Recapping Last Week’s Meal Plan: We ate well here at our house last week and I hope you did, too! Did you make any of the meals from the meal plan at your house? If so, I hope you’ll share how they turned out. If you missed it, here is a link to last week’s meals (LINK).
As I was preparing the Halibut en papilotte on Thursday, I decided to use my steam oven instead of parchment paper. Here are some pictures of preparation and the finished product.
I bought this salad from Costco and it was delicious! And, it’s healthy to boot. I would definitely recommend it.
New For This Week
The higher carb foods in the meal plan are italicized. I’ve cut back on carbs like sugars, starches, and grains in my diet, but my husband hasn’t. I thought that would make it easier for those following a lower carb diet.
To keep the sodium content low, I do not add any salt while cooking to my foods. When preparing the ribs, my husband sets aside my portion for no-salt seasoning. And, since I’m not preparing the ribs, I asked my husband – who is an absolute boss at grilling and smoking meats – to share how he prepares them. Look for the ribs recipe as a separate post later this week.
Meal Plan for the Upcoming Week
Monday: Chicken Piccata with mashed potatoes and green beans.
Chicken piccata (unbreaded) recipe:
Ingredients:
- 4 boneless, thinly sliced chicken breasts
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 3 Tbsp. diced onion
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup no-salt added chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp. capers
- 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter.
Directions:
Saute chicken breasts in olive oil on medium-high heat for 4 minutes on each side. While cooking, rinse and dry capers to remove excess sodium. Add onion and garlic and cook 1 minute, then add lemon juice and chicken broth. Simmer until bubbly.
Remove from heat and add butter and capers. Select your own recipe for mashed potatoes, add no-salt added canned or fresh green beans, and your meal is ready.
Tuesday: Taco Salad with guacamole and salsa
I love taco salad! It’s a quick and easy meal to make and you can substitute ingredients to suit any diet plan. Usually, I use ground beef for this, but you can use any kind of meat or pinto or black beans. My husband likes both meat and beans in his.
For low-carb: After preparing ground beef, I generously layer torn or shredded leaf lettuce, the ground beef, grated cheese, diced tomatoes, onions, sliced or diced avocado, and top with salsa and sour cream. I don’t use any dressing, just the salsa and sour cream.
For my husband, I add tortilla chips and pinto or black beans. I use this seasoning for the ground beef: 1 Tbsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. of each: onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and a pinch of chili pepper. After cooking the ground beef, I add the juice of one lime for added flavor. The guacamole recipe is in last week’s meal plan HERE.
Wednesday: Tomatillo and Garlic Shrimp with cilantro rice and green salad
Ingredients:
- 1 pound of shrimp (I use frozen raw shrimp and buy the largest size I can find, usually 21-25 per pound)
- 1 pound of tomatillos
- small onion
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 minced jalapeño pepper
- 2 cloves of minced garlic
- 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter (divided)
- 1/2 c. fresh cilantro
- 1 Tbsp. lime juice.
Directions:
Rinse shrimp and remove outer shells/tails. Remove husks and stems from tomatillos, rinse well, and dice. Dice the onion and mince the jalapeño pepper.
Use a skillet that has a fitted lid, as you’ll need the lid later in recipe.
Saute the onions and jalapeños in 1 Tbsp. butter and 1 Tbsp. olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, add tomatillos. Then cover with lid and reduce heat to low. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add 2 Tbsp. butter and 2 Tbsp. water, and shrimp. Increase heat to medium and cook shrimp turn they turn pink.
For cilantro rice: cook rice as usual, adding the juice of one lime to water. When done, add 1/4 c. minced cilantro and stir. I use bagged green salad.
Thursday: Stuffed Bell Peppers
This is my favorite recipe: Low-Carb Stuffed Bell Peppers
Friday: Smoked/BBQ Ribs with coleslaw and garlic bread
My husband likes to use baby back ribs because they are more meaty and less fatty. Here’s a meal plan tip for “How do you know how many ribs to make?” Well, it’s based on a number of factors really.
- Are you having a lot of sides?
- Do you want leftovers?
- It also depends on how hearty everyone’s appetites are.
My husband likes having leftovers, so he makes about 1/2 rack per person. If you don’t want leftovers then plan 3-4 ribs for less hearty appetites.
He says: “I’m no BBQ expert, but this is a method I have tried several times with great success.” Season the baby back ribs the day before you BBQ them. Rinse and dry the ribs. Remove the membrane on underside of the ribs. Apply a light coating of vegetable or olive oil. Then liberally apply the seasoning, wrap them in clear wrap and let them sit in fridge overnight. I use the 3-2-1 method. Three hours on grill/smoker, two hours wrapped in aluminum foil on grill or oven, then one hour back on grill. This is the short version. I’ll post the whole recipe later this week on Wednesday or Thursday, so check back.
Saturday: Roasted Pork Tenderloin with kale salad and Hawaiian sweet rolls
Having a meal plan and knowing what you’re making on the weekends, makes them more carefree! So, here’s my special tip for making roasted pork tenderloin: buy a pre-marinated pork tenderloin! Before cooking, rinse and dry the tenderloin to remove even more sodium. I’ll use the bagged kale salad from Costco, shown above.
Before cutting back on carbs, I was using the Hawaiian sweet rolls. Have you every tried them? They’re low in sodium. If you’ve looked at the sodium content in breads you’ll know what a find they are.
Robin Destefano says
Im making the caprese salad tonight for a party. The shrimp dish looks really good i think ill make that Monday. Reane you should write a cook book!These all look so good and im sure yummy.
Renae says
Thank you, Robin!