Back in the Saddle

Whew! What a busy couple of weeks we've had. The hubby and I both had finals this past week which means minimum days for the students, and maximum grading for the teachers. It can be an exhausting time for teachers! Since it was such an insane week, my cooking took a hit. We had a few fast food nights. =p

Now that finals are over (thank goodness!), I am ready to get back to cooking! It really is one of my self-soothers. Plus, not cooking meant that going to the grocery store also got put on the back burner. Trying to put together lunches for my four-year-old was difficult to say the least. So, this morning was menu time!

Do you make menus? I didn't when I first got married 7 1/2 years ago. I would go to the grocery store and blindly buy whatever appealed to me. A potato here, a chicken breast there, maybe a steak, some fruit, more produce...the list goes on and on. Sure, I had an actual list in hand, but the list was based on nothing. I'd get home with my groceries and then try to come up with meals for the rest of the week. Half the time, I'd come home from work, dig through the cupboards and fridge, get frustrated because I didn't know what to make, then end up asking the hubby to grab something on his way home. This lead to some lovely weight gain during our first year of marriage. It also lead to a lot of wasted food and wasted money. Something had to change.

Enter my good friend, Lia. She is my organizational guru and she introduced me to the utterly simple, yet effective weekly menu. Before I even think about a list, I plan out my menu. I plan three meals a day for my entire family. Let me tell you, this has not only made the grocery store trips a LOT faster, it's saved me a ton of money. I no longer grab whatever looks good. If it's not on my menu, it's not on my list, and it doesn't go in my cart. The only reason I grab anything that isn't on the list is if it's a killer deal or it inspires me to cook a different meal. Ahhh!! One part of my life is slightly simpler.

So, when I woke up this morning, I decided to make my menu as soon as I'd eaten my breakfast. The grocery list followed, and then we were out to door to Trader Joe's. (By the way, if you are still shopping at major grocery stores, you are probably spending too much money! That's a topic for another post, though). Once I walked through the door of the store, I ticked off each item of my list as it hit my basket, stopped to pick up a quick sample (which lead to an off-list purchase), checked out, and loaded the groceries in the car. Time spent? --> 1 hour from walking out of my house to walking back into my house. That's not bad considering TJ's is about a 15 minute car ride from my house!

Now that I've gone on and on about the beauty of the weekly menu and how easy it makes things, would you like to know what we are eating this week? Fine, I'll tell you. For the sake of saving space on the blog, I'll just tell you that our breakfasts are fairly simple. Toast, english muffins, fried eggs, and scrambled egg sandwiches are our staples. I'll share lunches and dinners below. Here's the menu:

Monday - lunch: Goat Cheese, Roasted Tomato, and Arugula Tartine dinner: Crockpot BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, homemade oven fries, and fruit salad

Tuesday - lunch: leftover BBQ Chicken dinner: Spaghetti with Homemade Meat Sauce

Wednesday - lunch: leftover Spaghetti dinner: Crockpot French Dips, Oven Fries (yes, we like them), Fruit Salad...again

Thursday - lunch: more leftovers dinner: Pork Roast, Roasted Baby Yukon Golds, Parmesan Roasted Asparagus

Friday - lunch: Pad See Ew (delicious Thai dish) dinner: Roasted Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Broccoli, 7-Up Biscuits

Saturday - lunch: leftovers (I'm going for a no-waste week!) dinner: Chicken Tacos, Vegetarian Refried Beans, Green Chili Rice

There you have it! Now, my challenge is to actually cook all of it! Monday is nearly over, so I'm proud to say that it was a success. =) Lunch has been eaten and the chicken is bubbling away in the crockpot. Yay me! Check back later in the week to see if I'm sticking to my menu! I'll leave you with a gorgeous picture of today's lunch.

Are you drooling?