SUNDAY
Breakfast >> waffles & bacon
Lunch >> spinach, chicken, & bean quesadillas
Dinner >> Family dinner at my parent's house {my mom's lasagna- mmmm}
MONDAY
Breakfast >> zuchinni muffins
Lunch >> tortilla soup & garden salad
Dinner>> brown sugar spicy pork chops, sauteed garlic asparagus, baked sweet potatoes
TUESDAY
Breakfast >> oatmeal with blueberries
Lunch >> quinoa burrito bowl
Dinner >> balsamic & rosemary grilled salmon, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, garden salad, grilled corn
WEDNESDAY
Breakfast >> waffles
Lunch >> sub sandwich slice & tortilla soup
Dinner >> Braden in charge of dinner (usually a frozen food item like corn dogs or chicken nuggets)
THURSDAY
Breakfast >> fruit & yogurt, quinoa bowl for me
Lunch >> chicken & avocado quesadillas
Dinner >> Italian crockpot chicken & bowtie pasta
FRIDAY
Breakfast >> pancakes
Lunch >> sub sandwich slice & garden salad
Dinner >> order out
SATURDAY
Breakfast >> bacon & eggs
Lunch >> leftovers
Dinner >> Date night, frozen food item for kids
Here's a grocery list to get your preparation ready for the week!
First things first- the grocery shopping. We hit the grocery store (Wal-mart) and the farmer's market (Superstition Ranch Market) on Saturday, so I need to have the next week's menu and shopping list ready by Saturday morning. Braden tackles the Wal-mart shopping, and I go to the farmers market. Braden happens to have OCD so he puts everything away and organizes the fridge and pantry the way he likes it; but if you don't have the luxury of a crazy neat-freak husband, as you put away groceries is a perfect time to get your kitchen organized. This is also a good time to chop any vegetables and mix dry ingredients for the baking you'll be doing Sunday for the week. Put them in ziplock bags to shorten your prep time for your meals and baking.
On Sunday I make a huge double batch of waffles, so we can freeze the extras. We only have one belgian waffle maker, so it's a great time to multi-task and make a batch of flour tortillas to use for lunch. In the afternoon I mix together the pre-made dry ingredients with the rest of the ingredients for the muffins and bake those off for Monday morning. It's great to get that done in the afternoon, since I don't have to prepare dinner Sundays! I highly suggest getting together with family at least one night every week and rotate cooking so you can have a night off of dinner duty. Plus, it gives a scheduled night with the people you love and probably don't see as often as you want to. Win-win!
On Monday, since breakfast is done with your muffins, take this time in the morning to put together a salad for the week. Throw a bunch of lettuce, your favorite chopped vegetables, and dry toppings all in a large tupperware and you have a salad to use for lunch all week long. I like to rotate soup, salads, and sub sandwich slices all week, and it's great to have them all prepped on Monday. For this week's soup I threw all the tortilla soup ingredients in the crockpot Monday morning, then put together a sub using an italian bread loaf and whatever deli meat & cheese I had in the fridge. I also had some leftover bacon from breakfast on Sunday so I threw that on my sandwich too. I keep all the veggies I want to put in my sandwich cut in ziplocks in the fridge so my sandwich doesn't get soggy. Each day I want a sandwich, I just slice off a nice chunk of the sub and add my condiments and toppings.
On Tuesday, Braden made the oatmeal with blueberries for the kids. Since he works from home, he helps out with meals whenever he can which is a BIG bonus for me. Dividing meal responsibilities, especially when it's a quick and easy meal like oatmeal will give you a much needed break here and there. For lunch I made a large serving of quinoa for our burrito bowls and saved half for breakfast for later on in the week. If quinoa is not something everyone will eat, you can substitute it for brown rice here.
On Wednesday the waffles are already ready! Just pop them in the toaster oven- your kids will be so happy. I decided to take Wednesdays "off" and asked Braden to be in charge of dinner that night. I need to find something to fill my Wednesday nights- probably reading.
On Thursday I use the quinoa I made on Tuesday for breakfast bowls with yogurt & fruit and the tortillas & chicken I made Sunday for quesdillas. Everything for dinner goes into the crockpot in the morning, and the pasta is made at dinnertime.
Fridays is fancy pancake day so I actually have "work" to do- but I've made this recipe so many times it really takes no time at all. For dinner we order out, by this time I'm over cooking. Then Saturday Braden and I make B & E's together, have whatever is in the fridge for lunch, then it's Date Night!
You can see that by being realistic and knowing that I am just not up for cooking every. single. meal. every. single. day; and by preparing a lot of the meals ahead of time I can have delicious food all week and not resort to Lil' Caesar's & McDonalds four times a week. Plus, by enlisting help I ease the burden tremendously. I'm excited to continue this new schedule and see if it's as productive as I hope it will be!
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