Menu Plan Monday 2.21-2.27

As I write this, my little guy is stuffing his face full of this liver mousse. I made this last week, and I wasn't the biggest fan, but he loves it! I'm so glad he's eating it because liver is incredibly nutrient dense and a great food for growing babies as their iron stores begin to decrease.

Now to the topic at hand - menu planning!

The best tip I have for anyone who is trying to eat healthier and cook more from scratch is to plan your meals. In the couple of years of marriage before I planned our meals each week, even though I wasn't cooking very complicated meals and we didn't have a baby to take care of, we had meal crises more than a few times. I've been doing this fairly consistently for a couple years and it makes a world of difference. I never stick to the plan 100%, but just having the plan there makes our home run much smoother. Everybody's happy and there's food on the table. :)

Many of the techniques I use to get the most nutrition out of the food I cook as possible, though they are quite simple, require planning ahead. I write these preparatory steps right on the pad of paper I use for meal planning. That way I don't forget to think ahead to the next day's meals.

You can find special magnetic meal planning pads of paper for pretty cheap at places like Michael's. Mine is not just for meal planning - it's just a days of the week memo pad. I found that it helps me to be consistent if I have a special place to write my meal plan.

Breakfasts are generally fried/scrambled eggs with toast and cheese or french toast. We do best on a high protein breakfast. Sometimes we have healthy homemade muffins or coffeecake as a second course with our coffee tea. :) (Right now we're finishing up the last of some Banana Crunch Cake I made a few days ago - I'll be sure to get that recipe on here soon!)

Besides breakfast, I usually only cook one meal a day - lunches are usually leftovers, but on days that I work in the evening, I cook for lunch and we have leftovers for dinner.

I'll tell you more about my specific meal planning methods in a later post, but for now, this week's menu!

Monday: clam chowder with sourdough bread

prep: soak beans, soak rice

Tuesday: pot of black/pinto beans, mexican rice, guacamole, chips, salsa

Wednesday: open face salmon melts on sourdough

prep: thaw steak

Thursday: grass-fed steak, roasted potatoes, salad

Friday: Quiche

Saturday: Sabbath - leftovers

prep: soak pancake batter

Sunday: pumpkin sausage pasta (leftovers from the freezer) for lunch, sourdough pancakes for dinner

Keep your eyes out for my delicious and frugal recipes for beans and rice this week!

This is part of Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie.

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