We start off with vegetables. Either thinking about which vegetables we feel like or which ones are on sale. We purchase those foods, and base our meals around them. If we have something in particular we are craving, we will purchase what we need for that, but for the most part, the meals are just experiments thrown together. This is what a lot of our meatless monday meals end up being!
We actually didn’t have our Sizzlefish this week, which was rare, we did have the chicken. Each week we will have either chicken or beef, and an additional meal of fish, the rest of the meals are usually meatless.
So, I am going to share last week’s meals, to give you an idea of what we did. I start my days on Sundays, just like my training log….Okay, I don’t really start my days on Sundays in my life, but that way you can get a full week.
Here was our meal plan for the week:
Sunday
Roast chicken with Bisto gravy and roasted sage butternut squash and carrots (cooked in the same way my butternut squash fries, but just bigger pieces so took a little longer)
For my American readers, it is a gravy that is 10000000 times better than American gravy! You would consider it “brown gravy”, but its soooooo much better!
Dessert: 5 squares Trader Joes Dark chocolate (yes, I am aware there are only 3 squares in the pic, but that is considered a serving, so when I took the picture, that was how many I showed)
Monday
Loaded salad with spinach, tomatoes, carrots, celery, beets, sunflower seeds, almonds, cashews black beans, olives, pickles, avocado, gorgonzola cheese and Salad Cream.
Dessert: Dairy Queen Small Salted Caramel Blizzard
Tuesday
Homemade broccoli, cauliflower, and cheese soup- made with waaaayyy too much cheese as we only had skim milk, which did not make it very creamy or thick. First I tried pureeing some cauliflower to thicken it up a bit, which worked, but it definitely did not taste like broccoli and cheese soup…… so I added more and more cheese trying to make it cheesy…..it was actually kind of a fail….even after 1.5 blocks of cheese….oops!
Rather than a creamy, luscious broccoli and cheese soup like Panera makes (which I was going for), it ended up being a cauliflower and lumpy cheese soup. It tasted okay, but next time I will be sure to go buy the full fat milk and cream!
We had this with leftover whole wheat tortillas and crackers.
Dessert: small assortment of candies/chocolate
Wednesday
Leftover chicken, gravy and roasted butternut squash
Dessert: 3 squares dark chocolate and small assortment of candies (similar to above)
Thursday
Date night 🙂
I did not take any pictures of the food as I was determined to keep my phone hidden the whole time to truly enjoy this evening out with my husband, but we went to Pies and Pints (has been on our list for a while).
We split a Greek Salad to start, and had a 16″ speciality pizza with 1/2 Mushroom Garlic “Roasted mushrooms, feta, roasted & fresh garlic, caramelized onions, olive oil & fresh herbs” and 1/2 Chicken Gouda “Marinated grilled chicken, applewood smoked bacon, smoked Gouda, red onions, chipotle crema & scallions”
Dessert: We went to Crank and Boom, a homemade ice cream place in Lexington. You will have to check out my Instagram for my dessert, but I kind of wish I had got Steve’s Peanut Butter Cup Sundae…..but then I loved the homemade waffle cone, and of course Steve gave me a few of his blondie chunks from the bottom 🙂
Friday
Leftover brocoli and cheddar soup with Food Should Taste Good Tortilla Chips (Steve also had a slice of pizza)
Dessert: assortment of candies similar to Tuesday (although in honesty it was probably double the amount :p)
Saturday
Steve was out of town, so went out for lunch at Vinaigrette with my friend Catherine, and had the rest of the leftover pizza (2 slices) for dinner.
Dessert: 3 squares dark chocolate and some PB m&ms that Sarah sent me (that was a bad idea to open that package…all gone)!
And there you have it, a week of dinners (and of course desserts) for us! Now you can really see that there is nothing special in here, just pretty much what you would expect for a mostly healthy meal plan, but as you can see, I really do have sweets every day. Right now as Philly is just a few days away, I am just having smaller servings most days.
As you see, I did enjoy my date night with Steve. We did not go for the light option, nor did we hold back. I think that is so important, and although we ate to fuel most the week, when we did go out to eat together, we made sure it was what we truly wanted.
What does your weekly menu look like?
22 Comments.
I will definitely benefit from your strategies post Friday! You food looks delicious and I’m all about the dark chocolate 🙂
I’m so glad you will be talking race strategies on Friday!! Until then, I’ll be having some of what you’ve been eating 🙂
I love seeing when runners treat themselves to goodies and don’t deny themselves. During the last few weeks before a big race, I try to cut out excess sugar and no alcohol (I’m a lightweight anyway where one drink is enough). Pizza is always a great option for date night, especially followed by a trip to a local ice cream place! Looking forward to your tip post of Friday since I am running NYC Marathon this weekend.
Thanks Pam, hopefully it helps you 🙂 GOOD LUCK this weekend 🙂 Take a read of this…meant to add it to the post http://runnersconnect.net/racing/new-york-city-marathon-race-strategy/
Thanks, this was great information. I am pretty sure I will have no time goal on Sunday since this will be a tough course. After food poisoning and an ER visit 40 hours before the start of the Boston Marathon, I may need to have just a fun day instead of pushing it.
Everything looks DELICIOUS, especially Steve’s sundae…That looks amazing and something I would totally treat myself to! I need to roast a chicken. It is so good and easy and leftovers for at least a couple of days…Happy Hump Day! xoxox
Thanks for giving us a peek into your week of eating! There is a place for occasional desserts in everyones’ diets. I need a little chocolate everyday 🙂
Firstly, I love that you gave a Wikipedia link to Salad Cream. I didn’t even realise it was a UK thing. And you just can’t beat proper gravy. I get confused in the US when they talk about gravy as it’s not like our gravy (and biscuits…don’t even get me started on biscuits!).
All your meals sound really good. I especially love the chicken meal. I could eat chicken every single day.
Everything sounds so yum!! And sounds like we both like dark chocolate:)
Good luck to you at RnR Philly! I’ll be racing as well, but will definitely finish after you 🙂 – Christine
That chicken looks beautiful! I remember my English friend raving about much better that gravy is too. This is a great, balanced peak into your meals. I’m all about dark chocolate or a little something sweet after dinner too.
I really appreciate reading about a plan that is balanced. You read a lot about people who in my opinion go to extremes (no sugar, no dairy, no gluten, no wheat, ect ect.) or obsess over every bite of food….I really just do not think that is a healthy way to live. I loved your post on starting slow and pacing and can’t wait for Fridays!!! I am 16 days away from race day and I know a lot of NYC runners that will love it too!!!
Eeeeep! So excited that you posted this. Love it. We have salad cream all the time over here too! YUM. That’s what we get when we have Brits in the family. 🙂 I totally relate to your soup fail. That’s something I would do. Sigh…
I am so glad that someone else agrees dessert should be an evening staple! I love dessert. 🙂
No joke, I could sit there and eat an entire roasted chicken with my fingers. Looks so good!
so many good eats! when I am trying to make a creamier soup I use greek yogurt (at least 2% not non fat). and omg salad cream…my mom’s side is british so I am very familiar 🙂
Everything look so delicious, Tina! We have roasted chicken with potatoes/squash and veggies frequently – it’s such a comforting and healthy meal. I want your salad from Saturday, it looks so good!
Yum!! I love that you eat candy, icecream, salad, chicken… 🙂 It makes me feel normal when I eat sugar during training. 🙂
Your food looks so delicious and it’s great to read that you eat desserts. I also eat dessert pretty much every day. Sometimes it’s Ben & Jerry’s, other times it’s a square of dark chocolate. And occasionally, I don’t want dessert so I just don’t eat it- but it’s all about balance and not depriving yourself. Honestly, when you run so many miles a week, your body really NEEDS calories and chocolate or ice cream can be pretty calorie-dense.
I’m loving butternut squash lately. My husband made some lasagna with squash as the noodles this week, and it’s great!
Fun to see the different things you fill a weeks meals with! We have been trying to eat at home more and it’s resulted in healthier meals and better for out wallets too! Although, I am looking forward to date night this weekend! I’d love to see that Broccoli cheese soup recipe!
I love your little sweet treat of candy and chocolate squares. Mike and I are really similar except sometimes (often times), we don’t stop at 3 or 5 squares. For now, we’ve been saving the sweets after hard workouts or long runs. We’ve tried to practice everything in moderation – including dessert – every day but we suck at it! :p
Do you have a recipe for your roasted chicken? I’ve been wanting to do one of these instead of buying a rotisserie at the store. And nice to know I’m not the only one addicted to sweets 😉