I’ve found that it is relatively easy to plan a week’s worth of food. The difficult part comes in the middle of the week when I’m faced with squeezing cooking time into my busy day. The key (and this is nothing new) is knowing what my week is REALLY going to look like and how much cooking time I am REALLY going to have.
I have not been doing a good job the past couple of weeks. I’ll have grandiose plans for posoles and stews with homemade everything planned for a day when I’m only going to be home for a total of 2 hours. Two hours to pull dinner together may seem like a leisurely amount of time, but throw in a hungry and tired 6YO, a cranky mama and stretch those two hours into 15 minute work blocks throughout the day and, well, it just doesn’t work.
So I’m moving forward this week with a more realistic look. I know for certain that I have two weeknights (Wednesday and Friday) where we will not be home until we are ravenous, so I’ll have to either make time to cook earlier in the day or dive into leftovers. Thursday and Sunday will be my only days this week where I will be able to set aside a large block of uninterrupted time for cooking, so those will be my days for time-consuming and new recipes. The other days are gonna be pretty regular in that I’ll be cooking whilst I tend to the “work”, house, dog and girl.
We’ll see if I can do a better job of sticking to this week’s plan.
Need to eat in the fridge:
Yellow Split Pea Soup from yesterday
Chickpeas
Kale and Carrots!
Spinach
For dinner this week:
Monday – Chana Masala (did not get to it late last week)
Tuesday – Crispy Salad with Herb-Crusted Tofu, Carrots & Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Wednesday – Potato and Kale Tacos (beans in slow cooker, other items during the day)
Thursday – Mung Beans and Rice *
Friday – Leftovers
Saturday – Veggie Sandwiches | Cold Pasta Salad
Sunday – Kadai Masala Curry over Cauliflower & Peppers **
Other stuff to make:
Sandwich Bread
Corn Tortillas
Chewy Energy Circles ***
Granola
* adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
** new (for me) North Indian dish that I learned from Chayo Rao at a cooking class last week.
*** from one of the 6yo’s cookbooks
Be kind. Be patient. Eat well.
aneelee 