The menu plan for week 7 continues to follow the THM healthy eating plan after completing a fuel cycle last week. I have returned to my pre holiday weight and am quite happy with the progress made during the cycle. It was not as difficult as the first time I did one last fall. I need to continue to add good recipe choices each day and mix S, E, and FP so that on plan eating is as enjoyable as possible. I have continued to recap the meals actually consumed each of the fuel cycle days for future reference.
Breakfast for week 7 will be very easy. I have made it a practice to divide and conquer. I now package individual servings of breakfast favorites and pop them in the freezer. In the morning I can warm up a great breakfast without any further prep. Love this!
Lunch during week 7 will see several cook once/eat again meals. I have plenty of Gazpacho and creamy Southwest chicken for the week. The only new recipe planned is Cauliflower soup which caught my eye several weeks ago.
Chicken Quesadilla THM S
Cauliflower Soup THM S
All of the dinners planned are repeats of favorites.
Slow Cooker Barbecue Ribs THM S (subbing THM compliant barbecue sauce)
White Lazy Lasagna THM S
Alfredo Chicken Casserole THM S with hot Italian Sausage
Ranch Hand Taco Salad THM cookbook.
Week 6 Recap:
Day 4 of the Fuel Cycle Challenge
THM E
Upside Down Pineapple Oatmeal
Quinoa Goes Cajun (directly from the freezer) THM Cookbook
Leftover Orange Chicken and Brown Rice (before Bunco) Featured at Bunco was Texas Barbecue Brisket, Corn Muffins, Barbecue Beans, and Salad. I had a tiny taste of the brisket…delicious, and salad with no dressing. Whoop…I stayed on plan!
Day 5
There were several menu adjustments.
THM Fuel Pull
Cranberry Nog Quite good on a cold morning. I had cranberries left over from the holidays that needed to be used and this was perfect. I enjoyed the flavors. This was subbed for the planned cobbler, because we ran out of berries and I did not have the opportunity for a grocery resupply.
Tuna and Capers (in place of the Gazpacho) THM FP
Good Girl Moonshine Sipper
Crockpot Creamy Southwest Chicken THM FP, Spinach Salad with Berries and Balsamic drizzle.
This was more like a soup. I served it in a bowl over cauliflower rice. Good flavor. This became a dinner meal rather than lunch.
Day 6
The cobbler was a single serve, and not really worth the effort. I think I would have enjoyed the berries with yogurt or cottage cheese more.
Lunch out with our son at Captain Groovy’s Blackened Mahi Sandwich (no bun) but with tomato, lettuce, and onion. The side of cole slaw came home for the ‘Ole Buckeye.
Baked Teriyaki Chicken Breasts THM FP with roasted asparagus (no oil) and squeezed lemon, tossed lettuce salad with strawberries and balsamic. I really enjoyed this. It was hard to believe that the chicken was a FP. This will definitely reappear on a regular rotation. I used chicken tenders rather than breasts. It would be great compliment on salads as well.
Day 7 Hallelujah
Sauteed spinach and scrambled eggs
Lunch out with the 15 year old at Taste Romaine salad with red onion, banana peppers, roasted red peppers, and hard boiled egg and balsamic vinaigrette.
The dinner plan called for salmon…but Costco did not have wild caught salmon. Menu changed to Rotisserie chicken, roasted broccoli, roasted asparagus, spinach salad.
The Fuel Cycle is complete! Whoop.
I will add some additional notes. I never made the turkey meatballs since the recipe called for extremely lean turkey and all I had on hand was 85%. I will try them at a later date. Since I had several lunches “out”, several lunch recipes remain untried. The crack chicken will move to another week as well. I decided to make Cowboy Grub (THM cookbook) in place of Ranch Hand Taco Salad…a hot meal rather than a cold salad.
White Gazpacho was made with fat free Greek Yogurt for a FP. Although I love the S version with sour cream, this is still a great FP. This makes a lot and I put it in Ball jars and refrigerate.
Crockpot Marinated Pork Loin THM S It was convenient and ended up serving the whole family, however it will not be a repeat. The flavor did not compete at all with our other successful pork loin recipes.
Sweet Pumpkin Casserole THM S A really successful new side. The grand girls really like it as did the ‘Ole Buckeye. A definite keeper.
Berry Cobbler THM FP Originally this was scheduled to be a breakfast, but it looked to be more like a dessert. A dessert is how it was served with a little squirt of Reddi Whip for the girls.
Considering that week 6 held the most difficult part of the fuel cycle it was still a great week of eating. I am back on track and have new momentum going into the weeks ahead.
Bon Appetit!
