"What's for dinner?" - That little phrase has caused much stress and frustration around my household. Some days, by the time I've made it home from work, cooking dinner is the last thing I want to do. It's even harder when I haven't anything planned yet. It might have been the only thing that was easier as a single mom - cold cereal, a bowl of broccoli & cheese and some rice, and the good ol' Hamburger Helper were always easy. Now, things are a lot more complicated and no one here will eat Hamburger Helper anymore. Sometimes there are 5 of us, sometimes there are 3 of us, and likes/dislikes are very different through us all. My stepson is impossible. Actually, he's easy to feed if you're OK with just keeping a bag of frozen chicken nuggets in the freezer but I've gotten to the point we don't buy them at all because it makes my stomach turn to watch him choke them down. Usual kid-friendly food like spaghetti can (and just last week did!) result in tears. My son and my stepdaughter are both pretty good eaters and my son keeps getting more adventurous with what he's willing to try. My husband's taste is very different than mine - he loves SPICY. The hotter the better for him which is so not me. For example, my favorite thing in the whole world is a potato. I could eat one type of potato or another every meal, every day and never tire of them. Really, I could.
Well, our current eating habits are doing very little to help my waist line so this weekend I've decided to take control of things. No more giving in to ordering out because the hubby isn't home until 8:00 or because I didn't want to spend my weekend at my neighborhood market. I sat down last weekend and made a full menu all the way though May 5th! Using our family staples and my collection of online recipes, I've put a menu together that is an attempt at at least being healthier (that's almost healthy!) and organized. I stuck everything up on my Google Calendar and shared that with my hubby and my kid. Now neither of them will ever have to ask that horrid question again. Just in case anyone is wondering, this is the menu for this week. I think I might post random weeks on here to share. Yeah, it's only Tuesday, but so far I'm two for two and groceries are bought for the next two. I think this just might work.
Monday - Stir fry (chicken, bok choy, carrots, orange peppers, sugar peas, rice noodles, zesty low sugar sauce)
Tuesday - My Not Really Cooking Day - sweet potatoes in the toaster oven and edemame
Wednesday - Seasoned pork chops with green beans and mac & cheese
Thursday - Salmon with asparagus and basmati rice
Friday - Night out with the hubby (seafood joint)
Saturday - Free night with friends
Sunday - Corned beef with potatoes!
