Meal Planning

I was meal planning pretty diligently a few months ago. Every Thursday or Friday I would clear a space on the kitchen table big enough for my calendar, computer, grocery list, and meal plan, and go to town. Googling new recipes, checking the pantry to see what needed used up, anticipating work nights with slow cooker meals... it was lovely. But then my husband had surgery and I fell off the planning wagon. I've been back to $20 grocery store runs for whatever we need whenever we need it, and grabbing whatever fixes the quickest for dinner; cereal, PB&J, eggs, instant oatmeal. Not all bad, but definitely not well-rounded nourishment.
Well, this week I am jumping back on the wagon. I finally feel like my life and home are back to a manageable state after surgery and I'm ready to work out a weekly menu once again! Here is my plan for this week's dinners:

Sunday (tonight)
Smokey Oven Chicken with Bacon Corn Couscous
Spinach Salad drizzled with Lemon Juice

Monday
Slow Cooker Chicken with Apricots and Dates
Brown Rice
Salad

Tuesday
Quinoa Soup

Wednesday
Orzo with Chicken, Garlic and Scallions

Thursday
Grilled Salmon
Fresh Dill Veggie Platter

Friday
Turkey Burgers
Oven Crinkle Fries
Salad

(and Saturday we are going out to celebrate our 5th anniversary!!)

As I was browsing through a few home-making blogs tonight, wouldn't you know I stumbled across a great article on, you guessed it, meal planning! You can check out the article here, at Keeper of the Home, a blog I've been reading more frequently. It was an encouraging read and gave me lots of tips for how to be more successful with my plan. I will be trying them all!

Tonight we cooked up that first meal on the list, but subbed chicken for the salmon because my father-in-law is in town and he loathes fish (won't even eat a tuna sandwich). I did spinach instead of watercress, and also omitted the pepper from the couscous (because I loathe peppers). The couscous was AMAZING! Look at all the gorgeous colors in the dish!

And it smelled so good cooking! I honestly love having fresh food on the table. It makes me feel as if I'm doing something good for my family, which... I am.