Meal Plan... Thursday?

The first step on my journey to get back to me, I think, should be starting to cook again. There has been way too much takeout happening here in the past year, and let's just say that my husband's cooking skills have really been put to the test as well.  I cook maybe once or twice a month now, which seeing as how I am a stay at home mom and this is sort of part of the job description, is SHAMEFUL.  I suck.

I keep telling myself that I need to start cooking again, but what I'm realizing is that I have failed to make a plan for this.  I'm going to the grocery store and buying staples like bread and milk and bananas, then maybe stuff to throw together a simple meal or two.  There's no plan.  We end up eating the stuff for those thrown together meals and then there's nothing in the house again so we go grab burgers or something.

It's terrible.

So, I got off my behind, went into my Evernote recipe file(on my phone - so handy!), and found some old favorites that we haven't had in a while that weren't too labor intensive.  I don't want to overdo it and get burned out right out of the gate!  

Here's what I came up with:

 (yes, that is a hippo butt magnet and it's AWESOME)

My week starts on Friday but I was too lazy to Photoshop this super cute (dare I say - kawaii???) menu planner page to reflect that.  (Free printable can be found here) Here's the plan, with links to recipes where available:

Friday - Grilled chicken (will send husband to grill because I don't play with propane, despite lusting after a gas stove) with Lemon Orzo and steamed broccoli.

Saturday - Crispy Shrimp Pasta

Sunday - Italian Meatball Soup

Monday - Slow Cooker Beef Stew (I can't remember where I found this!  I'll post it later)

Tuesday - Chicken Noodle Soup

Wednesday - Leftovers (Pizza if there aren't any)

Thursday - Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

As you can probably guess, I'm really really really ready for it to be fall already.  If you've read my blog, or tweets, however, you know that I don't get that privilege until the end of October at least.  This is the time of year where I start drinking the haterade when reading other people's blog posts about how they're buying mums for their front porch (they'd fry in the sun here within days) or going apple picking (apples were ready back in July in my area) or see photos on Facebook and Instagram talking about boots (still living in flip flops!) and scarves. It stinks.

I plan to crank the AC, buy a pumpkin scented candle (or three), and make soup.  Living in denial is okay some of the time, right?

Anyway, after I made my menu plan, I got to work on a proper grocery list.

This is another free printable from Hello Cuteness. I may tweak the categories later after I use it for a few weeks and see where I need the most space.

I added all my staples, stuff for lunches and breakfasts, and all the stuff I need to make dinner for the next week.  I only buy a week of groceries at a time because the idea of "old" food grosses me out, especially produce.  Besides, the produce rarely lasts more than a week anyway, which means I have to go back anyway.  Might as well get "fresh" food!

(I know it's not always truly fresh or even fresher.  But this is how my mind works and it makes me feel better so let's just go with it.  This is also why I can't hang with the diet meal pre-planning.  Leftovers for a week?  NO THANK YOU.)

Tomorrow when I go to run my errands, I'm going to be prepared!  No wandering aimlessly around target just grabbing what looks good at the time.  No looking in the fridge and pantry wondering what we can make out of old celery and rice noodles, only to give up and get a pizza once again.  I have a plan!

Now, let's see if I can stick to it.  That's always the tricky part, isn't it?