Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Meal Planning

For the last 9 years our married life MO has been a little like this.

8:00 get home from work
8:30 what do you want to do for dinner?
8:30-9:00 discuss
9:00 Decide it is too much work to go to the store and cook
9:15 eat either, frozen pizza, cold cereal, barilla pasta or go out

Maybe not the best eating habits.

I have lately been inspired by Marianne and her meal planning. She has a meal list tacked onto her fridge that is nothing short of wonderful.

So, for the last 8 weeks or so, I have been meal planning. And honestly, it has made a world of difference. It is so nice to just cook the meal, and not have to worry about ingredients or what to make. It has actually been really fun to try new things and I'm branching out more and more.

Here is this week's meal list,

Monday: citrus and mint pasta/grilled pineapple with mint sugar
Tuesday: honey aebelskivers/maple bacon/oj with mint
Wednesday: sweet potato and black bean quesadillas/homemade salsa
Thursday: spicy chicken burrito bar/grilled pineapple
Friday: leftovers/spinach and blue cheese salad
Saturday: date night out

Although I have never been a huge meat-eater or much for fast-food Scott and I have decided to go an extra step and use only organic animal products. This means an extra grocery store run (Whole Foods), but it is worth it. The food tastes better and we feel better about it too.

I'm always on the look now for new recipes, and fun food blogs.

Any suggestions out there?

Post Edit: Scott recently told me how much he liked my salads. How cute is that?

13 comments:

Marianne said...

Though, I rarely make anything from this blog (http://orangette.blogspot.com/), I am inspired by her. When I was in Seattle this February, we tried to go to her restaurant, but they have a two week waiting list. Lame.

Currently, I'm obsessed with stuffed zucchini boats. Mmmmmmm! If you want the recipe, I can email it to you. Do you even like zucchini?

Jake and Whitney said...

umm...yes, I will give you some suggestions if you tell me where you got THOSE wonderful recipes. OUR plan is to try out a two week plan. Right now we are working a complete compilation of dinner ideas. So far we have MEATBALLS, BBQ pork sandwiches, sloppy joes, etc. Obviously Jake has had a huge influence on this list. Anyway, one website I really like is www.melskitchencafe.com. She has a wide variety of recipes to scope out.

Scott and Lindsey said...

Yes, Marianne I love Zucchini and I would love the recipe. Mmmm. I'll have to add her blog.

Whit,
It is pretty easy. The burritos and pasta come from Rachel Ray (her stuff is so easy and good) and the quesidillas (how do you spell that) come from a vegan site, called Fresh 365. The Aebelskivers are from the cook book we gave you guys.
I'm guessing Jake likes meat?? The pasta and Aebelskivers we have made before, but the rest is new. To make mint sugar I just pound the two together with the end of a rolling pin. We coat the Pineapple with brown sugar to help caramelize and sprinkle with the mint mixture.
I'm going to check out your blog too. Thanks!
We have been meaning to make meatballs. Were they hard to make?

Scott and Lindsey said...

Oh, and I really like Jamie Oliver's website. I want to try out his apple tarts with lavendar cream.
Doesn't that sound like something I would love?

caitlin said...

Wow, you are turning into quite the chef! It all sounds great, and I wouldn't dare reccommend anything to you, as I fear it would be turkey sandwhich, with a side of salt and vinegar chips!

You got mad skills Emeril :)

Anonymous said...

Ok,so I know that Sunday's dinner was almost a disaster. Your food sounds wonderful. I have to say that I am in love with Pioneer Womans web site. I make her salsa. Which we all love. Where did you get yours? I've also made her stir fry and bought her cookbook. You can take a look at it next time you come for dinner.
I saw a recipe for zucchini boats, now I have to just remember where.

Marianne said...

Meatballs are super easy to make. Oh, I also love Lynn Rosetta Casper from "The Splendid Table," which is on NPR Sunday afternoons at 1pm. She has a great cookbook out called "How to Eat Supper." I will email you the recipe for the zucchini boats. They are even better the second day!

Rob and Kelli said...

Wow...I'm truly in awe...and feeling a little guilty about my own lack of meal planning. I might feel a new energy now. Please pass along some of these yummy sounding recipes! :)

Scott and Lindsey said...

Kelli,
I haven't been cooking for 9 years, and I'm pretty sure you have. No guilt on your part :)
Plus you have 3 munchkins running around!

The recipes are so easy,

Rachel Ray and a few food blogs. Mom, the salsa is from Rachel Ray, but I was thinking a fresh mango salsa would go really good with Salmon. Next week we are trying Indian food. I don't love Indian food, but Scott does so I thought I'd give it another try!

Thanks for all of the food suggestions! I have also recently been inspired by Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.

Oh, and dinner was fantastic on Sunday, mom. I felt bad that we sprung it on you last minute. I'm glad Lucy was a cutie pie. I think she is getting more comfortable. I thought Kyle was so cute with her!

Lizzie said...

Would you be willing to post some of those recipes? Like the sweet potato & black bean quesadillas??

Lizzie said...

Oh sorry I should have read through the comments first - looks like you posted where to find the recipes! Thank you!

LM said...

A close friend has this blog:
http://cultivatingsustainability.com/

Sounds right up your alley. I hope you find it useful.

BreeAnn said...

go you! That is awesome. You are a much fancier cook than me. I wish I could do that. I try to meal plan too, with working 3 days a week and getting home after 6:00 it's hard sometimes. Sometimes I am too lazy to plan, but when I do it works out well.