Meal Planning Monday

Sunday: Lasagna (Making extra to freeze)

 

Monday:   Bacon Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers w/ pineapple cilantro rice

 

Tuesday: Pot Roast with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans

 

Wednesday: Dinner at RCYC

Thursday: Brunch Casserole (e-mealz recipe)

 

Friday: Chicken Spaghetti (making extra to freeze)

Saturday: Grilled Chicken Tenders with Baked Sweet Potatoes and Corn on the Cob

Seeking Your Suggestions - Meals to Freeze

   As time is drawing closer to Lucas' arrival, I would like to make several meals to freeze for a later date. I would love to hear your thoughts on meals that you like to make/freeze for later.


 

Meal Planning Monday

Monday - Ham Steaks with pasta salad and green beans

Tuesday - Eggs and Bacon (hmm. love that breakfast for dinner)

Wednesday - Dinner at RCYC

Thursday - Sandwiches (Sailing Dallas Race Week)

Friday - Sandwiches (Sailing Dallas Race Week)

Saturday - TBD (I'm just not in the mood to cook anymore)

Meal Planning Monday

   In my quest to become more organized and make Meal Planning slightly less painful, I am stealing an idea off of another friends' blog called Meal Planning Monday.  I scan through this list to find 1 or two things that jump out at me for the week and then go from there. I have learned a few great recipes doing this. I figure this will also be a great way to track my planned meals each week. Not to mention that when it comes time to actually make the meal, I know I can find the recipe...Yes, I have had a couple of mishaps recently where it came time to make the meal I planned, but I had neglected to save the link to the recipe...OH What fun that is to go searching for during a weekday evening :)

   On a side note, I want to warn you that I will be bombarding you with posts about food for a bit. Not only are there some food related topics on my mind, but with all the nesting going on over here, I'm trying to make sure Doug and I don't starve over the next couple of months after the arrival of sweet Lucas. 

Sunday: Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta

Monday:  Greek Style Pita Sandwiches

Tuesday: Culpeppers

Wednesday: Dinner at RCYC

Thursday: Ham Steaks with Pineapple, Rice, and Green Beans
 

Friday: Tilapia by Doug (I'll let him know)

Saturday: Crock Pot Roast with potatoes, carrots, and salad

Sunday: Bacon Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers w/ pineapple cilantro rice 

SMART Grocery Shopping

   Doug and I recently purchased our first home. As exciting as this is, it also means that if it's broken, we have to fix it. There's no landlord to call anymore...We. Are. IT. Now, along with this home, came a pretty pool. Who wouldn't love to have their own pool? Ironically, that was 1 item we did NOT want with a house. However, we got other things with this house that we really did want, like a big yard....and I mean almost an acre of big yard so we decided we'd deal with the pool.  With this new purchase, new level of responsibilities and with the upcoming birth of our son, I can't help but want to find ways to save money. So far, Doug and I have been pretty good with our budgeting, saving money, and paying off debt. But that doesn't end now. If anything, we really need to find new ways to be smart b/c you just never know when the pool pump will go out or the ac will need replacing...oh the joys of home ownership.

   There are a lot of ways this can be done, but one way that comes to mind is our grocery bill. Of course there is couponing, which I am in the process of studying up on now, but this also means SMART meal planning! Now, you may or may not have heard of Dave Ramsey. I could go on and on about this man and just might on another day. But, he has helped develop a program called E-mealz. I had heard about it from a friend last yr and finally decided to give it a shot this Spring and it is AMAZING. The whole premise is that the program designs weekly meal plans using repeat ingredients which are typically on sale in the grocery store that week. Yes, you sign up and select the store where you most frequently shop, and each week, you login to your account where you can see the following week's meal plan. Not only are you sent a meal plan, but there is also a grocery list included. Talk about a time saver!! The only catch is that you pay a small monthly fee of $5 for this program, but you MORE than make up for it with each grocery trip. I think my first grocery trip using the meals in this program cut my bill that week by $50-$60...you do the math.

  Anyway, I will confess that I have not followed the program for a few mos. It's time to get back on track. Now the cool thing is that all recipe files are available via .pdf which I save to my computer each week. Has/does anyone else use E-Mealz? If so, or if you think you would be interested in using it, we could swap recipes. It's a great way to build your recipe/ meal database They have many different plans for 2 person families or larger , low fat, etc....I think the meals are also different depending on which store you select as they base their meals on the items on sale in that store that week which means that not everyone gets the same weekly recipes. If you are interested in swapping recipes or have more questions about the program, let me know. In the meantime, go check out E-mealz.

   Do you have other methods of smart meal planning? I'd love to hear your ideas... 

The Journey Begins!!

     I have always considered myself to be a fairly organized person, that is until I met my husband. Not only did he spend time in the army, but with his family genes, he has GREAT opinions when it comes to cleanliness and order. Not to say I'm a slob or come from a family of slobs, but our family motto's were just different. In my house, the saying was "that's ok, if you mess it up, you can clean it up". In his house, the saying was "if you don't mess it up, there's nothing to have to clean up"....needless to say this has been a "fun" battle for us since we were married just over a yr ago. It has made me realize that my perception of being organized was just that...a perception. I have good intentions, just not the follow through. I am a structured person, but I am also conflicted with a minor case of unofficially diagnosed ADD (something my family is convinced is a family trait) so really its not all my fault.

   With that said, as I venture into motherhood (which means only another distraction), I have realized how it is time to unclutter my soul, my mind, and my closet in an effort to not always feel 2 steps behind, but more like 5 steps ahead. I know this will be a long journey, one I'm sure my husband wishes will speed up, but a quest I am eager to conquer. So, with my questions and your insight, I look forward to learning a lot on this journey.