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Sunday: Subway after the movies
Monday: rotisserie chicken and salad
Tuesday: London broil, baked potatoes, steamed broccoli
Wednesday: Avgolemono, gyros
Thursday: Crock Pot beef stew, garlic-cheddar biscuits
Friday: Jake’s choice (last home cooked meal before heading back to college)
Saturday: Chinese take-out
Happy Monday everyone! It is a chilly one here — 34 degrees as I type, brrr. We’ve got a busy week over here. Tonight I have my monthly meeting with the Board of Trustees. I always try to do a slow cooker meal whenever I have an evening meeting like this (or book club, or a committee meeting). The evening meetings are probably the least favorite part of my job, but board members are all volunteers, and many of them also have full-time jobs so we have to schedule around their availability. This week also starts high school musical rehearsal. My senior has one of the lead roles for Once Upon a Mattress, and I am so happy that this year rehearsals will be right after school with a much earlier pickup than in years past.
Anyway, here is my plan for the week. Something will change, I am sure. It did last week! There was an extra day when we got take-out, and I switched a few things around, but it all worked out great.
Sunday: Leftovers
Monday: Crock Pot Mexican chicken over brown rice (bumped from last week)
Tuesday: Chicken fettuccini Alfredo, garden salad
Wednesday: BBQ pork tenderloin medallions, broccoli, smoked gouda mac & cheese
Thursday: Naan pizzas, salad
Friday: Turkey burgers, fries, salad
Saturday: ??? Maybe pizza ???
One thing I would like to do to better help me plan is to do a freezer inventory. I grocery shop based on sales, and then meal plan based on what we already have. I’ve been buying chicken breast like crazy because ShopRite has been selling it for $1.99/lb, but after I vacuum sealed everything yesterday and I was putting it in the deep freezer I realized that I have so much chicken breast. So I need to do a little freezer organization. I also need to use up a lot of what is in there so in the spring we can wheel it outside and defrost it. I love my stand-up freezer, and it was definitely the best pandemic purchase we made, but it does require upkeep and a good defrost is long overdue!
Time to get organized for the week! I usually make out my weekly meal plans on Sunday and write everything on a white board in my kitchen so everyone can see what we are having. If your home is anything like mine, kids start asking “What’s for dinner?” just after they’ve barely finished breakfast! Years ago I participated in a link-up called “Menu Plan Monday” and I don’t think the blog hosts it anymore, but I do enjoy going back and looking through the weekly menus I posted on my blog. Sometimes it provides a bit of inspiration!
Do you meal plan? I don’t always stick to what I write down, but at least it gives me a blueprint for the week. Sometimes meals get bumped or we make something else depending on what everyone feels like, but I find it is very helpful having a rough draft — especially on nights when we have school activities or late meetings!