Simple and Clever Menu Inspiration 3

Simple and Clever – the Food Lovers Dietitian Planner Works Both Ways

Any meal planning tool, tip or recipe is only as good as it is useful. How many recipe books do you have that don’t get much use? Is it because the ideas are too complicated, take too long, or need too many ingredients? Or perhaps they are too different and you’re not confident they will work? I think the very best ideas are always simple, but clever!

Today’s menu inspiration is just that, simple and clever. It will show you how can swap or add ingredients to everyday meals and snacks to use creatively with the Food Lovers Dietitian Meal Planner.

Why not download the Meal Planner and keep it handy on your phone to follow along.

Breakfast

Wheatflake bix/brits with Fruits and Yogurt

It doesn’t get simpler than cereal in a bowl (40g/ 1 larger carb serve) with low fat milk (1/2 cup/1/2 dairy serve). But jazz it up by adding 1/2 cup of fruits (1/2 fruit serve) and a dollop (2 Tbsp/1/4 dairy serve) of low sugar, low fat yogurt and it’s a whole different experience. Swap the fruits around and each meal will be different. I like to use a mix of cereals and will often use one wheatflake biscuit (1/2 larger carb serve) and 1&1/2 Tbsp of toasted Muesli (1/2 a larger carb serve) on top (1 larger carb serve total).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdOAR02jeFX/

https://foodloversdietitian.com/healthyweight/breakfast-cereal-creations/

Morning Snack

Skim cappuccino

If you like milk-based coffees during the day I suggest ordering a skim piccolo coffee that just uses around 1/4 cup or 1/4 dairy serve from the Food Lovers Dietitian Meal Planner. Regular cup or mug sizes use half to one dairy serve at one time so it’s tricky to squeeze in.

If you do like a full cup of milky coffee, that can work well too with the Food Lovers Dietitian Meal Planner. The trick is just to think of it as a snack rather than a drink. The kilojoules are about the same as some small yogurts.

Lunch

Smoked Salmon and Lettuce Grain Sandwich with Mayo

Do you remember the days when lunch was just a plain sandwich? It’s still a great meal, especially if you are taking it with you to work. But there’s so many ways to make it special. Some of my favourite fillings are Lamb Kofta meatball with tomato relish, smoked salmon or feta and always plenty of salad. But easy things like tuna or egg and salad on grain bread work well too. I use 40g meat, chicken or fish or 1 egg ( 1 smaller protein serve), around one cup of salad ( 1 veg serve) and 2-4 tsp dip/pesto/light butter spread/mayo ( 2 fat serves )which I think is essential for a good flavour. Always include tasty ingredients and you’ll have a great sandwich to enjoy!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd6z1QGDRUM/

 Afternoon Snack

Cheese and Pineapple Toasted Sandwich

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeFH0BrjsOu/

Half a sandwich also makes a great afternoon snack. This cheese salad sandwich is made special by adding the thin ring of tinned pineapple and toasting it. It makes a good savoury snack, but would also be a nice light breakfast.

Altogether, from the Food Lovers Dietitian Meal Planner I’ve used 1 smaller carb serve (1 slice bread), 1 fat serve (1 tsp mayo), 1 veg serve, 1/2 fruit serve and 1/2 dairy serve (1/2 slice of cheese).

Yes, I’ve used all the carb serves for a day now, but as you will see, none are needed for dinner.

Dinner

Roasted Cauliflower and Pomegranate Salad with Chickpeas, Yogurt and Tahini Dressing

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc1XrzQjjRV/

This roasted cauliflower and pomegranate salad is both gorgeous to look at and delicious to eat. It is also a wonderful dish to serve around Christmas, featuring red, white and green colours.

The original dish was shared by my friend Heather (see below) but I’ve tweaked it to fit the Food Lovers Dietitian Meal Planner.

This Food Lovers tweak used half a cauliflower sprayed with oil and roasted with spices like Za’atar or cumin. I used a wonderful ‘spice’ gifted to me by Maha Restaurant, Melbourne, so lots of things could work). For one serve I’ve then mixed the roasted cauliflower pieces with 2/3 cup canned chickpeas and garnished with 1 Tbsp of Lyndi’s Tahini Yogurt Dressing, pomegranate seeds, flaked almonds and mint.

On the Food Lovers Meal Planner it uses 1 larger protein serve (2/3 cup chickpeas), 3 veg serves, 1 fat serve (1 Tbsp tahini yogurt dressing), 1/2 fruit serve (pomegranate) and another fat serve (7g or a good sprinkle of flaked almonds).

Evening Snack/Dessert

Chocolate Yogurt with Berries

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdb691_D21u/

Fruit and yogurt can be a very simple snack, or you can make it special by adding no added sugar drinking chocolate to the yogurt and using decorative fruit.

I add 1 heaped teaspoon to 1/3 cup no added sugar, low fat yogurt like the Yoplait Forme Zero fruit yogurt. It’s a little like a chocolate mousse with cheesecake overtones!!

This is snack uses 1/2 cup fruit (1/2 fruit serve) and 1/2 dairy serve from the  Food Lovers Meal Planner .

This is how all the serves form the Meal Planner have helped build the day.

Food Lovers Dietitian Meal Planner Update

Do sign up for the Food Lovers Dietitian News and be the first to know when there’s a new post in the Menu Inspiration Series.

Get the Food Lovers Dietitian News 

Please do share your own photos of meals and snacks you’ve created with the Food Lovers Meal Planner on the Food Lovers Dietitian Facebook Page.

Do connect with  Food Lovers Dieititian Instagram, it’s a treasure trove of great meal planning ideas.