Weekly Meal Plan: Week 4

Weekly Meal Plan

When I had bloodwork done for my gestational diabetes test last week (which came back all good!), my doctor called to tell me that my iron levels are very low which is probably part of the reason why I’m so tired all the time. He suggested taking a supplement and eating more leafy greens, red meat, and other foods high in iron.

As you can probably tell by now I eat almost zero red meat so I tried to incorporate either red meat, leafy greens, beans, or seafood into every dinner based on the Mayo Clinic’s list of iron-rich foods.

The same thing happened in my last pregnancy and I took Floradix, which is a liquid supplement, not a pill, as a supplement that helped to raise my levels and I’m happy to report that after 4 days of taking it again, I feel like a brand new person. I can’t believe what a difference it has made! I felt SO beyond terrible and off the last few weeks and should have known something was up. But everyone kept saying it is just different when you’re pregnant with a boy. Here’s your daily reminder to speak up when you’re not feeling well especially when pregnant.

Enjoy this meal plan and have a great weekend!

Monday Night- The Easiest Chicken Caesar Salad:  We will be heading home from our long weekend away on Monday so dinner has to be something quick and easy since I’m assuming we’ll all be tired and hungry. I’m making my go-to dairy-free Caesar dressing before we go and then that night will chop up romaine and kale (I like to mix them), baby tomatoes, and avocados.

My mom-hack for quick protein is I cook Amalia’s organic chicken nuggets or popcorn chicken in the air fryer and pop them on top of the salad. Everything is done in 10 minutes and it is honestly so delicious!

Tuesday Night- Tik Tok’s Viral Tomato Feta Pasta: I keep seeing this baked tomato feta pasta pop up on my feed and stories so going to finally try it out for myself this week. It looks really easy to make and everyone is raving about it so why not?! I’ll use chickpea pasta or lentil pasta for my iron intake (and higher protein) but for another healthy twist, I saw someone use baked spaghetti squash which would also be great.

Wednesday Night- Garlic Shrimp & White BeansThis recipe incorporates both beans and seafood so I’m giving myself a gold star on the iron front here. It also just looks insanely delicious. I’ve never tried it but will report back!

PS when I see ingredients like dried chiles de árbol in recipes like this, I just sub in whatever I can find. I’ll probably just use dried chili flakes because I already have them.

Thursday Night-Order in: I’ve been craving Thai food lately so we’ll probably order from Jeera Thai Kitchen, a local Thai restaurant that I can’t get enough of. Veggie Pad See Ew is my go-to.

Friday Night- Leftovers: From the Thai food to the shrimp and beans, we’ll have plenty to go around.

Saturday Night- Order in: We are going to pick up from one of our favorite date night spots and do a date night at home after Amalia goes to bed. We haven’t been doing this lately because I’ve been so tired but I’m hoping that with my new iron discovery, I can stay up after 8:30 now 🙂

Sunday Night- Sunday Meatballs: As if I needed an excuse to make my favorite slow-cooker meatballs ever. This is one of the few ways that I actually enjoy eating red meat so it’s a no-brainer! A fun pasta-free way to serve them is over sautéed broccolini or broccoli rabe.

PS: We’ve been loving the Zwilling Fresh & Save vacuum system for storing leftovers and fresh fruit and veggies. This Tupperware is great for meal planning!

Transparency note: I partnered with Zwilling on Instagram content earlier this month.

Have a great weekend and stay warm!

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  1. Cynthia said:

    I love the iron-rich focus!! I’ve always struggled with my iron levels (underlying cause still undetermined, sigh – yet another case of healthcare in America NOT making things easy). I take a Ritual prenatal even though I’m single af and that helps a bunch, but I’m always trying for food-first nutrition. Plus I’m mindful that whenever I do have kids, I’ll have to up my iron game even more!

    TL;DR: keep the high-iron recipes coming! Especially anything vegetarian Love this content!

    2.12.21 · Reply