So what I decided to do was make a list of 5 meal ideas, what I have on hand, what I need to get, and what I can do earlier in the day to get dinner prepped. At least 1 meal needs to be an "easy" meal. Something that takes little to no effort for those days that dinner's just not going to happen. The rest can be moderate to difficult. It's nice to throw in 1 meal I've never tried before, to give us a little variety. I love trying new things, both cooking and eating, and Matt gets burned out on food really quickly. So it's imperative I keep things "fresh".
Oh yeah, at least 1 meal needs to be vegetarian, and I am trying to vary the meat.
Anyway, I am not going to assign any 1 meal to a day. That way I can still have a choice in the matter, and if I don't feel like _______ then I don't have to make it. Also, I am allowing myself the freedom to change the meal so long as I use whatever ingredients I bought for the meal I am replacing. I will have two "free" days to do things like left overs or date night or whatever happens to arise.
Here are my loose plans for this week:
- Marinated grilled chicken, corn bread, marinated green beans (L.S. we really like this recipe!)
- Black bean enchiladas, roasted salsa, and salad
- Scottish meat pies, peas, mashed potatoes
- Bean based nachos, salad, pico de gallo (my easy)
- Baked penne with roasted vegetables
Monday: Grilled chicken, corn bread, and green beans turned into grilled lemon-lime chicken soft tacos with yellow squash. The marinade I chose just lent itself to mexican. I ate the squash inside my tacos; Matt ate his on the side. The corn bread fixin's will last forever, and the beans were partially used tonight.
Tuesday: I made a slightly altered (I seriously can't cook straight from a recipe!!! I have to make it my own!) version of #5. I added green beans to the roasted veggies (good addition), left out the mushrooms (Matt's not a fan of cooked), doctored up Prego with sausage, a lot of garlic, basil, and oregano and let it simmer for almost 3 hours. This was my new recipe for the week.
I'm usually not a huge fan of pasta (I know, what's wrong with me?), especially if it's just red sauce. Matt only likes red sauce. So, this was a good variation on red sauce that kept us both happy. The cheeses were a bit expensive, but they made this dish AWESOME! We both really liked it. I've never bought fontina or smoked mozzarella, but they were both great.
7 comments:
This is exactly what I've started doing, and so far it's worked great. I just go through my recipes, the weekly grocery store ad and my cupboards and come up with meals that we can eat on our budget. I put my list of meals on the fridge and every morning I consult the list, find something I have time/am in the mood for that night, and then gear myself up to make it. Honestly, it's helped not only my sanity (because meal planning is still the hardest thing for me), but it's helped our budget, too.
I think it's awesome that you can make recipes your own. I'm still trying to learn how to do that.
I plan out my dinners two weeks at a time. I write them on the calendar then buy my grocery accordingly. It has saved us a bunch. But, I also have certain staples that I always keep on hand and always reserve the right to change my mind. I find that the biggest thing is putting meals on my plan that I KNOW I will make. If I look at it and think it's going to be a bummer when I write it down, I erase it cause I know I'll never end up making it anyway.
Wow. Matt is lucky to have you for a wife/cook! I would gladly watch Dean anytime you cooked me awesome meals from scratch! Also, for easy meals, I like to do a chicken and bean type crockpot soup every now and then. The leftovers always seem great for the next few days, and they freeze well too.
Thanks guys. I am hoping it will help me cut down on grocery spending. I know I spend too much. It's one of my weaknesses in the shopping category. I can pass up clothes and shoes, but it's so hard to pass up good food!
Amanda, the next time I'm in UT I'll make you anything you want! Honestly, I've never had good luck with soups in the crockpot. I follow the recipes, but they ALWAYS come out way over cooked and soggy like. And I do hope that Matt realizes how lucky he is. Some days I think he does. Some days I'm not so sure...hehe.
Celia, I have a recipe that we all love. Veggie recipe too, super super fast! Start to finish I make this in 20! Really tasty for being so dang fast and easy. Here it is:
Live longer cassorole:
3 small zucchini, cubed
1 c. sliced mushrooms
2 TBSP butter
3 large ripe tomatoes, cubed or 1 can of tomatoes
3 c. spinach or 1 pkg. frozen
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 lb. spaghetti (or any pasta)
6 oz. swiss cheese, 6 oz. cheddar
(I just used all cheddar...)
Saute zucchini and mushrooms in butter until just before they're soft. Add tomatoes, spinach & salt, simmer 15 minutes (or less, depending on how crunchy you like your veggies). Meanwhile, cook pasta and drain. Add pasta to sauce mixture and place in cassorole dish. Sprinkle with cheese and heat under a broiler until cheese is bubbly. 4 servings.
I bought a bunch of zucchini, cubed and froze it; same with the mushrooms-I buy presliced and freeze. So, when I make this it's a matter of dumping everything into the pan, no prep, so easy. I was surprised that freezing the veggies didn't make a difference in flavor (of course they were only in my freezer for a couple weeks, not months.) Anyway, if you do try this, I hope you enjoy! :)
Veronica, thanks for the recipe! I'll have to try it at least once. Matt loves spinach raw, but is not generally a fan of cooked. But sometimes he surprises me. He eats everything I make, even if he's not overly excited about it. So like I said, at least once!
I always use chicken breasts and cook on high for about 4 hours. It makes the chicken shred nicely, but any more time than that really does make it soggy. I also have a good thai chicken crockpot soup (requires some specialty ingredients) that uses chicken thighs that is so good. I don't like too much crockpot stuff though, since it does seem a like a it can turn dinner into a soggy meat ordeal if done too much.
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