Meal Plan Monday and some healthy eating travel tips

This was an easy meal plan last week since we were leaving on Friday for my husband's grandmother's funeral.  It was a lovely time with family after we braved the ice storm of 2013 to get there!  I just have to add a picture so you can see what I mean:

Sunday-  Spaghetti squash again!  Google how to cook one until I can post a recipe about it.  I could eat this everyday of the week.  Be sure to use the Italian seasoned ground turkey in your sauce for great flavor.

Monday- Meatloaf.  I know what you're thinking.  Yuck?  But this recipe from my MIL is seriously good.  My kids LOVE it and we need to eat some beef every once in a while around here.  We use 90/10 ground beef and I try to not put too much cheese in the loaf (yeah, right).  

Tuesday-Healthy chicken nuggets.  My kids eat these up too!  There are never any leftovers.

Wednesday- All-American chili chowder.  I have to have a crock pot meal at least once a week.  It keeps me sane.  

Thursday- Brinner (Breakfast+Dinner).  We've been having this a lot lately.  It's so easy and everyone eats it.  I'll share my scone recipe soon.  They aren't by any means healthy, but we top them off with a strawberry jam and greek yogurt mixture.  We scramble some egg whites with a few whole eggs mixed in and serve everything with whatever fruit we have around.

Before we left on Friday, I went to the store and was sure to buy some healthy snacks for the road.  We had apples, easy peel oranges, nuts, sugar snap peas and some crackers.   On our travels, we utilize Yelp to help us find healthier restaurants for eating out.  We've found some really cute deli's along the way in small towns.  We like to give them our business as well and leave feedback for other travelers.  Another option is finding a grocery store.  Get creative and build your own salads with pre-washed lettuce bags and little tomatoes or grab some whole wheat tortillas and fill them up with veggies and hummus for a wrap.  You might have to pack a bag before hand with plates, cups and utensils but it will be worth it!  We've also packed a cooler and eaten at rest stops.  The kids can run around while we finish up.  It can be an adventure but in the end, we've eaten healthier, felt better, saved money, and have some great stories to remember.

Here we are enjoying our chicken salad at a rest stop in the Texas hill country this past summer. 

And here's my honey teaching the kids about black widow spiders at that same rest stop.  eek!  One of our many adventures together as a family.