THM-ish Meal Planning and Chocolate Zucchini Snack Cake

Back to Reality…

After an awesome week of vacation with my husband, kids, and parents, it’s back to reality…and menu planning. Somehow, the week away refreshes and inspires me to do better as a mom and with my health journey. So, I made a plan for this week that I’ll call THM-ish (Trim Healthy Mama, if you aren’t familiar). It’s the eating plan that has been really working for me lately…but to be 100% honest, if I don’t plan for it, it’s nearly impossible to follow! However, I also realized that I had been slacking on making fun and memorable treats for my kids. Making food memories is important to me, so I tried to work those in, too (hence, THM-ish). I’m including my breakfasts and lunches, but then dinners and treats for my entire family, if that makes sense.

• Breakfasts: eggs and toast, Briana Thomas’ overnight oats (PREPPED AHEAD), and spinach fruit smoothies (almond milk, spinach, frozen mixed fruit, and vanilla protein powder)
• Lunches (PREPPED AHEAD): roasted chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and green beans with fruit or yogurt or turkey/chicken on Ezekiel bread with mustard with HG’s Go Greek Cucumber Noodle Salad

• Treats (PREPPED AHEAD): peanut butter fruit dip and chocolate-zucchini snack cake
  • Peanut Butter Fruit Dip: Mix 1 c. vanilla yogurt with 1/4 c. peanut butter. Add more peanut butter if you’d like!
• Dinners:
  • Crockpot roast beef with onions and mushrooms, steamed frozen vegetables, and garlic monkey bread
    • Crockpot Roast Beef: Brown beef roast in oil (I can do this in my crockpot), then add mushrooms, onions, steak seasoning, 2 beef bouillon cubes, and 1 c. water. Cook on low 8 hours.
    • Garlic Monkey Bread: Cut a can of buttermilk biscuits into fourths and dip pieces in melted butter seasoned with garlic and Italian seasoning. Put in greased loaf pan and bake according to biscuit instructions. May take a few minutes longer!
  • Easy stuffed shells, steamed broccoli, frozen garlic bread
    • Easy Stuffed Shells: Cook a box of large shells until just al dente, then stuff each with a frozen meatball. Put shells in 13×9 pan and pour pasta sauce over; sprinkle with mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, or until warmed through. NOTE: I made the mistake of asking for feedback on this one…and boy, did I get it. According to my family, it “needs something,” so next time I’ll put a little seasoned ricotta in each shell.
  • Mayonnaise Baked Fish, couscous, and riced cauliflower (because I didn’t know what other veg to make)
  • Roast turkey (in an oven bag) with mashed potatoes, mashed cauliflower (for me), and green beans

And that about does it for the meal plan since we’ll have leftovers and a meal or two out…however, about a few items I prepped ahead:

1. I made overnight oat packets with Briana Thomas’ recipe.
2. I made the Hungry Girl Go Greek Cucumber Salad.
3. I turned on the oven to 350 for the cake, and while prepping it, I made my roasted veggie lunch: On a foil-lined sheet pan, place one bag of frozen green beans. Bake for 20 minutes, then add a can of drained, rinsed chickpeas and a couple of cut-up sweet potatoes. Bake 30 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are soft. When cooled, divide into containers for lunch. NOTE: You can do what you want for seasoning here, but I sprayed each addition with cooking spray and sprinkled on sea salt and pepper.
4. Chocolate Zucchini Snack Cake: I have no idea where I got this recipe, but I love it…and so do my kids!

Chocolate Zucchini Snack Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 box Devil’s Food Cake mix (13×9 size)
• 1/2 c. milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c. oil
• 2 c. shredded zucchini
• 12 oz. bag chocolate chips
• Optional: 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients except chips for 2 minutes (by hand or stand mixer on medium). By hand, blend in 1/2 bag of chocolate chips, then spread cake batter into greased 13×9 pan. Sprinkle remainder of chips on top and bake 30 minutes or so, until cake tests as done with a knife. Enjoy!!