A free 7-day, flexible weight loss meal plan including breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas and a shopping list. All recipes include macros and Weight Watchers points.
Free 7 Day Healthy Meal Plan (Dec 30-Jan 5)
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I can’t believe that 2024 is nearing an end! I am so thankful for all the blessings this year has given me.
Many cultures have foods they believe bring good luck and prosperity for the coming year- a southern favorite- black-eyed peas, are a symbol of good luck and prosperity and eating them with greens is common to symbolize money and success in the year ahead. In many Latin American countries, eating 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight is a tradition meant to bring good luck. Each grape represents one month of the coming year, and eating them is believed to bring prosperity, happiness, and good fortune. Eating lentils is believed to bring wealth and good fortune. The tradition is often accompanied by eating pork, pigs are considered a symbol of progress and prosperity, as they root forward when foraging. Long noodles are eaten to symbolize longevity. The longer the noodle, the longer the life, and it is believed to bring good health in the year ahead.
Whatever tradition your family follows, I wish you a healthy, happy and prosperous new year! Thank you all for being part of the Skinnytaste family!
A Word About the New WW Points Plan
For all my WW friends, WW added new 0 point foods (yay for oatmeal!) but it will take time for me to update my recipes. The great news is every recipe on my site is linked to WW recipe builder (only works from your phone) so it will automatically give you the new points. I will start updating the points but it would be a HUGE help if you are on my site and see the new points, to leave a comment on that recipe so I can quickly update it!
If you’re new to my meal plans, I’ve been sharing these free, 7-day flexible healthy meal plans (you can see my previous meal plans here) that are meant as a guide, with plenty of wiggle room for you to add more food, coffee, beverages, fruits, snacks, dessert, wine, etc. or swap recipes out for meals you prefer, you can search for recipes by course in the index. Depending on your goals, you should aim for at least 1500 calories* per day. There’s no one size fits all, this will range by your goals, your age, weight, etc.
There’s also a precise, organized grocery list that will make grocery shopping so much easier and much less stressful. Save you money and time. You’ll dine out less often, waste less food and you’ll have everything you need on hand to help keep you on track.
Lastly, if you’re on Facebook join my Skinnytaste Facebook Community where everyone’s sharing photos of recipes they are making, you can join here. I’m loving all the ideas everyone’s sharing! If you wish to get on the email list, you can subscribe here so you never miss a meal plan!
Ultimate Skinnytaste Meal Planner
Get the Skinnytaste Ultimate Meal Planner! The 52 week spiral bound meal planner has weekly meal planning grids you can tear out and put on your fridge if you wish, a 12-week meal plan, 30 (15 new) recipes, and tear-out grocery lists. I love starting my week with gratitude, affirmations and intentions, so I included a space for that as well. I hope you will love this as much as I do!
Buy the Skinnytaste meal planner here:
With grocery prices soaring, many of us are having to adjust, scale back and/or get more creative with our meals. One of the absolute BEST ways to stay within a budget and maintain healthy eating habits is to MEAL PLAN. You can get more 5-day Budget Friendly Meal Plans by signing up for Relish+ (get a 14-day free trial here!)
Meal Plan:
Breakfast and lunch Monday-Friday, are designed to serve 1 while dinners and all meals on Saturday and Sunday are designed to serve a family of 4. Some recipes make enough leftovers for two nights or lunch the next day. The grocery list is comprehensive and includes everything you need to make all meals on the plan.
MONDAY (12/30)
B: Apple Pie Overnight Oats
L: Chickpea Tuna Salad over 2 cups mixed greens
D: Lentil Bolognese with Arugula Salad
Total Calories: 1,109*
TUESDAY (12/31)
B: Apple Pie Overnight Oats
L: Chickpea Tuna Salad over 2 cups mixed greens
D: Beef Tenderloin with Parmesan Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potato Salad
Total Calories: 1,319*
WEDNESDAY (1/1)
B: Easy Bagels (recipe x 2) with Smoked Salmon Platter
L: Black-Eyed Pea Dip with 12 tortilla chips and Italian Shrimp Salad
D: Crockpot Sesame Chicken with ¾ cup brown rice and Roasted Broccoli with Smashed Garlic (recipe x 2)
Total Calories: 1,406*
THURSDAY (1/2)
B: LEFTOVER Easy Bagel with 2 eggs, 1 slice cheddar cheese and 2 strips bacon
L: 2 cups Fall Brussels Sprouts Salad with Apples, Pecans and Blue Cheese
D: LEFTOVER Crockpot Sesame Chicken with ¾ cup brown rice and Roasted Broccoli with Smashed Garlic
Total Calories: 1,360*
FRIDAY (1/3)
B: LEFTOVER Easy Bagel with 2 eggs, 1 slice cheddar cheese and 2 strips bacon
L: 2 cups Fall Brussels Sprouts Salad with Apples, Pecans and Blue Cheese
D: Baked Salmon and Mediterranean Quinoa Salad** and String Beans with Garlic and Oil
Total Calories: 1,317*
SATURDAY (1/4)
B: Spinach Ricotta Quiche and an orange
L: Turkey Club (recipe x 4) and 8 baby carrots
D: DINNER OUT
Total Calories: 666*
SUNDAY (1/5)
B: LEFTOVER Spinach Ricotta Quiche and a pear
L: Rainbow Quinoa Salad with Lemon Dressing
D: 2 ¼ cups Pasta with Italian Chicken Sausage, Escarole and Beans
Total Calories: 1,212*
*This is just a guide, women should aim for around 1500 calories per day. Here’s a helpful calculator to estimate your calorie needs. I’ve left plenty of wiggle room for you to add more food such as coffee, beverages, fruits, snacks, dessert, wine, etc.
** Make an extra 4 cups cooked quinoa for Sunday lunch.
*Google doc
Shopping list
Produce
- 1 small PLUS 1 medium (sweet) apples
- 4 medium pears
- 4 medium oranges
- 2 small PLUS 5 medium PLUS 1 large lemons
- 2 medium limes
- 3 medium heads garlic
- 1 small shallot
- 1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger
- 1 medium jalapeno (optional, for Black-Eyed Pea Dip)
- 1 medium yellow bell pepper
- 2 large English cucumbers
- 2 mini (Persian) cucumbers (can sub another small English, if desired)
- 1 small (5-ounce) PLUS 1 medium (6-ounce) Hass avocados
- 5 medium radishes
- 1 small bunch celery
- 3 medium carrots
- 1 medium bag baby carrots
- 2 ¼ pounds Brussels sprouts (can buy 1 pound of them pre-shredded, if desired)
- ½ pound baby Bella or Crimini mushrooms
- 1 ¼ pound (2 medium) sweet potatoes
- 3 pounds broccoli florets
- 1 pound string beans
- 1 small bunch scallions
- 1 small bunch/container fresh dill
- 1 small bunch/container fresh chives (can sub 1 tablespoon scallion greens in Baked Salmon, if desired)
- 1 small bunch/container fresh basil
- 1 small bunch/container fresh rosemary
- 1 small bunch fresh cilantro
- 1 medium bunch fresh Italian parsley
- 1 (5-ounce) clamshell/bag baby spinach
- 1 (5-ounce) clamshell/bag mixed greens
- 1 (1-pound) clamshell/bag baby arugula
- ½ small head purple cabbage (or 1 small bag pre-shredded)
- 1 small head Iceberg lettuce
- 1 medium head escarole
- 1 dry pint PLUS 1 (1-pound) container grape or cherry tomatoes
- 23 medium vine-ripened tomatoes
- 3 medium red onions
- 2 medium yellow onions
Meat, Poultry and Fish
- ¾ pound sliced nova lox or cold smoked salmon
- 1 (2-pound) whole skin-on wild salmon fillet
- 1 ¼ pound cooked, peeled, tail-off jumbo shrimp
- 1 package center-cut bacon
- ¾ pound sliced deli turkey breast (I like Boar’s Head)
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- ¾ pound uncooked Italian chicken sausage
- 1 (4-pound) beef tenderloin
Condiments and Spices
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Canola oil
- Cooking spray
- Olive oil spray (or get a Misto oil mister)
- Kosher salt (I like Diamond Crystal)
- Pepper grinder (or fresh peppercorns)
- Ground cinnamon
- Pure maple syrup
- Vanilla extract
- Ground nutmeg
- Optional bagel toppings such as: everything bagel seasoning, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried garlic flakes, dried onion flakes
- Red wine vinegar
- Cumin
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Dijon mustard
- Balsamic vinegar
- Apple cider vinegar
- Honey
- Light mayonnaise
- Italian seasoning
- Garlic powder
- Paprika
- Reduced sodium soy sauce*
- Rice wine vinegar
- Sesame oil
- Sriracha sauce
- Sesame seeds
- Bay leaves
Dairy & Misc. Refrigerated Items
- 1 deep dish pie crust, for 1 9-inch pie
- 1 18-pack large eggs
- 1 pint unsweetened almond milk or milk of your choice
- 1 (8-ounce) container skim milk
- 1 small tub whipped cream cheese
- 1 small tub part-skim ricotta cheese
- 1 (32-ounce) container nonfat plain Greek yogurt (I like Fage or Stonyfield)
- 1 small package sliced cheddar cheese or cheese of your choice
- 1 (8-ounce) bag shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 1 large wedge fresh Parmesan cheese
- 1 small package blue or gorgonzola cheese
- 1 small package feta cheese
Grains*
- 1 small package dry brown rice (or 6 cups pre-cooked)
- 1 small package dry quinoa
- 1 large bag tortilla chips
- 1 loaf thin-sliced whole grain bread, such as Dave’s Killer Bread
- 1 (1-pound) package high protein pasta, such as Barilla
- 1 (1-pound) package short pasta, such as penne, rigatoni, etc.
- 1 small package unbleached all-purpose or whole wheat flour
- 1 small package old fashioned oats
Canned and Jarred
- 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas
- 1 (15-ounce) can no salt added black eye peas (such as Eden)
- 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans
- 1 large jar mixed Italian pitted olives, such as Kalamata and Castelvetrano
- 1 small jar capers
- 1 (6-ounce) can wild albacore tuna in water (I like American Tuna)
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 (15-ounce) can crushed or diced tomatoes (I like Tuttorosso)
- 1 (32-ounce) carton vegetable broth
- 1 (15-ounce) can low sodium chicken broth (can sub ½ cup vegetable broth in Pasta with Italian Sausage, if desired)
Frozen
Misc. Dry Goods
- 1 small package chia seeds (if buying from bulk bin, you need 2 teaspoons)
- 1 small package walnuts (if buying from bulk bin, you need 2 tablespoons)
- 1 small package pecan halves (if buying from bulk bin, you need 1 ounce, about ¼ cup)
- 1 bottle red wine (optional, for Lentil Bolognese)
- 1 small package dry brown, green or split red lentils
- 1 small package granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Cornstarch
*You can buy gluten free, if desired
