Menu Plan Monday: 01/06/2014

It's the first Menu Plan Monday of 2014!!! I've been hearing a lot of other bloggers and just people in general that want to make more meals at home. Well my friends menu planning is where you can start to help accomplish that goal. Before I left on my hiatus from blogging, I was giving tips to help with menu planning. You can find these tips here: Tip #1, Tip #2, and Tip #3.

To keep myself accountable to actually make the meals I plan, I'm going to start a new series called What we ACTUALLY ate!? or WWAA for short. Each night that I have a meal planned, I will post a picture on Instagram and Facebook showing what I planned and then what we actually ate. I would love it if you joined me in this series, as well. You can post the pictures to the Facebook page or on Instagram using the hashtag #wwaa.

I'm hoping this series will keep me accountable on making the meals I planned and bought for the week. I know there will be days weeks where the Jack-in-the-Box guy has become my best friend, but I also know hope the majority of the weeks my new best friend will be my kitchen. So, here's to making our kitchen our friend instead of that drive thru person!

Weekly Meal Plan

Monday: Yellow Curry with Chicken

This is one our favorite Thai dishes!

Tuesday: Breaded Baked Chicken

My first little ole' recipe on the blog and it's still a favorite.

Wednesday: Tomatillo Salsa Steaks & Baked Fries

Thursday: *New Recipe* Chicken & Jalapeno Pasta

Friday-Sunday: Good question!? We usually eat out or just wing it!

Have no clue about menu planning? It's ok head on over to OrgJunkie.com for more tips and info on menu planning. Remember to join me in WWAA and post your pictures on Facebook or Instagram. 

What are you cooking this week?

Menu Plan Monday: 10/7/2013

Ok, it's the end of the day. You just worked your butt off for 8 hours or possibly even more. You are beat tired. Then all of sudden your stomach grumbles with such a ferocity that it could scare a small child. You need food... NOW! Ugh, you know there is nothing at home to cook, but yet you really don't want to have another drive-thru party. What to do? You are starving, dead tired, have no food at home, and you don't want another processed "chicken" sandwich for dinner.

Ok, so I didn't have a drive-thru party, but instead one night we ate at our favorite sushi place. Yes, it's better than fast food, but come on the whole point of menu planning is to actually follow your plan! Oh, well hopefully I'll do better this week. Alright, let's get on to this week's tip!

Meal Planning Tip #3

The past two weeks I've been giving tips on how to meal plan. Here is Tip #1 and Tip #2. Alright now you've collected your recipes and hopefully they are organized and more manageable now. The next step is to sit down, pick out the recipes you want to cook for the week, and make your grocery list.

When choosing your recipes, just keep in mind how busy you'll be on days. I mean come on, we all know that if we have busy work days, we are NOT going to come home and cook. So pick out easy and quick recipes for those nights. Or heck, if you really don't like cooking, pick these recipes each night of the week!

Once, you've chosen your recipes now you need to make your grocery list. I mentioned the amazing site Cozi last week for organizing your recipes. I love it for that, but I REALLY love it for making my shopping list. I click on a recipe and then I'm able to add all the ingredients from that recipe to a shopping list. Best thing is that Cozi has an app for your phone where you can access your shopping list! It honestly just makes making a grocery list soooo much easier. Other ways to make a grocery list is to either write or type it out. Just make sure you don't forget the list!

Making the grocery list gives me the confidence that later on during the week when I go to cook something, I will have everything I need. It also prevents those extra side trips to the grocery store that can add up! I have one last tip for next week so make sure to come back!

Weekly Meal Plan

Monday: Mexican Stuffed Bell Peppers

Since we ate sushi last week, I didn't get a chance to work on this recipe. Just perfecting this recipe before I decide to put up on here.

Tuesday: In-N-Out

Wednesday: Tomatillo Salsa Steaks & Baked Fries

I did make this last week, but now I'm gonna make it and take pictures for the blog!

Thursday: Chicken Picatta Pasta

New recipe!

Friday - Sunday: I don't plan for these days because we just plan on the go.

Have no clue about menu planning? It's ok head on over to OrgJunkie.com for more tips and info on menu planning. If you cook something this week, take a picture and post using #tablefortwoplease. What are you cooking this week?