my week in meals ~ week one

{longest post ever.  it won't be this way every week.  promise.}

(this is how we do grocery shopping)

this is my first attempt to put together a weekly meal planning post.  i'm nervous about it and haven't been able to decide exactly how to go about it.  i've been racking my brain and obsessing as i often do. obsessing no more.  here we go ....

it is important to keep in mind that this will most definitely be a work in progress.  i'll learn as i go and i'm committed to making this a tool that (i hope) people will use/benefit from.  if you're reading this, please provide feedback.  it will help me a great deal and i promise that from now on, i will not have a huge intro to each week (such as this).

first, the truth:  i do not plan meals for our week.  this single obstacle poses a huge problem when it comes to meal-plan-posting on this here blog.  mostly, i mess around on the internet, find recipes that sound good, make a grocery list that will give me enough ingredients to put together a couple of new dishes per week and then, i just run with it.  i try to prepare healthy food as often as possible.

considering my lack of planning, it's not really possible for me to provide a weekly-meal-plan without changing the way i run this household (that sounds really official) and i know myself well enough to know that i would develop serious anxiety over meal time if i felt like anyone was expecting me to make ________ on monday. or tuesday. or wednesday.  get it?

i'm also terribly selfish so i needed to think of a way to do this that would benefit me first.  it's the only way i know i'll keep it up.

so i'm going to try to do this backwards.  i hope you won't mind.  i hope it will still be helpful.  if not, tell me to stop while i'm ahead of myself.

what will i gain?  more accountability.  i need it.  knowing people pay attention to what i'm feeding my own family throughout the week will help me continue to feed my family well.  i hope.  i'm reporting to you all to keep myself in line.  i get off track sometimes and i hate it.  maybe this will keep me on the straightened path?

how will it work?  the only way i could think to go about this fun new subject for posting is to provide to my faithful readers a look back on the prior week.  i can't say i'll make x-y-z on monday, tuesday, wednesday, etc. but i can say "this is what i fed myself and my family last week."  this way, i'll be able to tell you about something i made and whether or not we liked it.  if we liked it, the recipes will be posted here.  if we didn't like it, i won't spend the time sharing the recipe on this site.  maybe a link back to the original source but, that's about it.

will that be okay?

my goal will be to post the prior weeks meals in a user friendly format (links to recipes, photos of food, etc) on either saturday or sunday for the past six/seven days.  (the user friendly format will be the work in progress).

i'm going to be posting on this blog a lot more.  in addition to the recipe posts i'm already doing, i'll be posting some on workouts, tips in the kitchen,  snacking, planning, preparing, etc.

will that be okay too?

i might change the format as i get the hang of it.  i'll also be looking forward to suggestions if anyone is willing to send any my way.  i might consider adding my blog to a few sites that will link for more traffic (any suggestions?).  some days might include breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, dessert.  some might not include anything more than "ordered pizza."  it won't be everything i/we are eating.  that would get super boring.  just the stuff i feel might be worth sharing.  what's that saying?  "under promise and over deliver" ... that was my motto when i actually worked for money.  it worked.

oh! and, you know i talk a lot so, it will be no surprise when i feel the need to add a lot of commentary to everything.  my apologies in advance.  please don't judge me.  this is where i struggle the most with blogging (and deciding to go ahead and try this whole meal planning posting).  i genuinely enjoy and appreciate similar blogs but, i'm afraid to put myself "out there."  i suppose that despite my best effort to not care, i really do care about what people think of me and i don't want anyone to think that this is all i care about (food, eating, exercising, nutrition, etc).  or, that i'm obsessed (i am).  or that i judge others (i don't).  or, that i think i'm perfect (i'm not).  some of the meals will be the most boring, repetitive foods you've ever seen in your life and for that, i'm sorry though i dare guess that most households rotate the same handful of meals over and over again.  we'll see ...

another disclosure/admission; i feel like a poser with this foodie blog. for one, i'm not interested in taking the time with the photography. i just don't have the time.  most foodie bloggers spend a great deal of time on the eye-candy portion of their sites.  waiting for the perfect daylight to take photos of the food they prepare, using light boxes, saving leftovers to re-create the "dinner" during the daylight hours the next day.  i just can't do that right now.  so the photos will be what they are and i realize what they are is not the best but, it is what it is.  i don't own pretty place settings or kitchenware and i'm super messy while i'm cooking.  what am i trying to say?  just that it won't be pretty.  okay?

last of all, my food philosophy is a work in progress but, i enjoy the process.  that's gotta be enough for now.  as of now, there's no trend.  raw, vegan, vegetarian, organic, paleo, gluten-free, etc.  i just cook what sounds good.  nothing special.  i'll share what i learn as i learn it and what i feel as i feel it.

so, lets get to it.

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week one ~ 3/20/2011 thru 3/27/2011

sunday:
(dinner) hamburgers and hotdogs.  my "hamburger" = amy's california veggie burger.  for the rest of the troops i prepare real beef burgers 93/7 (lean/fat).  my favorite hamburger buns are nature's pride 100% whole wheat (first ingredient: whole wheat flour).  i resent the fact that decent whole wheat hamburger buns are difficult to find.

one of these days, i'll have my mother in law demonstrate how to make the perfect hamburger patty.  she has some serious skills that i try really hard to emulate but, i've got a long ways to go before i can say i've mastered the trade.

monday:
(dinner) "hamburger helper" creamy taco mac.  the family loved this dish.  we had fresh green beans from the co-op. i steamed them so, nothing fancy. is it bad that i prefer steamed from frozen over fresh?

tuesday: 
(dinner) creamed chicken, mushroom & leek pasta.

TIP**frozen chicken:  the kirkland signature brand foster farms chicken breasts from costco.  we go through so much chicken around here!  when i get home from the store i wash, trim and cut each breast in half (width wise) so i get four "cutlets" from each pouch that i put in ziplock gallon-sized freezer bags, suck the air out and store in our outdoor freezer (i'd say each cutlet is approximately 4oz).  usually, i pull chicken out of the freezer in the morning and put it on the counter to thaw (which supposedly is a no-no but, we're still alive) or, if i pull it out later in the day, i'll fill a bowl with room temperature water and put the bag in the water.  the chicken thaws quickly this way (an hour or two).

wednesday:
(breakfast) my breakfast is nearly always the same thing.  fruit in vanilla soy milk and 1/2 bubba's honey whole wheat bagel toasted and topped with maranatha almond butter (sprinkle truvia on top).  this is a high calorie breakfast but, it gets me through without the need for snacking until what usually ends up being a late lunch.

(dinner) kneaders bakery.  classic roast beef sandwhich on french country bread.  cub scout pack meeting + lack of planning = drive thru dinner.

TIP**frozen fruit:  i buy the huge bags of frozen fruit from costco (strawberries, blueberries and wild berry blend).  i divvy up a daily serving in separate ziplock baggies for the week and then put them in the freezer.  they thaw quickly but i try to remember to pull a bag out of the freezer the night before so it can thaw overnight for the next morning.  my servings = 4 strawberries and 1/3 cup blueberries or wild berries.

thursday:
(snack) green apple with one tablespoon of chocolate almond butter, melted.  SO GOOD!

(dinner) turkey burgers and baked sweet potato fries.  

friday:

(dinner) date night at goodwood barbecue company. pre-race dinner preparing for 1/2 marathon saturday morning.  i ordered "sweeeeet chicken." it was good.

saturday:

(dinner) post race.  with thrashed legs and the rest of me super tired, we had leftovers which, for me meant a salad consisting of whatever i had in the fridge. 

(spinach, grilled chicken seasoned with lawry's lemon pepper, orange bell pepper, cucumber, farfalle pasta and newman's sesame ginger dressing.  oh! and ice for the knee).

week one.  down.  how'd i do?

i'm starting a cleanse tomorrow that will last through thursday.  i won't be cooking too many new things this week but maybe, if anyone cares, i'll post about this cleanse.  what say you?