Well, it's safe to say it's been almost 4 months since I've written one of these posts. Perhaps there is some correlation with the fact that Kyler is also almost 4 months old...
Anyways, I did not plan out meals while I was on maternity leave (March and the first two weeks of April), and then I attempted the next two weeks to do so but will admit that I have some AMAZING friends who brought me meals AGAIN once I returned to work, and my husband and I decided that if I am working, we might as well take advantage of my income and get takeout at least once a week. Which was nice, but I honestly did miss cooking. There is just something satisfying about knowing what is actually in what I'm eating. And I think in general, I eat healthier when I cook versus when I select something off of a restaurant menu.
MENU PLAN FROM MAY 2012
In May, I started menu planning again, but as I was trying to just survive the school year, I never posted about it. I used the "Once a Month Mom" Whole Foods May 2012 menu and selected a few dishes off of it and as her recipes suggested, made a double batch.
So in the month of May, we had these dishes twice:
1-Spicy Beef Lettuce Wraps (I actually made these again tonight with turkey instead of beef, and I cooked 1/2 cup of quinoa and added it to the mixture to stretch it a bit farther- you don't even notice it's in there- yum!... oh and I also left out the peanuts, used red pepper flakes instead of the sriracha and used many more green onions)
2- Sesame and Cilantro Vermicelli Salad (again, left out the peanuts)... and I made this again tonight as a side with the lettuce wraps
My thoughts: I really liked having meals in the freezer while I was working... I wasn't a fan of the way the vermicelli thawed- it tasted too watery, but the rest of the stuff froze beautifully. I don't have a need to do once-a-month cooking right now, but I'm sure I will again once school starts. I think selecting just even 4 dishes off of a menu like the ones on that amazing blog can be a huge help!
Other things I've been cooking:
Oatmeal Blueberry Applesauce Muffins- These were Grant's birthday treat!
Virgin Mojitos- I made a mint-infused simple syrup and then added fresh lime juice, more mint leaves, sparkling water & ice... yum!
This week's Menu Plan
Mon: Pizza with Grant's parents and cousin
Tues: Spicy Turkey Lettuce Wraps (see above), Sesame & Cilantro Vermicelli Salad (see above), strawberries
Weds: Goat Cheese, Pesto & Red Pepper Pizzas with Tomato, Watermelon, Tomato & Mint Salad
Thurs: Roasted Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burritos (I roast onions and sweet potatoes and then half the ingredients-they sound weird but totally work- from this recipe)
Fri: leftovers
Sat: leaving for vacation!
Sun: vacation!
Have a good week!!
