Meal Plan February 3, 2012

There's so much talk on the news lately about this winter, or more precisely, non-winter.  Personally, I'm loving it.  I used to like snow.  I used to not mind cold.  I used to look forward to winter-like weather.  Then, I became the grown up.  I learned that winter brings with it power outages, risks of trees falling, ice dams and literal rivers running through my children's bedrooms, leaking windows and doors from aforementioned ice damming...I'm done.  As far as I'm concerned this is the best! winter! ever!!  and I hope it sets a standard for years to come.  

There has been a lot of topsy-turvy-ness going on in our lives lately.  Jacob and Julianna have each missed a day or two of school lately being sick, but fortunately not-too-sick.  Honestly it was right on the borderline whether to send them or not, they certainly didn't have symptoms that were expressly forbidden to be in school with, it was just really nice to be able to have the option to keep them home when they're feeling punk.  I'm thankful to have that choice in my life.  Mark's been out of town on unexpected business trips...all this to say meal planning has been a joke.  Yes, I've planned; yes, I've shopped; it's just that everything gets rearranged seemingly constantly and we haven't been using what I've planned/shopped for.  Such is life.  I'm learning to just go with it.

I discovered this week that a specialty grocery store in our community delivers!  I am beyond excited.  It has the potential to really make my life a lot easier.  They charge $5 or it's free w/ a $100 order; they offer same-day delivery, it really is wonderful.  I may not use it a lot in the short term, Jacob's taking a writing class near a specialty market we enjoy a lot,  but once it's over it will be awesome to have this option. 


The next couple of weeks, knocking on wood, here's what I'll be making around here:

Friday:  leftover crockpot chicken sandwiches or out, not sure which will win out yet.
Saturday lunch:  out or crockpot sandwiches, whichever didn't happen Friday.
Saturday dinner:  homemade pizza**
Sunday lunch:  Date!  (Jacob and Julianna will be busy with a youth group activity, Mark and I will squeeze in a quick date.)
Sunday evening:  Super Bowl!  *Yawn*, actually, but it's a good excuse for "fun food".  Only problem is I'm not really in the mood to cook 'fun food', it does tend to be labor-intensive, but I'll most likely suck it up and just do it.  I know I'll be happy I did.  Emeril's Roasted Asian wings, Pioneer Woman's potato skins, 
Monday (dance night):  chicken finger wraps
Tuesday (piano):  Confetti Chicken, salad or green beans, Brussels Sprouts
Wednesday (dance night):  Meatloaf, parsleyed potatoes, glazed carrots
Thursday:  Macadamia and Panko Crusted cod w/orange butter sauce, rice pilaf w/apricots, sugar snap peas

Friday: Steak sandwiches, oven fries
Saturday:  out
Sunday evening:  spaghetti w/meat sauce, bread
Monday (dance):  Chicken Noodle Soup, wheat bread
Tuesday (piano & Valentine's Day):  Trisha Yearwood stuffed bell peppers, salad, bread
Wednesday (Brownies, dance):  Oven-fried Chicken, sweet potatoes, Brussels Sprouts/cauliflower
Thursday:  Tyler Florence's Fish Sandwiches, potato chips, cut-up veggies





Extra Recipes I'll be Making:  Chocolate Granola Bars, Homemade pudding pops, Double Chocolate PB Ice Cream, Marshmallow Frosted Brownies (making for Julianna's brownie troop), Homemade Pizza rolls, Mini-Quiche.  Whew, that sounds like a lot of junk, doesn't it?  Well, I'm hoping the granola bars will be mostly healthy; the pudding pops will be shared amongst 6 kids so they'll each have one then they're gone; the ice cream is pure indulgence, at least I hope.  :)  I'll work on making snacks the rest of the days ultra-healthy.


Hope you have a good week.  Check out other meal plans at Org Junkie's.