Meal Plan Monday with a Kris Carr Influence

I took a much needed internet break for a while, but here I am again with a week's worth of meals and a grocery list.  

Breakfast:

I've been reading Crazy Sexy Diet, and I want to try starting my day with green juice instead of protein smoothies on some days this week.  Apparently, greens help alkalize your body and contain massive amounts of chlorophyll, which is super fab for you.  I'm thinking of trying this smoothie in addition to some recipes from Kris Carr:

• Chocolate Vegan Protein Powder (I like Biochem)
• Chocolate Green SuperFoods
• Kale
• Frozen Banana
• Almond Milk
• Maybe some almonds 

      I've also come to love this juice combination:

• some kale
• half an organic cucumber, with the skin
• 2 green apples
• a peeled lemon
• ginger root

I found this deep blue sea smoothie recipe that I'm dying to try as well.

Lunch:

Kris Carr and many other health experts recommend a lot of raw food in the diet because of the enzyme content, among other things.  Your body has to work less at digesting food which frees up energy for other crucial things.  She recommends an 80/20 or 60/40 goal ratio of raw to cooked.  I've been going close to 100% raw for lunch with salads for months now, so I'll continue that.  I like an organic salad made up of mixed greens, romaine, chickpeas, cucumbers, carrots, avocados, walnuts, and berries or chopped apples.  I like to sprinkle my salads with nutritional yeast and cayenne pepper.  My dressing of choice lately has been olive oil and balsamic or sesame oil and apple cider vinegar.

Dinner:

I'm thinking Buddha Bowls.  Grains, greens, and beans with a yummy dressing.  I bought one of those Amy's frozen vegan pizzas on sale recently, which I like to cover with vegan cheese like Follow Your Heart Monterrey Jack or Daiya Mozzarella shreds (not very raw, but whatev!).  I found this lentil walnut loaf recipe that I want to try.  It's also been cold recently, so I think some soup would be perfect this week.

Here the shopping list:

•  almond milk
•  organic, raw almonds
•  bananas
•  organic mixed greens
•  organic romaine
•  organic kale
•  avocado
• organic, raw walnuts
• organic cucumbers
• organic celery
• organic broccoli
• organic green apples
• lemon
• ginger root
• organic cauliflower
• organic spinach
• organic red onions
• organic scallions
• garlic
• mushrooms

I'll probably get some of the produce today, some a few days from now.  I think it's better than way because the veggies are fresher.  In addition to that:

• lentils
• millet
• quinoa
• black beans
• tofu
• tempeh
• chickpeas
• vegan cheese
• spirulina
• Amazing Grass Chocolate Green SuperFood

I like my sweets and desserts,  so I'll most likely pick up a dark chocolate bar or two for a little after dinner treat.  I'd like to try Vanilla Chia Tapioca Pudding from Crazy Sexy Diet too.

Meal Plan Monday

I'm copying Shellyfish's Meal Plan Monday blogging idea.  I plan out most of my meals every weekend.  When I go food shopping, I mostly stick to the list.  It makes grocery shopping and dinner making so much easier when it's all planned out ahead of time.  I pretty much use up everything I buy by the end of the week, so there's not a lot that goes to waste.  The time I spend planning on the weekend really helps me eat well during my hectic and busy work week.

This week, I plan on making:

Breakfast smoothies- I'm feeling organic frozen strawberries and coconut milk this week.  There's also a pear ginger smoothie recipe in Thrive that I want to try.  I have hemp protein, flax seeds, and chia seeds on hand, so no need to buy my smoothie staples.

Salad for lunch-I'm on a Romaine kick lately.  I have some brown rice, quinoa, and some beans I can add to it.  I will be buying random veggies that catch my eye to spice it up a bit, and I already have dressing.

Dinner:

Monday-Clean Mac and Cheese with Kale Chips

I made this last week and loved it!  Really, it's just brown rice pasta with kale, kale chips following this recipe, and tahini dressing from Vegan with a Vengeance.  I call it Clean Mac and Cheese because it's something I could eat during the Clean detox and it has a mac and cheese consistency.  The balsamic and garlic tahini paired with the crispy, nutritional yeast covered kale chips are amazing.

Tuesday-Apple Miso Tofu with Scallion Potato Pancakes from Appetite for Reduction (most of this week's dinners will be from this book)

Wednesday-Hummus and Curry Lentil Crackers from Thrive

Thursday-Spinach Linguine with Edamame Pesto from Appetite for Reduction

Friday- Buffalo Tempeh with Mac and Trees from Appetite for Reduction

Appetite for Reduction and Thrive are my newest cookbooks, I'm having some fun trying out new recipes!  Most of them have been amazing so far.  I'll share some of my favorites on Wednesday.