I have actually accomplished a goal that is a tough one for me. Once I get going on a menu, I do great but actually sitting down to DO the menu stinks! It took me all day - I chose to do many other things that seemed more exciting, like cutting stuff out for Seth's class, but I finally finished it.
First, I grab a few of my healthy cooking magazines* that are geared at this time of year, that way I get recipe ideas that I will actually WANT to eat at this time of year and use veg that is in season. I have a big, fat binder which has printed calendar pages - I always use pencil 'cuz sometimes the menu needs to change. I also have pocket pages in the binder to hold mags, cut out recipes, and keep past calendars. If I didn't like a recipe, I throw it away or cross it out in the mag. If I DID like a recipe, I type it up in a recipe doc so I remember to use it in the future. I have found that it helps to assign a category to each weekday. See more "*" notes at the end of this post.
Here is our breakdown for the next 2 weeks:
SUNDAY - DAD COOKS** /CHEAT DAY***
JAN. 22: Healthy Cooking (HC) Oven Fried Chicken with mashers and broc (we went out to dinner last night so it will be a healthy day instead of cheat day.)
JAN. 29: Michael's choice
MONDAY - SOUP DAY (this will change to salad in the Summer)
JAN. 23: HC Beef Tortellini Soup w/ salad
JAN. 30: Big Batch Chicken Soup (leftovers will go into freezer for lunches)
TUESDAY - MEXICAN NIGHT
JAN. 24: Taco Salad w/ sliced oranges
JAN. 31: HC Enchilada Casser-Ole w/ salad
WEDNESDAY - SETH COOKS****
JAN 25: Pizza and a veggie of Seth's choice
FEB 1: He hasn't decided yet
THURSDAY - BREAKFAST/LEFTOVERS*****
JAN. 26: HC Broccoli Turkey Brunch Casserole, fruit
FEB. 2: Turkey Bacon, Eggs, Toast, Fruit
FRIDAY - CROCK POT
JAN. 27: Split Pea Soup
FEB 3: HC Slow Cooker Southwest Chicken & Rice w/ salad
SATURDAY - EASY/NEW
JAN. 28: Leftovers
FEB 4: Moroccan Chicken Thighs w/ veg******
I always feel more in control of my healthy eating if I have a menu because I have a meal to look forward to trying out and my grocery shopping doesn't go haywire! For breakfast and lunch, I just need to make a list of things I like to have so I can reference the list when grocery shopping and figuring out what to eat.
I know it will make a HUGE difference in my healthy eating to have this set up - now I am looking forward to making new goals for next week!
*Funny: When I started looking for recipes in the mags, the first 5 things I wrote down were DESSERTS! Guess my mind is still halfway in the holidays!
**A few months ago, I asked Michael if he would start cooking once a week, he agreed but he doesn't really know how to cook much. He does a pretty good job though! And I appreciate his help.
***Cheat Day - Once a week, we have cheat day, we get to make a treat and eat whatever we want that day. It used to be on Saturdays but it was too easy to go to the doughnut store so, since we don't shop on Sundays, we switched it to Sunday and make our own treats. I feel better about eating homemade treats because we can then avoid all the "extras" that are in store bought treats.
****I decided to start teaching Seth how to cook, when I suggested he should take a night, he was very excited. When I asked him what he would like to cook, the answer was PIZZA! No problem, we can cook healthy pizza. The nice thing is, when he cooks, he is more willing to eat what he cooks so, eventually, we will try to introduce other new things.
*****We don't usually have a ton of leftovers because we make lunches out of them, if the lunches start piling up or it's a dish that won't freeze well, we start having leftover nights more.
******LAST NOTE! I have not tried most of these recipes, I will post my faves once I've tried them. If you want the recipes now, let me know and I will post.
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