Meal Planning- 5 Easy Low/No Carb Dinners

I had mentioned last week that I had a need to purge after the holidays. Well guys, I did just that. My house is clean. My linen closet is organized. And Dave and I spent the week making low to no carb dinners to get rid of our holiday bloat. I don't know about Dave, who's special talent is making his belly look like it's 6 months pregnant, but my stomach already feels and looks better from having a week of healthy dinners rather than all that holiday comfort food (which don't get me wrong, I LOVE).

If you're too tired to meal plan for this upcoming week, but a week of healthy dinners sounds good to you, feel free to repeat my meals from last week. I'll even give you this Free Shopping List to print out and take to the food store with you. It's even organized by sections of the food store. Boom, just saved you oodles of time. You're welcome.

1. Chicken Salad with Grapes on Spring Mix

(Ingredients are measured for a dinner for 2 with 1 or 2 servings of chicken salad left over. I strongly suggest making extra chicken salad to have for lunches during the week. )

Ingredients:

Chicken Salad

3 or 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (boiled or baked)

3 stalks of celery chopped

Approx. 20 grapes, halved

1/4 cup mayonnaise

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Salad

Spring Mix

Handful of Pine Nuts

1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Beforehand:

Chop boiled chicken into cubes. Combine chicken salad ingredients and mix properly. Cover chicken salad and keep in refrigerator to cool until needed.

When ready to eat:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Spread out pine nuts on baking sheet. Bake for approx. 5-10 mins or until toasted.

Plate spring mix. Cut cherry tomatoes and divide between number of plates. Sprinkle toasted pine nuts on each serving. Place large scoop of chicken salad onto each bed of spring mix. Top with drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette. Enjoy!

2. Marinated Chicken with Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken, pork or beef

Grill Mates

Spaghetti Squash

Italian Dressing

Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Follow directions on McCormick Grill Mates package. Let chicken marinate in refrigerator while squash bakes (the longer it is able to marinate, the better).

Cut spaghetti squash in half. Scoop out seeds. Place face down onto baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour.

Put chicken on the grill and let cook - about 10 mins on each side.

When squash is finished, take a fork and scrape the inside. What will come out is long pieces of squash that resemble spaghetti. (This is so cool). Drizzle with italian dressing and top with some parmesan cheese.

I added a small side salad to this meal for some greens.

3. Chicken or Steak Fajitas

This dinner does involve carbs with the tortilla but we used whole wheat tortillas to feel a bit better about that. I also used a bag of Tyson's grilled chicken strips for this meal but you can grill up your own chicken or substitute steak if you like.

Ingredients

Grilled Chicken or Steak

1 Bell Pepper (I used red)

Olive oil

Guacamole

Sour Cream

1 Diced Tomato

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Whole Wheat Tortillas

Directions:

Place chicken strips in frying pan on med/high heat. Let cook covered for 10-15 mins or until cooked through. Cut up pepper into long strips and add them to chicken along with a tablespoon of olive oil. Cook an additional 5 minutes until peppers are tender.

Best part about serving fajitas- you make them yourself! Create your custom fajita with all the toppings and enjoy!

4. Summer Vegetable Soup (Yes, in January)

I got this recipe from Real Simple Magazine but changed it up a bit for my liking. You can follow the recipe by going to this link. It was originally a minestrone soup recipe but I am not a fan of beans. I substitute in some cubed chicken instead of beans and I leave out the leeks. This soup is so delicious though. If you're being super strict about carbs, you can leave out the ditalini pasta- you really don't need it. If you are NOT being super strict about carbs, I would pick up a loaf of ciabatta bread to dip in this- so yummy.

5. Baked Turkey Meatballs with Spinach in Vodka Sauce

For these yummy meatballs, I use the recipe found here. After they are finished baking, I let them sit in a pot of vodka sauce (I like Classico if you are going to use jar sauce) until we are ready to eat. I also eat this meal with a large side salad to fill me up instead of pasta or bread.

Hope this post makes your life a little easier and your meals a little healthier this week. Here's to a great second week of 2017!!