Why Easy?
This week is kind of a big week for my family... we have a major inspection to get through in our housebuilding process on Tuesday (please pray for us to pass!) and with my hubby away on business most of the week, I have to admit it was tempting to just eat cereal all week. But, while my kids would have been perfectly content with that, I decided that it is important that we continue to eat healthy, balanced meals even in his absence. Because, even though it is tempting to be more relaxed while he is away and my children would live off of peanut butter and jelly and cereal if I'd let them, I know how much better we all feel (and even act!) when we are eating well. Not only do I know how important it will be to balance my energy levels while I am missing my other half by eating good food, exercising, drinking plenty of water, and getting plenty of rest, I have also realized how much these habits tremendously help my overall mood... and that of my kids!
So, I decided to take the time to plan some meals this week that were not only healthy but that would be easy to prepare. All these meals take is some initial time to plan well and prep well in order to eat well. Not only will it be important for this week, but in the weeks to come. In fact, I even chose to add in some additional easy, extra meal prep- knowing that if we DO pass this inspection (PLEASE, God!) we will once again be back full-swing into construction mode... and FAST! ... upon my husband's return. I know I will definitely appreciate some time-savers in my freezer like pre-cooked beans and rice. I like to call these, my {Prep Projects} and I'll be featuring them each week in my meal plans. It's crazy, how, in less time than I spend on Facebook in a given day, I can actually fit in a {Prep Project} that will help me tremendously to reach my goals to save more of my time, money, and health. This is why it is my goal to accomplish 1-2 {Prep Projects} each week. Simple enough. Easy enough. And all in the amount of time it takes me to check my Facebook.
And How, Exactly, IS It That Easy??
You probably didn't believe that last statement, now, did you? Well, let me explain. The common misconception about making meals from scratch and about 'squeezing' in extra time to prep our meals in our already jam-packed schedules is that we think those things take up so much extra time. But really, I like to think of it as a trade-off.
I will gladly trade 1-2 of my "just checking-in" times on Facebook for a little extra time to check-off a {Prep Project} on my meal plan.
It takes hardly any time to dump a few cups worth of dry beans in a bowl
and cover them with water and a towel before going to bed at night...
and then to rinse them upon rising, dump them in a crock pot, cover with
water (and add a pinch or two of salt!) and let them cook all day on
the low setting... at the end of the day, all that's left is then
packaging them up- right along with that night's leftovers after dinner. Not only is it a trade-off, some of it is just plain no extra time or effort at all. Take batch-cooking, for example. It's actually pretty effortless to measure out double or triple the amount of rice I'm already making for dinner on Wednesday night and to package the rest to go in the fridge or freezer as I am packaging up the rest of our leftovers that night after dinner. All it really takes is just a little planning... That's all. Really, the actual 'work' of it all is easy.
{My Notes For This Week's Meal Plan}
Free-Choice Picks
Thinking Ahead For Fresh Bread
You'll notice in this week's dinner menu that I still even included a few recipes of fresh, made-from-scratch bread. While I love making bread the traditional way, there comes a time where I still want fresh bread with our meals but just don't have the time to devote to traditional methods. Have I mentioned how much I really love my bread machine? It takes, literally, about 5 minutes to dump in ingredients and it does the rest! It really is great on busy days... which is, in fact, why all of our bread this week will be made by this lovely little appliance instead of by me. I'm even starting up a new batch of sourdough starter this week just for this purpose- which I'll add, takes about 5 minutes initially as well! Then it's just letting it do it's thing on the counter until it's time to package it in a glass jar... then off to the fridge it goes. As easy as that. Then off it will go to our Sourdough recipe in the bread machine on Sunday- which I'll start before we go to church. Because there's nothing better than coming home to the smell of fresh-baked bread after you've been to the House of Bread.
{Prep Projects} :: THIS WEEK
Now, to make the rest of this week's meals go super easy and fast, I took about an hour this weekend (while our dinner that night was already baking in the oven and I still had out my cutting board and knife) in order to get lots of fruit and veggies washed, chopped and sliced for our whole week. Getting the sharp knife and cutting board out once instead of several times this week saved me time and energy. Being in a mode of repetition (wash, wash, wash... slice, slice, slice... chop, chop, chop) and not multi-tasking (wash, chop, check on something else... wash, chop, do something else... wash, chop, etc.) actually goes really fast. This week's Saturday {Prep Project} will be slow-cooking two crock pots of dry beans which I will soak the night before. Making sourdough starter this week is another project that will be quick and easy to tackle- plus the kids think it's cool to watch the starter bubble!
{Special Breakfast} :: THIS WEEK
Assuming we are not knee-deep in a construction project, I like to cook what we call a {Special Breakfast} for my family on Saturday mornings; and usually try to double it to stretch through Sunday mornings when we are in a rush for church. This week's {Special Breakfast} will be more simple than usual, as I am cooking out of my toaster oven for this week and can't make muffins, or pancakes and eggs like I'd like to. On less busy Saturdays, we enjoy sleeping in and having nice breakfasts together since we are not usually afforded that opportunity on weekdays. It's a relaxing start to our weekends before the rush usually begins.
{Cooking with Kids} :: THIS WEEK
While my kids love to help rub a chicken with spice rub or dump ingredients in the slow-cooker, I've got a special cooking project planned to do with them this week. We are going to be making our own homemade peanut butter for the first time with a peanut butter maker! I was given the machine for Christmas and have been dying to use it since. This week I finally scored some organic peanuts at the Co-Op and we are going to have lots of fun salting, sweetening, and sampling our very own freshly-ground peanut butter to use in our snacks and sandwiches this week.
Beginning in October, our family will be resuming our {Friday Family Fun} nights. With my husband's change in jobs and lots of changes that have been happening in our schedules, these special nights have been on hold for us for a bit. It will feel SO good to finally have a night back where we can focus on building fun memories together as a family... and, of course, there will be food involved! This feature will be available on my Menu Plans starting in October.
{What's On The Menu?} :: THIS WEEK
So, without further ado, here is our meal plan for this week... while it may appear complicated, it's really all very easy. And I know, at the end of the week, it will feel good to have eaten well. You can find my meal plan, along with a shopping list and applicable recipes, by visiting my allrecipes.com profile page if you are a supporting member.
September 19-25, 2011
BREAKFAST CHOICES
- Cereal with Milk
- Plain Yogurt with Honey, Unsweetened Applesauce, or Granola
- Whole Grain Toast (topped with either butter & honey, apple butter, or jam)
- Fresh Fruit (Apples, Oranges, Peaches, Melon) with Nuts
LUNCH CHOICES
- Peanut Butter & Jelly (or Honey) Sandwich or Quesadillas
- Cheese (& Bean, Leftover Veggie, or Leftover Meat) Quesadillas, Wraps, or Burritos
- Green Salad with various toppings
- Fresh Fruit (Apples, Oranges, Peaches, or Melon)
- Unsweetened Applesauce (may be sprinkled with cinnamon)
- Veggie Dippers (Carrot, Celery, Summer Squash, or Zucchini Sticks) with Ranch
SNACK CHOICES
- Celery Sticks with Peanut Butter (& Raisins)
- Carrot & Celery Sticks with Ranch
- Sliced Apples & Peanut Butter
- Whole Grain Crackers, Sliced Cheddar Cheese, & Raisins
- Unsweetened Applesauce (may be sprinkled with cinnamon)
- Fresh Fruit (Apples, Oranges, Peaches, or Melon)
MONDAY
- {COOKING WITH KIDS} Peanut Butter Project
- Garden Salad with chicken, feta, walnuts, chopped dates, & Poppy Seed Dressing
- Sliced Peaches
TUESDAY- Inspection Day!
- Leftover Smorgasbord- Clean out the fridge!
WEDNESDAY
- Roasted Lemon Herb Chicken
- Garden Salad
- Brown Rice
- {PREP PROJECT} Triple Quantity of Rice and Batch-Cook for Fridge & Freezer
THURSDAY
- {PREP PROJECT} Sourdough Starter
- Summer Vegetarian Chili
- Use pre-cooked beans instead of canned.
- Super Easy Rosemary Bread Machine Bread
- Garden Salad
FRIDAY
- Homegrown Baked Potatoes with Butter, Sour Cream, & Shredded Cheese
- Garden Salad
- {Leftover Chili}
- {PREP PROJECT} Soak Pinto & Black Beans in Slow Cooker for Next Week
SATURDAY
- {SPECIAL BREAKFAST} Biscuits with butter, honey, & jam
- {PREP PROJECT} Cook Pinto & Black Beans in Slow Cooker for Next Week (And Package)
- Slow Cooker Ground Beef
- {Leftover Rosemary Bread}
- Oven Baked Zucchini Fries
- Sliced Apples
SUNDAY
- Zucchini Oven Frittata
- Basic Sourdough Bread
- Garden Salad
- Fresh Fruit (Apples or Oranges)
Have a great week! Happy cooking!
Your meal plan sounds awesome! I love all the whole foods and fresh fruits and veggies. I just discovered your blog on Plan it Don't Panic on FB, so glad I did! Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Paris! Checked out your blog this week too- LOVE it! It will be fun to keep in touch throughout this challenge... especially in the area of FOOD! :)
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