Meal-planning printables
Tracking sodium on paper
A paper sodium log is for a week when you want to see where the salt actually is. Write the food and the milligrams from the label. The total is usually a surprise in the bread, the sauce, or the deli meat.
Planning · 4 min read · Updated 2026-11-05
In the portions written below, protein is about 26–42 g, calories about 420–500, and sodium about 170–620 mg. Those are rounded kitchen estimates before extra cheese, bread, or a heavy pour of sauce.
Do not use a paper total to override a clinician's target. Use it to shop differently.
How to run it
- Write the target at the top, 2,300 mg or the number you were given.
- Log one full day before you try to 'be good.'
- Circle the single food that contributed the most.
- Swap that food next grocery trip and log again.
Cook these
Yogurt-marinated chicken bowls
40 min · serves 4
- Protein
- 42 g
- Sodium
- 170 mg
- Calories
- 500
Protein, sodium, and calories are rounded kitchen estimates, not a lab test or a medical plan.
The marinade yogurt is partly for tenderness. The second half-cup on the plate is for protein and for something cool against the spice.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 pounds chicken thighs
- 1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3 cups cooked rice
- 2 tomatoes or a cucumber
Method
- Stir half the yogurt with garlic, cumin, paprika, and half the lemon. Coat the chicken and let it sit 15 minutes, or overnight in the fridge.
- Heat the oven to 425°F. Roast the chicken 25 minutes, to 165°F.
- Serve over rice with tomatoes or cucumber and the rest of the yogurt mixed with the remaining lemon.
Fridge 4 days. Freezer: best quality within 2 months (roasted chicken). Keep the fresh yogurt sauce for the day you eat. If you serve it hot, reheat to 165°F with a food thermometer.
Storage times are general guidance, not a lab test of this recipe. A shorter package or recipe instruction governs. Freezing and reheating do not rescue food left out too long, or a heat-stable toxin that already formed. USDA FSIS: Leftovers and Food Safety and USDA FSIS: Freezing and Food Safety.
Chill cooked rice promptly. Vomiting-type Bacillus cereus illness is generally tied to rice and other starchy foods, and that emetic toxin can survive heat that kills the bacteria. FDA Bad Bug Book: Bacillus cereus.
Also used in A pantry list that prevents double buys, Grocery list for weight-loss meal prep, How to read sodium on a label.
Baked sweet potato with cottage cheese
50 min · serves 1
- Protein
- 26 g
- Sodium
- 620 mg
- Calories
- 420
Protein, sodium, and calories are rounded kitchen estimates, not a lab test or a medical plan.
This is an easy one-person meal and a salty one. A cup of cottage cheese can be most of a 1,500 mg day. Use Greek yogurt instead if you need the sodium down; protein stays high and the number drops.
Ingredients
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
- cinnamon or black pepper
- a spoon of salsa, optional and salty
Method
- Prick the sweet potato and bake at 425°F for 45–55 minutes, until the center is completely soft. A microwave works in about 8 minutes.
- Split it and add the cottage cheese. Stop there if you are watching sodium.
Bake potatoes ahead and fridge them 4 days. Add the cottage cheese when you eat. Do not freeze the finished plate. If you serve it hot, reheat to 165°F with a food thermometer.
Storage times are general guidance, not a lab test of this recipe. A shorter package or recipe instruction governs. Freezing and reheating do not rescue food left out too long, or a heat-stable toxin that already formed. USDA FSIS: Leftovers and Food Safety.
Also used in A simpler, safer cooking setup, Bean and grain bowls, Cooking for one.
Details that matter
- Print the page you will touch this week, not the whole catalog.
- Hang the meal plan where the cooking decision happens, usually the fridge, not a desk drawer.
- Write dinners first. Breakfasts and lunches can repeat.
Easy mistakes
No 'already have' column
The pantry list and the freezer log exist so the grocery list stays short.
Treating a blank page as a personality test
Fill four boxes and cook. A half-used planner is a working planner.
Grocery starter
- 1 3/4 pounds chicken thighs
- 1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3 cups cooked rice
- 2 tomatoes or a cucumber
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
- cinnamon or black pepper
- a spoon of salsa, optional and salty
Questions
How should I store yogurt-marinated chicken bowls?
Fridge 4 days. Freezer: best quality within 2 months (roasted chicken). Keep the fresh yogurt sauce for the day you eat. If you serve it hot, reheat to 165°F with a food thermometer.
How much protein is in a serving?
Yogurt-marinated chicken bowls is about 42 g; Baked sweet potato with cottage cheese is about 26 g. These are kitchen estimates, not a lab analysis.
What is the easy mistake here?
Do not use a paper total to override a clinician's target. Use it to shop differently.