Meal Planning Deliciousness!

I am not too good about being consistent with meal planning. It is definitely something that when I set my mind to it, I can do it, and I inevitably say things like "why don't I always do this???" But somehow, someway, I get caught up in other things and de-prioritize meal planning (and start eating more crap). Well, once again, I am saying to myself

Why don't I always do this???

One shopping trip = two dinners, one side dish, one salad, two breakfasts, and snacks. I mean, come on!!!

After hitting up Whole Foods yesterday, I decided to get started on the Restart Salad from Happy Healthy Mama. Detox time!

This was absolutely delicious, and super easy to make, just some measuring and chopping. I left out the raisins because I abhor them, and I used regular mayo and honey. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly, though I should have used 1/2 the dressing. I don't like a lot of dressing on my salad and should have known to use less than the recommended amount! I think I also might try using more turmeric next time, since turmeric has medicinal properties and I couldn't taste it at all so may as well add a bit more!

Next up, I decided to tackle the Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Red Quinoa Soup from Oh She Glows. I must admit, this one really surprised me. I expected to like it, but didn't at all expect to be completely blown away by how amazing it was. It was so easy to make, too! (Unfortunately pretty important to me as I am not very skilled in the kitchen.)

All you do is saute coconut oil, garlic, onion, jalapeno, and sweet potato...

Add in some spices...

 Add the broth...

 Simmer, simmer, simmer. Then just before serving you add black beans, cooked red quinoa, and top with your choice of toppings. I went with corn chips, grape tomatoes, and cilantro. Stirrrr it all together and you get this (sorry that I am not a food photographer and didn't bother making it look neat and pretty).

SOOOO GOOD!!!

After a spectacular dinner, I treated myself to a couple squares of this. Hit the spot!

Before going to bed, I put together my overnight oats using this recipe from Peanut Butter Fingers. It was wonderful to wake up this morning and enjoy this!

When lunchtime came around today, I was eager to finally use my new immersion blender!!!  I put an inexpensive Cuisinart immersion blender on my Christmas list, but my husband did research and bought this one instead, the Miallegro 9090 Mi Tutto 550-Watt Immersion Professional-Style Hand Blender. It's AMAZING!!!

It has different attachments that you can use for different purposes -- frothing, chopping, blending, etc. I used the food processor attachment and blended up all the ingredients from this Back on Track Green Monster recipe from Oh She Glows. Once again, Angela really surprised me. I expected this to be edible, not awful, but obviously... healthy.  Wow, I could not have been more wrong. It was unbelievable. It tasted mostly like apple juice and the ginger gave it such a nice spiciness! My six-year-old son liked it too but thought it was too spicy, so I made him another batch without the ginger, and he drank it down. Winning!!!

I guess that's all the updates for now. Tomorrow I'm making a crock pot meal from KERF and a cauliflower side from Peanut Butter Fingers. Stay tuned!!!

Please make the soup from Oh She Glows. It's amazing and you will thank me!!!