A free 7-day flexible weight loss meal plan including breakfast, lunch and dinner and a shopping list. All recipes include calories and Weight Watchers SmartPoints®.

Part of my weekend routine is food shopping and meal prepping recipes ahead to save time during the week. A time saving staple is making a batch of hard-boiled eggs for quick breakfast on the go, or to add to salads.

If you’re new to my meal plans, I’ve been sharing these free, 7-day flexible healthy meal plans (you can see my previous meal plans here) that are meant as a guide, with plenty of wiggle room for you to add more food, coffee, beverages, fruits, snacks, dessert, wine, etc or swap recipes out for meals you prefer, you can search for recipes by course in the index. You should aim for around 1500 calories* per day.

There’s also a precise, organized grocery list that will make grocery shopping so much easier and much less stressful. Save you money and time. You’ll dine out less often, waste less food and you’ll have everything you need on hand to help keep you on track.

Lastly, if you’re on Facebook join my Skinnytaste Facebook Community where everyone’s sharing photos of recipes they are making, you can join here. I’m loving all the ideas everyone’s sharing! If you wish to get on the email list, you can subscribe here so you never miss a meal plan!

Also, if you don’t have the Skinnytaste Meal Planner, now would be a great time to get one to get organized for 2019! There was a print error last year, but it’s perfect now! You can order it here!

THE DETAILS:

Breakfast and lunch Monday-Friday, are designed to serve 1 while dinners and all meals on Saturday and Sunday are designed to serve a family of 4. Some recipes make enough leftovers for two nights or lunch the next day. While we truly believe there is no one size fits all meal plan, we did our best to come up with something that appeals to a wide range of individuals. Everything is Weight Watchers friendly, I included the updated Weight Watcher Freestyle Points for your convenience, feel free to swap out any recipes you wish or just use this for inspiration!

The grocery list is comprehensive and includes everything you need to make all meals on the plan. I’ve even included brand recommendations of products I love and use often. Cross check your cabinets because many condiments you’ll notice I use often, so you may already have a lot of them.

And last, but certainly not least, this meal plan is flexible and realistic. There’s plenty of wiggle room for cocktails, healthy snacks, dessert and dinner out. And if necessary, you can move some things around to make it work with your schedule. Please let me know if you’re using these plans, this will help me decide if I should continue sharing them!

MONDAY (9/2)
B: 2 hard-boiled eggs (0) and 1 cup cantaloupe (0)
L: BLT Salad with Avocado (5) and 2 ounces multigrain baguette (3)
D: Inside Out Turkey Cheeseburgers (8) with Summer Macaroni Salad with Tomatoes and Zucchini (3)

Totals: Freestyle™ SP 19, Calories 948*

TUESDAY (9/3)
B: Overnight Oats with Figs and Honey** (7)
L: BLT Salad with Avocado (5) and 2 ounces multigrain baguette (3)
D: Spaghetti Squash Enchilada Bowls (3) with Quick Mexican Brown Rice (5)
Totals: Freestyle™ SP 23, Calories 955*

WEDNESDAY (9/4)
B: 2 hard-boiled eggs (0) and 1 cup cantaloupe (0)
L: BLT Salad with Avocado (5) and 2 ounces multigrain baguette (3)
D: General Tso’s Chicken (5) with Cauliflower “Fried Rice” (1)

Totals: Freestyle™ SP 14, Calories 884*

THURSDAY (9/5)
B: Overnight Oats with Figs and Honey** (7)
L: BLT Salad with Avocado (5) and 2 ounces multigrain baguette (3)
D: Lasagna Soup (7)

Totals: Freestyle™ SP 22, Calories 864*

FRIDAY (9/6)
B: 2 hard-boiled eggs (0) and 1 cup cantaloupe (0)
L: LEFTOVER Lasagna Soup (7)
D: Flounder Piccata (4) with Skinny Garlic Mashed Potatoes (5) and Roasted Asparagus (0)

Totals: Freestyle™ SP 16, Calories 949*

SATURDAY (9/7)
B: Strawberry Peanut Butter Swirl Smoothie Bowls (7) (recipe x 2)
L: 1 ½ cups Southwestern Black Bean, Quinoa and Mango Salad (5)
D: DINNER OUT!

Totals: Freestyle™ SP 12, Calories 506*

SUNDAY (9/8)
B: Freezer Breakfast Burritos** (4) with 1 cup mixed berries (0)
L: Peach Arugula Salad (3)
D: Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu (3) with Summer Tomato Salad (1)
Totals: Freestyle™ SP 11, Calories 924*

*This is just a guide, women should aim for around 1500 calories per day. Here’s a helpful calculator to estimate
your calorie needs. I’ve left plenty of wiggle room for you to add more food such as coffee, beverages, fruits,
snacks, dessert, wine, etc.
**Prep oats the night before.
***Freeze any leftover you/your family won’t eat

(more…)

The post Skinnytaste Meal Plan (September 2-September 8) appeared first on Skinnytaste.

Creamy Bacon Carbonara

I finally found a carbonara recipe that I love. The sauce is so creamy, cheesy and so good.

The best part is that the pickiest eater gobbled this down and my other boy had seconds!

It was pretty easy to throw the whole thing together.  I felt like it was the perfect Sunday meal served with a side salad and garlic bread!

If you want a quick and easy delicious meal in just minutes, this is the dish. This pasta carbonara only takes 30 minutes from start to finish!

It is simply delicious and so easy to make at home. Everyone will be raving over this incredible creamy pasta!

What you need to make creamy bacon carbonara:

Simplicity is key with this carbonara meal! The use of good quality ingredients is a must though!

For a fully traditional carbonara recipe, use pancetta instead of bacon.

• Eggs- all you need is just the yolks!
• Cream or Heavy Cream  (Whipping Cream)- half and half will work but for a rich, creamy blend heavy whipping cream is my preference.
• Parmesan- use a sharp, hard cheese of parmesan that is shaved instead of grated for a less gritty texture on your pasta.
• Fresh diced Parsley or dried flakes- fresh and chopped up very fine add color and some fragrant garnish.
• Salt- season to your liking.
• Red Pepper flakes- a little kick of heat to help aid in flavor.
• Bacon- a good thick cut bacon or even a high quality standard cut of bacon will make a difference.
• Mushrooms chopped- this is optional but I love mushrooms and can’t leave them out.
• Onion chopped- this is optional but adds a great flavor.
• Pasta- linguine is my favorite but spaghetti will work great too.

How to make creamy bacon carbonara:

This recipe is simple to make but is a little delicate if made too fast.

• Prepare the pasta: cook the pasta according to the package.
• Start the Sauce: beat the eggs, cream, Parmesan, parsley, salt and the red pepper together in a bowl. I just used a fork but a whisk will work great too.
• Fry the bacon: until it is crisp, then crumble and set aside.
• Saute: With 1 -2 Tbsp. bacon grease, sauté the onion and the mushrooms until the onions are translucent and golden.
• Drain the pasta: While it is still warm, add to the onions and mushrooms.
• Pour: cream mixture into the pasta, and stir over low heat for one to two minutes. Don’t do this on high heat, or you will make scrambled eggs.
• Serve it hot: with additional Parmesan, and a loaf of Crusty French bread and a salad.

What is carbonara?

Carbonara is an Italian pasta dish from Rome made with egg, hard cheese, guanciale, and black pepper.

The dish arrived at its modern form, with its current name, in the middle of the 20th century.

How to make it a traditional carbonara recipe:

If you want to make this a more authentic carbonara recipe mix the cream and use pancetta or guanciale which is a pork jowl.

You can find at most specialty Italian supermarkets or in some unique grocery stores.

Just keep in mind that when substituting the heavy cream it will result in a dish that may be a bit drier, hence not quite a creamy carbonara.

For pasta you can also use fettuccine, rigatoni, or bucatini.

Can you Store Carbonara?

Yes! If you have any left overs, store in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days.

When reheating, warm over low heat until the sauce is warm.

You may need to add a 1 tablespoon of milk or cream to keep a creamy consistency.

Unfortunately, carbonara pasta does not freeze well with the creams and pasta.

The pasta can become mushy and the creamy sauce can separate when reheating. Making it a day ahead will work great too.

This is a quick and easy recipe to make ahead of time but best to serve hot.

Tips for creamy bacon carbonara:

Getting carbonara just right can take some practice. So don’t worry if your carbonara sauce is a little lumpy the first time you make it.

• Have you sauce completely prepared before starting on the pasta. You will want your pasta hot when making the egg mixture.
• You will not want to cook the sauce or you will make scrambled eggs.
• When stirring the egg mixture into the pasta it needs to be quickly but not hot enough to scramble the egg.
• An easy add in to this pasta are chicken, shrimp, ham and more vegetables.
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese is best. Avoid pre-shredded parmesan. It does not melt smoothly when heating over the stove.
• Powdered grated parmesan cheese can be used if necessary.
• Double the sauce for it to be saucy enough.
• I also put the sauce on low whisking consistently while I cooked the noodles because I wanted the eggs to cook enough.  You have to watch it though or your sauce will turn into scrambled eggs.

Looking for more Italian recipes?! Try these!

• Italian Orzo and Sausage Skillet
• Creamy Tomato Italian Parmesan Chicken
• Slow Cooker Italian Chicken and Potatoes
• Crispy Chicken with Creamy Italian Sauce 
• Skillet Pork Cacciatore 

Lemon Rosemary Grilled Chicken Thighs are such an easy and delicious chicken recipe for your grill!

This is the perfect summery meal. The chicken will sit in a super simple marinade of lemon zest, lemon juice, rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper for just 30 minutes. Don’t marinate it any longer than 30 minutes.  When you marinate chicken in lemon juice, the chicken will begin to break down in the acidic marinade if left in it for too long.

Chicken thighs are what you’ll use.  They turn out so tender on the grill, and they’re made healthier when they’re skinless too.  You can certainly use chicken breasts, if you prefer.  I’d suggest using thinly sliced breasts so they will cook more quickly and not dry out.

Lemon Rosemary Grilled Chicken Breasts are great to serve with a bunch of other grilled vegetables. I love to buy mini peppers, cut them in half and toss them with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.  They turn out so sweet and perfect on the grill. I also like to cut up the grilled chicken and use it in salads to eat for lunch all week long.

The chicken turns out tender as can be.  The flavor is tangy with the lemon, and the savory addition of rosemary adds a lot too.

This chicken is great as a summer meal on the grill, but it’s also a delicious one to make and eat all year long.

Here are a few more grilled chicken thigh recipes you might enjoy:

• Grilled Chicken Thighs with Thyme and Lemon
• Plum Glazed Grilled Chicken Thighs
• Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken
• Cilantro Chicken
• Orange Ginger Grilled Chicken Thighs
• Stove Top Chicken Thighs
• Beer Marinated Chicken Tacos
• Lemon Parmigiano Chicken

The post Lemon Rosemary Grilled Chicken Thighs appeared first on Recipe Girl®.

Summertime is pepper time, and with all this spicy bounty it’s the perfect time to whip up some homemade fermented hot sauce. It’s incredible easy to make—don’t let yourself be scared by the fact that you have to let some things sit in a jar for a a few days at room temperature to make it happen. This fermentation process is super simple, and just involves combining chopped peppers with some crushed garlic and salt water in a jar. There’s some equipment you’ll need to do it properly, and I have it outlined in the paragraph below as well as in the recipe box, but it’s very inexpensive and some of it you might already have in your kitchen (a wide mouth mason jar, to be exact).

The Fermentation Process

For fermented hot sauce, this type of fermentation process is called lacto fermentation, because we’re encouraging the growth of food-preserving and beneficial lactic acid bacteria. All fruits and vegetables have  lactic acid bacteria on their exterior. It’s a naturally occurring bacteria that exists all over the world, just like yeast. Lactic acid bacteria thrive in environments where dangerous bacteria don’t, basically low-oxygen and salt-rich environments. So, by submerging the vegetables under a brine solution (aka salty water), you’re providing the perfect habitat for that lactic acid bacteria to take off and grow. As they reproduce, they excrete lactic acid, hence their name. Lactic acid is sour and tart—since it’s an acid, and it tastes kind of like vinegar, but with a more complex flavor and the added bonus of probiotics.

In addition to releasing lactic acid, the lactic acid bacteria also excrete carbon dioxide as they ferment, which is why you need an air lock on top of your fermentation vessel to let the air out. If you don’t, the increasing pressure inside the fermentation vessel could cause the jar to break. I’ll talk more about air locks below under ‘equipment’, as well as what a healthy fermentation looks like.

Remember how dangerous bacteria don’t like being away from oxygen? Well, it’s precisely this reason that you need a weight on top of your veggies to keep them submerged underneath the brine, so that way any bad bacteria suffocates and dies immediately. The best way to limit any bad bacteria is to have clean equipment in the first place, so make sure to wash the jars, lids, weight, and air lock very well, as well as the knife and cutting board you use to cut the veggies. I like to boil or steam any glass equipment like the jars and the weights for 5 minutes beforehand.

So, the basics are that you put your veggies in a clean jar, fill it with brine, place a weight on top of them to keep them and the weight submerged, put an air lock lid on top, and let it sit out of direct sunlight at room temperature to ferment anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. I’ve let my hot sauce ferment anywhere from 1 week to 3 months, with the flavor getting slightly funkier and more garlicky as it sits longer.

Fermenting is a great way of preserving the nutrients of the peppers and garlic themselves because you’re *not* heat processing them, but letting them ferment at room temperature. When you make “pickled” veggies by boiling them in jars with vinegar, it destroys a lot of heat-sensitive vitamins like Vitamin C and any bacteria, good or bad, that existed on the vegetable. Lactic acid, however, is an excellent natural preservative and probiotic that keeps the food fresh in the brine while discouraging the growth of dangerous decompositional bacteria that don’t like acidic environments. A win for the digestive system and the tastebuds!

Equipment

So, what will you need to make fermented hot sauce? I like to use a 32-ounce wide mouth mason jar as my fermentation vessel for a few reasons. It’s easy to clean and is obvious when it’s still dirty, since it’s glass and you can see inside of it. This also allows you to watch the fermentation process from the outside, which is really fun. Plus you can see if anything weird happens to the peppers or the brine. I’ll talk about it in detail later on, but basically a cloudy brine is normal, but you don’t want to see any mold growing on top of the liquid or any weird color changes going on in there, aside from green peppers turning from vibrant green to dull green. Since you’re fermenting in a glass jar, it’s super easy to keep an eye on the progress.

You will also need glass fermentation weights. You set these on top of the packed pepper mixture and brine inside the jar to help keep the veggies submerged under the brine. You don’t want any of the veggies to be in contact with the air at all, they should *always* be underneath the liquid, as should the weight to discourage any fungal or mold contamination. some folks fill up plastic bags with water and set those on top as weights, but I prefer these glass ones because they’re infinitely reusable, easy to clean/sterilize in the dishwasher or in boiling water, and won’t leech out any weird BPA or endocrine disruptors into the brine the way plastics do.

Lastly, you’ll need an air lock lid for your mason jar. I like using these because they’re clear and dishwasher safe. They are plastic, but since they’re not in direct contact with the brine there is very little risk of any plastic contamination with the hot sauce.

What Healthy Fermentation Looks Like

A healthy fermented hot sauce will start with a clear brine the first one to three-ish days, and it will then typically turn cloudy, which is totally normal. It may clear up a little again, or it may remain cloudy, or the cloud may settle on top of the glass weight like in the image above. All of these are fine. The thing you want to avoid is any severe discoloration of the vegetables, or molds or fungus growing in the jar or on top of the brine. Most vegetables fade in color as they ferment, especially green veggies which tend to become a much less saturated and more muted green (like the green peppers in this hot sauce). But if your veggies make a drastic change from green to purple or red to blue, that’s a sign that something is wrong.

The jars will also be fragrant as they’re fermenting, kind of like a cozy garlic smell, which is also normal. I’ve never had an issue with fermentation at home, and have made lots of ferments of peppers, kimchi, sauerkraut, and green tomatoes. Honestly, as long as you wash your equipment well it’s pretty difficult to mess this up. People have been fermenting foods for hundreds (if not thousands) of years—you can do this, I promise! Just keep it out of direct sunlight in a dry place at room temperature as it’s fermenting and you’re good.

   

Making sure I get vegetables into my diet takes daily effort. But one thing I know for sure is that if I have them prepped, I am 1000x more likely to eat them. So this week I made these Roasted Vegetable Salad Meal Prep boxes to hopefully remove one more barrier between me and my vegetables.😜

How to Eat Your Roasted Vegetable Salads

This salad is meant to be eaten cold, but you could certainly warm it if you prefer. Warming the salad will cause the spinach to wilt, so it will be more like a sautéed spinach in the dish, which would still be quite delish! You’ll still want to add the dressing after reheating.

Dressing Options

I used my Lemon Dill Tahini Dressing for this salad because I’m still obsessed with it, but I think there are some other suitable options if this one is not your favorite. A green goddess dressing would be amazing, as would a yogurt based Greek salad dressing. 

Vegetable Options

What I love about this meal prep is that you can always change up the vegetables to give it a new flavor. It’s still the tail end of summer, so I am using mostly summer vegetables here. Other great summer vegetable options are eggplant, asparagus, and bell peppers.

When we head into fall and winter I’ll probably start using harder winter vegetables, like sweet potato, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots. Just keep in mind that the hard winter vegetables may take slightly longer to roast.

Other Topping Ideas

I’m all about keeping things simple, but if you have some of these items laying around waiting to be used up, here are some other ingredients that would make great toppings for this roasted vegetable salad: pita bread (cut into wedges), kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese, or fresh parsley.

Where can I get those containers??

The glass containers are the 3-cup rectangular Pyrex containers and the dressing cups are 2.5 oz. metal dipping cups. Both were purchased from Amazon, and can be found in the “meal prep” category of my Amazon Shop. 

Scroll down for the step by step photos!

Step by Step Photos

Make the Lemon Dill Tahini Dressing first. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp dried dill, 1/2 tsp dried parsley, 1/4 tsp salt, some freshly cracked pepper, 1/4 cup tahini, 1/4 cup warm water, and 3 Tbsp lemon juice. Stir or whisk until smooth. Refrigerate the dressing until you’re ready to make your salads.

Next, begin the quinoa. Rinse 1 cup quinoa well in a fine wire mesh sieve. Place the rinsed quinoa in a small sauce pot, add 1.75 cups water, and place a lid on top. Place the pot over high heat and allow it to come to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let the quinoa rest, with the lid in place, for 5 minutes. Then empty out the quinoa into a shallow dish and spread it out to increase the surface area, so it will cool faster. Refrigerate the quinoa until you’re ready to build your salads.

Begin preheating the oven to 400ºF. You can use any mix of vegetables for this meal prep (see notes above the recipe for more ideas). I used 8 oz. mushrooms, 1 pint grape tomatoes, 1 red onion, 1 zucchini, and 1 yellow squash.

Slice the onion into 1/4-inch strips, slice the zucchini and yellow squash into 1/4-inch half-rounds, and cut the mushrooms in half. Leave the tomatoes whole. Combine the vegetables and spread them out onto a large baking sheet so they are in a single layer. Use two sheets if needed to make sure they’re not piled on top of one another. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. Toss until the vegetables are well coated in oil and spices.

Roast the vegetables, stirring every 15 minutes, until they are browned on the edges (about 40 minutes). Let the vegetables cool on the sheet pan for about 10 minutes.

To build the meal prep salads, add a heaping cup of spinach to each container. Then add 1/2 cup cooked and cooled quinoa to each container.

Once the vegetables are cool enough that they won’t wilt the spinach, divide the roasted vegetables between the four containers. Add 2 Tbsp hummus to each container.

Lastly, divide your dressing into four small containers. Refrigerate your roasted vegetable salad up to four days.

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