Tag: Meal Plan

A Dietitian’s Picks- 5 for $25

It’s time for Harmons 5 for $25 meat sale! This is a great opportunity to stock up on a variety of meat items. Meat is a great source of protein and provides key nutrients like iron and Vitamin B12. However, some cuts can be higher in saturated fat, which the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends keeping to less than 10% of your calorie intake. If you’re looking for some healthier meat options, look for our green Dietitians Choice sticker on the package. This is an effortless way to identify that the product is a healthier option as determined by your Harmons dietitians. If you’re looking for some recipe ideas for these items, we’ve got you covered! 

Boneless, Skinless Chicken breast

Pork loin chops

  • This make-ahead spice blend gives pork chops a beautiful yellow hue from turmeric and is lower in sodium than most prepackaged spice blends. Store in an air-tight container and use on pork chops as-needed; add your favorite whole grain and seasonal vegetables for a complete meal. 
  • Pork lends itself well to sweet flavors which makes it an ideal pairing for sweeter condiments like barbeque sauce or honey mustard. Simply sear pork chops in high-heat oil, coat in your sauce of choice, and then bake until completely cooked. 

Top sirloin steaks

  • Chimichurri is a sauce found in Argentinian and Uruguayan cuisine. With fresh herbs, acidity, and spice, it is sure to brighten up your steak!  
  • Sirloin steak is a great protein source for meal preparation such as a steak burrito bowl. Sear sirloin steaks with your favorite spice blend and let rest before cutting into cubes. Pair with brown rice, Harmons corn and black bean salad, and Harmons guacamole for a quick, balanced lunch option. 

Whether you prefer chicken, pork, or beef, we’ve got you covered! If you’re looking for additional healthy meat options or recipes, please email dietitian@harmonsgrocery.com. 

Healthy Living Meal Plan 2/8 – 2/12

 

Harmons team of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists has curated recipes and meal ideas to delight your tastebuds and support healthy living. Check back every week for a new plan with fresh dinner inspiration. 

Meatless Monday 2/8: Southwestern Frittata

This Frittata is packed with flavor and so quick and easy it will become a regular in your family’s weeknight rotation.  This pairs well with a simple green salad.   

Tuesday 2/9: Grilled Chicken, Roasted Vegetables, and Rosemary Potatoes

Give yourself a break from cooking and pick up today’s dinner special. Our grilled chicken is served with sides of roasted vegetables and rosemary potatoes. Feed two for $7 or four for $13.   

Wednesday 2/10: Stir-Fry Lettuce Wraps 

This quick dinner is a fun, flavorful way to eat your veggies! Save time by picking up already chopped red bell pepper and red onion, and frozen minced ginger (a staple in my home).

Thursday 2/11: Southwestern Chicken, Rice, and Black Bean Soup

Either purchasing precooked brown rice or cooking brown rice in advance (it freezes well) will make this hearty soup quick enough for any night of the week!

Friday 2/12: Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Celebrate the end of your week with a delicious pasta dish! Much of the time it takes to make this meal is hands-off allowing you time to relax.

Have special dietary needs? Our team of dietitians can share recipes for gluten free, vegan, or other preferences. Send us an email dietitian@harmonsgrocery.com.

Check out the other Harmons Dietitian meal plans in this series.

Week One Meal Plan

Week Two Meal Plan

Week Three Meal Plan

Week Four Meal Plan

Week Five Meal Plan

Healthy Living Meal Plan 2/1-2/5

Harmons team of registered dietitian nutritionists has curated recipes and meal ideas to delight your taste buds and support healthy living. Check back every week for a new meal plan with fresh dinner inspiration. 

Meatless Monday 2/1: Italian Eggs with 7-grain bread

Eggs for dinner? Absolutely! Eggs cooked in a rich Italian sauce will have you reaching for more 7-grain bread to soak up all the flavors. Harmons Garlic Marinara Sauce provides the perfect base for this rich, flavorful dish that will have you praising meatless Monday.

Tuesday 2/1: Korean Beef Rice Bowls

A tangy, spicy bowl featuring gochujang chile paste is the perfect mid-week dinner. Chock full of vegetables, this is one of our favorite dishes from the Food for Thought Healthy Living Edition.

Wednesday 2/2: Corn and Black Bean Salad with added steamed shrimp and diced avocado

A favorite amongst Harmons Dietitians, this dinner comes together in minutes. Corn and Black Bean Salad from our Kitchen combined with steamed shrimp, diced avocado, and a squeeze of lime will have you eating lickity split.

Thursday 2/3: White Chicken Chili

Five ingredients is all you need for this crowd pleaser. Throw them in the Crock-Pot or stockpot and forget about it…until dinner time of course.

Friday 2/4: Harmons Dinner Deal: Vegetable Lasagna

Take the prep work out of dinner tonight and enjoy the Harmons Dinner Deal.  You can choose two servings for $5 or four servings for $10.  Add a garden salad from our Kitchen and you’ll have a satisfying dinner all while barely lifting a finger.  

Have special dietary needs? Our team of dietitians can share recipes for gluten free, vegan, or other preferences. Send us an email dietitian@harmonsgrocery.com.

Check out the other Harmons Dietitian meal plans in this series.

Week One Meal Plan

Week Two Meal Plan

Week Three Meal Plan

Week Four Meal Plan

Week Five Meal Plan

Meal Prepping and Planning Made Easy

Meal prepping and planning can seem overwhelming to the uninitiated, but it doesn’t have to be that way. On the latest edition of the Taste of Harmons Podcast, Harmons Dietitian Genevieve Daly joins our hosts Chef Lesli Sommerdorf and Brandon Young to discuss the ins and outs of easy meal prep and planning. 

The very first step to meal planning and prepping is to make a grocery shopping list. Start by checking your pantry and seeing what you already have. We’ve made stock up easy with our How to Stock Your Pantry blog, which includes a pantry shopping list for beginning, intermediate, and advanced cooks. Put together by our amazing dietitians and chefs, all the pantry essentials you will need to make meals are included. 

KEEP YOUR PREP EFFICIENT AND EASY

Genevieve emphasizes that making a meal plan is essential to keeping your prep efficient and easy. She also offers pros and cons to meal prep and planning, including the tip that shopping from a list saves you money. With a plan in place, you are less likely to impulse buy and spend extra money on items you don’t need.

She also shares tips about the items you need to have on hand to efficiently meal prep, and also talks about some of the ones you probably don’t need. One of her must-haves is a sharp chef’s knife. 

In the podcast there are three types of meal preppers explored, and you’ll need to listen to the podcast to discover which one you are—or the one you aspire to be.

Effectively meal planning and prepping insures you are less likely to binge or order takeout food, which is often higher in all the things you don’t need, and low on nutrients your body requires for fuel.

Eat a Balanced Meal with help from MyPlate.gov

Checkout the MyPlate graphic above and visit the website to learn more about healthy eating on a daily basis. Half of every plate you eat should be fruit and vegetables (mostly vegetables), and that’s an amount that’s easy to remember. 

One of the things Genevieve really dislikes is food waste, and she recommends finding ways to repurpose food. Dietitian Jonnell Masson has a great blog post on reducing food waste. Check it out for some great ideas that are easy to incorporate in our household. 

For more information on getting started with meal prep check out Genevieve’s blog post here. 

Dietitian Services

While things have been different in our stores, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our dietitians are still offering nutrition counseling services—virtually—and they are completely free!

They are also providing you with a month’s worth of weekday dinner meals for healthy living.

Click here to learn more about our dietitians and the services they offer. 

If you enjoyed this podcast, you’ll want to listen to our other episodes. You can find them here. Recent episodes include Eating for Exercise with our amazing dietitians, Sarah Kiel and Heather Lieber. Another must listen is A Passion for Pastries with guest Chef Adalberto Diaz, creator and co-owner of Fillings and Emulsions. 

Genevieve Daly

As a teenager, Dietitian Genevieve Daly began watching cooking shows which sparked an interest in food. She has since tried her hand at various ethnic dishes and has developed a love for trying new recipes to serve to her lucky friends and family. Learn more about Genevieve here. 

At Harmons, we are lucky to have incredibly talented artists at each store, and we’re sure you’ve seen their amazing chalk art as you wander throughout every location. We’re excited to be able to feature some of their work as the featured art on our podcast blog. This art is the work of David Costa, who works at our Brickyard Store. 

Healthy Living Meal Plan 1/18-1/22

Harmons team of registered dietitian nutritionists has curated recipes and meal ideas to delight your taste buds and support healthy living. Check back every week through February 22, 2021, for a new plan with fresh dinner inspiration.

Meatless Monday (1/18):  Edamame Fried Rice 

Using frozen edamame and veggies, this is a great go-to if you are cleaned out of fresh produce. This vegetarian protein powerhouse is crazy convenient, especially if you opt for microwaveable rice ready in just 90 seconds. Finishing with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil is the secret to that restaurant quality taste. 

Tuesday (1/19):  Chicken Fajitas 

Our meat department does all the heavy prep work for you! Purchase tortillas, avocado, and a side of fruit to complement this convenient entrée. Try nonfat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream for a similar cool, creamy texture, a tangier flavor, and lower saturated fat content.  

Wednesday (1/20): Legume Pasta with Steamed Broccoli 

Legume pastas have become more and more popular on our shelves. Made with some sort of bean, pea, or lentil, these products contain 11-14 grams of protein per serving! Pair the Barilla chickpea pasta with Harmons steamable broccoli and your favorite Dietitians Choice pasta sauce or infused olive oil, and you have dinner on the table in just 15 minutes.

Thursday (1/21): Red Thai Curry with Chicken  

Store-bought curry paste is a single ingredient that adds a complexity of flavor. Curries are an easy base to add a variety of vegetables to, so pick your favorites and give them a simmer in this flavorful curry base.  

Friday (1/22):  Goat Cheese Veggie Pita Pizzas 

Whole wheat pitas make the perfect instant, individual pizza crust. A quick broil brings the crisp, then pile on your favorite combo of veggies and salty cheese, and you’ll have a drool-worthy pizza in no time at all.

Check out the other dietitians meal plans in this series.

Week One Meal Plan

Week Two Meal Plan

Week Three Meal Plan

Week Four Meal Plan

Week Five Meal Plan

Meal Planning and Prepping: Where to Begin

So…you’ve made the resolution to start eating healthier this year, again. You’ve decided you’re really serious this year, and are toying with the idea of meal planning to keep you on track. We all see posts online of people who are successful with meal planning, but what are the steps these professional meal planners took that have helped them get to this level of successful meal planning? Everyone has to start somewhere, so let’s dive into the basics of where to begin to get yourself on track to successful meal planning. 

First off, let’s differentiate meal planning from meal prepping. Although these two techniques are often used in conjunction, they’re very different and can help you choose what route you’d like to take on your meal planning journey.  

Meal Planning

Meal planning is focused on developing a system for your meals that week. This could be planning out a complete week of breakfasts, lunches and dinners, or it could focus on just one of those meals for the entire week. There are a few pros and cons related to meal planning: 

Pros

Grocery shopping is SO much easier

No more worrying about what you’re eating that day

Cons

Locks you into a schedule

Food waste could be an issue if you don’t stick to your plan

If you’re interested in meal planning, our team of dietitians just launched a meal planning series to help! Check it out on the blog. 

Meal Prepping

Pros

May save time on busy days

Meals will suit your tastes

Can make mornings less chaotic

Often saves money

Cons

Can reduce flexibility or become boring

May not want to spend spare time prepping

May need to invest in containers/storage

Making Meal Planning and Prepping a Successful Habit

Dos

Look for ingredients that are versatile

Make batch cooking a habit

Have backup plans. Frozen meals can really help keep you on track!

Don’ts

Make yourself inflexible

Cook things you don’t typically eat just because internet people told you to

Forget about MyPlate! Keep your meals balanced

If you’ve checked out our dietitian team’s weekly meal plan (week one and week two), you’ve probably noticed that our menus include a variety of meals and amount of preparation involved. One night can be a fully prepared meal that just need to be reheated, another night could include convenience items like a stir-fry blend from the produce department that just needs a protein and sauce, and other nights can be meals that you’ll prepare in your kitchen from scratch. The real trick with including a variety of meals is to prevent meal planning burnout (oh yes, that is a VERY real thing). If you’re cooking a new meal from scratch every night, you may find that it is too much of a time commitment. Make sure you’re realistic with the amount of time you’re able to commit to preparing meals for yourself and take that into consideration when creating your meal plan. 

If you’re interested in how to develop your own meal plan, check out dietitian Ashley’s blog on the Secrets to Family Meal Planning for some simple yet delicious meal combinations to get you started. If you ever need help or would like additional inspiration, please contact dietitian@harmonsgrocery.com- we’d love to hear from you! 

 

Healthy Living Meal Plan 1/11-1/15

The Harmons team of registered dietitian nutritionists has curated recipes and meal ideas to delight your taste buds and support healthy living. Check back every week through February 22, 2021, for a new plan with fresh dinner inspiration.

Meatless Monday 1/11: Harmons Impossible Chili with whole wheat sourdough bread from the bakery.

Looking to reduce your meat intake but not quite ready to give up the taste of meat yet? Give our Impossible chili a try! It’s so delicious, you’ll be using the whole wheat sourdough to soak up every last drop. 

Tuesday 1/12: Harmons Stir-Fry Blend Vegetables with Sweet and Spicy Gochujang Sauce and beef strips.

The popular Korean condiment, gochujang, gives this stir fry a bit of a kick while adding a touch of sweetness to the dish. Best part of this is that your dinner will be ready in 10 minutes flat! 

Wednesday 1/13: Moroccan Style Chicken with Green Olives and Zucchini recipe found in the Food for Thought 2021 Healthy Living Edition.

Tender, perfectly flavored chicken served on top of spiralized veggies makes this meal a guaranteed hit! 

Thursday 1/14: Thai Salmon with steamed asparagus, lemon, extra-virgin olive oil, and chile flakes. 

The flavors of the Thai chili sauce perfectly complement the rich flavor of the salmon.  

Friday 1/15: Harmons Dinner Deal: Southwest Stuffed Chicken Breast with Corn and Black Bean Salad

Take a night off and grab the Harmons Dinner Deal tonight. For only $6 for 2 people or $11 for 4, this is an obvious slam-dunk for a nutritious, delicious dinner. 

Check out the other dietitians meal plans in this series.

Week One Meal Plan

Week Two Meal Plan

Week Three Meal Plan

Week Four Meal Plan

Week Five Meal Plan

Healthy Living Meal Plan 1/4-1/8

Harmons team of registered dietitian nutritionists has curated recipes and meal ideas to delight your taste buds and support healthy living. Check back every week through February 22, 2021, for a new plan with fresh dinner inspiration.

Meatless Monday 1/4: Coconut Lentil Stew with a side of rice  

This is a Thai-inspired stew that takes advantage of quick-cooking lentils simmered with coconut milk, garlic, and ginger. Served with a side of rice, it’s the perfect warming bowl of comfort to start the week. 

Tuesday 1/5: Stir-Fried Sesame Eggplant with White Fish

Bring some excitement to Tuesday with this flavorful stir fry. Seasoned eggplant and seared white fish will make you think you’re in a high-end restaurant. 

Wednesday 1/6: Sheet Pan Chicken with Potatoes, Fennel, and Mustard-Beer Sauce 

With a little bit of effort and one sheet pan, this dinner will wow your tastebuds. The best part: minimal clean up! 

Thursday 1/7: Pasta e Ceci (Roman Pasta With Chickpeas) 

This is a favorite fast yet insanely delicious one-pot dinner. In just 30 minutes you’ll have a satisfying bowl of pasta complete with plant protein, veggies, and bacon. 

Friday 1/8: Harmons Grilled Salmon, Asparagus, and Brown Rice Dinner Deal from our Kitchen.  

Friday calls for celebration! Give yourself a break from cooking and pick up today’s dinner special. Our grilled salmon is served with sides of asparagus and brown rice. Feed two for $17 or four for $29. 

Have special dietary needs? Our team of dietitians can share recipes for gluten free, vegan, or other preferences. Send us an email dietitian@harmonsgrocery.com.

Check out the other dietitians meal plans in this series.

Week One Meal Plan

Week Two Meal Plan

Week Three Meal Plan

Week Four Meal Plan

Week Five Meal Plan