Planning Ahead

I think the key to this experiment (and any diet) is planning ahead. Last weekend I hit the grocery in a big way and spent all afternoon Sunday prepping food for the week, and making more baby food for Patrick.

The loot. Yes, that's cheese. Jon is allowed to have some for snacks on South Beach.

One (long) day of food prep has gotten us through most of the week with meals. Here are some of the things I prepped in advance to get us through:

• Chicken breasts. Simple, grilled chicken breasts. We've used them on salads every day for lunch and in more avocado chicken salad I made for lunch today. 
• Salad supplies. I sliced lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers-anything that can be pre-prepped. That way we can just toss what we want into our lunches before work and get out the door without doing all that slicing and dicing the morning of. 
• Good tip: When you wash and slice lettuce, store it in a ziploc bag with a dry paper towel. The paper towel pulls the extra water from the leaves and keeps them nice and crisp and fresh longer. When the towel is soaked through, swap it for a new one!
• Marinade for any meats. We had a marinated london broil Mon night so I mixed everything up and started it marinating. If we had been eating more marinated foods I would have prepped them all at the same time.
• Breakfast. Frittatas are my new best friend. They take about 20 minutes to make, they can be stored in the fridge, and they're delicious! I made one Sun and we ate it Mon morning for breakfast so I made another one Mon night while I was making dinner. 

I also planned out all the meals for the week. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Meats and sides. So when I get home from work every day I don't have to do any thinking. I already know what's on the menu and what needs to be done to get it on our plates. 

We went out to dinner tonight and Jon and I were both good and got salads with grilled chicken. Unfortunately there was a tiny bit of shredded cheese sprinkled over the chicken as a garnish that was melted and couldn't be removed (without WAY more work than it was worth). So I had a baby cheat, but I'm ok with it. It could have been a major cheat-we went to a pasta restaurant that also serves heavenly garlic knots. 

Update on the coffee attempts: I am also not hardcore enough for coffee with coconut milk. Guess I'll be going caffeine free for June, too!