{Meal Planning: Back to it!}

Yep, I'm back to my meal planning ways!

I didn't really take January off, but as a part of the 30 day fitness challenge I did, I had my meals planned out for me, so I didn't really have much I could post about with meal planning.

But now, I'm back to my old ways, and I'm trying to really incorporate more whole foods into my plans.  But lemme tell ya, it's a hard, hard thing to change old eating habits.  Especially in winter when all those yummy colorful veggies are in shorter supply than during the summer.  And when it's cold outside, creamy comfortable soup and bread sounds so much more appealing than a cold, heartless salad!

So here's my February plan!!

Week 1:

February 1:  Chicken Enchiladas
February 2: Leftovers
February 3: Out~Red Robin, I had a yummy salad.  :)
February 4: Snacks... not super healthy choices, I'm afraid.
February 5: Souper Bowl Sunday!: Potato Soup and then appetizers at the game.
February 6: Spaghetti
February 7: Tacos

Week 2:

February 8:  Grilled Chicken w/veggies
February 9: Yellow Soup
February 10:  Pork Stir Fry
February 11: Leftovers
February 12:  Cheesy Chicken Rollups (with Corn tortillas instead of flour)
February 13: Tilapia and veggies
February 14:  BBQ Chicken, fresh grilled veggies and baked potatoes

Week 3:

February 15: Lettuce Wraps
February 16: Beef Stew
February 17: Chicken Piccata
February 18: Leftovers
February 19: Nachos
February 20: Turkey burgers
February 21: ???  Meetings this night, so I'm not sure yet.

Week 4:

February 22:  Grilled chicken & veggies
February 23: Crockpot chicken soup
February 24: Gyros
February 25: Homemade Pizza with Black Olives (per special request for my son's birthday dinner)
February 26: Leftovers
February 27: Shepherd's Pie
February 28: Beef in Stout

Yum, yum.  I'm hungry now.  Lot's of comfort food, but also lots of opportunities to alter some of these recipes and make them with as many whole foods as possible, instead of mixes and processed food.  There are some sauces, or things with bread crumbs, etc, but the main ingredients for many of these are not from a mix or a box.  Little changes at a time equals success in my book!

Happy planning!

xo,
Becca

{December Meal Plan}

December is a fun month to plan because there are always so many parties and things to plan around, it gets my meal planning creative juices flowing.  I love holiday baking and all the fun holiday foods that we never seem to eat at any other time of the year.  Parties and special days are great for whipping up a tried and true recipe for a favorite dip or cookie to take along.  It's not always so good for my waistline, though!

I also had the chance to purchase a new kitchen gadget this month with the great Cyber Monday deals.  I got an Instant Pot through Amazon for a great deal.  I'm still learning this new gadget, but so far, I am liking it!  However, this post is about my menu plan for the month, not my new kitchen toy, so here is the plan:

Week 1:
1st (Thursday): Crock Pot Chicken (but instead of cooking it all day, I used my new Instant Pot and went from frozen to done in about 30 minutes).
2nd (Friday): Pizza (couples night, we had Papa Murphy's)
3rd (Saturday): Leftovers (and a new Mac and cheese recipe to test out the new toy)
4th (Sunday): Pot Roast

Week 2:
5th (Monday): Enchilada Casserole (I have had this in the freezer and I have a late meeting, so it's perfect for Jon to just throw in the oven and bake it til it's done!)
6th (Tuesday): Creamy Chicken Piccata (going to try it in the IP, because we also have a strings concert for the youngest)
7th (Wednesday): Spaghetti
8th (Thursday): Homemade Pizza
9th (Friday): Chili
10th (Saturday): Leftovers (also my big cookie baking day for a couple of fun events later in the month!)
11th (Sunday): Paninis

Week 3:
12th (Monday): Chicken teriyaki with rice
13th (Tuesday):  Beef Stew
14th (Wednesday):  ???  Still thinking about this one.  Possibly Ramnoodle and Kielbasa
15th (Thursday):  Beef Stroganoff
16th (Friday):  Potato Soup
17th (Saturday):  Leftovers  (I have a fun Christmas event this day, to which I'll also be taking my favorite artichoke dip.)
18th (Sunday):  Tacos

Week 4:
19th (Monday): Leftover Tacos
20th (Tuesday): Stromboli
21st (Wednesday):  ??? Gotta leave some room for fun during Winter Break.
22nd (Thursday): ??? 
23rd (Friday): Chicken with Angel Hair and Bearnaise sauce
24th (Saturday):  Christmas Eve: we are hosting a dinner at our church.  I'm supplying a roasted turkey.
25th (Sunday):  Christmas!!  We are traveling.

From here, the menu plan gets a little more open and free flowing.  We will be traveling for at least 3 days of the next week, which means little cooking for me (yay) but also eating out probably.  Once we get back, it will be enjoying the last few days of Winter break before we go back to school on January 3rd.  I may want to use that time to create culinary masterpieces (ha!) for my family, or I might want to use the time to enjoy being with my family.  Or maybe a combination of both.  Either way, it'll all come together.
Enjoy your December, and Merry Christmas!!

xo,
Becca

{Meal planning fail}

It's November 4th, and I don't have my menu plan done yet for the month.  I feel like I'm flying blind.  So those of you who tell me that I inspire you... Well, I don't always have it all together.  Hopefully that will inspire someone.  We all fail at times, which is actually pretty encouraging, if you stop to think about it.

You've heard of writer's block?  I feel like I have menu planners block.  My last two months were great, and we mostly stayed on track, but leading into November, I am just at a loss.  I've added in a few things here and there, but mostly the month is blank.  Sometimes, even when we are good at something, we still have moments where we fail.

Here's what I do when my own brain capacity begins to fail me.  I reach out and ask for help.  I text my family and ask them to send me menu ideas.  Usually I hesitate to do this, because the responses I usually get are all the comfort foods they love... Which makes for quite the fattening month!  With the holidays coming up, I try to make an effort to eat mostly healthy during the "normal" days, but then my family sends back things like this:

They're so helpful.

My main goal for the weekend?  Finish planning the month.  Otherwise, Red Robin and Papa Murphy's are going to take all my money.  I'll be spending some time on Pinterest, reviewing what we've had recently (last 2 months), and filling in the gaps.  And, planning our Thanksgiving holiday, which will be no small feat.

Wish me luck!!

xo,
Becca

{October Meal Plan}

Wow, time sometimes gets away from me.  The start to this school year has been very busy, with new schedules and lots of cross-country meets.  When I have weeks like last week and this week, my menu planning saves the day!

Here is my October plan! (Links provided where I have them, if you'd like recipe that's not linked, comment or shoot me an email, and I'll get it to you!)

October 1: Leftover day, usually, but we had guests, so I did a pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn on the cob!
October 2:  Leftover day for reals.
October 3: Cheap Chicken Monday (our local Safeway has deals on fried chicken, and Jon was "cooking").
October 4:  Baked Potato Soup
October 5:  Leftover soup
October 6:  Irish Pastie Pot Pie
October 7: Pizza Nite!
October 8: Leftovers
October 9: Thai Peanut Chicken Quinoa Bowls
October 10: Chicken Tikka Masala
October 11:  Homemade Gyros *Here is how I season the meat, but I cook it differently than their directions.  I make the meat into large patties and we grill it, then cut the patties into strips for our gyros. I also just use lean ground beef, but you could do ground turkey, lamb, or a mixture of your preference.
October 12: Chicken Fried Rice
October 13: Crispy Chicken Tortilla Rollups
October 14:  Homemade Pizza
October 15:  Leftovers
October 16:  Lasagna
October 17:  Moroccan Chicken Stew
October 18: Beef Stroganoff
October 19:  Creamy Chicken Picatta
October 20:  Leftovers
October 21:  Taco Bar
October 22:  Chicken with rice pilaf and roasted asparagus
October 23: Roast with Mashed Potatoes
October 24: Slow Cooker Indian Chicken Stew
October 25:  Leftovers
October 26:  Shepherd's Pie
October 27:  Baked Potato Soup
October 28: Leftovers
October 29: Pizza night
October 30: Paninis
October 31: Halloween... who knows?