Planning Ahead
The list of things I should be doing right now includes: stuffing diapers, washing dishes, cleaning the bathroom, straightening the house, taking out the recycling, etc., etc. Oh well! I wanted to take a few minutes to share my meal plan for the week. Our waist lines and wallets were starting to feel the hurt from drive-thru and take-out dinners. So I did lots and lots of Pinterest research and came up with a game plan for quick meals that I could make ahead, freeze, then cook in the crock pot or oven. Here's a list of meals that I made this week:
Breakfast: Overnight oatmeal is perfect for my busy mornings, the night before I put oatmeal, almond milk, cocoa powder, honey, and chia seeds in a bowl to sit in the fridge overnight. When I get up in the morning breakfast is done! Just add coffee!
Lunch: This week I've been making protein shakes with bananas, chocolate protein powder, and almond milk. Earlier this week I made chickpea salad sandwiches with Ezekiel bread and kale salad. One night for dinner we had brown rice, and I made extra to use in vegetable stir-fry for lunch tomorrow and this weekend.
French Dip Sandwiches: I froze the bread, took it out of the freezer to thaw on the counter that morning, and everything was ready to go for dinner. Alex loves these, so when I mentioned French Dip sandwiches, the chuck roast never made it to the freezer.
Beef Stroganoff: In a freezer bag I combined diced onions, stew meat, beef bullion cubes, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, and spices. I will thaw it in the fridge the day before we plan to have it for dinner, adding the flour and water mixture an hour before serving, and sour cream just before serving. All that's left is to cook the egg noodles. I bought some beets to go along with this meal (love roasted beets!).
Chicken fajitas: These are super simple- I plan to thaw the chicken overnight, add a bag of frozen peppers and onions, Rotel, and spices to the crock pot, and it's done!
Chicken Tetrazzini: This took a little more work. I made it on a day when Alex was home so he could take care of the baby while I made this. I put it in an aluminum pan, covered with aluminum foil, and put in the freezer. All I have to do is heat it in the oven, and serve with a salad.
Chicken Sausage, Peppers, and Onions: I'll add a bag of frozen peppers and onions and a can of diced tomatoes to the crock pot along with sliced chicken sausage. I like to serve this with oven roasted potatoes.
Pork chops: These never made it to the freezer, but my plan was to bread them with seasoned breadcrumbs, freeze, and cook under the broiler. Serve with sauteed green beans and sweet potatoes.
Meatloaf: Mix ground beef with seasoning and breadcrumbs, tomato paste, shape into a loaf and freeze. Thaw overnight and cook in the crock pot. Serve with green beans.
"Fancy" Chicken Thighs: These are not fancy to me, but Alex calls them fancy because I added a little white wine. I seasoned the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, marinated them in the fridge for a few hours in a mixture of whole grain mustard, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. I seared them on both sides in a skillet, then put them in a baking dish with about 1/2 cup of chicken broth and 1/4 cup of white wine. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. I served this with roasted carrots and brown rice.
Whew! Lots of prep work, but in the end it saves a lot of time, which is what I need right now! Thank goodness for the pre-sliced peppers and onions in the freezer isle at Kroger.
Grocery store trips are VERY different after baby. I only go grocery shopping 3 or 4 times a month, but when it was just the two of us I went 3 or 4 times a week. It's weird using the big grocery carts now instead of the baskets! Parenthood.
My grocery lists are organized by how I navigate around the store to help make shopping trips shorter. At least I've still got a little of my type-A-ness left! I'm usually trying to rush home before the next feeding.
Now that this week and most of next week are taken care of, I'm thinking ahead for the next shopping trip. The fun never ends! I love making lists though, so this doesn't feel like work to me.
Breakfast: Overnight oatmeal is perfect for my busy mornings, the night before I put oatmeal, almond milk, cocoa powder, honey, and chia seeds in a bowl to sit in the fridge overnight. When I get up in the morning breakfast is done! Just add coffee!
Lunch: This week I've been making protein shakes with bananas, chocolate protein powder, and almond milk. Earlier this week I made chickpea salad sandwiches with Ezekiel bread and kale salad. One night for dinner we had brown rice, and I made extra to use in vegetable stir-fry for lunch tomorrow and this weekend.
French Dip Sandwiches: I froze the bread, took it out of the freezer to thaw on the counter that morning, and everything was ready to go for dinner. Alex loves these, so when I mentioned French Dip sandwiches, the chuck roast never made it to the freezer.
Beef Stroganoff: In a freezer bag I combined diced onions, stew meat, beef bullion cubes, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, and spices. I will thaw it in the fridge the day before we plan to have it for dinner, adding the flour and water mixture an hour before serving, and sour cream just before serving. All that's left is to cook the egg noodles. I bought some beets to go along with this meal (love roasted beets!).
Chicken fajitas: These are super simple- I plan to thaw the chicken overnight, add a bag of frozen peppers and onions, Rotel, and spices to the crock pot, and it's done!
Chicken Tetrazzini: This took a little more work. I made it on a day when Alex was home so he could take care of the baby while I made this. I put it in an aluminum pan, covered with aluminum foil, and put in the freezer. All I have to do is heat it in the oven, and serve with a salad.
Chicken Sausage, Peppers, and Onions: I'll add a bag of frozen peppers and onions and a can of diced tomatoes to the crock pot along with sliced chicken sausage. I like to serve this with oven roasted potatoes.
Pork chops: These never made it to the freezer, but my plan was to bread them with seasoned breadcrumbs, freeze, and cook under the broiler. Serve with sauteed green beans and sweet potatoes.
Meatloaf: Mix ground beef with seasoning and breadcrumbs, tomato paste, shape into a loaf and freeze. Thaw overnight and cook in the crock pot. Serve with green beans.
"Fancy" Chicken Thighs: These are not fancy to me, but Alex calls them fancy because I added a little white wine. I seasoned the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, marinated them in the fridge for a few hours in a mixture of whole grain mustard, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. I seared them on both sides in a skillet, then put them in a baking dish with about 1/2 cup of chicken broth and 1/4 cup of white wine. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. I served this with roasted carrots and brown rice.
Whew! Lots of prep work, but in the end it saves a lot of time, which is what I need right now! Thank goodness for the pre-sliced peppers and onions in the freezer isle at Kroger.
Grocery store trips are VERY different after baby. I only go grocery shopping 3 or 4 times a month, but when it was just the two of us I went 3 or 4 times a week. It's weird using the big grocery carts now instead of the baskets! Parenthood.
My grocery lists are organized by how I navigate around the store to help make shopping trips shorter. At least I've still got a little of my type-A-ness left! I'm usually trying to rush home before the next feeding.
Now that this week and most of next week are taken care of, I'm thinking ahead for the next shopping trip. The fun never ends! I love making lists though, so this doesn't feel like work to me.
Yay! Glad to see you back on your blog! I'm taking a hiatus from FB, so it's good to get an update. :-)
ReplyDeleteYay! I try as much as I can. I've had an entry saved for over a week, haven't had time to finish! You should do a guest post with your linguini white bean pasta! Mostly because I want the recipe. Selfish motives.
DeleteHa! I did type up the recipe. If you want it I can send it to you. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes send! With release rights!
Delete