Fatty Train!

So, the diet train completely derailed after my last post on the 10th and I'm basically hanging by a finger off the caboose (or maybe I am the caboose?)...  needless to say, I gave up.  Again.

Whatever.

I've been slacking with the meal planning lately and we basically ended up eating out or grabbing take-out way too much over the last few weeks.  It tends to be a January thing for us.  All that eating and meal preparation over Christmas & NYE leads to laziness and general slacking during the first few weeks of the new year.

My plans to do a true grocery shop were thwarted by a last minute guest on Sunday so I ran out to a few local shops and grabbed some essentials.  I threw together a quick meal plan in my head and so far, we've enjoyed good meals at home for 4 nights in a row plus lunches for work.  This is a pretty big deal!  As I type this, water is boiling on the stove and I'm about to cook some pasta to use up with left over meat sauce (from our spaghetti squash dinner last night...  more on that later) and we'll have a pasta/veggie bake with salad tomorrow night.

So what have we eaten this week?

Black sea bass with arugula & sprout salad on Sunday.  Monday was Welsh rarebit with salad tossed in D's avocado dressing (my favourite!).  Tuesday?  Meat sauce on spaghetti squash.  Perogies (alright, a freezer cheat) with beet salad.  Tomorrow will be the pasta bake and I've got grilled chicken breasts with a goat cheese, dried fruit & nut salad on the menu for Friday.  Add in a chickpea salad (already gone) and a black bean salad and leftovers with bean salad lunches are done.

Back to the squash...

I don't think I ever tried squash until I met D.  No really.  We were so not a squash family and to be honest, the thought repulsed me.  I've since come to love butternut squash soup (so easy, cheap & makes great leftovers/lunches) and just this week, I made spaghetti squash for the first time.  Loved it.  Will do it again as M inhaled his pasta alternate no questions asked.

I'd read that I had to bake it for a good 45 minutes before shredding but after a bit of googling, I found out I could make it in the microwave.  I NEVER cook with the microwave but we were late getting home & D was working late.  Basically, slice it lengthwise in half, seed & clean it out and put one half in a snug microwave-friendly dish (so it can't fall over).  Add 1/2 cup or so of water to the cavity and top with the other half.  Throw it in the microwave for 10 minutes (maybe more if it's a big one) and then it is done.  Seriously.  Amazing.  In that 10 minutes, I reheated the meat sauce I'd made the night before.  Dinner was ready in no time!

No point to this post other than to remind myself that meal planning works.  It's controlled what we've eaten and what we've spent.  Both pretty good things.

Resolutions 2013 - Kitchen Edition

Panna cotta.  Perfect panna cotta.
Beef Wellington.  Sans mushrooms because mushrooms are gross.
Butternut squash & goat cheese lasagne.
A turkey.  By myself.
Meal planning.  Weekly.  Again.

Meal Plan for the Week of November 14th

This week is one of using up what's in the pantry & freezer as well as trying a few new recipes.

Grilled pork tenderloin with veggies & rice (boring)

Penne w/ spinach, gorgonzola & walnuts (new recipe)

Pressed brie, turkey & pear sandwiches w/ thyme & grainy mustard (new recipe)

White chili (old recipe but using chicken instead of turkey this time around)

Linguini w/ meat sauce (boring but I've got the sauce in the freezer)

Risotto with salad

Of course, I will just sniff the dishes instead of eating them. You know, weight loss mission and all...

Meal Plan for the Week of the 25th

And in no particular order (except for tonight & tomorrow's meals), here we go!

Sunday: Roast chicken with roasted beets & carrots and mashed potatoes. Maybe a spinach salad on the side? Or maybe I want to use up the rest of the cauliflower tonight?

Monday: Roasted carrot soup with homemade savory cheese bread. Maybe some spinach salad with this one, too?

Orzo salad with grilled broccolini & sausage

Meat pies with potatoes, cauliflower & peas

Rigatoni with zucchini, spicy sausage & goat cheese

Quinoa pizza crust with pepperoni, roasted red peppers & pineapple

Heavy on the meat and carbs this week. Sigh. Still a fatty over here.

Meal Plan for the Week of August 14th

I have work commitments two nights this week so that means we need a few options that are quick & easy for D to toss in the oven or pull together when he gets home with M, who can be a mini dictator when he's hungry! This week's menu pretty much consists of meat, pasta & cheese. Um, yeah. Not the healthiest but I need things that are quick on the fly this week.

Grilled chicken breasts w/ a chickpea & pepper salad

Homemade mac 'n cheese with chedder, smoked gouda & gruyere & a panko crust w/ salad

Skewered pork tenderloin & pineapple w/an orzo & grilled vegetable salad with feta, olives & oregano

Homemade pizza w/ proscuitto, pineapple & roasted red peppers w/ salad

Basil spaghetti w/ cheesy broiled beefsteak tomatoes w/ salad

As usual, will share any recipes that are a hit but really, the only new one I'm trying is the last.

Meal Plan for Week of July 11-15

Despite my state earlier today, I managed to pull it together enough to meal plan, prepare a grocery list and shop. $105 later, here is this week's meal plan:

Grilled chicken breasts with a roasted beet, oregano, pecan & goat cheese salad

Mexican casserole (meatless & made with quinoa)

Ham, brie & apple sandwiches

Roasted peppers stuffed with black beans & brown rice (meatless)

Grilled sausages with baked potatoes & veggies

I'm also planning on baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies & carrot spice muffins. Both recipes are from Quinoa 365 and use quinoa flour instead of all purpose or whole wheat. D grimaced when I told him about the chocolate chip cookies but I'm pretty sure he won't be able to tell or turn them down.

It's a bit more meaty than usual but I was lacking the motivation to peruse more than the 3 recipe books I had at hand. Basically, pure laziness. As usual, if any of the recipes are winners, I'll share 'em here.

Cleanse: Day 11

In 43 short minutes, I will officially be on day 12 and my last day of the cleanse. I will also be sleeping so really, it's not worth noting.

BUT... I will say that today was by far the hardest day yet. I had flashbacks to some nasty side effects from day 1 as well as insane cravings. I'm pretty sure I drooled all over my co-worker's delicious looking lunch from Chipotle and it took all my power to avoid eating any of the 3 dozen muffins I baked tonight. I managed to stay strong and fought through the urges! Sadly, a big glass of water doesn't really satiate cravings.

Last night was the first time in weeks that I ventured into a grocery store. We've made an effort the last few weekends to hit the St. Lawrence Market on a Saturday morning to pick up our meat, fruit & veggies for the week. I've got enough pantry stock going that I haven't needed to shop at a grocery store. However, I had to go last night to pick up a number of items needed for my office breakfast tomorrow and I realized just how much I am impacted by grocery store marketing & promotions. It's like any possible craving I may have ever had in the past immediately surfaces and I have insane 'have to have NOW' feelings. I walked down the snack aisle and stared longingly at chips, licorice & sours. I had to force myself to keep going. Things I never buy like crackers suddenly looked damn tasty. I'm lucky that I didn't buy anything I didn't need but speaking from experience, the ONLY reason is because I'm on the cleanse. As I left the store, I realized how much more I enjoy shopping at the Market. Besides, I love spending those mornings with D & M wandering around the Market.

Big day tomorrow! Final weigh-in and then it's time to come up with a plan to stick with it.

Meal Plan for the Week of May 2nd

In no particular order, here is our menu for the week! Continuing our efforts to eat less meat or rather, focus less on meat as our main protein source at dinner, only one meal (so far) is planned to have meat as a side.

• Stuffed Ricotta Shells w/ an Arugula Salad
• Roasted Red Pepper & Sweet Potato Soup w/ Green Onion & Cheddar Scones
• Spanish Tortilla w/ Salad
• Apple, Fennel & Celery Salad w/ Roasted Chicken

All recipes are courtesy of Canadian Living's Vegetarian Collection. Reviews to follow as I've never made any of these before.

Great Sunday Success!

I managed to only spend $110 at the grocery store this morning, which was my first success of the day.

M has been napping for 3 plus hours now, which brings me to my 2nd success. I was busy in the kitchen and made the following:

White Chili (Well, still in the slow cooker but it's as good as done!)

Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce (Two portions!)

Cumin & Sesame Scented Chickpea Soup

Mac & Cheese

Zucchini Muffins

Yay me! That said, the house is still a disgusting mess.

Meal Plan for Week of March 6th

I haven't grocery shopped in 2 weeks and by doing so, my fridge was finally empty enough to motivate me to do a good cleaning. It's gleaming & waiting to be filled!

This week's meal plan is as follows:

Stuffed Pork Roast w/ Potatoes, Carrots & Peas

Pasta w/ Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce

Turkey Chili

Cumin & Sesame Scented Chickpea Soup

Roast Chicken w/ Roasted Beet & Arugula Salad

I'm trying to do more meatless versus meat meals but sort of fail that this week. I have a craving for beets and don't think the salad would be substantial enough without some sort of chicken on the side. Also, not really craving chili but it's easy & healthy.

Lately, I hate meal planning so this is the best I can come up with tonight.

So Uninspired.

I hate meal planning. Actually, I don't but lately, I really do. I have no motivation to meal plan each week and feel like I make the same things over and over and over again. I can never think of what I want to make and I'm finding all of my cookbooks less than inspiring.

Lately, I'm trying to pay attention to our grocery bill and keep it in check, which means I have no choice but to meal plan. Not necessarily for budget reasons, I've also been trying to cook more meatless meals. It has made little to NO impact on how much I spend each week.

Meal planning also makes for a few easy hours of advance preparation on a Sunday afternoon, which obviously makes the work week a bit easier. I can usually have one or two meals ready to go and waiting in the fridge or freezer. I've consistently been baking a batch of muffins each weekend as well so those make for quick snacks or breakfasts for D & I.

Regardless, I'm so bored and fed up with meal planning. Maybe I need a new cookbook or some new magazines but I really need more tasty, quick and straightforward (because I'm all about these 3 things now that I've got a toddler and am pulling in a 40+ hour week) recipes to add to the rotation.

Meh.

Meal Plan for Week of October 3rd

I have been so lazy in this department lately and it hit me yesterday when we were at M's naturopath appointment (will save that for another post) that I need to get back into the habit of cooking with fresh & varied ingredients.

And in no particular order, here are the dinner picks for this week:

• Red Thai Meatball Curry w/ Basmati & Steamed Green Beans
• Roasted Poblanos Stuffed w/ Chicken & Cheddar & Salad
• Rigatoni w/ Sun-Dried Tomato & Fennel Sauce & Salad
• Grilled Chicken Tandoori w/ Grilled Peppers & Zucchini and Rice
• 3-Cheese Quesadillas w/ Garlic Butter & Salad

These recipes are all from the latest The Best of Fine Cooking Weeknight Dinner magazine. All seem simple, straightforward and quick. I heart this magazine!

Back to Meal Planning!

After a week (or more) of random meals, eating out & ordering in, the time has come to start meal planning again. It's a short week for us so I only need 4 meals to get us through the week, which will include take-out on Thursday night because I'll be up to my eyeballs in cleaning & list making for all of our family who will be taking turns caring for M while we're away.

In no particular order:

Steak Tacos with Spicy Sour Cream, Avocado & Tomato w/ Nacho Chips

Coconut Curry Chicken & Chickpeas w/ Rice

Proscuitto Wrapped Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Goat Cheese & Basil w/ Orzo with Parmesan & Basil and Grilled Asparagus

Campanelle with Sausage & Leeks w/ Salad

Heigh ho! Heigh ho! Off to the grocery store I go!

Dinner with Friends

We had old friends of mine over for dinner & drinks last night. It was so much fun! I had a great time catching up with everyone and was reminded that it's so important to take time for friends and get together more often! It's too easy to let your weekends fill up with necessities like errands & getting things done around the house that you start putting less effort into the fun stuff like getting together with friends. Put a little distance in there and visits become few & far between.

The meal turned out great or at least I thought so! It was super simple, straightforward and tasty. The best part was that I could prep most of it in advance. What was on the menu?

Crostini with White Bean Puree, Spinach & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breasts on top of Bucatini in a Spicy Tomato Sauce with Crisped Pancetta

Baby Romaine & Avocado in a Soy-Balsamic Vinaigrette

Drunken Marsala Strawberries topped with Lemon Mascarpone

I'll post some of the recipes later tonight. This menu is definitely a keeper!

PS - Thanks to J&B and L&A for making the trek from Oakville/Burlington down to Toronto. Can't wait to see both again soon!

Meal Plan for Week of February 14th

There's only 5 meals planned for this week as we're going out tomorrow night to celebrate Valentine's Day and having friends for dinner next Saturday. I'm still working on the perfect menu for next Saturday night.

Monday: Boneless Pork Chops w/ Mustard Sauce served with brown rice & green beans.

Tuesday: Quick Skillet Mac 'n Cheese served with salad.

Wednesday: Parmesan-Crusted Chicken served with Orzo with Lemon, Garlic, Parmigiano & Herbs and grilled asparagus.

Thursday: Spicy Beef with Peanuts & Chilis served with stir fried veggies.

Friday: Falafel sandwiches with a chunky Greek-style salad.

Heading to the grocery store tomorrow morning! Lots of items on this list so I'm guessing we'll be around the usual $130 mark.

Yep, It's Been Confirmed...

Yet again, another weekly shop totaling $130. Granted, $18 of that was for D's razor blades (perhaps time to think about growing a beard?) and lots of fresh veggies & fruit. We also buy Ace bread and 2 loafs (one for us & one for M) totaled $10 today. I'm not even going to post our meal plan this week because it's extremely boring & simple. Looking at my list, I was certain we'd be under a $100 today. I think I've discovered the best way to keep the cost down (and domestics to a minimum) is to shop solo!

It's Super Bowl Sunday and I'm excited to use an event that we won't be watching as an excuse to eat deliciously bad food! Bring on the chicken wings... and huge platter of veggies & dip.

Diet. Resumes. Tomorrow.

Meal Plan for Week of January 24th

We didn't end up having beef stew last week so that's on the plate for sometime this week. I tend to mix up the order of the meals according to time & taste so I haven't stuck to a plan yet. Here's what's on the plate for this week:

Sunday: Rigatoni with Homemade Meat Sauce

Monday: Classic but Quick Beef Stew

Tuesday: Alsatian Onion Tart with Arugula Salad

Wednesday: Chicken Saute with Snow Peas & Teriyaki Pan Sauce on Rice

Thursday: Homemade Italian Sausage, Proscuitto & Roasted Red Pepper Pizza with Arugula Salad

Friday: Maple-Glazed Pork Back Ribs with Mashed Potatoes & Zucchini

Saturday: Whatever I fancy because it's my birthday and we'll be out on the town!

Also, I've discovered that we are a $130/week grocery bill family. I went again with list in hand and spent just under $130. I'm okay with this number but working on some changes. I will shop at a more economical store next week and see how it differs. I'd also like to add in a second vegetarian meal each week to cut down on meat costs.

Stay tuned for recipe reviews! Once again, there's a few first timers on the list this week.

Crap.

Clearly, I'm not quite getting this whole budget & meal planning thing. I stocked up on only the items need for this week as well as a handful of essentials like laundry detergent, paper towels, toilet paper, Liquid Plumber (damn post-pregnancy hair loss), etc. I was hoping to be below $100 but alas, I was not.

Total cost of groceries for this week? $133.30.

Sigh. Like D said, this is really our first few weeks doing this so I've got some time to practice and learn.

Meal Plan for the Week of January 17th

We're making a concerted effort these days to do the following:

• Weekly Meal Planning
• Grocery Shopping Once Per Week
• Leftovers for Lunches

While we've always grocery shopped on a fairly regular basis, it was always when we were in desperate need of everything and we never went with a meal plan in hand. We'd toss out ideas as we walked the grocery store and in turn, we tossed anything & everything into the shopping cart. This meant we'd have a lot of random items, an abundance of fruit & vegetables and no clear direction. I found that I was throwing out a lot of produce AND making multiple (and costly) trips to the store each week to pick up miscellaneous items.

We're on our 3rd week of (official) meal planning and I just wrote out our grocery list for tomorrow, which is surprisingly small. Our shop last week was rather big so I'm happy to see a lot of carryover that I'll put to use this week. I'm also having a lot of fun with this because it's the push I need to peruse my cookbooks and magazines in a quest to try new things.

Here's a look at what's on the menu this week:

Sunday - Grilled cheese sandwiches, soup & salad.

*I'll be at a baby shower during the afternoon and D will likely meet a friend for brunch so we will have a simple dinner.

Monday - Southwestern Chicken & Black Bean Stew

Tuesday - Pork Scaloppine with Proscuitto, Sage & Caramelized Lemon

Wednesday - Campanelle with Italian Sausage & Leeks

Thursday - Spiced Lentil Soup with Minted Yoghurt

Friday - Classic but Quick Beef Stew

I'm pleased that I have almost all the ingredients needed for sides with the dishes above (salad, vegetables, etc.) as well as the majority of the fresh herbs, spices & other random ingredients. It's a nice feeling knowing that we'll be grabbing the essentials with minimal waste & cost. Each dish should also provide enough leftovers for D's lunches (again, a cost savings).

All recipes are from Fine Cooking and are in my rotation for the very first time. Check back for reviews!