The Twenty Something Girl’s Guide to Living Life: Meal Planning is a Time Saver

So I’m not the girl who’s in the gym everyday, to be honest I’m never in the gym. It’s just never been my thing, fortunately enough for me I’m just a naturally tall and slender girl however lately I have been not cautious of what I put in my body and what I’m putting into Jeff’s body as well. Although a work out is necessary for some I’m starting the journey to our new healthy lifestyle at home right in the kitchen.

Last Monday Jeff asked me to stop by the store and get some groceries so I decided to go by Trader Joe’s after work, those of you who know me know I’m beyond obsessed with Trader Joe’s! So I decided to not just shop for random things like I usually do, I’ve decided every week (last week was Monday, this week I chose Saturday) I’ll write out our meals for the week and shop for those specific meals. I found some great recipes on Pinterest and TheEveryGirl like these Turkey Meatball Gyros which I made on Monday and these Grilled Shrimp Tacos which were my Cinco De Mayo meal! With the right fresh ingredients you’ll find that you have a ton more energy and you really enjoy the food more. I find that keeping things like spinach, fresh vegetables oppose to frozen and even having apples and bananas in the kitchen enable us to do things like grab an apple before heading to work or eating a banana as an afternoon snack or even making a small salad on Saturday afternoon. I will say knowing exactly what’s going to be for dinner is also a big help when cooking in the evenings, I know exactly what I’m making and what my prep time will be! It saves me.

This week’s meals are as follows;

Monday: Porkchops, Brown Rice and Broccoli (we very seldom if ever eat pork but the Trader Joe’s porkchops looked so good!)

Tuesday: Turkey Meatball Gyros with home made tzatziki sauce; adding elements like fresh parsley, fresh squeezed lemon juice and the chopped cucumber oppose to buying tzatziki sauce making all the difference!

Wednesday: Our special Anniversary Dinner, Steaks, Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Garlic Parmesan Red Potatoes

Thursday: Chicken Drumsticks with Brown Rice and Broccoli, I marinate the drumsticks in an array of herbs, Sriracha and Italian salad dressing (so good)

Friday: Chicken Summer Salad (self explanatory) we like to cut up Red Onion, Apples, Mandarin Oranges, Crumbled Blue Cheese, Walnuts and so much more!

Weekends we usually figure it out or grab a meal! It’s the little changes that are great for your health like cutting rice out of every meal, eating turkey instead of ground beef( we typically don’t eat red meat but for our anniversary a steak dinner is nice) and throwing in salads at least once or twice a week.

We’re making little changes towards an overall better and healthier life. What changes are you making in your life!