Meal Planning

I've been reading a lot about meal planning from some fantastic blogging moms out there. Now, we do not yet have any kids, but being that we both work full time, meal times can get a little hectic. So, I decided to go ahead and give this a try.

Working an office job means that during the week when many of these moms are doing their grocery shopping, I am at work. So instead of posting a "meal plan monday" blog, I'll be planning my meals on Sunday (for Monday through Sunday) and doing our shopping then.

I'm already getting excited about trying some new recipes to throw into the mix. I've already planned the meals for this next week, so now I just need to figure out my plan as far as what prep work I need to be doing when.

Here are this week's dinners:

Monday: Baked Chicken with Apples and Barley - I've been wanting to cook a meal with Barley for some time, so I googled this recipe tonight, and it looks soooo good. I seriously cannot wait to try it! There are some other recipes on this same site that also look pretty incredible!

Tuesday: Chicken with Pasta and Spinach and Mushroom Pasta Sauce (Tomato)

Wednesday: Quinoa and Black Beans with Cilantro Lime Chicken - I've been waiting to try out Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) on my own for a while (several of my housemates in Boston used to cook with it), but I have looked all over town and I definitely cannot find it. I managed to find it in bulk at this website, and with the shipping it comes out to about $4.50/lb, which is much cheaper than anywhere else I've seen it online. Being a South American grain (Quinoa is Incan for "Mother Grain"), I thought it best to give it a try with Black beans :) yum!

Thursday: Lasagna with Carrorts, Spinach, and Ground Turkey.

Friday: Stirfry

Saturday: Kielbasa & Cabbage - I'll be out of town Fri-Sun for a tradeshow in Atlanta with work, and this is a husband fav. that I'm not a huge fan of; so when Jeff and I sat down to plan out the week, this was his top request.

Sunday: Lasagna Leftovers - Again, since I'll be out of town, this is one less meal Jeff will have to cook. Of course, he does cook, but I'd likehim to enjoy his first day off after a long work week.

I'm already getting ideas for next week. I know at some point I'll want to do Pizza, then also Turkey Kielbasa soup (I may not be a fan of Kielbasa, but I can sacrifice for the husby and try something new.), and this new Moroccan Spiced Lentil Soup.

I spent some time in the kitchen today getting it all cleaned up, then getting a few things ready for the week. I set some Kefir to culture, and also set some oatmeal to soak for tomorrow's breakfast, and then soaked some flour so I can make bread tomorrow.

Today was Jeff's day off, so it was a good day for me to get housework done, in general. So, in addition to all the kitchen stuff, I did several loads of laundry. I also got started making some tea lite candles for Bee Beautiful. I need to order new wicking (zinc core) in order to make the jar candles, but it looks like the tea lites will work out well! The best part about it is that right now my kitchen does not look like I did any of that.

Then of course when Jeff got off of work I met him at Sonic. They have wheat buns now, so I had to try them out. Of course they are nothing like our made from scratch, freshly ground wheat breads, but it's nice to have an option that is even slightly healthier when we feel like grabbing a bite out.

All in all, I had a very full day!