Year End Week

Phew - with Christmas behind us, I'm glad to get the house back to normal.We still have way too many sweets around, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it also means that I don't have any reason to bake :-(

Uncas is off work all this week, which is great. It also means that our meal plan is a little bit different - especially with New Years Eve thrown in the mix too. Although having him home means more help around when it comes to meals. Normally when he makes a meal, its on the weekend because during the week it is far too rushed for him to get home from work and cook. We eat early because of the kids (5:30 pm), so this week I enjoyed a break mid-week.

Here's the meal plan:

Monday (12/29) - Rosemary White Bean Soup and homemade French Bread
          *notes - I don't have a source from this recipe. I received it in a big binder of recipes when I got married. I plan on featuring it because it's something that we only tried recently and it's a hit. It's also meatless and gluten free which was perfect because we had my uncle over who doesn't eat gluten

Tuesday (12/30) - Curry Chicken with rice - Uncas made this meal and he combined a couple of recipes. I hope to share soon because we all like it a lot.

Wednesday (12/31) - Broadway Pizza - it's our favorite local place. We often do carryout and given our new budget decisions for 2015, we won't be having it as frequently :-(

Thursday (1/1) - Leftover Lasagna from my mom

Friday (1/2) - Spring Green Fried Rice

Saturday (1/3) - Chicken Enchiladas with Mexican Rice - We are having company and I haven't decided which enchiladas recipe I'll be using yet.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year's Eve! What are your special dinner traditions for NYE? Anyone favorite chicken enchilada recipe? Thanks for reading and happy cooking!

Here We Go (Again)

I'm back to blogging. About food. Again. I first started blogging way back in 2005 or so and it was about my life which had to have been boring because I wasn't married, I didn't have kids and I didn't really cook or bake much. So I guess that left tv?! Then it morphed into a family blog as the the husband and kids came along. And then for a couple of years, a good friend and I bake and blogged our way through this cookbook. I stepped away from the writing for awhile, but toward the end of this year, I felt like I was missing something.

So I'm back. This time my focus is once again food. About a month ago I came up with the idea to document weekly our family meal plans. Every week since Uncas (the husband) and I got married, we do a weekly meal plan. It's what made sense to me, so we could do our weekly grocery shopping. Back then we used to grocery shop, usually on Sundays together. Nowadays I mainly do the grocery shopping. It's usually one big trip and then a few small runs for stuff I've forgotten or to pick up more fresh produce. Over time I hope to break down my meal planning process. I know for some it's a dreaded thing, but I actually enjoy it.

Each week I plan to share our family meals and link to the recipes I use. I'll share who liked what, my favorite sources for new meals, what failed (recipe, chef, or both), and our old, go-to favorites. Of course I'll share some baking along the way, because rarely does a day go by that I don't eat dessert!

But there's more - after a few discussions and analyzing our monthly budget, Uncas and I are making it a priority to cut down our food budget. In the past we haven't really had a set budget per se, and we've gradually changed our eating, leaning more towards whole, fresh foods, away from processed/packaged foods, and we are eating more and more meatless dinners. In addition we discovered that we liked to "eat" our money - meaning we spend money going out to eat more than we'd care to admit. As we embark with our new budget, it means a little more discipline, especially on the weekends.

This is already long enough for now, so let me present this week's meal plan:

Sunday (12/21) - Crockpot Mac and Cheese with steamed broccoli
Monday (12/22) - Baked Penne Pasta, homemade French Rolls, salad
Tuesday (12/23) - Baked Pork Chops, rice pilaf, sauteed green beans
Wednesday (12/24) - Homemade Pizza and Peppermint Pizza for dessert!
Christmas Day - Sweet Rolls for Breakfast and then my mom's for dinner

I hope you'll join me on this new journey. I love hearing what other people have dinner. Feel free to share your favorite recipe or family meal. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!