Here is another full day meal plan to take some of the thinking/planning load out of eating! I know that especially on days where the appetite suppressant is hitting full force, it's really hard to not only get yourself to eat, but to figure out what you want to make! And we don't want to fall back into that rut of just grabbing takeout because we can't think and it's convenient. If you're going to have takeout, do it mindfully and get something you really want and will enjoy!
Hope you like today's meal plan! It's macro balanced, with small meals often to keep your sugars stable. Comments welcome. Let me know if you try it or share what you ate today as well!
Breakfast:
These
blueberry-lemon ricotta pancakes are low glycemic and protein packed- over 30% of the calories are from protein! While they take a little bit of extra work, they are a delicious, hearty breakfast that you will find satiating and they are sweet enough that you won't want maple syrup (this from a true syrup lover!). If you're having a lazy day you don't have to separate the egg, but just know that the pancakes will come out denser and less fluffy that way. The recipe makes four pancakes, so serves two... or have the other two as your morning snack later!
Breakfast Summary: 220 calories, 6g fat, 16.5g carbs, 13g protein.
Morning Snack:
Since I'm often looking for snacks that are quick and easy but I also want to have variety so I don't get bored, I tend to choose snacks that can follow the same basic pattern, but can be easily modified into something else. Fruit with Greek yogurt is so versatile while not requiring much thought. It can be a fruit parfait if I put it in a glass and top with nuts. I can make the yogurt into a variety of yummy dips, like I did here. Little twists can make your snack much more interesting!
I find I've been craving a lot of fruit lately, so I'm glad it's summertime and the fruit prices will hopefully start to come down. That being said, apples are relatively inexpensive and keep well, so you don't have to eat them all at once.
For today's snack, I sliced my apple into slivers, and then mixed 1 tbsp of peanut butter (warmed in the microwave to make it melty) with 3 tbsp of plain Greek yogurt to make a rich and tangy dip for my apple slices. If I was looking for something sweeter, sometimes I use
sugarfree caramel sauce as a mix-in instead. You could also use
PB2 or even Nutella if you wanted to. Eating protein along with low glycemic carbs keeps your blood glucose from spiking and helps you stay satiated.
Lunch:
On a day when you can be at home for lunch, I think you'll find that this Mediterranean Turkey Pesto Crepe will feel beyond decadent and you'll be shocked at how low calorie it is. It's well worth the time investment to give this a try!
1/4 cup plain flavoured protein pancake mix
1/4 cup water
4oz diced cooked chicken or turkey
2 tbsp sundried tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup diced onions and green bell pepper
2 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 tbsp light mayonnaise
2 tsp basil pesto
italian seasoning, garlic, black pepper to taste
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Mix up your pancake mix with the seasonings, and add the water slowly to the mix until it is very thin. You want the consistency to be much thinner than normal pancake mix and normally 1:1 is about right for that.
Spray a medium nonstick frying pan with Pam spray, and once it's heated, add half the batter to the pan. When the crepe is crisp, carefully flip it over- you don't want to tear it! The second side cooks very quickly, so be careful not to overcook. When the crepe is done, place it flat in a baking dish. Repeat with the second half of the batter.
In the same pan, cook the onions, bell pepper, and sundried tomato. Add some seasonings and the chicken or turkey as the veggies start to soften. When they are fully cooked, spoon half of the filling into each crepe (covering only one half of the crepe!), and top with the shredded mozzarella cheese. Fold the crepe over the top of the filling to close it as best you can. Bake for 5-7 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
In a small Ziploc bag, mix the mayonnaise and pesto until well blended. Snip a hole in the bottom corner of the bag. When the crepes come out of the oven, drizzle the sauce over top in a zigzag pattern, and enjoy while it's hot! Serves two.
Lunch Summary: 305 calories, 15.5g fat, 15g carbs, 25g protein.
Afternoon Snack:
On a hungry day, this Egg Drop soup is perfect for giving you a low carb energy boost, and it's super quick and easy to make (unless you want to make your own broth from scratch!). You could also bulk it up by adding veggies or vermicelli, but I enjoy it just as it is.
1 carton of low sodium chicken broth
2 eggs
1 chopped green onion
2 tsp cornstarch blended with water until smooth
1 drop dark soy sauce
Heat the chicken broth until boiling on the stove, then stir in the cornstarch and allow soup to thicken. Crack your egg in a bowl and stir gently with a fork but no need to blend. Pour the egg into the broth and stir immediately so the egg separates. Turn down the heat and let the soup simmer for a few minutes before pouring it into a bowl and topping with green onions. If desired, add a tiny bit of dark soy sauce- that stuff is powerful so you really don't need much! Makes two servings- or if you're really hungry, it's low enough calorie to enjoy all to yourself!
Afternoon Snack Summary: 121 calories, 4.5g fat, 9g carbs, 10g protein
Dinner:
This recipe is an oldie but goodie; I've been making versions of it since 2010. We get a produce share every summer which gives my family a variety of different veggies during the growing season, so I've had to learn to cook with them so they don't get wasted! The texture of the eggplant is a little chewier than pasta, but with the spice blend on them they add flavour to the dish while knocking the calories and carbs way down, and the end result is a deliciously cheesy meal. If you prefer, you could swap the eggplant with zucchini slices, but it would be harder to create the rolls and I think you would end up more like a lasagna than a rollatini. You could swap out the potato if you want this to be ultra low carb, but the potato definitely does help with the texture of the filling and you'd make the dish a little more crumbly and hard to keep together.
Dinner Summary: 292 calories, 10.5g fat, 29.5g carbs, 20g protein.
Dessert:
Sometimes, you just need something that tastes like a splurge, am I right? I think you'll see the theme in many of my recipes that I go looking for something that takes rich and decadent, but isn't. To me, that helps me stay on track and not feel deprived while I'm losing weight. I don't think any food should be off limits, but I also think that it's good to find swaps we enjoy for many of our favourites so we can save the real thing for special occasions.
This Pina Colada Cake won't have you thinking that you're missing out- it's delicious and tropical! It does require some advanced preparation so this might be better made the night before or earlier in the day.
Pina Colada Cake:
1/4 cup protein pancake mix, batter prepared as directed (may affect calorie counts)
1/4 tsp rum extract (optional)
1/4 tsp coconut extract
1/2 cup pineapple, diced
1 tsp sweetened coconut
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp your favourite sweetener
Icing:
1.5 tbsp Philadelphia light Cream Cheese
1 tsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp sweetener
1/4 tsp coconut extract
1 tsp sweetened coconut (garnish)
Spray a baking dish with PAM and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all the cake ingredients and pour the batter into the dish. Bake for about 20 minutes or until top has browned. In a little dish, blend together the cream cheese, butter, sweetener, and extract, ensuring there are no unmixed lumps (which would make your icing taste gross). Refrigerate icing until the cake is cool and ready to be frosted. Spread icing on top of cake and sprinkle with 1 tsp coconut and enjoy.
Dessert Summary: 236 calories, 10g fat, 31g carbs, 6g protein.
Daily Total: 1393 calories, 55.5g fat, 131g carbs, 83g protein.
Hope you enjoy the recipes! I'd love to hear what you think if you try them! Check out my other full day meal plans!
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