Okay! Let’s real quick talk about meal planning for Sugar Free January.

We aren’t going to do major meal plans during Sugar Free January but we ARE giving you a free printable template to make your weekly/monthly planning super easy. And we are LOADING YOU UP ON RECIPES so you have lots of yummy things to choose from as you decide what you want to eat this month.

My approach to meal planning has always been pretty loose 🤪 and you’ll see that reflected in my plan below:

Click here to download the Sugar Free Meal Plan Template.

And here are the recipe links for what I’ll be making during that first week:

• Avocado Egg Toast
• Simple Green Smoothie
• Chicken and Rice Meal Prep (using quinoa)
• Mushroom Penne with Walnut Pesto
• Golden Soup
• Cashew Coffee
• I will also be making a weekly batch of Sunshine Sauce for Sugar Free January.
• and the Peanut Soup? recipe coming on January 1st! 🤩

And here’s what my grocery list looks like for that first week’s plan.

I take this list and then either add it into my grocery app (we use Grocery IQ) or place an order for grocery delivery service, which is the best thing to ever make its way into our modern lives (we use Instacart). Once you add your groceries into the app, they will be organized by category, which makes shopping really easy.

That’s it!

Here are a few other lil’ tipsters for meal planning during Sugar Free January.

• You don’t have to have something different every day. Batch your easy meals, like breakfast and lunch. In my example plan, I will just be eating avocado toast, and/or a smoothie, and chicken and rice meal prep for the majority of the week’s breakfasts and lunches. I don’t mind eating the same food a few days in a row as long as it’s really, really good. And I might change up some small things, like one day I might do a cheesy version of scrambled eggs on avocado toast, and one day I might just do avocado toast with a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, and one day just spicy scrambled eggs. But knowing I’ll have avocado egg toast (or some combo of that) helps me keep my shopping list short and my brain space available to think about other things.
• Leave space for leftovers and eating out. If I make one pasta recipe that serves 6-8 people, and there’s only 2 of us… we should be able to eat that 3-4 times. Leave space for your leftovers, and for your weekend social gatherings with friends. It’s hard to order out when eating sugar free which is why I’m only writing in 1-2 spaces for eating out on this meal plan, but it’s doable. And I think getting out of your house to share a meal at a restaurant with friends, even if you’re just ordering a simple grilled chicken and veg entree and a glass of red wine, is important for your social/emotional health.
• Limit to one fancy or new recipe per week. The only recipe on my list this week that requires more than one pan to make is the mushroom penne. I definitely don’t recommend choosing one all-new, full-on homemade recipe every night of the week. Make big batches of stuff! Eat your leftovers! At MOST, in our “real life,” I cook three recipes per week – maybe one on Monday, one on Wednesday, and one on the weekend to prepare for the week ahead. Keep it simple.

Okay, the last thing I’m going to leave you with is a nice long list of recipes that I think would be good to consider for your meal planning purposes – either breakfasts, lunches, or dinners. This should give the high-achieving super-planners in the group a highly prepared starting point for #POYsugarfreejanuary!

I am so excited to start sharing these recipes with you! THREE MORE DAYYYS.

Breakfast

• Soft-Scrambled Eggs – A MUST-MAKE!
• Pumpkin Granola
• Peanut Butter Granola
• Cashew Coffee – Also a creamy, dreamy favorite. One of the most popular recipes on POY!
• Autumn Glow Milkshake
• Caramelized Banana Oatmeal
• Berry Chia Overnight Oats
• Creamy Spinach Potato Breakfast Casserole
• Inner Goddess Raspberry Breakfast Bowls
• Six-Ingredient Sausage Potato Pie
• Detox Green Apple Smoothie
• Goat Cheese Scrambled Eggs with Pesto Veggies
• Simple Poached Egg and Avocado Toast – What I’ll be making for breakfast all week!
• Cinnamon Whole Grain Power Pancakes
• Caramelized Banana Oat Muffins
• Simple Green Smoothie – I make variations of this all the time. Currently I’m making it with frozen mango (instead of banana) and kale (instead of spinach). Yum!

Lunch

• Golden Soup – A personal favorite, and a crowd favorite!
• Detox Broccoli Cheese Soup
• Curry Chicken Salad
• Avocado Egg Salad
• Chipotle Corn Chowder
• Spicy Peanut Soba Noodle Salad – YES THIS IS AS GOOD AS IT SOUNDS.
• Detox Rainbow Roll-Ups
• Spicy Carrot Soup
• Detox Grilled Chopped Salad
• Chopped Greek Salad
• Spicy Chicken Sweet Potato Meal Prep – This concept works with just about any grain / protein! And it’s perfect for the Instant Pot.
• Plant Power Sushi Bowls
• Spring Roll Bowls
• Mediterranean Quinoa Bowls – So yummy for meal prep!
• Autumn Glow Salad
• Creamy Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps
• 5-Ingredient Sweet Potato Turkey Chili
• Green Goddess Quinoa Salad
• Spicy Southwestern Salad
• Rainbow Power Salad with Roasted Chickpeas
• Chopped Chicken Sesame Noodles Bowls
• Winter Rainbow Quinoa Salad
• Rainbow Veggie Bowls with Jalapeño Ranch
• Chopped Thai Salad with Sesame Garlic Dressing
• Creamy Potato Kale Soup – Super crazy green color but one of our absolute FAVORITES.
• Spicy Shrimp and Avocado Salad with Miso Dressing

Dinner

• 5-Ingredient Green Curry – A winter essential.
• Cauliflower Walnut Taco Meat – SUPER versatile and would be great for meal prep, too.
• Moroccan-Spiced Chickpea Bowl
• Sweet Potato Pizza Crust
• Chili Lime Fish Tacos
• Chicken Tikka Masala
• Baked Salmon with Lentils – Sounds really healthy because it is. Also: SO DELICIOUS.
• Healing Bowls – These have turmeric mashed sweet potatoes so YES. Get on it.
• Marinated Kale and Chicken Bowls
• Burst Tomato Zucchini Spaghetti
• Simple Mushroom Penne with Walnut Pesto
• Roasted Tomatoes with Goat Cheese Polenta
• Sweet Potato Noodle with Cashew Sauce
• Lemon Herb Salmon Burgers
• Easy Mexican Chicken Quinoa Casserole
• Creamy Garlic Herb Mushroom Spaghetti
• Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Garlic Cilantro Slaw – Do it for the slaw.
• Skillet Chicken Tortilla Pie
• Healthy Quinoa Chicken Curry Bowls
• One Pot Spanish Chicken with Potatoes
• Garlic Spaghetti Squash with Herbs
• Healthy Baked Pesto Rigatoni
• Honey Ginger Tofu and Veggie Stir Fry – NEEDED in your life.
• 20-Minute Lemon Pesto Penne

Snacks and Desserts

• Curry Hummus
• Vegan Caramel Sauce
• Salted Chocolate Snack Bars – refined sugar free!
• Matcha Green Tea Latte
• Homemade Peanut Butter
• Magic Green Sauce – 24/7/365.
• Chocolate Raspberry Almond Butter Bars
• Coconut Oil Apple Crisp
• Simple Oat and Pecan Blueberry Crisp
• No Bake Mini Fruit Pizzas
• Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

You can look through our sugar free category of recipes here, and you can click here to download the Sugar Free Meal Plan template! #POYsugarfreeJanuary — we’re comin for ya!

I’d love to hear from you all – how do you approach meal planning? Are you Team Write-It-All-Down or Team Go-With-The-Flow? (I’m Go-With-The-Flow + a *little* bit of stuff written down.)

See you guys in January!

The post Sugar Free January Meal Planning Guide appeared first on Pinch of Yum.