Menu Plan Monday: Back to Eating Clean

A couple months back when CJ was battling weight gain and reflux issues, I abided by a very healthy, strict diet. No wheat or dairy, very little sugar and lots of greens and good fats. Recently, however, our wee man's been improving and, consequently, I've eased up.

A li'l too much.

That is, cashing-in-on-a-Groupon-for-6-half-liters-of-Marble-Slab-ice-cream too much.

Lemme tell ya - their peanut butter flavour is to die for. But, following a few evenings of indulgence, I've been waking up feeling terrible. Even after an adequate amount of sleep.

A little more research has revealed I likely have a candida overgrowth. For those unfamiliar with this, in a nutshell we all have a naturally occurring yeast called candida albicans in our guts, but various factors (e.g. taking antibiotics or birth control pills, periods of high stress) can cause this yeast to grow out of control. Many medical practitioners (mainly holistic/naturopathic) are convinced that this can result in the body being in a toxic state which then causes various unpleasant conditions / general unwellness, however other authorities feel this is bunk. At this point, I'm leaning toward being a believer. My past is littered with the main overgrowth-promoting factors I mentioned earlier and I've definitely noticed a correlation between eating the notorious "yeast feeding" foods (sugars, starches, alcohol, etc.) and feeling like crap.

So now what? Given I'm breastfeeding, I can't do any sort of detox or full-out cleanse. But I do feel compelled to start eating clean again, and to incorporate a number of candida diet-friendly recipes into our upcoming meals.

On this note, I created a new Pinterest board for inspiration, and whipped up my first official Menu Plan Monday since last January. Has it really been that long? Well, no time like the present to kick things back into gear!

Monday: Rotisserie chicken from Sobey's (love these!) and Spinach Quinoa Bake
Tuesday: Ground turkey and chili stuffed peppers
Wednesday: Chicken avocado salad (using remaining rotisserie chicken) and leftover Spinach Quinoa Bake
Thursday: BBQ at my aunt & uncle's. We'll bring an organic greens salad with this yummy sounding tahini dressing and I'll have this with whatever (bunless) meat they're cookin' up!
Friday: Chicken noodle soup with zucchini noodles. Our garden's beginning to explode with zukes, so I'm hoping some will be ready to harvest by end of week.


Are you familiar with the idea of candida overgrowth? What are your thoughts? Have you ever attempted a candida diet, or another type of cleansing or detox diet?

Menu Plan Monday: Back in the Saddle

Hi y'all! It's been a little while, hasn't it? Happy New Year to all of my wonderful readers! :) Unfortunately I managed to ring in the new year with strep throat, so that wasn't the most fantabulous apple drop of my 30-something years. I was completely out of commission for a few days there but feeling pretty much back to my normal self now, which is good as one can only watch so much Degrassi Junior High on Netflix before going a li'l stir crazy.

My main NY's resolution this year is to get myself on a better daily schedule. I'll be writing more about this, but in the meantime thought I'd "break the blogging seal" with a quicky MPM post. Weekly menu planning is something I'd dropped the ball on somewhat but am starting back up now as part of my NYR.

Sunday:
Broiled salmon w/ a maple glaze & steamed broccoli 

Monday:
Crock pot beef barley soup 

Tuesday:
Cream of potato & leek soup with bacon (I don't think I've ever cooked with leek before. One is coming in our Pfennings organic local basket tomorrow, so I looked up some recipes. This one looks super-yummy!)
Lobster (Chris scored a great deal the other day on some pre-cooked tails.)  

Wednesday:
Dinner is coming to us in the form of cabbage roll casserole, one of my mom's old-school recipes. Sounds hearty & delicious. Thanks Mom! :)

Thursday:
Tuna, pea and brown rice casserole. This dish has become somewhat of a staple in our household. Ridicu-easy to make, tasty and reasonably healthy/balanced.

Friday:
Curling. Leftovers / eat out.

Menu Plan Monday: Hubby's Request!

Yesterday I ate a whole jar of "store home made" minestrone soup for lunch myself (about 3 bowls worth). It was quite delicious so I mentioned to Chris that we should do homemade minestrone as it's gotta be quite easy to make. His response? Minestrone is boring - it's like the fast food of soups. :) Well then! But his follow-up suggestion was kind of awesome. He said, why don't we do a chicken curry soup? Hello yummy - I'm in!!

I've also been wanting to make a batch of "sarma" (Croatian cabbage rolls) for awhile. Sarma's a whole afternoon affair so I'll need someone to watch li'l daughts during the process. I'm thinking Saturday for this one. And if I'm feeling ambitious, we might get a recipe post out of this one! :)

Back to linking up with orgjunkie this week!

Monday:
BBQ chicken (from Sobey's)
Caprese salad

Tuesday:
Coconut-Curry Chicken Soup (using the broth from the BBQ chicken)

Wednesday:
Spinach and Mushroom Pasta Bake

Thursday:
Broiled salmon (need to decide on flavour combo)
Veg (broccoli or asparagus?)
Pasta salad (I'll grab some from Erb's, the discount foot outlet down the road)

Friday:
Curling - off dinner duty! :)

Saturday:
Sarma - recipe to follow!!

Menu Plan Monday: Our Plentiful Patch

First of all, excuse the late posting here. I actually "slept when baby slept" during S' nap today as I was feeling pooched after a couple late nights out this weekend.

This weeks' menu attempts to use up more of the vegetables that continue to come out of our garden! It's incredible how late of a harvest we're getting this year. And there's that one remaining block of paneer cheese in the fridge begging to be enjoyed as well.

Oh, and I'm sneaking yesterday into the menu as well. *nods* Is that cheating?

Sunday:
Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes and Mushrooms + a simple cucumber tomato feta salad. This took care of a cucumber and some of the remaining grape tomatoes from the garden, plus the plum tomatoes from our latest Pfenning’s basket.

Monday:
Broiled Scallops + Green Beans with New Potatoes. We've had a bag of scallops in the freezer for awhile now so it's time to bust those out, plus I was surprised to see all kinds of beans left in the garden when I checked the other day! I'd totally thought those bad boys were finito.

Tuesday: 
Paneer Biryani with Cucumber Raita. (Yup, another cucumber from the garden!)

Wednesday:
Chris is out at curling, so leftovers. Wednesdays will probably be leftover/eating out nights more often than not this Winter!

Thursday:
Spinach, Mushroom and Ham quiche. I've made this one before and it turned out awesome, despite using a pre-made crust. I'll be doing this again because we *still* don't have a quiche pan (my stepmother apparently has one with our name on it but haven't grabbed it from her yet). But here's the thing - even if/when we do own a pan, I might just continue using the pre-made crusts, at least while we have young kiddos. As much as I'm all about making things from scratch whenever possible, well, time is of the essence these days and something's gotta give. :) And without the homemade shell-ement, this is a 15-minute meal. FTW.

Friday:
Dinner out with the girls!! We’re heading to Sole (an upscale casual Mediterranean restaurant) in downtown Waterloo. Surprisingly, I’ve never been there before. It’ll be nice to get out with the ladies and the Dinner Menu looks incredible!

Aside from actual meals, our garden is positively TEEMING with jalapenos and other peppers, so I'm going to try whipping up a homemade hot sauce! I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of this before as we looove our hot sauce and the garden's been producing these babies all season! And apparently the sauce can last up to 6 months in the fridge in an airtight container. We'll totally use it in half that time!

Menu Plan Monday: All Over the Map!

Indeed - this week's menu is somewhat of a cornucopia of different influences and flavours. I'm back to linking up with orgjunkie.com as well. Check out other MPMs here:

Monday:
Paneer Matter. Yes, the same dish from Indian Inspiration Week! :) I still have two more blocks of paneer to use up (it was on special two weeks ago) and this is one of Chris' favourite Indian dishes!

Tuesday: 
Crockpot beef barley soup. We like to add garlic and tomato to this, and I might try bacon and/or white kidney beans as well. The heartier, the better for this one! S and I will be sticking around at home the whole day, so we can enjoy sniffing the yummy beef soup-y flavours filling the air. I heart soup-making days!

Wednesday:
Seafood feast! We're thinking cedar plank Pacific salmon and giant shrimp on the barbie, plus broiled scallops and asparagus. The weather's supposed to be beautiful (23 degrees and sunny) so we might be able to enjoy an outdoor meal!

Thursday:
Sweet potato coconut quinoa soup. Just reading this title makes me salivate. How can you go wrong with that list of awesome ingredients??!

Friday:
Leftovers or eat out. I'm thinking we'll have a bunch of that beef barley soup left to devour, and that stuff is even better after 2-3 days of chillaxin' in the fridge!


So what are you all eating this week?

Menu Plan Monday: A Taste for Thai!!

Yup I know it's Tuesday. Let's just be OK with that and move on. :)

Chris mentioned to me the other day that it was soooooo awesome-sauce when I made three Indian recipes this past Spring during what I called Indian Inspiration Week.

So, I've decided to do another theme this week and I'm calling it A Taste for Thai! 'cause, y'know, I've got a taste for Thai and all. :)

Ironically, the week actually started with some more Indian. I made Palak Paneer yesterday and will be using the rest of the paneer tonight. So the Thai yumminess begins tomorrow!

Without further ado...

Monday:
Palak Paneer w/ Toasted Naan

Tuesday:
Zucchini Pasta w/ grape tomatoes, basil and paneer. I found this when Googling "What to do with leftover paneer" as last night's recipe only called for half of the package. It's actually perfect as we have a surplus of zucchini, grape tomatoes AND basil from our garden. I've never made zucchini pasta before but sounds super-easy and yummy!

Wednesday:
A Taste for Thai Recipe #1: Thai Green Chicken Curry. Lots of beans to harvest from our garden right now, plus we're getting a sample of organic chicken today from Onterra Farms which we can try out as well! (Edit - the chicken sample never ended up arriving (that's another story) so we had vegetarian curry.) Oh, and I'm totally using some of my Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil to pump up the coconut-y flavour even more! This dish is going to rule. :)

Thursday:
A Taste for Thai Recipe #2: Fish Fillets with Chili Lime sauce. This is a recipe from our Thai cookbook. I'm in KW that day so I'll stop in at T&J Seafoods for some really nice, fresh white fish!

Friday: (or the weekend, as Chris and I might go on a date that night!)
A Taste for Thai Recipe #3: Sukothai Phad Thai. I'm going to follow some of the adjustment suggestions in the first review as the person who wrote it appears to know their shtuff about Thai cooking, and I really want to nail down that perfect Phad Thai recipe! Perhaps I'll do a dedicated post on this one if it turns out r0xx0r.

Menu Plan Monday: Organic Moroccan Seafood Barbeque

Haven't done one of these in forever. I've been under the weather, on antibiotics for a UTI (TMI? lots of TLAs!) and we've been out & about a lot in the evenings. Excited to be back in the saddle though with a menu showcasing goods from our garden, this week's organic blender basket from Pfenning's, large & in-charge sea creatures and aromatic spices. Yum!

As usual, linking up at orgjunkie.com. Check out other MPMs here:

Monday:
Pre-made stuffed pasta & sauce. Nice 'n' simple to start off the week.

Tuesday:
Greek salad with chopped chicken breast. I'll use green-leaf lettuce from the organic box and cherry tomatoes and cucumber from the garden.

Wednesday:
Seafood barbie! Jumbo shrimp & scallops are on deck, and I might also pick up some T&J salmon to cedar plank-ize. :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD~~~~
Broccoli and lemon risotto (using organic broccoli from the box!) - thought this would pair well

Thursday:
Vegetarian Moroccan Stew. This came up when I googled kale recipes. I love how the non-standard items in the organic box inspire us to try new, tasty-sounding dishes!

Friday:
Leftovers (apparently the VM stew is even better the next day) OR treat ourselves and eat out!

Menu Plan Monday: Cottage Edition!

Day 3 at the cottage and it's a rainy one! Since we're stuck indoors anyway, it's a good time to do a l'il blogging!

Last year at the cottage I wrote up a menu plan for the week and it really helped organize our shopping trip and daily meals. So we made another one for this trip. With 7 adults and 2 kids (well 3 including S, but she still has her own meals so doesn't "count" :), it's all about convenience, simplicity (no recipes!) and having plenty to go around!!

The first thing we did was take stock of the meal-appropriate food everyone brought along (meat, pasta, veggies, etc.). We then arranged these into individual dinners, breakfasts, etc. based on factors such as BBQ vs. non-BBQ, mixing things up day-to-day and how perishable each item was. Finally, we filled in the gaps to add in salads, sides, etc. for each meal.These "gap" items, along with breads & cheeses for simple lunch sandwiches (to round out the numerous cold cuts brought along), healthy and non-so-healthy snacks and other items comprised the master shopping list. We ended up spending less than $200 total, and the food should last us the majority of the week - not too bad!

The cottage menu plan actually started on Saturday with Taco Night, which Chris' sister brought the fixings for - a nice, easy and tasty way to start off the week! We me end up reordering the meals from that point onward based on the weather, what people feel like, etc. but we'll use the ordering below as a blueprint.

Oh, and I'm linking up again this week! Check out other MPMs here:

Saturday
- Hard and soft tacos

Sunday
- BBQ - hot dogs, sausages and side salads (coleslaw and pasta)

Monday
- Ribs, potatoes, carrots and garden salad

Tuesday
- Pasta, garlic bread, leftover garden salad

Wednesday
- Marinated chicken & veggie kebobs

Thursday
- Steak, stuffed mushrooms, broccoli & cauliflower

Friday
- Eat out!!

So what are you eating this week? Who else is BBQing? Anyone else at the cottage?

Menu Plan Monday: Leftovers Edition

Over the Canada Day long weekend, we BBQ'd. A LOT! We also prepared a dish for the annual picnic with Chris' extended family. Since stores were closed on Friday, I ended up doing a mondo shopping trip on Thursday. Although we did make a list, we went with the whole "it's better to have it and not need than to need it and not have it" philosophy, so we inevitably ended up with a lot of leftovers and unused food. So my goal this week is to incorporate as many of these as possible into our meals! We'll also be heading to the cottage this weekend which is even more motivation to clear out the perishables. I'm pretty proud of this menu plan! It includes a few new dishes which sound very tasty, and if all goes well, we should end up with very little or no waste.

I'm also going to be linking up with I'm An Organizing Junkie starting this week, so I can proudly display one of her (many) MPM banners from this point forward! Here we go!

Monday: I'm preparing a few dishes today 'cause some things need to get eaten/cooked stat. Some of this will end up as leftover-leftovers. :)

Lunch:
Sausage and egg casserole, amended to include sauteed onion and mushroom as well. A plethora of leftovers are going into this one! Two cooked sausages and 3 flat, multigrain hamburger buns (in place of the white bread) from Saturday's BBQ, the last spicy smoked sausage from the meat keeper for some kick and a handful of the mushrooms from the remaining 680g package we didn't even end up touching over the weekend.

Dinner:
Hearts of Romaine Salad w/ apple, red onion and cider vinaigrette. We don't have cider vinaigrette so will probably just use balsamic - hope it gets the job done! This will take care of at least one of the two unused romaine hearts left in the bag. (People just don't put lettuce on their burgers like they used to!) I'm also swapping the pecans for raw almonds as we still have some of these kicking around.
Broccoli Rice Casserole. In you go, head of borderline-wilting broccoli! I'm also dicing up and tossing in the shaved ham and turkey we didn't end up using in yesterday's picnic wraps.

Tuesday:
Hungarian mushroom soup. Get in there, residual mushrooms! This'll allow us to harvest some of that dill in our garden as well!
Casserole leftovers

Wednesday:
Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas. I love enchiladas and haven't made them in awhile. Perfect time, as we have several flour tortillas left from the picnic. I also like that this recipe attempts to be a little healthier, incorporating brown rice and black beans!

Thursday:
Leftover-leftovers! Perhaps toss in a couple of the pre-seasoned Pacific salmon fillets we have in the freezer to bulk up the meal. 

Friday:
Polish off any remaining leftovers OR take out / order in; keep it simple before the holidays!

Memorable Menu Plan Monday 6/27

I've decided to continue combining Memorable Monday and Menu Plan Monday. Why not? :)

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MENU PLAN:

This week's menu theme - simplicity and BBQ! Similar to last week, I'm only actually cooking 2-3 meals myself. Chris will be BBQing the other ones. :) He's been asking me to incorporate BBQ'd meals into my menu planning so here y'go, hubs!

Friday we're hosting a Canada Day BBQ at our place and either Wednesday or Thursday night we may be having friends over for another one (unconfirmed).

Monday:
BBQ'd chicken from Sobey's
Spinach tortellini with home-made alfredo sauce with broccoli

Tuesday:
Chicken noodle soup made from Monday's leftover chicken, onions, carrots, celery & macaroni. (I LOOOVE home-made chicken noodle soup. Chris says it isn't really a Summer meal and most people would probably agree, but I can personally eat it whenever and I can't bring myself to throw out a bird carcass without making a soup! Such wastage!)

Wednesday:
Maybe a BBQ? If not, I'll cook something from the pantry or cop out and do a frozen pizza or sumpin. :)

Thursday:
See Wednesday. :)

Friday:
BBQ - probably hamburgers & hotdogs. Maybe some snausages too. *nods*
Salad, taters, veggies and mushrooms on the side. 

Weekend:
Sunday we're in Kincardine at a picnic with Chris' extended family. Saturday - dunno. Maybe treat ourselves to dinner out!

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MEMORABLE POSTS:

• Best. Reaction. Ever. from The Blonde Critic. So sweet and funny - you've gotta check this one out!
• Who's up for "no-pooing" by Good Girl Gone Green. This isn't what it sounds like, heh. It's about why we might want to consider no longer using shampoo to wash our hair, and how to wean ourselves off . My good friend's husband does this and he has a super-thick, healthy looking head of hair. I might give it a whirl myself! (Now's a good time with cottaging coming up!)
• Funny Parenting Quotes by Mama B. My favourite: “In general my children refuse to eat anything that hasn’t danced on television.”
• The Power Behind Date Nights by Simple Mom. Good tips on why & how to regularly "date" your spouse, post-kiddos. 
• 80 Uses for Coconut Oil by Hybrid Rasta Mama. I can't wait to try some of these (and write about my experiences) when I receive the coconut oil I won from Tropical Traditions!
• How to "Go Green" When Eating Out by Simple Organic. I'd never thought of bringing my own reusable take-out container to a restaurant before reading this, but I'm going to start! Why not? Such a simple way to cut down on some waste!
• And finally, two articles which really spoke to my inner demons, if you will. :) What Motivates You by Live Renewed and Am I Normal? Wait, don't Answer That... by This Mom Loves.

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So what are you cooking up and reading this week? :)

Memorable Menu Plan Monday

Yes that's right. I'm combining Memorable Monday and Menu Plan Monday this week. Why? 'cause I want to do both, but I'm on a self-imposed time budget as I'm *exhausted*. I need to get myself a few nights of solid sleep in a row. So I'm going to try to do this post in 9 minutes.

Let's rock.

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MENU PLAN:

I'm only cooking three meals this week. (See above note on exhaustion.) Meal inspiration? The thriving basil and cilantro in the back deck planters which are begging to be pruned down! :)

Monday:
Pasta with basil, tomatoes and feta served over PC Dine-In Tonight Fire-Roasted Goat Cheese and Tomato Girasoli. These dine-in tonight pastas are super-delicious. I just wish the portions were a bit bigger as I'm still on a mission to gain back some weight and my appetite is ginormous. 

Tuesday:
Phad Thai w/ shrimp & tofu. I've had a hankering for this for some time now. 

Wednesday:
Thai red curry. Both basil and cilantro will go into this scrumptious dish! 

Thursday:
Quiznos subs. I have a Wagjag I need to use. 

Friday:
Leftovers. There should be plenty from Tues and Weds! 

Weekend:
Lots of food-tastic events, including THREE birthday parties and the KW Multicultural festival! Our kitchen will be closed down. :)

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MEMORABLE POSTS:

• Living a Good Story in the Chaos and Getting Organized for an Intentional Summer by Simple Mom. Great posts about living intentionally. I was inspired by the second one in particular which led to Chris and I brainstorming our own "want to do" list for this coming summer. I'll post on this soon!
• Sunscreen by Job Description: Mommy (via guest poster Jennifer from Hybrid Rasta Mama). Great info on why it may be wise to avoid traditional sunscreens and alternative methods for protecting your skin from the sun.
• Flats and Handwashing Challenge Survey Results by Dirty Diaper Laundry. A HUUUUGE collection of interesting stats and comments are included here; definitely take a look if you want to know more about diapering with flats and/or cleaning dipes without a washer/dryer.
• Ten Ways to Stress Out a Blogger by Simply Stacie. All I can say here is "Amen"! Great read if you're a blogger, a giveaway sponsor or a giveaway enterer. (Or any combination of the above!)
• Life in the NICU - How to cope by Little Miss Kate. Some great tips for "riding the NICU rollercoaster" from a Mama who has been there!
• Infant Massage Basics by Natural Parents Network. There are some tips here on alleviating digestive problems which I'd like to try on S as she has the tendency to get a li'l bunged up. :-/

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OK that took a half hour. *chastizes self*

Bedtime!!!

Menu Plan Monday: Delivering the Dannon

So I had an initial menu plan for the week, and then AFTER my shopping trip realized there were almost two full 650 gram containers of yogurt in the fridge right around their best before dates. Crap! When we're not in a smoothie-making phase, it seems we often end up with spoiled yogurt. :( Determined to prevent this, I deftly adjusted the menu plan to include a yogurt-heavy dish. DANGEROUS, I know! But I think things will work out. Here we go!

Monday:

Fresh & toasty sammiches - Whole grain bread, genova salami, turkey, ham, pepper jack cheese, tomato, cucumber, mayo & grainy mustard! (DONE - and MMMMMmMMM!)

Tuesday:

Shrimp and Asparagus Pasta with some mods - will be following some of the healthier suggestions (I mean c'mon - a CUP of butter?!!!) and will be serving it over PC Dine-In Tonight Ricotta & Spinach Ravioli.

Wednesday:

Lunch: Strawberry & Feta Spinach Salad
Dinner: Eating out - annual pork BBQ at the Tavistock Curling Club. (So. Delicious.)

Thursday:

Indian Yogurt Chicken with basmati rice - 2 cups of plain yog in this bad boy. Throw in a few breakfast smoothies this week and hopefully we nip our yogurt spoilage threat in the bud!

Friday:

Cheesy Ham & Broccoli Casserole - nice, simple & hearty

Menu Plan Monday: Screamin' for Scallops

During last week's grocery trip (yup, I only went once - such is the glory of MPMs!) I picked up some nice 'n' plump frozen scallops on special. I looove scallops and will often order them at (good) restaurants, however have yet to prepare them myself. Ever! But I'm about to remedy this, as the mighty scallop will be served on Thursday night as part of this week's menu. Minted. With last year's mint that's running amock in our garden this year. w00t!

I was also inspired recently by the delicious apple & butternut squash soup I enjoyed at EJ's in Baden. My guess is that theirs isn't prepared fresh as BNS isn't in season, but it was still YUM! So I'm going to make its first cousin - apple, carrot and ginger soup! Pork tenderloin is also on special this week at Sobey's so I'm going to continue the apple theme and rock some tenderloin w/ applesauce. With steamed "small trees" on the side. And we're thinking of letting S have one of these to gum around at, in the spirit of dabbling around at baby-led weaning!

Monday:

"Leftovers" pasta (I've got a few whole wheat lasagna sheets left from last week's Mexican Lasagna, so I'm going to slice these up into an approximation of fettucini with tomato, garlic and mushrooms. And maybe a zucchini. *nods*)

Tuesday:

Pork Tenderloin with Applesauce
Steamed broccoli
Garlic mashed potatoes

Wednesday:

Gingered Carrot-Apple Soup

Salad of sorts (I'll probably just get one of the boxed salads - we'll see what's in stock at the store.)

Thursday:

Risotto with Scallops and Minted Peas (I'm going to follow the delicious-looking recipe in my "Bowl Foods" book which is similar to this.)

Friday:

Chris is in Washington. I'll nuke something or grab a panzerotti :)

Menu Plan Monday

It's been three weeks since my first MPM post and I haven't planned a weekly menu since, however I have some good excuses! Two weeks ago we were all sick and last week Chris was in Toronto two days in a row so it didn't really make sense to drum up a full menu (though I did make a spicy vegetable stew with dhal one night, which turned out delicious despite the fact that my stepfather mistakenly poured the split pea mixture into the stew pot BEFORE they were pureed - oops!)

This week I'm back in the saddle and looking forward to trying out some new recipes!

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Monday:

Chicken fingers w/ buffalo sauce, spicy fries & peas
(Since today is Victoria Day, stores weren't open so our weekly shopping was delayed. Sooooo we raided the freezer and pub grubbed it up!)

Tuesday:

Chicken Parmesan over pasta
Spinach salad with almonds and strawberries
(Yes, these two dishes also made an appearance in my last MPM. Admittedly, we didn't get around to the chicken parm that week so it got shuffled forward, whereas we *did* make the spinach salad and it came out so yummy that we're busting it out again!)

Wednesday:

Mexican lasagna
Avocado salsa w/ tortilla chips
How good do THESE sound?!??!?!?!?!? Very much looking forward to this particular meal!

Thursday:

Spinach, mushroom and ham quiche
I've never made quiche before, so this'll be a bit of an adventure! Though I'm going to cut out the hard part and buy a pre-made shell for my first attempt. (Baby steps. Plus, y'know, actually owning a quiche/pie pan is kind of important if you want to make this sorta thing from scratch.)

Friday:

Dinner/movie date night with Chris, IF he's feeling better (he has a minor day surgery on Thursday) AND we can find someone to stay w/ S.

If not, leftovers! (there should be lots)

On a related note...

Which movie should we go see?

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Menu Plan Monday

I've been meaning to start menu planning for awhile now, but aside from my Indian Inspiration Week haven't gotten around to it. However I've decided to commit to it starting this week! So many reasons to do so:

• Shop JUST ONCE for the whole week rather than 3-4+ small, rather disorganized trips. This should also encourage us to eat earlier in the evening as I won't need to shoot out to the store to grab something last minute (and as we mamas know, there's never really a "quick trip" per se when you have a little one!)
• Reduce or eliminate wasted food as there'll be a plan to use everything
• Healthier eating in general; no need to bust out the Lean Cuisine 'cause there's not enough time or ingredients to make a "proper" dinner .
• Less expensive eating; more home cooked meals = less eating out & takeout PLUS we can plan a menu around weekly sales items which'll save additional $$.
• Find ways to use existing ingredients lying around the house before they go bad.

Plus, I found a great blog called Food and Whine which has an EXCELLENT page dedicated to meal planning. If you like the idea of meal planning yourself but haven't gotten started yet, or if you plan but feel your approach could use some work, I highly recommend checking out her page! It includes some sample menus and a bunch of links to other helpful sites as well. The site I heart the most is http://www.supercook.com/. It allows you to type in a set of ingredients and it generates recipes containing these ingredients. Funny thing is that I had an idea to build this type of app a few years back but then forgot about it. Turns out it already existed! (Either that, or the Supercook creator read my mind and went from there. ;)

I've noticed some mamas plan out all three meals each day, however I'm going to start with dinner alone as we usually eat leftovers for lunch and we always have ingredients on hand for breakfast (hot & cold cereal, eggs, pancake mix, smoothie fixings, etc.) Also, I'm just doing Mon-Fri as we very often end up eating out or at a family member's house for dinners on the weekend so I don't want to overplan and end up wasting food.

Without further ado, here is my inaugural Menu Plan Monday menu! It is inspired by the fact that we have lots of chicken & shrimp in the freezer, and by hubby's desire to ingest a lot of veggies following his meatball & wing-laden UFC guy's night. :)

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Monday:

Spinach salad with strawberries & almonds (This recipe looks good so we'll try it!)

Mediterranean chicken breasts (frozen, pre-seasoned)

Tuesday:

Broiled salmon *

Steamed broccoli

Mashed potatoes w/ garlic and parmeson cheese

* We buy our fish from TJ Seafood, a local establishment which has the most fresh, high-quality fish I've ever tasted and also makes its own delicious smoked salmon in-house. TJ supplies to numerous restaurants in the KW region. So technically this is a separate trip, but a very catered one and so worth it! :)

Wednesday:

Asian stirfry w/ shrimp, tofu and LOTS of veggies (zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, peppers and other goodies)

 

Thursday:

Spinach & Mushroom pasta bake (we'll try this one and use the tri-coloured vegetable fusilli in the pantry!) 

Friday:

Chicken Parmesan over pasta (how about this recipe?)

Some veggie - we'll probably just go frozen for this one!

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For all you veteran menu planners out there, how does this look? :)