2020 Week 46 Menu Plan
The 2020 Week 46 Menu Plan concludes our week in St Thomas with a combination of meals. We continue to enjoy dining at highly recommended restaurants, as well as relaxing and eating “in”. Our days are always flexible depending on the weather and our menu is as well. By planning ahead we are assured to have ingredients on hand. It also prevents over provisioning. Normally by planning ahead we have more than enough. More often than not, we tend to need an additional booze run.
Breakfast
The breakfast plan for both weeks in the time share included tried and true casserole breakfasts that would serve at least 3 mornings. The beauty of the plan using THM approved recipes was that I could take all of the dry ingredients from home. In so doing I avoided costs and had the meals pre-measured and bagged for convenience. All that was needed was to add the wet ingredients. As it turned out each casserole actually fed us for 4 meals. Originally I planned to have sausage and eggs several mornings, but since the sausage and egg casserole ingredients remained, I have opted for the casserole. Much simpler. I will add some left over chopped vegetables to change it up a bit.
Lunch
Since our plans on several days include visits to neighboring islands for the entire day, we will have lunch out. When we visited St Thomas with our grand girls it included a day on Water Island and lunch and beach time at Dinghy’s Beach Bar. It was a great day and we look forward to a return visit. We always plan a visit to St John while we are here. In fact, we tried very hard to trade our week for a week at the Westin St John, but it didn’t work out. On our last visit we picked up a boxed lunch at the Northside Deli and took it to the beach. Perfect. I bought ground turkey for a possible meatball dinner. If that doesn’t pan out, I will use it to make turkey burgers. There is never room for waste on these trips.
Dinner
2020 week 46 has lots of dinners “out”. There was a tremendous amount of research done in order to experience the best of the best. It took extra attention since many of our favorite restaurants over the years did not survive Hurricane Irma, and those that did have succumbed to lack of business from the lockdown during the Corona Virus.
Hits and Misses
Since all of the meals prepared “in house” were repeats of favorites, we already know they are hits. Our dinners “out” proved to be outstanding as well and I will devote an entire blog to our vacation in St Thomas.
Food for Thought
I have made our family favorite roasted sausage, potatoes, and peppers for years, but after switching to the THM eating plan, I felt forced to drop the potatoes. After significant research I have determined that purple potatoes in moderation might be an acceptable “on plan” ingredient. On occasion I add these little gems making this meal much more satisfying for the ‘Ole Buckeye.
While all potato varieties impact blood sugar levels because of their carbohydrate content, purple potatoes may exert less of an effect than other types due to their high concentration of polyphenol plant compounds. They are also high in the same antioxidants found in blueberries.
Recap
I know when most people go on vacation, they tend to disqualify cooking. Time share vacations allow for a mixture of eating in and eating out. It is important to plan ahead to avoid over buying on the grocery runs or purchasing convenience foods at the grocery. In the islands all foods are expensive, so planning is an absolute necessity. During week 45 we were able to thoroughly enjoy our meals no matter where we had them. We are looking forward to another week of healthy eating while in St Thomas. Cheers! and Bon Appetit!