High Protein Meal Planning – Week 4

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My plan for this new year is to focus on hitting my protein macro for this new weight first (I’ve found that carbs, fat & calories tend to work themselves out if I’m doing what I need to do here). My old macro was 70g a day; this new macro is 80. I think I can do it while keeping the parts of my current diet that are working for me (light breakfasts namely) if I eat decent portions of something protein rich for lunch and dinner & plan ahead with meaty snacks.

More info on what I’m doing and why.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

The goal: 80g of protein a day; explore this brave new air fryer world.

This is my meal planner – I’m using a combination of Evernote for rough drafts, a Google spreadsheet for protein quick reference, and paper notebook for more detailed recipe writing

Breakfast

M-Sat: Green smoothie with collagen protein, chia seeds or keto protein powder

Sunday: Protein cereal with almond milk

Lunch

Monday: Leftover Vegan General Tso-Style Protein Bowl with 100g air fryer tofu

Tuesday: The same

Wednesday: 150g leftover chicken breast

Thursday: WhichWich lettucewich with sweet potato fries

Friday: BBQ lamb lunch at a friend’s house

Saturday: Leftover taco beef with air fryer zucchini

Sunday: 150g pepper chicken & stir fried snap peas

Dinner

Monday: Leftover Sweet & Sticky Carrot Sticks + 150g leftover chicken

Tuesday: BBQ flavored protein puffs and grapes

Wednesday: Burger patty & zucchini fries

Thursday: Burger patty with leftover Indian eggplant purée (I really need to try and recreate this)

Friday: Skipped

Saturday: 150g black pepper chicken with stir fried snap peas (recipe coming soon)

Sunday: 2 beef kielbasa & potatoes (recipe coming soon)

Snacks

2 homemade Anzac cookies on Friday & a pale substitute for that Sunday – a pear + spiced nuts. I also had a collagen drink on Tuesday to attempt and hit my protein goal after being so bloated, real food sounded like too much drama for dinner.

Leftovers day – by this point, I was a bit bloated
Aaaand an extra day of chickpeas & high FODMAP foods was a mistake. Dinner was slack because I was painfully bloated. This lasted like 3 days. Oops. Moral of the story: 1 meal full of questionable for my gut ingredients is fine; multiple days of it – not so much.
Zucchini ranch fries FTW. They’re a bit pale because I forgot to brush them with oil. Still tasty though.
This lettuce wrap sub didn’t have as much meat in it as I’d envisioned, but it made a good treat for having walked to the mall.
Bbq lamb at a friends house – 🤤- with homemade Anzac cookies. Anzac bikkies are 🔥
This chicken turned out really well – kinda spicy, a little sweet, a little crunch and lots of pepper. Yum.
The dinner potatoes aren’t beautiful, but they turned out really well for a day I was just puttering around. Win!

What I learned this week: This week I played single lady and was generally uninspired to grocery shop. The first half of the week was a good fridge clear, and I managed to find a bunch of random ingredients to combine. I didn’t hit my protein goal every day, but I did give it a try. I also learned to not eat multiple days in a row of foods that are fine for my gut but only in moderation. I paid the price for that one for days.

Sweet & Sticky Carrot Sticks

Categories RecipesLeave a Comment on Sweet & Sticky Carrot Sticks

This is a satisfying side to pretty much any protein. It’s sweet, rich, a little sticky, with a nice warm flavor.

gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, paleo

Sweet & Sticky Carrot Sticks

2-3 large carrots

Generous sprinkle cumin

Generous sprinkle curry powder

Generous sprinkle salt & pepper

1 tsp. oil

1 Tbsp. tahini

2 Tbsp. yogurt (I used a Skyr-style vegan variety)

1 Tbsp. pomegranate molasses

1 tsp. date molasses or other sweetener

2 Tbsp. parsley, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat your air fryer for 3 minutes.

While the air fryer is warming, cut your carrots into roughly fry shape.

Toss in a large bowl with the cumin, curry, salt, pepper & oil.

Air fry on 200C for 7-10 minutes or until your desired level of brown and crispness, pulling to toss every couple minutes.

Whisk the rest of the ingredients together in a small bowl to form a sauce. Thin with water if desired.

To serve, toss the carrot fries with the sauce.

Serves 4

January 29, 2022

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Do you think my pups might be spoiled? My recent enrichment DIYs

January 28, 2022

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January 27, 2022

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January 26, 2022

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January 25, 2022

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No idea what’s up with this filter 😆

January 24, 2022

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Oh no, oh no, Oman – I don’t think that’s the message you were going for.

High Protein Meal Planning – Week 3

Categories LifeLeave a Comment on High Protein Meal Planning – Week 3

My plan for this new year is to focus on hitting my protein macro for this new weight first (I’ve found that carbs, fat & calories tend to work themselves out if I’m doing what I need to do here). My old macro was 70g a day; this new macro is 80. I think I can do it while keeping the parts of my current diet that are working for me (light breakfasts namely) if I eat decent portions of something protein rich for lunch and dinner & plan ahead with meaty snacks.

More info on what I’m doing and why.

Week 1

Week 2

The goal: 80g of protein a day; explore this brave new air fryer world.

This is my meal planner – I’m using a combination of Evernote for rough drafts, a Google spreadsheet for protein quick reference, and paper notebook for more detailed recipe writing

Breakfast

M-Sat: Green smoothie (green apple, avocado, kale, spinach, orange juice, ginger – much like this recipe) with 2 scoops of collagen powder

Sunday: Blueberry flavored protein pancake from the gas station

Lunch

Monday: Sausage & egg bowl (2 eggs scrambled with a little yogurt & spinach), 1 fake meat sausage, hot sauce, half a small avocado, bagel seasoning & the last of the leftover crispy potatoes.

Tuesday: 1/2 can chili tuna, guacamole, small diced cucumber

Wednesday: Another sausage & egg bowl – sans potatoes

Thursday: 150g leftover London broil tucked into tacos with the last of the kimchi

Friday: 200g leftover London broil (the last of it) chopped with the last of the cherry tomatoes & Choula

Saturday: Steak & kofta kebab at a friend’s house with some amazing fresh bread

Sunday: A chicken veggie bowl from Starbucks

Dinner

Monday: 150g London broil & a baked potato (baked potatoes are bomb in the air fryer)

Tuesday: A mash of 150g taco beef, avocado, Choula, cherry tomatoes, onions & peppers & 3 tortillas crisped in the air fryer for scooping

Wednesday: Vegan General Tso-Style Protein Bowl

Thursday: Crisped carrot sticks with pomegranate tahini dressing (recipe coming some day) & tandoori marinated chicken bites

Friday: 1/2 – 3/4 cup of my delivery Indian pepper chicken, about 1/4 cup of the enchanting silky eggplant I’m eventually going to have to try and recreate & a naan

Saturday: Was way too full from lunch steak

Sunday: Leftover Indian pepper chicken

Snacks

Mini kibbeh with tomato chutney on Wednesday

Baked potatoes are awesome in the air fryer – my London broil cooking evenness left something to be desired. Lunch was surprisingly good, though. Not my favorite brand of fake sausage, but it was still satisfying.
Nachos FTW. Forgot I put vegan cheddar on top. I missed the hard boiled egg in the tuna salad from last week, but even without it lunch was still delicious.
This chickpea dish turned out surprisingly well.
I’ve been craving doing something with crispy carrots, pomegranate & tahini for awhile – this was a really great combo and something I’ll play with again. The chicken turned out really good, too, and actually air fried pretty well.
I won at dinner! We ordered Indian delivery and I managed to resist my brain insisting that it needed to binge eat every bite like Cookie Monster. Go, me.
Whelp, I definitely got protein in at dinner. I’m sure I hit my goal – or close to it.
Starbucks: continuing to crush it on the protein lunches. Glad we stopped in and I gave it a shot. This was delicious.

This week’s takeaway: Man, my body loves green smoothies. I felt much better about my vegetable consumption because of them, and my GI system was much happier.

January 23, 2022

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Quality control