Budget Meal Planning Tips

If you're conscious of budget meal planning, two chickens can make a strong base for a weekly diet meal plan. With some creative ideas, you can save yourself time and enjoy healthy meals.

Weekly diet meal plans should not be created without considerable thought. Set pen to paper on the first day of the week, and draw up your diet meal plan so that nothing is left to chance. When you plan ahead, you allow yourself time, and time is often the difference between eating fatty, sugary fast food and healthy meal planning.

Stretching Meals
Waste not, want not. Purchase two whole chickens on Sunday night. Freeze one, and place the second one in the refrigerator.

Eat a nutritious breakfast each day of the week that alternates between cereal, eggs and fresh fruit. Incorporate the chicken into lunch and dinner meals for the week.

Monday: Remove the legs and wings, but place the rest of the chicken into a roasting bag, and refrigerate until time to make dinner. For lunch, boil the legs and wings in a pot with a little bit of celery and onion. Put the wings in the refrigerator for Thursday's dinner. Cut the chicken off the leg bones, and make a sandwich with two slices of low-calorie diet bread, chopped lettuce, one slice low-calorie Swiss cheese and a handful of pretzels. Use hot mustard to season.

Make roasted chicken, carrots and three baked potatoes for dinner. Eat four ounces of roast chicken, one cup cooked carrots and a baked potato with one pat of butter. Place two baked potatoes and the leftover chicken in the fridge.

Tuesday: Mix one half-cup chicken with two tablespoons each chopped celery, green onion, walnuts and two hardboiled eggs. Add one tablespoon low-calorie mayonnaise, and serve a large scoop of chicken egg salad over a bed of spinach leaves. Cut the baked potato in half lengthwise, and heat in the microwave. Add a scoop of low-fat sour cream, chives and bacon bits.

Heat up one chicken breast for dinner and eat the remaining half potato and the leftover carrots from Monday evening.

Wednesday: Cut up the second chicken breast, and make a salad with dried cherries, one half cucumber and two cups chopped lettuce. Squeeze one lemon wedge over the top of the salad, and add low-calorie ranch dressing.

For dinner, make chicken soup with the remaining chicken pieces. Add onion, celery, carrots, two cans of chicken broth and one and one-half cups whole wheat pasta. Eat a little more than half today, and reserve the remainder for lunch tomorrow.

Remove the second chicken from the freezer, and place it in the refrigerator.

Thursday: Eat the leftover chicken soup for lunch.

Using the leftover wings, add hot sauce and place them into a roasting pan for dinner. Slice the last baked potato. Add seasoning salt, a little garlic and olive oil to a pan and fry until crisp. Serve with the hot wings and a bowlful of fresh veggies.

Friday: Cut the second chicken in half. Place half into a baking pan and cover with a can of cream of chicken soup. Refrigerate the remaining half for tomorrow. Add onions, celery and rosemary seasonings. Bake until done. Cut into slices for sandwiches, and then use the rest for chicken vegetable soup for dinner.

Saturday and Sunday: Eat the remaining soup for lunch on Saturday.

Cut the second half of the chicken into pieces. Make kabobs with the chicken pieces and fresh vegetables and return to the refrigerator for Sunday. Boil the remaining chicken and serve it with rice and shrimp for dinner on Saturday. Use the remaining chicken to make chicken salad for lunch on Sunday, and enjoy kabobs for dinner.