I thought I would give a little meal planning goals update since I survived my first real week of meal planning. A friend posted this funny about meal planning on Facebook and it made me laugh out loud. It’s so true!!
Can you relate, too?
My week went pretty well. Last week I made a meal plan and we only spent about $89 at the store getting what we needed (this includes household items, so it’s not food only). The only person who had fast food in the house was my son, and this was to be expected. He is very picky and basically eats the same things week after week. I promise you it isn’t for lack of trying for years and years with him. He has SPD (sensory processing disorder), so food textures are a big deal for him. He likes what he likes, so I made allowances for that in the plan. I only had to cook a couple of “big meals” for dinners and I made sausage balls and froze them for quick breakfasts for me. The dinners made a ton of food, so I had lots of leftovers. I ended up freezing some, so there are some meals ready for those days when I just can’t.
The Week of Casseroles
The first thing I tried was Ground Beef Casserole with Rice. It was just “ok”. If I make it again, I will definitely add in another can of diced tomatoes and perhaps some black olives. This made a TON of casserole, so I had leftovers for a couple of meals and one container for freezing.
The other casserole recipe we tried was Beef Florentine. I have to give props to the husband because he actually cooked this one. It was delicious! Again, plenty for leftovers. This was my favorite out of the casseroles we tried this week. I also liked that we were getting more green veggies in our diet. I highly recommend this one!
Tonight we made Broccoli Chicken Cheese and Rice Casserole. This was wonderful! We used our Butcher Box chicken tenders in it and they were delicious! Hubby really liked this one and it also makes a TON of casserole, so one container went into the freezer and one will go with hubby to work this week. I have another set aside in the fridge to use within the next couple of days.
For breakfasts, I had sausage balls and grapes on most days. I threw in some bananas for snacks and did leftovers or sandwiches and chips for lunch.
Final Thoughts On Meal Planning Goals Update
This was much easier than I thought and the fact that I could come home and have all the ingredients I needed to cook did so much good for my “what are we going to have for dinner” anxiety. And yes, there were some days I just didn’t feel like cooking at all. But I trudged through and I am finding the things I cook tend to make a lot of food at once, so freezing the leftovers is also building up a little stock of extra meals for me. This is great to have on hand if I should get sick and can’t cook for some reason.
However, the best part is…I actually lost a couple of pounds this week! I absolutely stopped my convenience store run that I was making each morning before work to buy salty snacks and chocolate bars. Since I can work half the day from home, I’ve had more time for snack planning and am actually home when I get hungry, so I choose snacks from what we have here. I honestly never thought that would be a “side effect” of meal planning, but I’ll gladly take it!
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