Meal Planning Jan 4 - Jan 9

It's only been a couple of days into the new year and I'm doing great with my resolutions! It's only the first week, but hey - it's a start! 4 of my 6 goals (that's what I've been calling my resolutions for a few years now) are health/fitness related which seems a bit strange. I guess that is where my focus is at this stage in my life.

Uncas and I spent some time getting our budget set up and finalized this week. We have decided to use cash for our "fun/weekend" spending and that also includes eating out. We've set up a type of envelope system to fit with our goals. We'll be tracking our grocery bills more carefully. And by more carefully, I mean, we are actually going to track and actively work to bring them down!

Last week we did really well sticking with our meal plan and I'm hoping this week will be just as easy. I've only listed meals through Thursday. This weekend we have my father-in-law visiting, so I haven't quite firmed up the meals. I'll be posting those later this week. I'm also hoping to post a recipe (with pictures of my darling little helpers) later this week and it's not dinner or healthy - what a way start the new year :-)

And now here is the meal plan for the week:

Sunday (1/4) - Roasted Vegetables Stuffed Shells with homemade French Bread

Monday (1/5) - Simple Thai Peanut Noodle Stir Fry

Tuesday (1/6) - Black Bean Tacos roughly based on this recipe and leftover Mexican Rice

Wednesday (1/7) - Homemade Pizza and salad

Thursday (1/8) - Lemon Chicken Pasta with Broccoli and Garlic Bread (made from the French Bread on Sunday)

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!