Sunday, January 18, 2009

Meal Planning

There are many things I want to do better in 2009. One thing in particular is meal planning. I never know what I am going to make until late afternoon and by then I just want to make something easy and mindless. Does that happen to you? So, I have been checking out various meal planning blogs for ideas and recipes. Do you know what? I can do this! I sat down this morning and planned out our entire dinner menu for the week. I am going grocery shopping today and I made a list on the back side of the menu so I can get everything I need.

Here is what we are having this week. (Dad and Tony, I know you will all get a good laugh from this. Remember, I have been house bound due to sub zero temps for four days with a lot of time on my hands!)

Sunday-Spaghetti and Meatballs, salad
Monday- Pork Roast in the crock pot, potatoes and green beans
Tuesday- Chicken, sauteed zucchini, brown rice
Wednesday- Burgers, baked potatoes, broccoli
Thursday- chicken stir-fry
Friday- meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn
Saturday- bubble up enchiladas with a salad

The schedule might vary some as we always have sports or scouts during the week. Here are some of the sites I have found helpful. http://thematzats.blogspot.com/ and http://orgjunkie.com/ if you should want to give it a try. An added bonus for doing this, my boys will no longer keep asking me what's for dinner.(they start doing this at breakfast) They can look on the fridge at the menu for the week and figure it out themselves.

I have also managed to scrapbook while stuck in the house. I made this yesterday and it lists some of the things I will try to work on this year. Just getting in down on paper feels good!

Enjoy your Sunday! Oh, and if anyone has any tips or recipes on meal planning please share!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have been planning my meals like that for years, it is so much easier to groc. shop!! Love the layout too!!

stephanie howell said...

um yeah, so i'm hungry now. hee!
i sort of plan my meals, but i really need to get better at it. it's not hard to do when j is gone, but when he is home it's a completely other story!
lovely layout. love the way you used that die cut paper. ;)

Denise said...

What time is dinner served? I am sure I could be there most days as my schedule is pretty light. LOL!

You layout is beautiful. I love your photo!

Jennifer Davis said...

This is such a great idea, thanks for the links! Have you ever heard of the book "Cook for a month Cooking"? It's a bit more strenous in approach but it kind of the same concept as to what you are looking for.

Love the LO!

Rachel said...

First of all, I love that layout! The die cut paper looks so nice on it!

Next, I am a big believer in planning meals. I read tons of food blogs and whenever I see a recipe I like, I save the link into a word doc, so I have all my favorite meals saved in one place. One great place I recommend to look for recipes is foodgawker.com. It's got TONS, some of which is way too fancy for my taste, but it really does challenge me with me cooking!

Kate said...

Much easier at the grocery store when I have menus planned BUT life has a way of screwing up my plans... Good luck!

Amy Adams (aka Scrapitgal) said...

YUM - menu sounds great - may I just copy it for the week?? LOL!! I too have been doing this for awhile. Does make life so much easier, especially when we have lots of after school activities and get home with little time to start, let alone, plan a dinner. I think I also save on groceries doing this preplannig. Beautiful LO too!!

Cath said...

I do the meal planning thing too. well most of the time. Good luck with it!

Anonymous said...

Sorry not much help in the meal planning part - but your layout is fabulous!!

Kimberly said...

BEAUTIFUL creation...and love your meal planning stratagy too! Good for you! xoxo
Loves,
K

Nicole said...

i'm bringing the Harpers over for dindin...and you look beautiful in that pic my sweet friend.

xoxo

Rachel said...

Of course I "still" visit your blog! Why wouldn't I? Your one of my favs to follow :)

Laura Gedeon said...

You go girl - meal planning isn't easy but it can really make life easier once you get in the swing of it. Our meals end up so much healthier and better when I take the time to plan ahead. Thanks for the great links! I've started looking at http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ and there are some good recipes out there on blogs to be found. Love the layout and hope all is well with you my friend!