AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge Meal Ideas - Days 1 to 10

The first 10 days are the most important days of the 24 day challenge.  These are the Cleansing days.  These ten days are going to remove all the toxins and other waste from your body.

Think of your body like a car.  If you stopped at a crappy gas station and filled your tank with bad gas,  your tank is full of all kinds of debris.  Even if you stop using the bad gas, and start using premium, there are still debris in the bottom of your gas tank that can and will decrease the gas efficiency.  This cleansing phase is like going and getting your gas tank totally cleaned out.   The flush is ridding your car of all the bad gas and debris.  Once the fuel tank is clean, your engine is ready to take on and efficiently burn the clean gas.

The cleanse phase does the same thing as cleaning out your gas tank for your car.  It cleans all the toxins and waste from your body so that your body can properly digest and  take in the nutrients it needs to function the RIGHT way.  Now if you are cleaning out your system, you don't want to be counterproductive and fill it back up with garbage.  You want to fill it up with foods that are rich in nutrients and vitamins.   This is why I have decided to prepare some meal plans that are full of nutrients and good "fuel" for your body.

Some of these meals are very basic and some take a little more planning and experience.  Most of the items can be made ahead of time and warmed up when needed.  I have created them this way because I am an on the go kind of person.  Even though I love to cook, I don't always have the time to sit down and prepare the most nutritious items.  These items will be filling and nutritious.  I won't use any added salt or sugar so if you are a salt or sugar addict, you will have to get used to using fresh (or dried) herbs for seasoning.

I am good with eating leftovers, so I will most likely be making one of the soups and having that at lunch.  Dinners will be different since I don't believe in cooking separate meals.  The family will get to enjoy healthy dinners.  They might even suggest that I put the meals on our dinner rotation. 

Breakfast

• 1 Large Hard-boiled egg & Almond banana breakfast oats
• Make ahead eggs on whole grain toast, (please note, I only make a few at a time to ensure freshness)

Lunch

• Grilled Chicken or Beef over Spinach (or salad greens), with plenty of vegetables.  You can make dressing from oil and vinegar and many dried spiced and herbs.  Be creative!
• Tuna, spinach and cucumbers on a whole grain wrap.  Use the dressing option above and have vegetables on the side to help fill you up. 
• Chicken and Lentil Soup - plenty of leftover for days
• Kale and Potato Soup - also good for leftovers
• Leftovers make the best lunches! Remember that when cooking the night before.  Cook a little extra and package it from lunch the next day. 

Dinner

• Fajita Chicken with Brown Rice (see recipes)
• Pan-fried tilapia or cod, sauteed green beans, roasted red potatoes 
• Turkey Chili over rice 
• Crock-pot Roasted Chicken with steamed broccoli and rosemary roasted potatoes 
• Taco cups with seasoned black beans 
• Spaghetti with tomatoes and shrimp- substitute regular pasta for 100% whole grain pasta and add a side salad
• Kenyan Braised Collard Greens and Ground beef - with all the other flavors going in, you can surely omit the 1 tsp of salt
• Crockpot Thai Peanut Chicken served over brown rice

Snacks - Keep snacks to 150 calories or less. Pack your snacks soon after you bring them home to help you stay on track.  I always find it easier to snack healthy when items are quick and easy to grab

• Nuts and seeds (raw or roasted - no added sugar, salts and oils) - 1/4 cup servings
• Raw fresh fruit
• Rice cakes with raw or natural nut butter

Let me know if you have any other recipes for this challenge.  I'd be interested in learning what keeps you full and satisfied.

Challenge :: Lunch for under $12

Recently a coworker and I were discussing spending less money on lunch for the work week.  He said it was cheaper (and easier) to just purchase lunch.  With the cost of lunch costing between $5 and $10 a day, I told him that I could do it for less!  I explained that while you are spending $8 on that sandwich, you could have purchased all the materials for the same sandwich, but could eat for two days instead of one.

See my break down: (estimated prices from my local Wal-Mart)

Italian bread loaf	1.00
Ham (1/2 lb)	3.00
Deli sliced cheese (1/3 lb)	1.00
Lettuce	1.25
Tomatoes (pack of 3 small)	1.50
GRAND TOTAL	7.75

If you add on a bag of chips ($3.00), the total is $10.25 and you could easily make 3 sandwiches. I didn't include mayo or mustard, because those are staples you should already have in your pantry.  If I ever forget them, these items are easily picked up for FREE in the break-room.

I don't normally accept challenges, but I felt passionate about this one.  I too can spend a pretty penny in the lunch cafeteria.  My meals are a more modest $4, but it still comes out to $20 a week.  The meals I am purchasing aren't that healthy (fries, fried chicken tenders, corn dogs, desserts, pizza).  I could be spending less and eating better.   

This weekend, I have made it my challenge to go out and purchase lunch fixings for next week. This challenge was hard, because I wanted to show that you can eat healthy on a budget. 

Here is my menu for this week:

• 2 days = soup + bread/butter, apple slices w/ peanut butter
• 2 days = turkey sandwich on french bread, apple, cheese chunks and carrot sticks
• 1 day = tuna sandwich, carrot sticks, cheese chunks

Approximate Costs

Canned soup (2 servings per can)      1.50 French Bread (used for sandwiches too)      1.00 Cut carrot sticks      1.00 Lettuce      1.50 Tomato      1.50 Chunk cheese      2.00 Apples (bagged)      2.00 Tuna (canned in water)      1.00 Turkey (deli sliced)      3.00
Total            $14.50

Mustard, mayo, celery, peanut butter and eggs are items that should already be in the pantry, so there is no need to purchase them.

I will do some bargain hunting and hopefully find some deals to bring the total to under $12.

I will keep you posted on how well I do.

Weekly Menu : 2/24 to 3/01

 

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This week we'll be eating Mexican style!  My family loves Mexican food and for the most part, it's fairly light and healthy option for me.  Here's our meal plan for next week!
 

Mon - Fajita Style Quesadillas + Spanish Rice
Tues - Taco Chicken Salad
Wed - Eat out! Lots of stuff going on this day.  Won't have time to cook.
Thur - Bean and Beef Burritos + Lettuce and Tomato Salad
Fri -    Shrimp Tacos + Black bean salad
Sat -   Eat out!

Thin Crispy Pizza Dough Recipe

I am in love with this Margherita Pizza recipe I found online last weekend.  I am very skeptical when it comes to pizza dough. I haven't had much luck with finding a recipe that truely makes a flat pizza.  A lot of dough would say to stretch the dough out, but I've always found that my dough was very elastic, I'd stretch it to the right and it would bounce back as I was stretching it to the left. This dough was super quick and easy.  Because I am terrible at reading ahead, I didn't make this 24 hours to 3 days ahead.  I made this the same day and just let it "rise" as my oven was warming up. 

The original recipe found here, says to mix then put in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours, but if you can make it and store it for 3 days, it's even better when it has more time to "proof".  After a day or 3 in the frig the dough rises a little, but not much.

I purchased a pizza stone last year after I read many posts about it helping to make a nice crisp pizza. 

Here is the recipe that I used for Wednesday night's dinner.


Nice, Thin Crispy Pizza Dough Recipe
Adapted from Eat Yourself Skinny

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp. active dry or instant yeast
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (*optional)
• 1/2 dried basil or oregano (*optional)
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

1. Sprinkle yeast over warm water. 
2. In your stand mixer using the hook attachment, combine the flour, salt, garlic powder and dried basil or oregano, if using.  Scrap the flour down the sides of the bowl.
3. On a slow speed, drizzle in the olive oil until just combined with the flour.
4. Next pour in the yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined. 
5. When the dough has formed a ball on the hook,, take the ball off the hook and form back into a ball.
6. Coat a separate bowl with a touch of olive oil and place your ball of dough into the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in fridge until ready to use, at least 24 hours in advance.
7. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. 
8. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray (or utilize a pizza stone if you have one) and get a bit of flour on your hands.
9. Start working your dough and stretch it into a long rectangle on your baking sheet, pressing with your fingers to finish forming. Your dough should be very thin. 
10. Top it with your favorite sauce, cheese and toppings

 
* Pizza dough is basically just salt and flour.  I like to add in a bit of garlic and some dried herbs for a bit more flavor. 
 
Printable Recipe

Meal Planning 1/13/14 - 1/18/14

Sorry this post is late.  I will try to schedule my posts to go out on Friday or Saturday, so that you can have some time to shop.

Last week, you may have noticed that I did not have a menu set up for Sunday. I love to eat out, but would love it much more if we actually ate out on a day that we could choose a half decent restaurant and sit down and enjoy the few hours that were left in the weekend.  

Last week was my first week at meal planning and I was sort of successful!  I did however deviate from the plan a little.  On Friday, we had Chinese take out.  I totally forgot that we had a commitment to serve dinner at a local women's shelter.  After running home after work to make another tray of brownies before going, I didn't have much time to prepare our own dinner.

This week I kept the menu simple.  Most of the meals can be prepared in 30 minutes.   

Menu for January 13 to January 18.

Mon - Fajita-Style Quesadillas
Tue - Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup 
Wed - Homemade Pizza, side salad
Thu - Stuffed Pepper Soup
Fri - Linguini with Tomatoes & Shrimp
Sat - Grilled Ham & Cheese on Ciabatta, Chips, Fruit Salad

Meal Planning 1/6/14 - 1/11/14

Last year I was slack on planning my meals and my grocery bill (and health) suffered.   Not having a meal plan for me means that I cook whatever is quick or worse, I pick up fast food.  I try to be good but you cannot eat healthy if all you have is meat and carbs in your kitchen.  

Not having a meal plan also means wasted food.  Even though I did not have a plan, I would still shop.  I would buy whatever I thought I would cook that week.  Most times, I would go home only to find that I did not have everything I needed to prepare that meal.  Sometimes the food was something that could go in the pantry and wait until the following week.  Most times, fresh veggies and herbs would go in the crisper, but not come out until they were ready to throw away.  “Remember the starving kids in Africa!” Did you parents use that line on you as a child?  Mines did!  I would remember sitting at the dinner table forcing myself to eat the liver and onions because my mother did not waste anything.

This year I am going to make a plan to create my meal plans out at least 2 weeks in advance.  I have already started planning my meals for this month and have come up with a plan for the next two weeks.  I want to start saving money so I am using what I currently have in the pantry for the next couple of weeks.  I will only purchased fresh veggies and small items needed to make my recipes, but most items will come from my pantry.   In an attempt to clean up my eating habits, will also start buying non-processed items and stock my pantry full of whole grains and beans.

Meal Plan ::  January 6 – January 11

Lunch:

Tuna wraps, yogurt, carrots

Leftover sweet potato soup

Dinner:

M - African Sweet Potato Soup with Peanut Butter, Black-Eyed Peas & Beans + corn bread
T - Crispy BBQ Chicken, string beans, buttered noodles
W - Homemade Pizza w/ side salad
Th - Pork Fried Rice, Vietnamese spring rolls
F - Baked Tilapia, broccoli, roasted red potatoes
S - Leftovers