Welcome to Week 1 of our meal planning challenge: Plan It Like You Mean It. Check out the introduction post here, if you haven’t already!

I told you I was bad at meal planning. So bad, in fact, that I’ve procrastinated as long as I could on getting this post up, despite a couple hundred fellow meal-plan-challengers waiting on it!

Side note: If you haven’t signed up for our meal planning challenge yet, you can jump in anytime. It includes weekly emails, a Facebook group, and the kick in the pants you know you need. Sign up here:

I *know* I need to meal plan regularly. Life has been crazy and stressful for long enough with our many moves and job changes over the years (in the midst of having three kids close in age). Meal planning is one of those no-brainer ways to relieve some of the daily stress. It’s also a great way to save money, which is a high priority for us.

But, instead of diving in last week to plan and write this post, I’m publishing this at the last minute. First lesson learned already: when trying to build a new habit, be prepared for internal resistance.

The last couple of days while trying to get this post put together, I’ve been doing some seriously high-level, expert procrastination. I mean like totally professional level. Multiple youtube rabbit trails were followed, and I may or may not have spent an hour researching the world’s most remote inhabited islands, because they’re so dang fascinating, and because #geographygeek.

I’ve felt like a meal planning failure for years, and I guess I don’t particularly relish the thought of rubbing it in further, hence the resistance.

On the plus side, once I’m over this initial getting-started hump, I know that it gets easier. (I happen to have a great deal of experience with this procrastination thing, and I know that I’m fairly predictable in running full-steam with something once I’m past the initial hump.)

I also know that neurologically speaking, our brains are wired to repeat patterns, and when we get stuck in a rut (like avoiding the accountability of regular meal planning because it takes work) it’s tough to break free.

And when we finally do bust out of that rut, we’re faced with the uphill battle of creating a new habit – a challenge unto itself.

Will the next eight weeks of consistent meal planning be worth it, ultimately? Will it help me to finally acquire the habit? I’m pretty determined, so I sure as heck hope so!

Of course, even when we do acquire a habit, we must continually maintain it. Life brings hard seasons and different challenges that make it easy to fall back to old ways. Disciplining ourselves to  do things that we know are good for us is part of being a successful adult. Despite sometimes wishing I could ditch this whole adulting gig, I’m pretty sure the pros outweigh the cons, so onward and upward!

Ricci Family Meal Plan: Notes

Before I share our meal plan for next week, I have a few notes:

1. Our family is gluten-free

Our oldest child has a neurological reaction to gluten in the form of motor and vocal tics. He had them for over a year when we decided to remove gluten from his diet again (he was GF in toddlerhood). His tics reduced by about 95% a couple of days later and came back when we tested him on gluten the following month to be sure. I also react to gluten with extreme brain fog episodes. I gave up gluten for good in May 2016, and haven’t had an episode since.

2. Our current elimination diet

Chris and I are currently doing a 20-day anti-inflammatory elimination diet called The Plan. We had started several weeks ago, but got off track for a bit when we had our Thanksgiving (here in Canada, it’s in October). We’re picking it up again with Day 11, so our meals next week are straight out of the book. I have mixed feelings about this diet, and will share some thoughts at the end.

3. Kids’ meals aren’t planned this week

While we’re on The Plan, the kids are eating their regular diet. I didn’t plan the kids’ meals, but it’ll be kept extremely simple, with things like eggs, oatmeal, bunless burgers and quinoa pasta, taco meat and rice, steamed vegetables, etc. I may make a big batch of something they love, and let them eat leftovers for 3 nights in a row. Nothing complicated because our Plan Diet meals are more labour-intensive.

4. Planning all three meals and snack, vs. just dinner

This week I’m planning all three meals plus snack because of the special diet we’re on. I’m not sure yet if I’ll continue to do so once the diet is done. I have a feeling it’ll be helpful.

What We’re Eating

As I mentioned in the introduction post, I’m using Plan to Eat to meal plan. It’s super handy to import recipes from the internet, drag and drop things, rearrange, and create your grocery list (that you can access from your phone).

Here’s a screenshot of my meal plan in Plan to Eat. I’ll write it out below as well in case it’s not clear for you.

Monday

Breakfast: Homemade flax granola with blueberries or pear -or- Plan smoothie
Lunch: Spicy vegetable soup and mixed greens salad with kale and pumpkin seeds
Snack: Carrots with raw almond butter
Dinner: Approved protein with vegetable timbale, spinach salad
Dessert: 1 ounce dark chocolate with whipped cream

Tuesday

Breakfast: Homemade flax granola with blueberries or pear – or – Plan smoothie
Lunch: Spicy vegetable soup and mixed green salad, leftover vegetable timbale
Snack: Homemade kale chips -or- crackers with hummus
Dinner: Approved protein, new vegetable test, spinach salad
Dessert: 1 ounce dark chocolate with whipped cream

Wednesday

Breakfast: Homemade flax granola with blueberries or pear – or – Plan smoothie
Lunch: Mixed green salad with approved veg and chickpeas, spicy vegetable soup
Snack: Low-sodium potato chips made with coconut or avocado oil
Dinner: Approved protein on a bed of mixd greens, roasted Italian winter vegetables
Dessert: 1 ounce dark chocolate with whipped cream

Thursday

Breakfast: Test eggs (goat cheese and veg omelette)
Lunch: Leftover roasted Italian winter vegetables on a bed of spinach with goat cheese
Snack: Approved fruit with almonds
Dinner: Approved protein and mixed green salad, sautéed zucchini with basil, lemon, and manchego
Dessert: 1 ounce dark chocolate with whipped cream

Friday

Breakfast: Homemade flax granola with blueberries or pear – or – Plan smoothie
Lunch: Spicy vegetable soup and mixed greens salad
Snack: Carrots with raw almond butter
Dinner: Chicken with Indian spice rub, sautéed kale with veggies, steamed broccoli
Dessert: 1 ounce dark chocolate with whipped cream

Saturday

Breakfast: Flax granola, smoothie, -or- new approved breakfast
Lunch: Leftover sautéed kale with veggies, leftover chicken with Indian spice rub, cracker with cheese
Snack: Cracker with raw almond butter
Dinner: Approved protein on bed of mixed greens with steamed broccoli and manchego
Dessert: 1 ounce dark chocolate with whipped cream

Sunday

Breakfast: Flax granola, smoothie, -or- new approved breakfast
Lunch: Spicy spinach chickpea salad with butternut squash soup
Snack: Cracker with almond butter
Dinner: Approved protein on bed of mixed greens with vegetable timbale
Dessert: 1 ounce dark chocolate with whipped cream

Check out: Quick Healthy Meals Ultimate Guide (101 Tips, Recipes, and Strategies)

Final Thoughts

So that’s it! Our Week One meal plan. I’m actually kind of excited to have everything all planned out without having to think about it last-minute. It’ll take work, but I think it’ll be worth it.

And although this diet has a lot of labour-intensive foods, I plan to definitely incorporate more batch cooking and freezer cooking techniques in week two to help prevent the temptation to ditch the plan and go rogue.

Now to double-check that we have all of the necessary food ingredients on hand, and we’ll be good to go!

Make sure to sign up for the challenge if you want to participate! And join us in the Plan It Like You Mean It Facebook group for inspiration and community.

Have you meal planned for this week yet? (And are you a meal planning procrastinator like me?)

The Plan It Like You Mean It challenge is sponsored by Plan to Eat, because eating at home should be easier!

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