Meal Planning - A Busy Mom's BFF

I debated over making a post about this, because the Interwebs are already littered with meal planning articles.  But this is more of a "praise in favor of", rather than a "how-to" type post.  Because we all have different lives, and what works for me might not work for you.  But y'all--meal planning has been a lifesaver for us, so I just wanted to sing its praises, and then give a few tips for how to make it work for you.

Why I Like It:

- Less Waste:  By preparing a meal plan around what needs to be used up in our fridge/freezer, we sacrifice less food to the trash can in the name of Moldy Mush and Freezer Burn.  And it can feel a little bit like Chopped: "What can I make that uses cauliflower, cilantro, red onion, mushrooms, and avocado? (Answer: this guy.)

- Less stress:  Y'all, I am BUSY.  I work 8a-5p, with a break 3 days a week to go to class, have to coordinate with the Hubs about pick up/drop off of Lil' Man, and in theory, get my lazy butt to the gym.  The less I have to think about what I'm putting together for dinner, the better. Also, by cooking big batches of stuff as part of my meal plan, we have tons of leftovers, which takes care of lunches all week and in-between dinners, so I don't even have to cook every night.  With already having a tight schedule during the work-week, I generally can't afford to leave the office for lunch anyway, so having leftovers I can eat at my desk also helps me be more efficient with my work time.

- Lower Cost:  By planning around what I already have (rather than living off whims), we make fewer trips to the store, and can stock up on foods when they're on sale, and have them in the freezer for when a whim strikes. For example: It's winter right now, and I noticed that one of the stores has potato salad on sale for 99 cents. Well, I don't know about you, but when I see potato salad, all I want is gumbo.  Thankfully, I already have andouille, okra, chicken and shrimp in the freezer (bought while on sale), so I can go buy my cheap potato salad and then make whatever type of gumbo sounds tasty.

Tips For Success: 

Have a Frame:  This could be a chalkboard in your kitchen, an Excel spreadsheet, whatever works for you. I use Pepperplate.com, because it's simple, and I can access it from work, my phone, or home on my laptop.  Pepperplate is designed for 1 week at a time, but you can plan out further than that.  Once I have a week planned, I print out the page and hang it on the fridge for reference.

Have a Method:  For me, I have a mission of ACTUALLY cooking all the things I pin on Pinterest, because I love to try new recipes.  That means I have to be realistic and go through my Pinterest a few times a year and have a heart-to-heart with my mind and stomach: "OK guys, I know that picture of the rosette apple pie looks REALLY pretty, but are we ACTUALLY ever going to bake it?  No."

Seriously...it is GORGEOUS though.

I saw a recommendation on another blog for folks who don't like to experiment--make a list of the meals you and your family really love (and that you like/don't mind cooking).  Ideally it's about 20-30 dishes.  Then, you just divvy those dishes up across a 1-month calendar, and then you plan your shopping each week around those dishes.

Have some Forgiveness:  Things are going to happen that will screw up your plan.  Maybe family make a surprise visit and you go out to eat with them, rather than making the dish that was going to be your leftovers for lunch the next day.  Or maybe everyone gets sick.  Or maybe you just have a crap day and don't feel like cooking.  It's OK.  Our meal plan almost always ends up covered in little cross-offs or arrows where we moved something to a later day.  

Have a Backup:  We almost always have at least one frozen pizza in the freezer, for emergency situations where no one feels like cooking.  I also buy pot pies and microwave meals when we can get them cheap and keep 4-5 in the freezer. So if we do run into a situation where there's no leftovers to take for lunch, I still have something I can grab and take with me to the office in the morning.  

We are not normally this fancy with our microwave meals, but between a sale at Target and an Ibotta deal, got these for $1.50 each.

Take an Inventory:  Like I mentioned, we like to stock up on things while they're on sale, so we have a lot of food in our freezer.  But if we don't actively try to use things up, we end up with random 2 year old freezer-burnt pork chops.  This is particularly important if you have a chest freezer rather than an upright, where it's easier for things to get buried and forgotten about.  I like to do this 1-2 times a year, and then search through my Pinterest recipes to see how we can use up some of the older items.

Yes, that says "9 Bacons".

Take the Shortcuts:  I could spend my weekend meal prepping for the next week...or I could play with my kid.  I could make meatballs from scratch and have dinner on the table at 7pm...or I could buy the frozen meatballs (on sale, of course) and have dinner done in 30 minutes.  Using shortcuts doesn't make you a bad person.  One of my current favorite shortcuts?  Bagged salad kits.  I decided last year I want to eat more delicious salads--you know the ones, with all the different stuff in them?  But I am WAYYYYYYY too lazy to prep a fancy salad at home myself. So, I can either go to the deli or a restaurant and spend $7-8 (or more) on a salad, OR, I can spend $3 on a salad kit that has enough for 2 big salads (so two days' worth of lunches for a buck-fiddy each), and just add grilled chicken breast (prepped the night before or over the weekend) or a tuna pouch from home.  

...and last but not least:

SHARE THE DUTIES:  Y'all, I would be lost without my husband.  He is an amazing life partner, and any time I have to juggle everything myself, it's a mess.  I do really enjoy cooking, but sometimes I just don't have the energy, or I'm running behind.  It's really helpful if I call him on my way home from work and say, "hey, I can get the kiddo if you can start the prep work for dinner, I'll text you the recipe".  And then when I get home, all the chopping and measuring stuff is done, so I can jump right in and start cooking. Or he may just hop in and cook it all himself.  By having a meal plan on the fridge, there's no mystery about what we're having--all he needs is to know where the recipe is.

If you have a great meal planning tip, please share it in the comments!  

Thirsty Thursday: Fentimans & Strawberry Infused Vodka!

Last spring I shared a post about making homemade infused strawberry vodka, using the leftover tops from strawberries.  Well, we're still doing it, and lemme tell ya...it's amazing. The longer it infuses, the more it mellows.  And it's taken on a gorgeous pink hue from the strawberries. (I've got a couple other infusions going as well...stay tuned.)

Also earlier in 2018, the Hubs & I brewed up some homemade ginger ale (non-alcoholic), and we split the batch to ferment half, making hard ginger beer.  Aside from it being a little explosive (because of the champagne yeast we used), it's tasty stuff, providing you like ginger.  This is like, Goslings or Q spicy ginger beer, not like Seagrams or Canada Dry sweet soda.  Like, burn-yer-nose-make-ya-sneeze ginger level.

As it turns out, our neighbor Neil is quite a fan of ginger beer, so we delivered a 6 pack to his door.  And in return, he gave us a mixed pack of Fentimans soda.  Because, you see, Neil is a Brit.  And not just any Brit, but co-owner of locally famous food truck London Calling.  You wanna eat lunch in a legit double-decker bus?  They've got you covered.

In addition to delicious pasties (like, a hand-held pot pie, or if Hot Pockets were made of real food), they offer other British imports like Walkers chips/crisps, candy, and English Fentiman's sodas. And their mall location also has UK import beers that are hard to find in this area (like Innis & Gunn).

The chicken tikka masala is my current favorite.

Lil' Man is a big fan of the Wotsits. And the sausage rolls.

So, we were savoring our stockpile of sodas, and finally popped open this one, which was just begging to be made into a cocktail.

INGREDIENTS: (per cocktail)

2 oz strawberry infused vodka (you could also make it with regular vodka)

4-5 ounces of Fentiman's soda

lots of crushed ice

strawberry to garnish (note: I think some fresh mint would also work great in this.)

DIRECTIONS:  

Fill your glass with crushed ice, and add the vodka. Then top with the soda and stir to mix.  Garnish with strawberry and enjoy!

We made two versions, one with just plain vodka (so essentially a screwdriver), and the other with the strawberry infused.  We both agree that the strawberry version was much smoother.  Slainte!

Comfort Foods: Mom's Chocolate & Marshmallow Cake

I've been feeling rather nostalgic lately, particularly about the comfort foods I knew as a kid.

I love cooking, and I come by it honestly--I have many memories of making pies with my Grammy, or helping my grandpa make spaghetti, or eating my Meemaw Opie's famous fried chicken.  My Aunt Loyce is famous for her amazing sugar cookies, and at Christmas we would go to her house to make big batches of Christmas desserts like cookies, fudge, and divinity.

But my mom has always been a bit more of a utilitarian cook.  You can't blame her--she (still) works a full time job, did much of the housework, and at many times, worked a second job helping my dad with his business.  Food was something to sustain you.  We had a lot of freezer meals (pot pies, taquitos, pizza rolls, and the like) so that we could fend for ourselves as needed. Since we were a fishing family, fried crappie and french fries were on the menu at least once a week.  Hamburger Helper was also fairly common.  Friday nights we would go over to The Extra Point for dinner. 

When my mom did cook, it tended to be in big batches--like chili, vegetable beef stew, or her famous chicken & noodles.  Things that we could eat off of for the whole week.   For big family dinners, my mom always provided a sheet pan of no-bake cherry cheesecake (still one of my favorite desserts), and sometimes a batch of no-bake cookies (also a favorite).

And every so often, mom would get a hankering for chocolate cake.  Jiffy chocolate cake, to be exact.  You may only know them for the cornbread mix (still a staple in my kitchen pantry).  It's a smaller amount than say, a Betty Crocker box mix--perfect for an 8x8 square pan.  Once baked, Mom would cut out a still-warm square, slice it in half horizontally (like a biscuit or piece of cornbread), plop an oozy layer of marshmallow cream, and then close it back up.  And then we would devour (with forks, not our hands. We're not animals.)

Unfortunately, Jiffy no longer makes a chocolate cake mix--at least, no where that I can find, and it's not listed on their website.  They do have a recipe for chocolate cake on their website--so we're just going to assume that's about as close a replica as one can get.

Ingredients: (makes 6 servings)
1 box Jiffy yellow cake mix
3 Tbsp instant chocolate pudding mix
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 jar marshmallow cream (no, we're not going to use the full jar....probably.)

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350F, and grease a 8x8 or 9x9 glass pan.

Combine all the dry ingredients, and then beat in the eggs, milk and softened butter for 2 minutes. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 34-38 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

While still warm, cut cake into 6 pieces (cut cake in half in one direction, and then in thirds in the other).  Remove a piece and then slice in half horizontally (like a biscuit).

Spoon a healthy dollop of marshmallow creme into the center of the cake, and replace the top.  Devour while warm.

2019 Resolutions and Top Posts of 2018!

Happy New Year all!  Hope everyone had a great Christmas and didn't get alcohol poisoning on New Year's Eve (set the bar low, yo.)  We had a pretty chill NYE, had some friends over (who also have young kiddos) so everyone had dispersed by 9pm.  We did a champagne toast at 8pm, because hey, it's the New Year somewhere (in the mid-Atlantic).  Then we got the Lil' Man down to bed, set up our WiFi extender in our kitchen, and went next door to hang out with neighbors (WiFi extender allows us enough signal to check in on the kid's video monitor at their house...technology is great, ain't it?)

So--last year I set three resolutions: let's see how we did!

1) Eat more vegetables.  I did a pretty good job with this one, mostly by eating more salads.  I realllllllly love a good salad, guys. I know that sounds weird, but seriously.  The more stuff you put in that bowl, the happier I am. I also read the book "Eating on the Wild Side", which focuses on the fruits and veggies that provide the most nutritional bang for your buck.  So when I go to the salad bar, I load up on things like dried or fresh berries, nuts/seeds, dark greens, cauliflower (who knew a white food could be so good for you?), radishes, broccoli, etc.  

2) Exercise.  I started out strong on this in 2018, and much like almost everyone else, fizzled out somewhere around April.  Then my boss convinced me to sign up for a marathon relay to run in November, so I ramped up gym visits again...until after the relay, and then didn't really go back.  But, it's still more than I went in 2017, so I call that a win.

3) Moisturize.  This I did really well with...for the first half of the year. I had a sticky note on my bathroom mirror that read "Have You Moisturized Today?" and looking at that reminded me to do it every day.  And then...that sticky note fell down, and I never replaced it.  But I still probably remembered about once a week.  My kid's bath time is actually great for this, because he mostly entertains himself, I'm in there anyway (he and I share a bathroom), so might as well put on some lotion.

This year?

1) Use my FitBit.  I've had a FitBit since 2011, and I wear it everyday, but in the last couple years, I haven't really been *using* it.  I haven't been tracking food, sleep, water, or really trying to hit any step goals.  But The Hubs got me a new FitBit Alta HR for Christmas, so I'm hoping the newness of the extra features (detailed sleep tracking, heart rate, "nudges" to make sure you get at least 250 steps an hour) will get me back into gear.  My goal is to track food and water daily, staying under my caloric goal and hitting at least 64 oz of water a day.

I'm not making a gym goal, because last year, even with doing better about going to the gym, I didn't lose a single pound (even though I did significantly improve my running stamina).  And that's likely because I wasn't tracking my food and was still eating crap.

They say weight loss is 75% diet and 25% exercise, and frankly, I'm not good at making myself go to the gym, especially if I have other outside of work commitments (like the continuing education classes I'm taking over at the university).  But they also say that by tracking your food, you're also far less likely to eat bad crap, because it means you have to acknowledge it in your food log.  So hopefully, the simple act of logging my food will help me make good choices and eat less.

2) Get more fiber.  The USDA recommended daily allowance for women is 28 grams.  Most people are woefully under that (myself included).  People spend all this money doing detoxes and cleanses to reduce bloating/water weight, or battle with high cholesterol, when in reality, they probably just need to eat more fiber.  Soluble fiber slows digestion and allows your body to absorb more nutrients from the foods you eat.  Insoluble (bulk) fiber helps clean out your GI system.  And they make you feel full so you eat less, so that's a bonus.

3. Build Others Up.  Earlier this year I was doing some goal-setting at work and trying to create a 5 Year Plan for myself.  But while meeting with my mentor, he said something that really stuck with me.  "Maybe the question isn't 'Where am I going", but rather "Who can I bring with me?"  The idea being that rising tides raise all ships--if I dedicate time to helping others on my team succeed, we all succeed organically. So I've set a goal to have more 1 on 1 meetings with my mentees and teammates and find ways to help them be better, and look for opportunities to help them hit their goals.

Now, on to the Top Ten Posts from 2018!

#1: Crab Boil Potato Salad

#2: Adventures in Parenting: When Your Child Isn't Perfect

#3: Adventure's in Parenting: Potty Training & Pacifiers

#4: Crunchy French Toast

#5: Bacon Wrapped Sac-A-Lait and Grilled Peaches

#6: Thirsty Thursday: Sparkling Greyhound

#7: 7th Wedding Anniversary: Copper

#8: Cajun Cashew Chicken

#9: Sporkful Sauteed Broccoli

#10: Beer Traveling with Kids: Gulf Coast Breweries

How about y'all?  Any resolutions to share? Leave them in the comments on on Facebook!