The Hills: August 2010

Ever have trouble deciding what you want to eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Ever find your self going to the grocery store with out a plan, and then buying lots of food and then coming home and still not have anything to make for dinner? Do you ever feel frustrated and wonder why in the world we have to eat anyways?

I have to admit that when I first got married I was totally overwhelmed with the whole cooking all the time and feeding a large man thing. Sometimes today I get tired of cooking the same old thing and run out of inspiration to be creative, quick, and clean in the kitchen. But living in the Barn out in Magnolia will cure you of this dreadful "What to Eat" disease pretty quick because if you have no dinner to make then well you may have to drive 45 minutes round trip to the nearest chick-fil-a. My friends when you are so hungry that you are angry --- known as "hangry" --- then waiting 45 minutes to eat is a long time. Especially if you have already wasted 1.5 hrs trying to come up with dinnerr at home!

When I first got married I worked a couple months at our "local" Anthropologie where I discovered this "What to Eat" meal planning pad for about $8. This pad helped me to get inspired to plan my meals and write my grocery list down. Mostly because it was from Anthro and it was cute! It Turned out to a pretty good plan because it has been keeping me sane for about a year and half now. I live by it!

On Sundays after church I sit down at our big kitchen table and take out my pad. I first think of what our scheduled will be for the week and if I know we will eat out one day I go ahead and write that down. I consult with the Hubby Bubby to see if he needs me to make him lunch all five days that week or just a few. I then ask him if there is anything he wants me to make him for dinner that week, and usually he just tells me he loves everything I cook and he is positive I can come up with something.... ha! After that I try and think of anything that I want for dinner off the top of my head and write that down. Then I start recipe searching - blogs, cookbooks, or inspiration from the foodnetwork or something yummy I ate at a restaurant the previous week.

I have found that some of the best recipes are the ones that you try and re-create from one of your favorite restaurant meals.

Once you have got all your meals down then it is time to check your fridge and pantry to see what you got before you make your grocery list. I then flip over this piece of paper and make my list on the back of it. I list what store I am going to and what I need from there along with any other "wifely" errands I might need to make that week. That way everything I need to do is on that sheet of paper.

What I find MOST helpful with my little system is that by the time Wednesday has rolled around and I am exhausted or have had an extremely long hard day dinner has already been decided for me. This greatly helps the "Oh I will just pick up take out on the way home" disease because everything you need to make for dinenr is already at home and in your fridge.

Now for some recipes from around the Web that I love:

1. Mexican Hummus

2. Chicken Pastina

3. Black Bean Quinoa

4. Southwest Chili with Corn (I use ground Turkey)

5. Chicken Pot Pie

6. BBQ Roasted Salmon

7. Anything from this blog - They taught me to put pesto on Sandwiches ( can you say EL Yum? )

8. Cuban Braised Beef

These are just a few to get your mind rolling. Later on I will post everything I can think of to do with chicken!