Sunday, January 3, 2010

Menu Plan for 1/4-1/10



After a lovely weekend with my family, I'm refreshed and ready to start the first full week of January 2010. My "Mister" and I did a lot of organizing, rearranging and tossing this weekend. We rearranged our bedroom, (it was a real HGTV moment), set up the small kitchen appliances in an unused closet that will become a pantry in the near future, cleaned out cupboards, drawers and dressers, and moved an extra refrigerator out of the laundry room. We even managed to go out for an adults-only dinner with family at our local Thai restaurant!


Since we're starting a new decade, I've decided to really try to stick to healthier eating. That means no more Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (*sniff*sniff*), no more jasmine rice, (hello brown), no more commercially prepared lattes, (oh the heart-ache), and no more Chex mix. Warning: It could get really ugly around here.


In place of my "now banned" foods, I will replace them with healthier choices such as; homemade pumpkin spice lattes, coconut popcorn and the occasional piece of dark chocolate. I'm going to keep a steady supply of homemade yogurt in the fridge, and I'll make a trail mix using raw nuts and dried fruits for quick snacks.


This week, I'll be using dried beans and potatoes a lot. My hubby's uncle, who lives in Idaho, brought us approximately 100#'s of potatoes, a big bag of pinto beans, and about 20#'s of onions. My grocery list is still large, but mainly because I'm too lazy to make the trip to Costco. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. I think somebody important said that once.


Here's what's cookin'...


Monday: Soaked oatmeal w/ frozen marionberries (picked by us last summer!)
Leftover stew, sliced apples
Horseshoe sandwiches w/ oven baked fries, raw carrots w/ homemade ranch dressing
(These sandwiches are made with sourdough bread, hamburger patties, ham slices, a homemade cheese sauce and covered with oven baked fries. They can be made as large or as small as you want. I'm going for the one that's least likely to stop our hearts. Yep, I'm mean that way.)

Tuesday: Poached eggs, toast, fresh squeezed orange/grapefruit juice
Homemade yogurt w/ fruit, granola bar, carrot sticks
Cuban Black Bean Soup w/ Tomato-Cilantro Rice (Check back on Wednesday for this yummy crock-pot recipe!)

Wednesday: Plum smoothies, peanut butter toast
Leftover Cuban Black Bean soup
Buckaroo Nachos, fruit salad w/ toasted coconut (These nachos are loaded with ground beef, black beans, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and cheese. I get to be the "cool" mom today!)

Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas, clementines
Potato/Corn Chowder, broccoli salad (I may turn this into clam chowder, but shhhh...don't tell my girls!)

Leftover potato chowder, clementines
Bean & Cheese enchiladas, green salad (I'm going to try to make a cilantro/lime vinaigrette. Try being the operative word.)

Saturday: Waffles w/ warmed peaches & nutmeg "syrup" (Puree canned, unsweetened peaches, add nutmeg to taste and heat on the stove until just warmed. Pure heaven.)
Venison roast, mashed taters & gravy, steamed broccoli & cauliflower

Sunday: Cold cereal
Leftovers
Chili and cornbread

For more menu planning ideas, visit organizing junkie!

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