereal w/ Cranberries and Oranges

• 1 c. cranberries (fresh or frozen)
• 2 oranges, peeled & segmented
• 2 c. apple juice
• 1 c. cracked wheat
• 1/2 c. soy flakes
• 1/2 c. buckwheat kasha
• 1/4 c. toasted hazelnuts (I'm skipping these.)

1. Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add cranberries and 2 T. water. Cook until cranberries soften and release their juices, about 2 minutes. Stir in orange segments. Remove from heat, and set aside.

2. Bring apple juice and 3 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add cracked wheat, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Add soy flakes, and cook, covered, 5 minutes more. Add kasha and cook, covered, 10 minutes more. Uncover and cook 5 minutes to let excess liquid evaporate. Spoon into individual bowls. Add the hazelnuts, and spoon fruit on top. Serve hot.

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