Saturday, January 8, 2011

Progressing Progress

I need to record, for posterity, how much easier life is when I do monthly meal planning because it is. It REALLY is. I just hated doing it but the dividends it's paying now during the month are so worth it.

I picked up a magnetic white board calendar that also has a place to a "to do" list on it to hang in the kitchen and that's also been helpful for any changes I've had to make to the menus. I did well with my goal of not repeating meals more than twice a month. I think, for the most part, most meals are only served once which is a HUGE change. We used to have pizza at least once a week because it was quick and crazy easy. This month? ONCE. To give you a sampling, here's a list of what we've had this month so far: (I'll link to recipes where available)

Special weekend breakfasts:
  • French Breakfast Puffs - I want these EVERY day but my wasitline would not appreciate it.
  • Buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy
  • Sour cream pancakes
(All of these recipes are from a cookbook called The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes From an Accidental Country Girl which I'd highly recommend as everything I've made from it and her website are DELICIOUS.)

Lunches:
  • Spaghetti Pie
  • Potato & cheddar pierogies
  • Grilled cheese
  • Cheese bagel bites
  • Macaroni & cheese
  • Potato cheddar soup
(We like cheese in this house if you couldn't tell..)

Suppers:
And leftovers. Lots and lots of leftovers. I have to say that's definitely at the top of my favorite things about meal planning list. Tomorrow, for example, I will only cook breakfast and then that's it for the rest of the day since we'll have lots of leftovers from today. Whee!

I picked up a very cheap six month subscription to a meal planning site (Relish) through one of the daily deal sites I get e-mails from, so we'll see if that makes planning for February even easier. All in all, I'd have to say that meal planning has been providing a large and lasting happiness boost.

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