What does a weekly meal plan look like?

A friend asked me for a sample weekly meal plan.  Juliana and I are still eating very low carb, keeping net carbohydrate under 30 grams per day, and this meal plan reflects that.  Most of Juliana’s carbohydrates come from what are called “foundation vegetables” in the Atkins plan–very low carb, very high nutrient vegetables such as broccoli, romaine lettuce, green beans, cauliflower.  I eat those as well but get some carbs from almonds and tomatoes, which Juliana does not like.

As Juliana gets closer to her goal weight, we will begin adding back more foods, starting with berries, which are a relatively low carb fruit.

The first thing you’ll see is that breakfast is dinner and dinner is breakfast.  Really any meal can be eaten at any time of day, so the categories “breakfast, lunch, and dinner” are arbitrary.  Juliana likes eggs for breakfast.  Eggs in the morning make me nauseous, but I like eggs for dinner.   We eat hard boiled eggs with salt and pepper or deviled eggs for snacks all day long.  Juliana has eaten cheeseburgers for breakfast, and I regularly eat last night’s leftovers for breakfast and pack them for Juliana in her lunch for school.   We try to eat carbohydrates, fat, and protein at each meal.  Even if you are only eating 30 grams of carbohydrate per day, it is preferable not to eat them all at the same time.

Breakfast Lunch Dinner Snacks
3-egg omelet filled with leftover roasted cauliflower Pork Chop and mashed cauliflower Pork Chops, broccoli with garlic, mashed cauliflower Deviled Eggs or Hard-boiled eggs with salt and pepper
Leftover skirt steak and mashed cauliflower; sliced tomato with salt Cheeseburger with roasted cauliflower Quiche with mashed cauliflower Salami and Cheese Rollups
No-sugar added chicken Italian sausage with mashed cauliflower Salad with romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado, salami, cheese and almonds on the side Beef with broccoli, mashed cauliflower Ounce of Almonds
Salami and eggs filled with cooked broccoli Tuna salad* romaine lettuce “sandwiches” No sugar added pork Italian sausage, green beans with garlic, mashed cauliflower Egg Quiche with sausage, broccoli, and cheese
Leftover tri-tip and mashed cauliflower Egg salad* romaine lettuce “sandwiches” Chicken with green beans, mashed cauliflower Scoop of chicken salad* 
Broccoli, tomato, bacon and egg scramble Taco meat with toppings Pizza chicken with roasted broccoli Turkey and cheese rollups
Grilled chicken breast (no-carb marinade is ok) and grilled asparagus Roasted chicken with roasted cauliflower and roasted broccoli Skirt steak, brussel sprouts with tamari, mashed cauliflower Bacon slices

*Made with no-sweetener-added mayonnaise.

Cooking is easy

Cooking low carb food is beyond easy.  Take it from me–a 20 year vegetarian.  All that chopping–fuhgeddaboudit.  Most meals consist of a protein and a vegetable.

For example, an egg quiche made of sausage, eggs, and broccoli.  Active preparation time:  7 minutes.

Skirt steak on the grill with roasted cauliflower.  Active preparation time:  4 minutes.

Pork chops on the grill with mashed cauliflower.  Active preparation time:  10 minutes.

Meatloaf with salad.  Active preparation time:  14 minutes.  Less, if you use a bottled salad dressing (but check for carb content).

Bacon and herbed eggs.  Active preparation time:  8 minutes.

You get the idea.  Food preparation is so simple, that Juliana, at age 13.5, can handle most of it herself.  Even my 10 year old can scramble eggs and fry sausage.  (We have an electric stove, so I don’t have to worry about them starting a fire with a gas stove).