Monday Menu Planning

Raise your hand if you frequently find yourself standing in the middle of the kitchen with every cupboard door open, blankly staring at the contents within as if a volunteer will miraculously hurl itself from the shelf and shout "Me! Pick Me! I would make a GREAT dinner!" C'mon now. No one is looking, you can put your hand up.

While I know that dinner needs to be prepared every night, it still seems to creep up on me until WHAMMO. It's witching hour, the little people are cranky and hungry, and I'm still trying to decide what to make.  

Honestly, though, staring into the cabinets waiting for inspiration to strike is far less perilous than googling dinner recipes. That is just a time warp guaranteed to end in a bowl of emergency cereal to hold the natives over until dinner is actually *made*.  I could recipe surf for hours.  And I have.

In an effort to return a small amount of sanity to my life, I have decided to embrace menu planning.  With this powerful tool I will eliminate the nightly debate, avoid dinner delays, feel less inclined to wine while the children whine.  Well, maybe we won't get that carried away. But knowing what to make for dinner really could alleviate some of the last minute decision making stress that happens here, so it's worth a try.

Going forth, I shall post my weekly meal plan here on Monday.  I hope it will help people to see that while I do avoid a lot of foods in my home, we still eat pretty typical fare.  And if nothing else, I'll have a much better grocery list for shopping on Wednesday!

I'll link to the original recipe when I can, but please understand that I modify most of them to meet our dietary needs.  You can cook along with me if you'd like.  

Monday

Breakfast: Pumpkin Pie (yes, really), hot tea or cider

Lunchbox: cubed ham, carrot sticks, grapes, V-8 fusion, fruit snacks, smoothie

Dinner: Spaghetti marinara over quinoa pasta, california mixed veggies, pineapple chunks, orange juice

Tuesday

Breakfast: cereal

Lunchbox: sliced apples with sunbutter, grapes, carrot sticks, zuchinni muffin, V-8 fusion

Dinner: Hearty potato soup, buttered bread, mandarin oranges, cranberry juice

Wednesday

Breakfast: sweet potato and black bean saute

Lunchbox: sunbutter and jelly on bread, mandarin oranges, smoothie, terra chips

Dinner: sauteed salmon with mango salsa, oven roasted beets, steamed broccoli, orange juice

Thursday

Breakfast: Pineapple coffee cake, hot tea or cider

Lunchbox: salmon salad, smoothie, fruit snacks, beets, grapes

Dinner: Pulled pork, oven roasted cauliflower, honey glazed carrots, pineapple chunks

Friday

Breakfast: breakfast quinoa with cranberries

Lunchbox: bratwurst, apple slices, carrot sticks, V-8 fusion, fruit snacks

Dinner: Irish Cottage Pie, grapes

Saturday

Breakfast: Pumpkin Donuts

Lunch: quinoa pasta with squash sauce and navy beans, peas

Dinner: Pumpkin and mushroom soup, flatbread

Sunday

Breakfast: Sauteed potatoes and vegetables, cantaloupe

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner: Baked orange roughy, green beans with pumpkin seeds, cherries

Granted, this may not be the most nutritious week we've had, but I tried to keep it easy this week.  Come back next week for more!