It's Monday....

It's Monday and boy have I been busy!! Last week was killer on us as a family in regards to time and with our food plan. As with most things, I learned what I need to do to avoid this again. Coming up next weekend, I am seeing a freezer weekend where I can prepare several meals that can be pulled out in a moments notice. This is a must now. I am happy to say that fast food was never an option, which makes me feel good. But the meals we had at home were sparce and contained lots of stuff that were just as bad. Lesson learned.

In hopes to put last week's craziness behind us, I knew that menu planning had to amazing this week. Nothing expensive but I needed to really keep in mind what we were doing this week and keep in mind the time that I REALLY had to fix meals. I also had to get myself organized as soon as groceries were bought so that items were still around when we actually fixed the meals. I know that doesn't happen at anyone else's houses right?

Here is our menu this week:
Monday - Country Club Chicken (left overs from last week that I froze for last night, they didn't get eaten last night)
Tuesday - Quesadilla's  with refried beans  (Chase's pick for dinner this week )
Wednesday - Roast Chicken with smashed red potatoes and green beans
Thursday - Caprese pasta ....making this one up.....penne pasta with grape tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzerella with a balsamic sauce....having a salad with this one
Friday - Grilled veggie flatbread sandwiches with sweet potato fries or tortellini soup (can't decide)
Saturday - Chicken salad sandwiches with probably sweet potato fries
                  Steaks with red potatoes and salad

My grocery list this week was almost all produce. I bought 5 processed items. A super WOOHOO on our part.

Earlier I said I wanted to get more organized because this is what is going to keep us on this path to well being. Here are some things I did today when I got some time. I prepped any veggies or fruit I could. I washed all of the fruit.

Grapes taking a bath


I do wash all my fruit with a vinegar wash because I read somewhere a while ago that it kills any spores that might be on the fruit that create the mold you see. I give them a bath in vinegar and water. Rinse them off really good and then lay them on the towel like pictured above. Then I do pat them dry as best I can or just let the sit out for a while.

After I wash everything then I take a look at my menu for the week to determine what could be sliced/diced for the week. This makes cooking so much easier. I also determined what foods I could cut up into snackable portions for the kids and I. Here is a trick I have found that helps me stick to eating healthy. I cut up all sorts of veggies and put them in a tupperware for the fridge. Fruit is always easy to grab quickly and eat. Veggies aren't as accessible for some reason. This helps me get them in my diet and not just eat fruit.


My other tip was obvious but still warrants a mention. If it isn't in the house, you don't eat it.  Realizing that we are in desperate need of a food makeover in this house was the best thing that has happened. Not only for our waist band but for the long run of living longer and much healthier! So as we lose those items in the house that are not as healthy for us, I am not replacing them. Therefore, we aren't eating them. I was very proud of myself this weekend for my portion control. I still enjoyed all the delicious food including red velvet cake but I didn't "want" to overeat. It was a struggle to see our kids basically gorge them self on food we no longer had but that they still want. I am hoping this gets easier as we try to really live by example and talk about food. I don't want them growing up with those same unhealthy habits that Ryan and I both have/had. Too much of a struggle and something I don't want my girls especially to be "addicted" to.

Today I also fixed our bread. I didn't do this last week and Chase ended up eating school lunch all week, AHHHH!!



I tried another recipe from here . I followed her recipe fairly close. I cut the recipe in half. I didn't have spelt flour so I just added a cup of white and then a cup of wheat to make the dough reach the right consistency. I also added flax seeds and pumpkin seeds at the end.  I am really hoping it turns out good.

I think that is all for this entirely too long post for a Monday. Thanks for bearing with me and my craziness!! Here is something that is making my house smell fabulous and I just soak it all in when they are in bloom, lilacs. I think Heaven smells like lilacs and bread fresh out of the oven. Just sayin'.