I'm back in the kitchen again...
I was totally singing that title as I typed it.
We've been doing three things around here lately that have really bothered me:
1. Eating way too much fast food
2. Spending a fortune on groceries
3. Throwing away way too many groceries that we never got around to cooking
I'm on a mission to solve all three.
I've checked into make-ahead meals in the past, and honestly, it always just overwhelmed me. Most info out there is geared towards cooking for one day (or even one weekend) and having meals for a month. That sounds nice, but seriously - if I can find a whole day to do anything, it will be sleeping, not cooking. Also, I don't have that much room in my freezer.
Then there was that article in Parents a few weeks ago that ticked me off so badly. In an effort to see if I could cook five REAL meals for a decent price, I made up a menu and a corresponding shopping list that included only the ingredients needed for those meals. Wait a minute - how handy is this? Wouldn't it be awesome to have a bunch of menus and grocery lists ready to go, that I could just pull from on any given week? (Yes, I realize I'm probably not the first person to have this idea. Whatever.)
So, I started hunting down recipes, and devised my menu for the first week. I only included one make-ahead meal, because I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about that yet (or whether we would actually eat them once made). We actually DID eat them - twice. Fabulous both times. Anyway, I present to you, Week 1 of my latest obsession (and actually, I've done this for two weeks so far, and the second menu is even better, but I'm holding out on you. Get over it.)
Week 1 - menu, recipes, grocery list. You're welcome.
I should note that the grocery list assumes that you keep the usual staples like salt, pepper, oil, etc. on hand. If you don't (or if you just haven't been to the grocery store in awhile), you might want to read through the recipes first. Also, not all of the recipes are original to me - I gave credit where it's due. A word of warning about the recipes labeled "from Anna's brain": I don't write recipes down, ever. I cook by taste, smell and sight. I'm pretty sure most of the measurements and cooking times are fairly accurate, but ya know... if something looks wacky, adjust accordingly.
We've been doing three things around here lately that have really bothered me:
1. Eating way too much fast food
2. Spending a fortune on groceries
3. Throwing away way too many groceries that we never got around to cooking
I'm on a mission to solve all three.
I've checked into make-ahead meals in the past, and honestly, it always just overwhelmed me. Most info out there is geared towards cooking for one day (or even one weekend) and having meals for a month. That sounds nice, but seriously - if I can find a whole day to do anything, it will be sleeping, not cooking. Also, I don't have that much room in my freezer.
Then there was that article in Parents a few weeks ago that ticked me off so badly. In an effort to see if I could cook five REAL meals for a decent price, I made up a menu and a corresponding shopping list that included only the ingredients needed for those meals. Wait a minute - how handy is this? Wouldn't it be awesome to have a bunch of menus and grocery lists ready to go, that I could just pull from on any given week? (Yes, I realize I'm probably not the first person to have this idea. Whatever.)
So, I started hunting down recipes, and devised my menu for the first week. I only included one make-ahead meal, because I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about that yet (or whether we would actually eat them once made). We actually DID eat them - twice. Fabulous both times. Anyway, I present to you, Week 1 of my latest obsession (and actually, I've done this for two weeks so far, and the second menu is even better, but I'm holding out on you. Get over it.)
Week 1 - menu, recipes, grocery list. You're welcome.
I should note that the grocery list assumes that you keep the usual staples like salt, pepper, oil, etc. on hand. If you don't (or if you just haven't been to the grocery store in awhile), you might want to read through the recipes first. Also, not all of the recipes are original to me - I gave credit where it's due. A word of warning about the recipes labeled "from Anna's brain": I don't write recipes down, ever. I cook by taste, smell and sight. I'm pretty sure most of the measurements and cooking times are fairly accurate, but ya know... if something looks wacky, adjust accordingly.