meal plan for this week

I've had a lot of people asking me about how I plan meals for 2 weeks, there will be lots of links and photos on this post, most of them will be so you know what the specific ingredients are (if you would like to make it too) and the recipes.

I usually start my meal plan by looking at my calendar to see what I have coming up this next week and (because I live in West Texas with inconsistent weather) I look up the high/low temperature expected for the next 10 days.

• Monday morning I have a doctor's appointment at 9:30 and (depending on what time I get out of there) a playdate at 10am 
• Tuesday I have class followed by work and a (possible) ladies night out with my playgroup moms. 
• Wednesday I have nothing planned
• Thursday I have a free day at school, but will need to work 
• Friday I have work and dinner at my grandmother's with the whole family
• Saturday and Sunday I have no plans. 

The next week I have:

• monday, nothing
• Tuesday, I have a lab test, then work
• Wednesday, the kids get out of school at noon and a playdate with our friends at 12:30
• Thursday, I have a lecture test, then work
• Friday, work then dinner with family at my grandmother's house
• Saturday and Sunday no plans

So now that I know what is going on, I plan what meals to make for each day. The days I have a test I like to set up the crockpot in the mornings so I can spend a little extra time in the morning and have dinner done when I walk in the door. Luckily these days will be nice and cool so soup in the crockpot will be nice. Friday nights we go to my grandmother's house for dinner, this has been our family tradition for the last 16 years, the best part is that I don't have to cook.

After I decide what meals to make I list out the ingredients that I need to make those meals,

and I head out the grocery store. At the store I look at the section for what items I have on my list and make a lot of "on the spot" decisions about which item to buy, obviously. Luckily my grocery store has a fancy system set up to help you to select the best item. I used to pick up every jar of spaghetti sauce trying to decide which one was best, but the NuVal system has definitely sped up that process for me. 

When I get home from the grocery store I spend some time repackaging the meat into meal size portions in freezer-friendly bags. 

And I organize my cabinets

 

and my freezer

 

so the meal ingredients are easy to find together. My husband thinks I'm a little OCD, but in my mind it seems an organized kitchen helps me to stay on track with everything. 

So now that you know how I make decisions, here is my official meal plan for the next two weeks:

• Monday (dr's appt and playdate): 

Fettucine Alfredo with shrimp and mixed vegetables:

Since I am allergic to shrimp and my family loves it this is a perfect recipe for us. I like this recipe, but I don't use the corn starch. 

• Tuesday (class, work, ladies night out)

If I can find a sitter I will have to figure out something quick and easy for dinner this night so I can go to dinner with my mommy friends, but so far I have planned to do tacos, with ground turkey.

• Wednesday I have nothing planned

I will do this meal with fish, mixed vegetables and macaroni and cheese.

• Thursday (school, work) 

I will do nachos, it's quick and easy. I'm allergic to beef too so I won't eat the ground beef.

• Friday (dinner at my grandmother's)

YAY!

• Saturday, Sunday (no plans) 

I'm going to try a new recipe for these days, so stay tuned.

The following week:

• monday, nothing

Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and fried okra. I can't eat the steak so I may have a salmon filet (or the cubed chicken steaks in the picture) but this is my husbands favorite meal so I like to make it for him every once in a while.

• Tuesday (lab test, work)

I will set up chicken tortilla soup in the crock pot.

• Wednesday, (early dismissal, play date)

Pork chops, corn on the cob and macaroni and cheese.

• Thursday, I have a lecture test, then work

chicken cacciatore in the crockpot

• Friday, work then dinner with family at my grandmother's house

again, YAY!

• Saturday and Sunday no plans: I will make the plan for the next two weeks and buy groceries again. 

I will try to post more details this week with the process of cooking all these meals, but I would love to answer anyone elses questions, so send them along!

What is your little victory today?

Guitarplayingmommy,

Heather