Sunday, August 16, 2009

This is about to change your world...

...ok, maybe not so much change your world...but at least, make it considerably more enjoyable!

And streamlined.

Round abouts 2 years ago, after the birth of Buster Boy (or 2nd babes), I found myself flittin around the house all day and not actually getting a lot done. I was enthralled with my babies and thought every second they were awake needed to be spent in their faces entertaining them. And of course when they slept, I felt the need to sleep (I still believe in this part, mind you!).

But when Carter would come home from work and there wasn't even a HINT of dinner cooking, or dinner even being thought about, I started to feel like a slacker wife. So we'd pack up many nights and head to our restaurant of choice.

Soon I found that money didn't grow on trees and those darn restaurants preferred we pay with money, as opposed to other means. Silly them.

So I decided we needed a little organization to our daily routine. I developed a cleaning plan of what areas of the house I would tackle on certain days, when I would do laundry/ironing, etc.

Excellent concept.

Then came the dinner planning. I would sit down on Sunday afternoons and develop the week's menu, followed by a trip to the grocery store.

Changed our lives, I tell ya.

Ok, maybe didn't change them...just made them more enjoyable, less stressful, more streamlined. And now, with 4 little tikes at home all day, it's a NECESSITY to plan ahead and be proactive on all fronts. That way, when the opportunities arise (twins are napping, big kids are play-do-ing), I can begin browning meat, chopping veggies, or whatever else can be done early. And when the dinner hour rolls around, I just put it all together and press the "bake" key. Waalaa! (I even have those small clear bowls that I put all my prepped food in so I totally feel like a Food Network star when I get them all out of the fridge to throw together!)

Here's where you come in...whoever you are. I'm going to start posting our weekly menus each Sunday in hopes that maybe once in a while you might find something you can add to yours. If you need the recipe, you post a comment with your email address.

There are lots of these types of blogs around, but I don't ever know the people, so I thought it would be cool if we started another. Kara is already cranking at whatkarascooking so I know she's in (and will have most of the recipes on her blog already).

So here's what to do (until I figure out an easier way). Either post your menu in my comments section, or post a link to your blog.

Here is full permission to steal from me, as I will absolutely be doing the same.

Who's in????

WEEKLY MENU

Sunday (always a breakfast night for us) - Orange pancakes (just make regular pancakes but switch the milk for oj), sausage

Monday - Potato Kielbasa Skillet, cornbread

Tuesday - Steak Wraps, creamy red potato salad

Wednesday - Caprese pizza, spinach salad

Thursday - Friends cooking, not me!

Friday - Chicken won tons, cous cous, edamame

Saturday (always) - Burgers, brunswick stew (got to represent the hometown!), oven potato fries

Can't wait to see what you've got cooking! Don't leave me hanging....

9 comments:

Kara said...

LOVE IT! So cool! I was actually going to put our weekly menu up on whatkarascookin.com, but every couple nights we have leftovers (cause it's just the two of us, ya know), and that looks a little embarassing on my own cooking blog. Maybe I'll fix that ... But I'm actually making our weekly menu now, so I'll get back to you on what we're having for the week!

Love the idea!

Kara said...

So here's our weekly menu:

Sunday night (last night): breakfast for dinner - scrambled eggs, biscuits, bacon

Monday: Roasted chicken with lemon, garlic, rosemary and potatoes (with a side of steamed snow peas)

Tuesday: leftovers

Wednesday: Beef teriyaki

Thursday: Crispy ginger-and-garlic Asian turkey lettuce wraps with fried rice

Friday: date night (hopefully - hint, hint!)

Saturday: marinated and grilled pork chops, roasted corn on the cob

Recipes for most of these will be on www.whatkarascookin.blogspot.com this week.

Anonymous said...

Another helpful hint (as if you need it since you got it goin on) -I keep a list of all of the meals I make and the side dishes on the inside of one of my cabinet doors. It's very helpful when I'm doing the dinner list for the week. Edes

Cyle Lewis said...

I love this idea... I will totally do this. I have been using some recipes froms Kara's website! I am glad to see I'm not the only family that eats edamame. I've gotten some weird responses when discussing this as a recurring side dish for us! I will post my menu Sunday!

Kara said...

Suz and Cyle - totally forgot to ask this earlier - where do you get your edamame? Is it frozen in a bag? Please tell me - a former co-worker used to boil edamame and bring it to work and share it, and it was so good!!

Cyle Lewis said...

I get it in the frozen section.. you can get it in the deli section at grocries but it's a little pricey. Harris Teeter often has it bogo or b1g2 or last time I bought it it was buy 2 get 3... Whew!

Suzanne said...

I can only find the edamame at Target - frozen. Haven't found at Wally or The Pub yet.

kristymasterson said...

I'm in! I am a meal planner too. Our schedule is just a bit more combobilated due to Russ work. But the meals I do have down, I will pass your way!

kristymasterson said...

As I sit with a bowl of edamame in front of me....I read the comments. Nuts! I get our edamame at Sam's in the freezer section. Not bad at all!