Meal Plan - Week of July 31 - August 6

So, I have started a "Home Management Binder". Inside, I have (so far) the monthly calendars to the end of this year (with birthdays and community events marked down), contact numbers (including family, doctors, insurance providers, and the people we pay every month), cleaning (with one checklist in it so far...the declutter list), and finally, a tab for meal planning.

I plan to put my (otherwise scribbed onto a scrap of paper and stuck to the fridge) organized meal plan in the binder, with printouts of the recipes.

So here is what we have on the plate (see what I did there?) for dinner this coming week:

Sunday: Roasted Salmon Salad
Monday: Sirloin Burgers with Roasted Garlic and Rosemary
Tuesday: Grilled Chicken & Peach Salad
Wednesday: Grilled BLT on an everything bagel (with cream cheese, made like this), cottage cheese (to boost the protein) and sweet peppers
Thursday: Baked Falafel and Couscous with tomato and cuke

And for snacks...Energy Bites (thanks to my friend Sherri for bringing it to my attention)

Menu Plan!

I try to get organized on Saturday nights...I sit and look at my Pinterest, stare and drool at all the lovely morsels I've pinned. Then I snap into reality and check the flyers to see what might be on sale.

Here's what we've got going on this week (days may change):

Sunday: Tacos and Diana's Mom's Rice

Monday: Scrambled Egg Cupcakes, Baked Potato/Homefries, Apple Nachos

Tuesday: Apple Chicken Quesadillas, Green Salad

Wednesday: Tomato Grilled Cheese Bagel, Onion Soup

Thursday: Tuna Casserole

Friday: Bento for Movie Night

This Week's Plan...

This week, I'll be making some mouthwatering meals (if I do say so myself).

In no particular order:

- Jack and the Beanstack - Essentially a stack of beans, veggies, cheese and tortillas. The original recipe calls for flour tortillas but in our attempt at eating wheat free, the tortillas will be replaced with fresh corn tortillas made locally.

- Coconut and Tofu Soup - As made here, but replacing the chicken with tofu.

- Sweet Potato Curry - If I can't find butter beans, it will just be chick peas.

- Buttermilk and cornmeal crusted fish with herb roasted potatoes and some green veggie type thing (we'll see what we come up with at the grocery store tomorrow...the fish will probably be tilapia)

- Falafel with tzaziki and a quinoa salad.

I probably shouldn't be writing about food when I'm hungry!

What's on the Plate for Next Week?

Every Friday (at least that's the plan), I look at the flyers for inspiration -  and to see what's going on sale - and I plan what we're going to eat. Doing it on Friday makes it less tempting to eat out all weekend which is appealing (who likes to cook and clean up on their days off?) but it adds up. Fast. We do try to go out once a week or so for dinner because we work hard, man...we deserve it!

This isn't set in stone...who knows? The grocery store might not have what I need, or something may come up during the week, but it's nice to have everything I need to make a dish, and planning ahead saves money.

So, here's the plan:

- Salmon with mango salsa and new potatoes
- Steak with mushroom "stew" and mango salad
- Pizza pasta
- Chicken benedict
- Mexican pizza with leek and avocado soup
- Tacos (Don's fave...a weekly requirement)

I have a few things in my fridge left over from last week (leeks, mushrooms, pepperoni...) that I kept in mind while planning. Also, I love mango but never use a whole fruit for any given recipe, so spreading it out over 2 different dishes allows me to eat it and not have to waste the rest!

We try to eat fish at least once a week, and I'm not a huge fan of the fish...unless it's battered and deep fried (which sort of defeats the purpose of eating it for health reasons). I have tried a bunch of different recipes using salmon and tilapia and find that, prepared the right way, I actually enjoy it. I'm excited to try this new concoction!