Simple, Budget Friendly 7-Day Meal Plan & Grocery List

by:  Melissa Sell & Kimberly Roberto

Shopping for healthy food on a budget can seem intimidating but there are ways to make it work.  Most healthy meals just require a few simple ingredients and take a very short time to make.  This 7 day meal plan is based on 1-2 people so adjust the amounts accordingly to feed more people.

All of the items are Advanced & Core Plan Approved
Grocery List

  • 1 pound antibiotic free ground turkey  ($4.99 Whole Foods)
  • 1 pound grass fed beef ($6ish)
  • 2 pounds organic chicken ($8-12)
  • 2 dozen eggs (hormone/antibiotic free- $3.99)
  • 1 cans black beans ($2)
  • 1 bag coconut flakes ($3ish)
  • 2 cans coconut milk ($4)
  • 1 box organic butter ($5ish)
  • 1 jar almond butter ($4.99)
  • 1 head org. kale ($2.49)
  • 1 bag org spinach ($3ish)
  • 1 can organic diced tomatoes ($2ish)
  • 2 org. Granny smith apples
  • 1 cucumber
  • Org. red pepper, org green pepper
  • 1 avocado
  •  Head of broccoli
  • 1 large onion
  • ½ lb deli turkey ($3ish)
  • Fresh strawberries ($3ish)
  • Romaine Lettuce ($2ish)
  • Small bag walnuts ($3ish)
  • Small bag cashews ($2ish)
  • 1 container hummus ($3ish)
  • 1 can organic crushed tomatoes ($2ish)
  • 1 quart organic chicken broth($3ish)

*hard to estimate price of some produce
Total= $60ish
Try to buy 1 item you can get a lot of uses out of per week (so it doesn’t get too expensive in one grocery store visit)
Ex: one week buy butter, the next olive oil, the next coconut oil
This way you can stock up and not need to buy them for a while after your first get them

7 Day – Meal Plan

Monday
Breakfast – 2 eggs scrambled in butter over a bed of spinach
Snack – Handful of cashews or coconut flakes
Lunch – Salad- kale, ½  cucumber, red pepper, black beans, olive oil, balsamic or apple cider vinegar
Dinner – Turkey burger w/ steamed broccoli
Use half of your turkey, mix in desired spices (curry and cumin are really good) and create 2 patties- cook in butter or coconut oil
Steam broccoli for 3 minutes

Tuesday
Breakfast – Smoothie- 1 spoonful almond butter, handful frozen berries, spinach, coconut milk- add as much until you like the consistency
Snack – Granny Smith Apple with almond butter
Lunch – Leftover turkey burger with a salad
Dinner – Chicken with black beans and onions
Chop 1/3 of your onion and cook in down in butter, cook chicken (chop into chunks for quicker cooking) in same pan, heat black beans (you can add spices.  Eat with kale or spinach

Wednesday
Breakfast – 2 eggs scrambled and cooked in butter over a bed of spinach.  Add onions cooked in butter or avocado to the top of eggs for some variety
Snack – Handful of coconut flakes
Lunch – Left over chicken with salad
Dinner – Tex Mex over kale with avocado
Put grass fed beef and the rest of the ground turkey in pan and cook through. Chop 1/3 onion, ½ green pepper, 1 clove garlic- sauté in butter for 3-5 minutes. Drain meat if necessary- add meat to veggies- add 1 can drained black beans and ½- 1 can tomatoes (depends how much liquid you want in there). Season with cumin and paprika.

Thursday
Breakfast – Smoothie- 1 spoonful almond butter, handful frozen berries, coconut milk- add as much until you like the consistency
Snack – Apple with almond butter
Lunch – Left over Tex Mex with kale
Dinner – Curry Chicken – Cut up chicken and cook in butter. Add in chopped up onions, peppers and broccoli. Add in ½-1 can coconut milk and add spices (red curry or yellow curry)

Friday
Breakfast – Smoothie- 1 spoonful almond butter, handful frozen berries, coconut milk- add as much until you like the consistency
Snack – Handful of coconut flakes
Lunch – Salad with left over curry chicken
Dinner – 2 eggs scrambled in butter over a bed of spinach.  Add onions cooked in butter or avocado to the top of eggs for some variety

Saturday
Breakfast – 2 spoonfuls almond butter w/ sliced strawberries, coconut milk poured over and sprinkled with stevia
Snack – Hard boiled egg
Lunch – Berry Salad – Romaine with chopped strawberries, walnuts, deli turkey (roll and then slice), poppy seeds (optional), olive oil, balsamic vinegar
Dinner – Quiche – chop deli turkey and any veggies you like.  Whip 6-8 eggs, add sea salt and pepper and veggies.  Butter a round baking dish, pour egg mixture in and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Sunday
Breakfast – Veggie Omelet – scramble eggs but don’t stir.  Let set underneath and carefully flip over.  Fill with desired filling and fold the egg over and slide on to a plate
Snack – Hummus with slices veggies
Lunch – Leftover Quiche and/or Lettuce wrap – spread hummus on lettuce leaves with turkey slices and any other desired toppings
Dinner – Beef Veggie Soup.- brown the remaining ½ lb ground beef.  Add salt (about 1 tsp), pepper, and ½ tsp chili powder.  Pour in undrained tomatoes, chicken broth, and any veggies you want.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Father’s Day Menu

This is a great menu line up for Father’s Day.  It can double as a nice menu for a summer get-together of family meal.

On the Menu

Caprese Salad
Grass Fed NY Strip Steaks with Chimichurri Sauce
Chile-Zucchini Mash
Mashed No-tatoes (recipe in the book)

Starter: Caprese Salad
MAIN COURSE: Grass-Fed NY Strip Steaks w/ Chimichurri Sauce
SIDE DISH: Chile-Zucchini Mash
SIDE DISH: Mashed No-Tatoes - Recipe in the Maximized Living Nutrition Plans Book

Packable Lunch Ideas

Here is a video to show you how versatile and healthy lunches can be.

I always get questions about packing healthy lunches for kids.  This is a unique challenge for parents, especially if these are new changes for children.  Here is a list of some ideas to get you started.

Getting your kids to eat and to LIKE what you make them may be difficult at times but don’t give up.  Keep trying and you will be surprised how quickly they make changes.

I have found that using something like a bento box (what Japanese children use – it has several different small containers that keep lunch components separate and makes for a presentation kids love.  Plus…it cut’s down on plastic bags which are toxic and bad for the environment anyway.

MLNP= Maximized Living Nutrition Plans Book (contact me for a copy)

•    Chicken Salad –   Organic chicken, homemade mayo or avocado oil mayo, and any combination of:  celery, onions, curry powder, lemon juice, nuts, grapes, raisins.  Recipe in MLNP.
•    Cold Meatloaf – Recipe in MLNP
•    Cold Meatballs on skewers with Fruit or Cheese)
•    Turkey–Melon Wrap –  Organic deli turkey with thinly sliced melon wrapped in a sprouted grain tortilla.
•    Fresh Mozzarella, Tomatoes, and Basil with Balsamic & Olive oil
•    Chicken Wings –  Just bake organic chicken wings with hot sauce (check ingredients)

•    Salmon Cakes – Recipe in MLNP
•    Hummus – Recipe in MLNP
•    Chili in a thermos – Recipe in MLNP
•    Guacamole with veggie dippers– Recipe in MLNP
•    Organic Egg Salad on Ezekiel Bread or Wrap
•    Organic Hard Boiled Eggs
•    Dried Fruit
•    Plain Grass Fed Organic Yogurt with fruit.  Make sure you check ingredients!  Yogurt is a common hiding place for lots of sugar.
•    Cookie Cutter Sandwiches – just cut out shapes of sprouted grain bread, organic deli meat, cheese, hummus, almond butter, banana.
•    Trail Mix – nuts, coconut flakes, chunks of chocolate bark (recipe in MLNP), seeds
•    Smoothies in an insulated container.
•    Kale Chips – Recipe on this blog.
•    Organic Deli Meat Rollups – Organic Deli Meat spread with organic cream cheese or hummus, dill pickle, etc.
•    Ezekiel Bread French Toast Sticks with Strawberry Syrup (organic strawberries boiled down until forms a syrup – make ahead of time)
•    Sliced Leftover Organic Chicken
•    Raw Cheese Cubes
•    Tamari Almonds – soaked almonds sprinkled with tamari and lightly roasted
•    Pickles
•    Frozen Grapes
•    Organic GMO Free Popcorn popped in coconut oil with organic grass fed butter and sea salt
•    Grass Fed Beef or Turkey Jerky Recipe in MLNP
•    Soup in a thermos…put hot water into your thermos and let stand for 5 minutes, remove water and refill with the soup – this will keep it warm even longer
•    Salad – get creative!
•  Rainbow fruit skewers – just place colorful fruit (in rainbow order) on a skewer or make mini ones on toothpicks.

Menu Planning Tips

Here is some great meal planning information from one of our makeover success stories, Kathy Patell.  She has lost over 60 pounds and has really figured out some great ways to make it work for her and her family.  She was gracious enough to share them with us!  Thanks Kathy.

From Kathy…

Although some patients would like you to hand them a week of menus and a shopping list, there are too many likes and dislikes to really be successful in the long term.  I think the real stumbling block is creating menus.  I would like to help facilitate your patients to come up with their own menu with their likes and circumstance.  (Cooking for family vs individual). Teach them the skill to make menus.  Establish a few rules like: you must try one new entree recipe from the book each week; no salad can be repeated until the fourth day;  there must be at least 3 different colors on your plate; you must have 2 beef, 3 white meat and 2 fish for the week; and so on.   For the advanced plan I choose one meat, one hot vegetable, and one cold salad.  I then add grains for my daughter, who is not on the advanced plan, like brown rice or sweet potatoes.

I first started by looking at the food lists in the book and checking off all the things I already liked.  I could then see how much variety I could choose my menus from.  Menus need to be written down and posted on the cabinet or fridge.  When I come down in the morning and see what to defrost for dinner, I read:

Mon:  Stir fry coconut chicken and snow peas, tomato-mozzarella salad
Tues:  :  Teriyaki salmon, green beans almandine (mine are Green Giant brand), spring mix with raspberry vinaigrette and walnuts
Wed:   Roasted Vegetable Lasagna, Caesar salad
Thurs:  Grilled chicken, broccoli cranberry salad, cottage cheese with chives (from my garden)

I think I just made my menus for the next few days!  The point is, when I see what is coming at the end of the day I say to myself YUMM!  I am not being deprived.  I’m eating from a restaurant menu.  The added benefit is that when my husband comes home he can jump right in to help prepare.  It’s written down.  If you are trying a new recipe each week, the pantry items will gradually change.

For breakfast and lunch you could do it like the hospital does.  Write several options and alternate each day: eggs (scrambled, fried, omelet), smoothie, grainless pancakes, grainless granola with almond milk.

One more strategy that must be considered when making menus; the activities commitments that interfere with meal times.  I always consult my calendar and jot down on the menu  which nights I have a class or Steph has to work.  If I need to be somewhere at 6pm and she needs to be somewhere at 7pm and Dan may or may not be home, that’s Taco night!  A meal that can be prepared ahead and hold.

Kathy Petell

Family Taco Night

Making healthy meals can be easy and fast.  Here is an example of a super fast meal that the whole family will love.  The best part is that is it much healthier than takeout or the little yellow “taco flavor” packets.

1 lb grass fed ground beef

2 tbsp chili powder

½ tsp salt

2 tsp cumin

½ onion, grated

2 tsp oregano

Greens + ‘fixins’

Brown the ground beef with the grated onion until almost done, add the rest of the ingredients.  You may need to add a small amount of water for consistency.

Serve as taco salad over greens with tomatoes, avocado, black beans, raw cheese, etc.

OR serve in sprouted grain tortillas (CORE PLAN ONLY – not Advanced Plan Approved)

Stuffed Porto Patty

Last night, I decided to go meatless and made Stuffed Porto Pattys from the Maximized Living Nutrition Plans Book.  One of the many joys of cooking is being able to improvise.  I was out of tomatoes so I just substituted chopped zucchini instead.  I also substituted a very light sprinkle of raw cheddar cheese instead of goat cheese.   The portobello mushrooms are so rich and meaty and satisfying that will satisfy even big appetites.

Before Cooking

These portobello mushroom caps make the perfect ‘bowl’ and can be stuffed with any veggies you have on hand.  You can even leave off the cheese entirely.   The recipe suggests grilling, but since it was raining last night, I just popped mine in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes.

You can also assemble the mushrooms ahead of time and just sprinkle with the cheese and pop them in the oven when you are ready.  It only took me minutes to gather and chop the ingredients, then just 25 minutes in the oven.

 

4 medium portabello mushroom caps

1 large tomato, diced

1 organic yellow bell pepper, diced

6-8 kalamata olives, sliced

4 leaves chopped basil

1/2 small red onion, diced

2 handfuls organic spinach

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

2 tablespoons grass fed butter or avocado oil

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon course ground black pepper

goat cheese crumbles or raw cheddar cheese, optional

 

Melt butter or avocado oil and lightly cook garlic until tender.  Wipe off any dirt from the mushrooms with a damp towed.  Brush insides of mushrooms with half of the melted butter/garlic mixture.  Sautee peppers, onion, tomatoes, spinach, olives, salt, and black pepper with the rest of the butter/garlic for  3-4 minutes or until tender.  Meanwhile, grill or bake mushroom caps for approximately 4 minutes or until softened.  Fill the caps with the veggie mixture and cheese if desired, continue cooking until cheese is melted and everything is heated together.

After Cooking