07 January 2010

Meal Planning 101

I really enjoy cooking. I come from a long line of good cooks. I'm pretty sure that I somehow received a gene for cooking. And it's pretty decent, too.

However, since getting married, it's really tough to cook. I come home and need to clean, workout, do laundry, pick up around the house and cook. I still haven't figured out how to get all of these things done. I fear that one day I'll wind up on Biggest Loser for neglecting my workouts or as a news story for the clutter and laundry that's piled up and prevented my kids from attending school for three years.

Catastrophizing? Perhaps. But it's still an issue for me.

I usually meal plan for a week in advance. But last week during meal planning, I was very ambitious. I planned for the entire month of January. I figure that if I only have to plan 12 times a year instead of 52, it will work much better. And we can deviate from the original plan, if needed.

I'm so visual that seeing everything in a one month block is nice! I have simple meals during the week with more complicated meals on [some] weekends. Dinners for the month of January include: chicken and dumplings, grilled chicken by Chez Husby, bruschetta, hamburgers, pancakes and enchiladas. I think it's going to be a good month, at least a good month of dinners.

P.S. I'd love, love feedback on easy meals!
P.P.S I'm so thankful to have a husband who'll eat pretty much anything, especially leftovers.

2 comments :

Christine said...

Very ambitious! I wish I had advice, but this is lost on me, because I don't think I've ever done a meal plan in my life. My method is just get a bunch of staple ingredients and then make something with them on the fly :) Um yeah that probably won't work as well when we have kids :)

devon said...

I need more information and recipes on this monthly meal plan of yours...I have been married for a while now and still dont have the cooking down...help a sista out!