Happy Monday! It feels like fall has finally arrived in San Antonio and most of the US, so it felt like the right time to break out some cooler weather recipes. Chili? Yes, please. Creamy skillet chicken and spaghetti squash? Sign me up. Don’t forget the pumpkin oatmeal muffins for breakfast.
Here’s what this week’s meal plan looks like:
The Meal Plan:
Day 1
- Breakfast: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins with egg white slices
- Lunch: Turkey and Sausage Sweet Potato Chili
- Dinner: Tuscan Chicken and Spaghetti Squash Skillet
Day 2
- Breakfast: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins with egg white slices
- Lunch: Olive Garden Salad with Chicken
- Dinner: Turkey and Sausage Sweet Potato Chili
Day 3
- Breakfast: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins with egg white slices
- Lunch: Tuscan Chicken and Spaghetti Squash Skillet
- Dinner: Olive Garden Salad with Chicken
Day 4
- Breakfast: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins with egg white slices
- Lunch: Turkey and Sausage Sweet Potato Chili
- Dinner: Tuscan Chicken and Spaghetti Squash Skillet
Day 5
- Breakfast: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins with egg white slices
- Lunch: Olive Garden Salad with Chicken
- Dinner: Turkey and Sausage Sweet Potato Chili
Day 6
- Breakfast: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins with egg white slices
- Lunch: Tuscan Chicken and Spaghetti Squash Skillet
- Dinner: Olive Garden Salad with Chicken
The Snack Ideas:
- Flavored tuna packets with plantain chips
- Trail mix
- Deli turkey (nitrate and nitrite free)
- Strawberries and blueberries
- Protein shakes
- Hard boiled egg whites
The Containers:
The Recipes:
Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats, (160 grams)
- 2 scoops PE Science Select Vanilla Plant Based Protein Powder, (56 grams)
- 1/3 cup Guittard 64% Cacao Semi-Sweet Baking Bar, chopped, (50 grams)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree, (180 grams)
- 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, (183 grams)
- 1 egg
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, (4 fl oz)
- 3 tbsp maple syrup, (1 1/2 fl oz)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350°. Arrange 6 jumbo non-stick, parchment muffin liners in a jumbo muffin baking tin. Set aside.
- Combine all dry ingredients except chocolate chunks. Add wet ingredients and mix until just combined, then fold in chocolate chunks. Scoop batter into baking cups.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until tops just begin to brown.
Tips & Tricks
Nutrition Information
Note: I skipped the chocolate chips when I made the recipe this time around, but the nutrition info and barcode include them.
Egg White Slices
Ingredients
- 3 cups egg whites
Instructions
- Pour egg whites into a cold, medium-sized, shallow pan and cover with a lid.
- Turn heat to just higher than medium and cook eggs until they no longer jiggle when you touch the pan and are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Vent the lid if the top of the egg whites begin to bubble.
- Remove from pan and slice into 6 pieces.
Tips & Tricks
Nutrition Information
Turkey & Sausage Sweet Potato Chili
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb 99% extra lean ground turkey
- 1/2 lb Johnsonville Hot Italian ground sausage
- 1 large sweet potato, chopped, (450 grams)
- 2 15 oz can no salt added diced tomatoes
- 2 15 oz can no salt added tomato sauce
- 1 15 oz can low sodium pinto beans, drained
- 1 15 oz can low sodium kidney beans, drained
- 1 10 oz can Rotel No Salt Added Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies
- 3 bell peppers, chopped, (450 grams)
- 1 medium onion, chopped, (280 grams)
- 1 jalapeno, diced, (25 grams)
- 6 cloves garlic, minced, (30 grams)
- 1 1 oz packet Simply Organic Spicy Chili Seasoning
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Flavor God Spicy Everything Seasoning
- Optional additional spices to taste: cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, Mexican oregano, salt, and pepper
Instructions
- Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large stock pan (you could do this step separately in a skillet if you’d prefer to get more browning action on your meat – I like doing less dishes). Add garlic, onion, and peppers and sauté until onions are translucent.
- Add ground turkey and ground sausage to onion mixture. Season with Flavor God seasoning, and continue to break meat apart with a wooden spoon as it cooks.
- When meat is mostly cooked through, add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Rotel tomatoes, and sweet potato. Add chili seasoning packet and mix well.
- Add kidney beans and pinto beans and fold them into the chili so they don’t get squished.
- Cover and lower heat to a simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Taste the chili about 30 minutes in and adjust the spices to your taste, especially if you’ve used slightly different ingredients (like the sausage and chili seasoning packet) than listed here.
- Remove pot from heat and keep covered for another 30 minutes before serving – this will allow the sweet potato to finish cooking while bringing the chili down to a safe eating temperature!
- Serve chili topped with cheddar cheese, avocados, sour cream, or tortilla chips, if desired.
Nutrition Information
Tuscan Chicken and Spaghetti Squash Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb raw chicken breast, thinly sliced
- 1 medium spaghetti squash, (500 grams flesh)
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- 1 1/2 oz sun dried tomatoes, sliced
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup light coconut milk
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp butter, (1 oz)
- 2 tsp olive oil, (0.33 oz)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced, (16 grams)
- 1 tsp Flavor God Garlic Lover’s Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp Montreal Steak Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp ground mustard
- 1/2 tsp Oh My Spice! Lemon Pepper Seasoning
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut spaghetti squash in half and scoop out seeds. Rub cut sides with 1 tsp olive oil and season with Flavor God seasoning. Bake for 35-40 minutes until flesh flakes away easily with a fork.
- Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken breast with Monterey Steak seasoning on both sides, then add to skillet and brown on both sides for about 2 minutes, then set chicken aside.
- Add butter to skillet until melted and hot, then add garlic and sauté. Stir in flour until it is absorbed and smooth, then gradually whisk in chicken broth and coconut milk.
- Add sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and spices to skillet. Stir well, then return chicken to skillet and spoon sauce over chicken. Lower heat to a simmer for 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through, then remove from heat.
- Place thawed and drained spinach onto a double layer paper towel and squeeze out excess moisture over the sink. Add spinach and spaghetti squash to skillet and stir until well combined.
- Divide into 5 servings and top with parmesan cheese before serving, if desired.
Nutrition Information
Grilled Chicken with Olive Garden Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb raw chicken breast, thinly sliced
- 6 cups romaine lettuce, sliced
- 1/2 cup red onion, sliced
- 1/2 cup black olives, drained
- 1/2 cup Olive Garden croutons
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup Light Olive Garden Italian salad dressing
- 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 9 Pepperoncini peppers, sliced
- 1 tsp olive oil
Instructions
- Heat a pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil until hot, then add chicken breast and cook 3-5 minutes per side or until cooked through. Set aside.
- Layer salad ingredients in serving dishes, setting aside croutons, cheese, and dressing until ready to serve. Top with cooked, sliced chicken.
Nutrition Information
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