To speed up the preparation of dishes on weekdays, we recommend cutting up the fish in advance and making some preparations.
1. Carefully remove scales from salmon (trout). Cut off the head, tail and fins and set aside for soup.
2. Remove the gills from the head. Rinse the fish under cold running water and dry with paper towels.
3. Cut off the tesha (fat pieces running along the gutted belly) - also for soup. Remove two skin-on fillets from the body, very carefully cutting off the flesh using a fillet knife. Set aside the rest for soup as well.
4. Remove one fillet from the skin, starting from the tail towards the head. The skin is for the broth.
5. Place the fillets on paper towels, skin side down, to prevent them from slipping, and use tweezers to remove all intercostal bones.
Master class on salmon cutting.
Making salmon gravlax
The brisket can be baked on Monday, but the salmon gravlax needs to be made ahead of time.
Or graavilohi - valuable fish marinated in a spicy dry marinade (usually salmon, salmon or trout), which is prepared as a cold appetizer in Scandinavian countries. Gravlax can be served separately, but most often it is used to make sandwiches on rye bread or boil potatoes for an appetizer.
Gravlax
MENU FOR WORK WEEK
Monday
For lunch - fish soup with fish dumplings. You can bake very quick pies from ready-made puff pastry with chopped hard-boiled eggs, green onions, dill and butter. Don’t forget to brush the pies with yolk before baking to make them look nice on the table.
Ukha with fish dumplings
For dinner, baked brisket with Asian spices. Brisket is a rather fatty meat, so it’s better to serve something light, fresh and even a little spicy as a side dish. For example, a salad of baked peppers, chili, orange slices, olives and arugula.
Asian Spiced Baked Brisket
Tuesday
For lunch - a sandwich roll with baked brisket. You can make a cold, spicy drink based on kefir or yogurt with cucumbers, dill and spices (paprika, ginger, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper), whisking them together in a blender until smooth.
Sandwich roll with baked brisket
For dinner - pasta with salmon and cream sauce. A salad of very finely chopped iceberg and sliced cucumbers, seasoned with lemon juice, zest, olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper, goes great.
Pasta with salmon and cream sauce
Wednesday
For lunch, a big salad with gravlax and avocado. You can bake or boil potatoes and place them directly on a plate with salad. Then it’s better to roughly double the amount of dressing, because it also goes great with potatoes.
Large salad with gravlax and avocado
For dinner - pancakes with green onions and sour cream. You can serve it with toasted bacon or chopped gravlax, or both.
Draniki with green onions and sour cream
Thursday
For lunch - soup from a can. This can be served with sandwiches made from Borodino bread with smoked lard, cut into thin slices, and fresh cucumbers.
Soup from a can
For dinner - spiced ribs with vegetables. A good pairing would be simple aromatic fluffy jasmine rice without any additives. Before cooking, you can fry it for a few seconds in melted butter, pour boiling water in a ratio of 1:1.5 (that is, for one measure of rice - one and a half measures of boiling water), salt, close the lid tightly and cook over medium heat for 12 minutes, after which let it brew in a warm place for another 12 minutes. Cook more and make lunch out of it the next day.
It’s great when all family members are ready to switch to proper nutrition, because in just a couple of months you will be able to enjoy seeing dramatic changes in appearance, health, attitude and an increase in the level of comfort of your own life. Of course, at first you will be terribly drawn to smoked foods, harmful sweets and salty foods, and sometimes not because you want to, but simply because “the forbidden fruit is sweet.”
What can you do, that’s how people are made. But even if you easily give up forbidden pleasures, you still have to work to ensure that the approximate healthy nutrition menu compiled in advance will delight you with dishes that are easy and quick to prepare, but at the same time retain the maximum benefits of all products and are distinguished by excellent taste.
Breakfast
For breakfast, nutritionists unanimously recommend eating porridge - they are filling, nutritious and rich in healthy vitamins, minerals and microelements. But you have to admit, eating the same dish in the morning, even if it’s made from different grains, gets boring.
Therefore, we will try to diversify our diet by making the usual porridges original and unusual, or even replacing them with other dishes. For example:
Lunches
Traditionally, lunch consists of a first, second course and salad. With proper nutrition, it is preferable to cook the first courses without frying, the second courses are better to stew, steam or bake (grilling is also welcome), and in salads it is better to replace mayonnaise dressings with low-fat sour cream, and vinegar with lemon juice. Considering the basics of proper nutrition, the menu may include the following dishes for lunch.
First meal
What to cook for the first course if you are already tired of the usual borscht and chicken noodles?
Second courses
Usually, those dishes that are served for the main course can safely serve as dinner, however, in the evening it is also advisable to supplement them with some salad, herbs or simply sliced cucumbers or bell peppers.
Dinner
This amazingly simple dish turns out so tasty and beautiful that it is quite worthy of a festive table.
For 4 servings we will need:- 500 grams of potatoes,
- 400 gr. chicken fillet,
- 400 gr. champignons,
- 4 medium sized tomatoes
- 300-400 gr. hard cheese,
- Sour cream or lean mayonnaise.
- Spices, salt and pepper
- Greenery
- Fish stewed with vegetables
For this easy-to-prepare dish, we will need 500 grams of fish fillet, which we cut into cubes, 30 grams of carrots, cut into strips, 200 grams of onion, cut into half rings, as well as 2 tbsp. tomato paste, 4 bay leaves and black peppercorns.
First, simmer the onions and carrots in vegetable oil along with tomato paste. After 10 minutes, add fish fillet, spices and 500 ml of hot water. Cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 40 minutes.
Baked chicken breast with vegetables and apple for a festive table
For 2 servings of the finished dish, take 250 grams of chicken breast, 200 grams of broccoli, 2 medium potatoes, 2 apples, egg white, green onions, vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons. spoons of low-fat sour cream, and for an apple - honey, 2 tsp. raisins and nuts.
Dip the chicken breast in the protein and bake at 180C for about 20 minutes. Potatoes also need to be baked with vegetable oil and sour cream, and the broccoli should be steamed. Core the apples and fill with nuts, raisins and honey, then bake in the oven for 45 minutes. The dish is served on a large plate and sprinkled with green onions on top.
For this Italian dish, take 2 eggplants, tomatoes and garlic cloves, a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a mixture of Italian or any other herbs.
In a baking dish, greased with oil, place eggplants sliced 1 cm thick in layers, then tomatoes (0.5 cm thick). Sprinkle oil on top of the vegetables, add chopped garlic and spices. Then you need to bake the dish in the oven for 50-60 minutes, and before serving, sprinkle with cheese and grated herbs. 
For two servings of this dietary and healthy dish, take 1 onion, 250 grams of broccoli, 250 grams of shrimp, 200 grams of spaghetti, 2 cloves of garlic and 2 tbsp. olive oil.
Divide the broccoli into florets and boil for 10 minutes, then chop into even smaller florets. Peel the shrimp and bring to a boil, then set aside. In heated olive oil, saute the chopped onion until golden brown, then add the garlic, after a couple of minutes - the broccoli, as well as a little broth in which the cabbage was cooked, so that the mixture resembles a sauce.
Boil the spaghetti shortly before serving and, when ready, immediately pour the broccoli sauce over it and place the shrimp in the center of the plate. 
Salads for lunch and dinner
Snacks and salads play a special role in proper nutrition, and when creating a healthy nutrition menu for the month, you should try to include salads from a wide variety of seasonal vegetables, fruits and herbs. By the way, fruit salads are great both as a complement to lunch and as a second dinner when you want to eat, but don’t want to overeat at night.
If you didn’t know what to diversify and how to create a healthy nutrition menu, we hope that with our recipes the task has been significantly simplified. Now you can prove to your family that proper dietary nutrition can be incredibly tasty.
Learn more:
It is indeed possible to lose weight quickly without diets and grueling fasts, but to do this you need to radically reconsider your diet and switch to a more healthy diet.
The most complete and detailed description of separate nutrition according to Sheldon: history of origin, rules for combining foods and restrictions, pros and cons, expert assessment, as well as an approximate weekly diet.
How to stay in great shape for many years, how to quickly get rid of an emerging belly, how to maintain men's health after 45 years, what requirements are put forward for proper nutrition for men.
The lowest-calorie foods, of course, include all vegetables and fruits, leafy salad greens, all low-fat dairy products, dietary meats, white fish, shellfish, and crustaceans.
You can maintain and improve the health of your body by choosing the right foods for proper nutrition. Some categories of products must be included in your menu, while others, on the contrary, should be crossed out.
For those who have decided to take the path of a healthy lifestyle: rules of proper nutrition, useful tips and a list of the most important foods for women. And if you don’t know how to create a healthy diet, a sample menu for one day will help.
When I once again decided to lose weight, I took up this matter decisively and seriously. Suddenness and unpredictability are not the best companions for those who have decided to get rid of extra pounds. I know myself - and I know what I will do if I don’t have a clear and detailed nutrition plan for every day. I’ll just open the refrigerator and eat what’s bad. For example, I’ll make a sandwich or cook dumplings that are missing in the freezer. Or maybe I'll order pizza. In general, to avoid such situations, you need to prepare for each day in advance. And in order not to be tormented by thoughts every day, it is best to create the right menu for the week. Just like in kindergarten: a schedule of breakfasts, lunches, afternoon snacks and dinners from Monday to Friday for all days of the week - so convenient! Or a piece of paper called “business lunch” in the nearest cafe - everything is simple and predictable. In general, I took this tool into service - and I was not disappointed.
During the three weeks of the experiment, I discovered not only a loss of 2 kg, but savings in time, money and nerves. I changed my strategy for replenishing food supplies and now I can go to the hypermarket to buy groceries once a week. I have a list in my hands based on the menu and I know exactly what and in what quantity I need to buy. I remember with horror how I used to wander around the store for hours, and then spend hours thinking about what to cook from all this? My experience has shown that there is more choice in the hypermarket, and for those losing weight, variety in diet and control over the composition and especially the fat content of products is important. And the prices for many goods are lower than in the nearest store, where I now go only in emergencies.
I have a plan
I like everything to be visual, so all sorts of electronic signs were not suitable for me. This coming weekend, I armed myself with a notepad and pen, inspected the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets and compiled my first proper menu for the week. I don’t like rigid boundaries and prefer to have room to maneuver according to my mood. Therefore, on separate multi-colored pieces of paper I wrote 6 options for dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so that they could be swapped. The main dish, side dish and soup are all separate. So if I suddenly realize that I don’t want to eat buckwheat porridge tomorrow morning, I can easily replace it with curd mousse with berries, for example. By the way, using the link you can download a template of the correct menu for the week. print, fill out and follow the plan.
I designate Sunday as a “holiday of disobedience”, when you can not plan anything and allow yourself a break from restrictions. This approach helps me avoid breakdowns, and helps my body receive the signal “everything is fine, we are not in danger of hunger, we don’t need to store fat.”
General principles of the correct menu for the week
Losing weight needs to be delicious - this is my basic principle. Nutrition should be balanced and varied. My diet should include poultry, fish, legumes, occasionally meat, lots of vegetables, fruits, dairy products and cottage cheese. An incredible number of dishes can be prepared from these basic ingredients.
I took the “12-16” principle as a daily basis. That is, I planned carbohydrates until 16.00, and fruits until 12.00. With this approach, you can prepare different porridges and cottage cheese dishes for breakfast. For lunch - soup and a protein dish with a side dish. For dinner - chicken, fish or meat with vegetables. I don’t plan snacks, they are always the same: before lunch - fruit, after lunch - yogurt or cottage cheese. In general, everything is simple. I wrote down the names of the dishes and compiled a basic menu from them. This is what my correct menu for the week looked like.
Correct menu for the week: breakfasts
1. Overnight Oatmeal
Pour a couple of tablespoons of rolled oats with kefir overnight and put them in the refrigerator. In the morning, add any berries - fresh or defrosted, baked apple, banana, flax seeds. For those who have a sweet tooth, you can add a spoonful of honey. Although I can do without it.
2. Corn porridge with pumpkin
I prepare it the evening before. I boil the cereal, separately – the pumpkin cut into pieces. I combine the prepared cereal and mashed pumpkin, add a little milk. I don't add sugar - there is enough of it in the pumpkin.
3. Cereal bread with cottage cheese
The store's selection of breads is amazingly diverse, so I spent a lot of time studying the products presented on the shelves. I found a whole grain and not too high in calories option. I add cucumber to the cottage cheese (finely chopped or grated on a coarse grater) and a lot of greens. Tasty and beautiful!
4. Buckwheat porridge
Everything is simple here. I cook crumbly porridge, turning on the double boiler at night. In the morning I add low-fat milk. The taste is like in childhood!
5. Curd mousse
It also needs to be taken care of in the evening. I have two favorite options. First: soak 1 tbsp. spoon of gelatin in water, dissolve in a water bath. Beat soft cottage cheese for 3 minutes, mix with gelatin, beat for another 3 minutes. Add your favorite berries and mix gently. Place in bowls and put in refrigerator until morning. Second: 1 avocado, 1 banana, 100 g of natural yogurt and 5 teaspoons of cocoa mixed in a blender. Place in bowls and refrigerate until morning.
6. Hercules
I’m not so used to porridge with water, so I just take low-fat milk, dilute it with water in a 1:1 ratio and add a little honey.
Correct menu for the week: lunches
I prepare them for two days and the situation becomes much simpler.
1. Vegetable puree soup
I love this option for the variety of flavors. Boil any vegetables - cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, zucchini, bell peppers, spinach, onions, carrots - in any combination in boiling water, add a little milk and puree in a blender.
2. Lentil soup
Legumes are useful as a good source of protein and are very relevant for those over 40. Pour cold water over yellow and red lentils and boil. Separately simmer the onions, carrots and chopped and peeled tomatoes. Add vegetable mixture to lentils. When serving, sprinkle generously with chopped parsley.
3. Vegetarian borscht
Grate the beets and carrots on a coarse grater and simmer with a little olive oil, adding tomato juice or grated tomatoes. Place chopped potatoes into boiling water, and after a few minutes add shredded cabbage. Then add the stewed vegetables and the juice of half a lemon. When serving, add garlic and herbs.
Main course
I try to eat meat less often - even beef; I prefer chicken, turkey and fish. Therefore, these dishes are the basis of my lunch menu.
1. Turkey meatballs
I cook them without flour or eggs. Pour boiling water over a spoonful of oatmeal. When they become soft and cool, mix them with minced meat, add salt and pepper. Pour some water into the pan and add the meatballs. Then add chopped tomatoes or tomato juice and your favorite spices. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
2. Baked mackerel
It is a source of healthy fats and is easy to prepare. Salt the gutted carcass, put chopped parsley, dill and lemon in the belly. Bake in the oven.
3. Chicken steak
Beat the breast through a bag, add salt and pepper. Drizzle the grill pan with olive oil and cook the steak. It is made similarly from turkey.
4. Stuffed peppers
Cut the pepper in half lengthwise, trying to keep the stem, and remove the seeds. Prepare minced meat: you can take chicken, turkey, lean beef. Add boiled rice and spices. Fill the pepper halves with minced meat, place them on a baking sheet with the filling facing up and bake in the oven. You can pour a little water on the baking sheet. At the end, sprinkle the peppers with grated low-fat cheese and leave for a few more minutes.
5. Spaghetti Bolognese
The sauce is made from leftover baked poultry or meat. Fry the onion in a small amount of oil, add the prepared meat minced through a meat grinder, grated tomatoes and spices. Mix boiled spaghetti with tomato and meat sauce and sprinkle with low-fat grated cheese.
6. Beef roll
Cut a piece of meat into a layer, beat it, brush it with sauce - I love pesto. Roll up, tie with thread, wrap in foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour.
Side dishes
Everything is simple with them - you need to choose your favorite cereal (I use buckwheat, basmati rice and bulgur) or make a salad of fresh vegetables with olive oil and lemon juice.
Correct menu for the week: dinners
1. Large salad with squid
The most energy-consuming part is to boil and cool the squid carcasses. I buy peeled ones right away so as not to waste extra time. Tear iceberg lettuce with your hands, chop cucumber, sweet pepper, parsley, add squid, cut into strips, season with yogurt and lemon juice sauce.
2. Zucchini and chicken rolls
Using a vegetable slicer, cut young zucchini into thin slices, place thinly chopped chicken fillet on them, add salt and pepper and sprinkle with grated low-fat cheese. Roll into rolls and secure with wooden skewers. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
3. Eggplant with minced meat
Cut the eggplants lengthwise and boil in boiling water for 5 minutes. Cool, cut out the pulp to make “boats”. Fill them with minced raw or baked meat or poultry, chopped eggplant, tomatoes, onions and sweet peppers. Sprinkle with low-fat grated cheese and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
4. Salad with beans and cheese
If I boiled white or variegated beans in advance, then I take them. If not, a pod will do, which needs to be immersed in boiling water for 3 minutes. Then everything is simple: mix beans, cheese, iceberg lettuce, parsley. Top with yogurt.
5. Vegetable muffins
Place boiled vegetables in small forms - green peas, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans. Beat eggs with milk, add salt and pepper and pour this mixture over the vegetables. You can sprinkle with cheese. Bake in the oven.
Advanced level
When I mastered the basic version of the correct menu for the week, I decided to go further. I bought kitchen scales and found tables on the content of fats, proteins, carbohydrates (the same BZHU) and calorie content of different foods. Now each dish passed through my scientific laboratory and at the end I received a complete dossier that allowed me to know exactly how many calories I consumed per day, how many of them came from proteins, fats and carbohydrates. This allowed me to be more attentive to the composition of dishes, look for new recipes and make research expeditions to the hypermarket - this is how I managed, for example, to discover feta cheese with a fat content of only 2% per 100 g, several varieties of yogurt with a fat content of only 1.5% and delicious cheese that fit within my limitations.
Unexpected effect
I placed my menu on the refrigerator door and immediately received a question from the non-losing male part of the family: is this for us? Once again I carefully looked at what was written - everything was tasty and healthy. And she answered - yes, this is for everyone! In practice, I “enhance” a man’s dinner with a side dish or soup that I prepare for lunch. My husband and son are not home during the day, so these dishes can easily be transferred to dinner. So, the correct menu for the week, in addition to losing extra pounds, saving time, money and nerves, has one more advantage - healthy nutrition for the whole family!
A proper breakfast energizes you and makes you feel cheerful, even if the day before you danced until the morning. A liter of coffee? We cross it out. Since nutritionists still have not agreed on whether it is harmful or beneficial. So how can you still feel the surge of strength?
Citrus top the list of invigorating foods. One aroma of fresh orange juice encourages you to open your eyes wide and smile at this world. No kidding! Scientists have proven that just sniffing a freshly peeled or orange is enough to get a boost of good mood. If preparing fresh juice is labor-intensive, just cut the sweet red grapefruit into rings.
Greek yogurt can be safely called a real morning superfood. It improves the digestion process in the morning and promotes fat burning: the body spends more calories on its absorption than it contains. So feel free to sweeten it with a spoonful of honey! After all, this is also a very useful morning product.
Honey contains natural sugar, which the body instantly wakes up by processing. In addition to yogurt, honey will be an ideal topping for toast, porridge, or fruit salad.
Cinnamon, cumin, paprika - invigorating spices. If you add them to your morning meals, they can speed up your awakening! Cinnamon can be added to oatmeal, and cumin and paprika will add a spicy taste.
! People who regularly skip meals increase their chances of becoming overweight by 4.5 times. Israeli scientists have calculated.
7 healthy breakfasts for the whole week
Simple recipes to make your morning better
- Monday: Shakshuka
Israeli specialty
Ingredients per serving : egg - 2 pcs.; butter - to taste; garlic - 4 cloves, tomato - 2−3 pcs.; greens - a bunch; salt, paprika, other spices - to taste.
Preparation. First you need to heat the oil in a frying pan and add chopped garlic. Fry a little and add diced tomatoes. Simmer with the lid closed for 15 minutes. Make holes in the resulting sauce and carefully break the eggs into them, mix the whites a little with the tomatoes during cooking. Cook for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle the finished dish generously with herbs and pepper. The male portion can be served with bread and traditional lamb sausages.
- Tuesday: cottage cheese fantasies
The fastest, but very tasty breakfast.
Ingredients per serving: Cottage cheese (fat content no more than 4%) - 100 g; natural yogurt - 100 ml; fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries) - to taste; maple syrup or Jerusalem artichoke syrup - 1 tbsp.
Preparation. Place the cottage cheese on a plate, top with yogurt and sprinkle with berries. Pour some syrup over it.
- Wednesday: Avocdo toast
Typical breakfast of models and actresses
Ingredients : avocado - 1 piece; lightly salted red fish - several slices; bread for toasting.
Preparation. Using a potato peeler, cut the avocado into thin slices. Place the slices on lightly toasted bread (in a toaster or in a dry frying pan). Garnish the toast with fish. Ready!
- Thursday: granola with pumpkin seeds
The hit comes from America
Ingredients: oatmeal - 300 g; nuts (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts) - 150 g; orange juice - 150 ml; pumpkin seeds - 70 g; honey - 150 g; vegetable oil - 3 tbsp. spoons; ground cinnamon - 1 teaspoon; salt.
Preparation. Chop the nuts with a knife. Mix orange juice with honey and butter, add salt and cinnamon and heat the syrup until the honey is completely dissolved.
Mix nuts, pumpkin seeds, cereal. Pour in the warm honey mixture and mix everything thoroughly. Preheat the oven to 160˚C. Cover a baking sheet with parchment, lay out the mixture and smooth it out. Dry the granola for 40 minutes. Every 8-10 minutes, take out the baking sheet and mix the contents thoroughly so that the flakes dry evenly. A dark caramel crust should appear. For breakfast, granola can be served with yogurt.
- Friday: ginger smoothie
Spicy dessert for breakfast
Ingredients for two servings: carrots - 3 pcs.; green apple - 2 pcs.; fresh ginger - 2 cm piece; banana - 2 pcs.; orange - 1 piece; fresh mint leaves.
Preparation. Make juice from carrots, apples and ginger, and then mix it in a blender with peeled bananas, orange and fresh mint. If desired, you can add any sweet syrup to the smoothie.
- Saturday: pancakes with curd cream
You don't have to rush anywhere on your day off!
Ingredients for 4 servings: cottage cheese - 340 g; milk - 200 ml; water - 200 ml; sour cream - 150 g; flour - 125 g; butter - 30 g; egg - 1 pc; vegetable oil - 2 tbsp; sugar - 1 tbsp; salt - to taste.
Preparation. Combine egg, milk, salt, sugar, flour and water in a large bowl and mix. Gradually, without ceasing to stir the dough, pour melted butter into it and bring the mixture to a homogeneous consistency. Heat a pancake pan and grease it with oil. Bake thin pancakes. In a blender, beat cottage cheese and sour cream until you get a light, airy cream. Place a spoonful of curd cream in the center of each pancake. Fold the pancake like an envelope. You can sprinkle with powdered sugar and add berries.
- Sunday: Oatmeal Cookies
Healthy weekend dessert
Ingredients for 12 cookies: egg - 2 pcs.; instant oatmeal - 2 cups; dried cranberries - a little less than a glass; pumpkin seeds - a little less than a glass; pumpkin puree (you can use baby food) - ½ cup; flour - ¼ cup; honey - 2 tbsp; butter - 2 tbsp; salt, ground ginger - ½ tsp each.
Preparation. Melt honey and butter, stir pumpkin puree into the syrup. In a bowl, mix oatmeal, flour, pumpkin seeds and cranberries, salt and spices. Pour in the syrup, add the eggs and knead the dough. Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Cover a baking sheet with parchment. Make 12 cookies and place them on parchment paper. Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
The right breakfast for kids
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for a child. And at the same time, the most problematic thing is that the sleepy little ones do not want to eat their meals. How to please them?
If your child attends kindergarten, rest assured: the food there is balanced and designed taking into account age standards. Breakfast is hearty and healthy! And if not? Then mom needs to think through the menu.
Dry rations. It is not recommended to give breakfast cereals (muesli, flakes, balls and stars - with milk) to your baby no more than twice a week: as a rule, they contain a lot of sugar.
Porridge is our food! There is no better dish than porridge for the first meal. Cereal porridges charge the body with energy and give a feeling of fullness. The healthiest porridges are rice, buckwheat, and wheat. Semolina is considered the least healthy porridge.
The chicken laid an egg... Another indispensable product for the full development of a child is a chicken egg. Moreover, there are many recipes for preparing dishes from them that will not get boring day after day. Poached eggs, eggs on toast, scrambled eggs... And of course, an omelet with all sorts of additions. With carrots and peas, with ham and sweet peppers, with zucchini and cheese - no child will refuse an omelette for breakfast!
Piping hot! Casserole is another win-win option. A dish that is prepared from whatever is at hand. It can be not only cottage cheese, but also meat and vegetable. The secret of preparation is simple: just chop the desired ingredients, add sauce (beaten eggs, for example) and bake in the oven.
! A proper breakfast energizes your baby for 3-4 hours until it’s time for lunch. In order to have enough “fuel”, its value must be 300 kcal, or at least 25% of the daily requirement.
When I once again decided to lose weight, I took up this matter decisively and seriously. Suddenness and unpredictability are not the best companions for those who have decided to get rid of extra pounds. I know myself - and I know what I will do if I don’t have a clear and detailed nutrition plan for every day. I’ll just open the refrigerator and eat what’s bad. For example, I’ll make a sandwich or cook dumplings that are missing in the freezer. Or maybe I'll order pizza. In general, to avoid such situations, you need to prepare for each day in advance. And in order not to be tormented by thoughts every day, it is best to create the right menu for the week. Just like in kindergarten: a schedule of breakfasts, lunches, afternoon snacks and dinners from Monday to Friday for all days of the week - so convenient! Or a piece of paper called “business lunch” in the nearest cafe - everything is simple and predictable. In general, I took this tool into service - and I was not disappointed.
During the three weeks of the experiment, I discovered not only a loss of 2 kg, but savings in time, money and nerves. I changed my strategy for replenishing food supplies and now I can go to the hypermarket to buy groceries once a week. I have a list in my hands based on the menu and I know exactly what and in what quantity I need to buy. I remember with horror how I used to wander around the store for hours, and then spend hours thinking about what to cook from all this? My experience has shown that there is more choice in the hypermarket, and for those losing weight, variety in diet and control over the composition and especially the fat content of products is important. And the prices for many goods are lower than in the nearest store, where I now go only in emergencies.
I have a plan
I like everything to be visual, so all sorts of electronic signs were not suitable for me. This coming weekend, I armed myself with a notepad and pen, inspected the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets and compiled my first proper menu for the week. I don’t like rigid boundaries and prefer to have room to maneuver according to my mood. Therefore, on separate multi-colored pieces of paper I wrote 6 options for dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so that they could be swapped. The main dish, side dish and soup are all separate. So if I suddenly realize that I don’t want to eat buckwheat porridge tomorrow morning, I can easily replace it with curd mousse with berries, for example. By the way, you can download the template from the link. print, fill out and follow the plan.
I designate Sunday as a “holiday of disobedience”, when you can not plan anything and allow yourself a break from restrictions. This approach helps me avoid breakdowns, and helps my body receive the signal “everything is fine, we are not in danger of hunger, we don’t need to store fat.”
General principles of the correct menu for the week
Losing weight needs to be delicious - this is my basic principle. Nutrition should be balanced and varied. My diet should include poultry, fish, legumes, occasionally meat, lots of vegetables, fruits, dairy products and cottage cheese. An incredible number of dishes can be prepared from these basic ingredients.
I took the “12-16” principle as a daily basis. That is, I planned carbohydrates until 16.00, and fruits until 12.00. With this approach, you can prepare different porridges and cottage cheese dishes for breakfast. For lunch - soup and a protein dish with a side dish. For dinner - chicken, fish or meat with vegetables. I don’t plan snacks, they are always the same: before lunch - fruit, after lunch - yogurt or cottage cheese. In general, everything is simple. I wrote down the names of the dishes and compiled a basic menu from them. This is what my correct menu for the week looked like.
The correct menu for the week can be written on sticky notes and attached to the refrigerator. Correct menu for the week: breakfasts
1. Overnight Oatmeal
Pour a couple of tablespoons of rolled oats with kefir overnight and put them in the refrigerator. In the morning, add any berries - fresh or defrosted, baked apple, banana, flax seeds. For those who have a sweet tooth, you can add a spoonful of honey. Although I can do without it.
2. Corn porridge with pumpkin
I prepare it the evening before. I boil the cereal, separately – the pumpkin cut into pieces. I combine the prepared cereal and mashed pumpkin, add a little milk. I don't add sugar - there is enough of it in the pumpkin.
3. Cereal bread with cottage cheese
The store's selection of breads is amazingly diverse, so I spent a lot of time studying the products presented on the shelves. I found a whole grain and not too high in calories option. I add cucumber to the cottage cheese (finely chopped or grated on a coarse grater) and a lot of greens. Tasty and beautiful!
4. Buckwheat porridge
Everything is simple here. I cook crumbly porridge, turning on the double boiler at night. In the morning I add low-fat milk. The taste is like in childhood!
5. Curd mousse
It also needs to be taken care of in the evening. I have two favorite options. First: soak 1 tbsp. spoon of gelatin in water, dissolve in a water bath. Beat soft cottage cheese for 3 minutes, mix with gelatin, beat for another 3 minutes. Add your favorite berries and mix gently. Place in bowls and put in refrigerator until morning. Second: Mix 1 avocado, 1 banana, 100 g of natural yogurt and 5 teaspoons of cocoa in a blender. Place in bowls and refrigerate until morning.
6. Hercules
I’m not so used to porridge with water, so I just take low-fat milk, dilute it with water in a 1:1 ratio and add a little honey.
Correct menu for the week: lunches
Soups
I prepare them for two days and the situation becomes much simpler.
1. Vegetable puree soup
I love this option for the variety of flavors. Boil any vegetables - cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, zucchini, bell peppers, spinach, onions, carrots - in any combination in boiling water, add a little milk and puree in a blender.
2. Lentil soup
Legumes are useful as a good source of protein and are very relevant for those over 40. Pour cold water over yellow and red lentils and boil. Separately simmer the onions, carrots and chopped and peeled tomatoes. Add vegetable mixture to lentils. When serving, sprinkle generously with chopped parsley.
3. Vegetarian borscht
Grate the beets and carrots on a coarse grater and simmer with a little olive oil, adding tomato juice or grated tomatoes. Place chopped potatoes into boiling water, and after a few minutes add shredded cabbage. Then add the stewed vegetables and the juice of half a lemon. When serving, add garlic and herbs.
Main course
I try to eat meat less often - even beef; I prefer chicken, turkey and fish. Therefore, these dishes are the basis of my lunch menu.
1. Turkey meatballs
I cook them without flour or eggs. Pour boiling water over a spoonful of oatmeal. When they become soft and cool, mix them with minced meat, add salt and pepper. Pour some water into the pan and add the meatballs. Then add chopped tomatoes or tomato juice and your favorite spices. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
2. Baked mackerel
It is a source of healthy fats and is easy to prepare. Salt the gutted carcass, put chopped parsley, dill and lemon in the belly. Bake in the oven.
3. Chicken steak
Beat the breast through a bag, add salt and pepper. Drizzle the grill pan with olive oil and cook the steak. It is made similarly from turkey.
4. Stuffed peppers
Cut the pepper in half lengthwise, trying to keep the stem, and remove the seeds. Prepare minced meat: you can take chicken, turkey, lean beef. Add boiled rice and spices. Fill the pepper halves with minced meat, place them on a baking sheet with the filling facing up and bake in the oven. You can pour a little water on the baking sheet. At the end, sprinkle the peppers with grated low-fat cheese and leave for a few more minutes.
Stuffed peppers made by the author. 5. Spaghetti Bolognese
The sauce is made from leftover baked poultry or meat. Fry the onion in a small amount of oil, add the prepared meat minced through a meat grinder, grated tomatoes and spices. Mix boiled spaghetti with tomato and meat sauce and sprinkle with low-fat grated cheese.
6. Beef roll
Cut a piece of meat into a layer, beat it, brush it with sauce - I love pesto. Roll up, tie with thread, wrap in foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour.
Side dishes
Everything is simple with them - you need to choose your favorite cereal (I use buckwheat, basmati rice and bulgur) or make a salad of fresh vegetables with olive oil and lemon juice.
Correct menu for the week: dinners
1. Large salad with squid
The most energy-consuming part is to boil and cool the squid carcasses. I buy peeled ones right away so as not to waste extra time. Tear iceberg lettuce with your hands, chop cucumber, sweet pepper, parsley, add squid, cut into strips, season with yogurt and lemon juice sauce.
2. Zucchini and chicken rolls
Using a vegetable slicer, cut young zucchini into thin slices, place thinly chopped chicken fillet on them, add salt and pepper and sprinkle with grated low-fat cheese. Roll into rolls and secure with wooden skewers. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
3. Eggplant with minced meat
Cut the eggplants lengthwise and boil in boiling water for 5 minutes. Cool, cut out the pulp to make “boats”. Fill them with minced raw or baked meat or poultry, chopped eggplant, tomatoes, onions and sweet peppers. Sprinkle with low-fat grated cheese and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
4. Salad with beans and cheese
If I boiled white or variegated beans in advance, then I take them. If not, a pod will do, which needs to be immersed in boiling water for 3 minutes. Then everything is simple: mix beans, cheese, iceberg lettuce, parsley. Top with yogurt.
5. Vegetable muffins
Place boiled vegetables in small forms - green peas, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans. Beat eggs with milk, add salt and pepper and pour this mixture over the vegetables. You can sprinkle with cheese. Bake in the oven.
Advanced level
When I mastered the basic version of the correct menu for the week, I decided to go further. I bought kitchen scales and found tables on the content of fats, proteins, carbohydrates (the same BZHU) and calorie content of different foods. Now each dish passed through my scientific laboratory and at the end I received a complete dossier that allowed me to know exactly how many calories I consumed per day, how many of them came from proteins, fats and carbohydrates. This allowed me to be more attentive to the composition of dishes, look for new recipes and make research expeditions to the hypermarket - this is how I managed, for example, to discover feta cheese with a fat content of only 2% per 100 g, several varieties of yogurt with a fat content of only 1.5% and delicious cheese that fit within my limitations.
Unexpected effect
I placed my menu on the refrigerator door and immediately received a question from the non-losing male part of the family: is this for us? Once again I carefully looked at what was written - everything was tasty and healthy. And she answered - yes, this is for everyone! In practice, I “enhance” a man’s dinner with a side dish or soup that I prepare for lunch. My husband and son are not home during the day, so these dishes can easily be transferred to dinner. So, the correct menu for the week, in addition to losing extra pounds, saving time, money and nerves, has one more advantage - for the whole family!
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