The Master 4 Week Menu...if you dare...

I feel like I just finished one of my graduate school projects! This took forever, but it's worth it. It's so nice to have ONE book of recipes on your counter instead of a menu calendar, recipe cards, and cookbooks scattered all over the place.

Here's the master plan!

This plan is specific for me and how my doctor is having me eat. There is a little cheese and dairy here and there, but it's very sparse since I'm not supposed to eat much dairy. There is probably more chicken on there than she would have me eat, but I promised her I would buy the most healthy, organic, free range chicken I could find. Even the most expensive chicken is cheaper per pound than Salmon!

I love me some salmon but with a limited food budget, I had to make a menu that works for me and our budget. I make everything work, so there are a lot of leftovers. If you use this menu, you'll have to keep spinach, kale, and salad greens on hand because there's a salad at most meals.

I'm sure you'll ask- but I buy Dr. Bragg's liquid aminos instead of soy sauce, and you should be able to find it at most grocery stores. It tastes better than soy sauce to me anyway!

If a recipe calls for peanut butter, use natural or make your own.

All of the salad dressings are homemade which takes less time than you think, but you can use whatever you have on hand. Keep a poppyseed vinegrette and Caeser dressing on hand and you'll be fine.

Some recipes call for mayo. I don't have a problem eating mayo, so I use full-fat mayo with the fewest preservatives and chemicals I can find. It's not an everyday food, and is used sparingly anyway. Low-fat mayo tastes like poison to me, so I'd rather have a little of the good stuff since it's used so infrequently.

Some recipes use cheese- buy the block of cheese and grate/shred it yourself. Avoid cheeses that have been dyed. You won't use much cheese at all in these recipes except for a little added flavor.

I use a vitamin rich protein powder that is loaded with vitamins, fiber, flax seed, and pea-protein. I also add spinach to my shakes. I do weight lifting 3 times a week and always drink a protein shake on those days. I recommend Vega-one if you can afford it. It is AWESOME. It's the next best thing to those ridiculously expensive Shakeology shakes I'm sure SOMEONE in your life has tried to pressure to you to buy.

If Shakeology is out of your price range, I recommend Nature's Bounty From costco or vitamin world, or Amazon. I get the complete vitamin and protein powder in chocolate flavor and it is the next best thing to Vega One.

I bought a Cuisinart Smoothie maker a year ago that comes with 4 smoothie cups, one small cup, 2 blades, and a big blender jar for about $60 on Amazon. That thing ROCKS. A Blend-tec is way out of my price range and I think my Cuisinart comes in close to a Blend-tec anyway. It is significantly better than a regular blender. We use it multiple times a day and has a 10 year warranty.

Let me know what you think!