Day Seven-Favorite Things-Cooking

Chicken Vegetable Soup Ready for the Freezer

I really enjoy cooking; creating a meal, knowing what is in my food, feeding others, and trying new recipes.  It hasn't always been this way and for (too) many years we ate out and existed on fast food and frozen stuff.  I cooked every other weekend or so or when we had company but there was nothing regular about it.  Of course our schedules were  not regular for a long time either with Alan in night classes and me working 10+ hour days five days a week. 

So when I took a break from working for a paycheck I decided cooking would help us be healthier and save money.  After scouring a bunch of blogs I discovered the best thing to do was to develop a meal plan for every night (some even have lunch and dinner plans) and to build your grocery list from there.  It did not take me long to get the hang of this and to really appreciate the plan.  Almost two years later I still make a plan and often feel lost and make not so good choices when I don't have one ready.  I just check out other meal planning blogs and recipes and a few sites and incorporate other tried and true favorites and make a list of 5-7 meals.  Then each morning I think about what we are going to have based on how long it takes to make a recipe and what we have going on that week.

Here are a few of my favorite sites for meal plans and recipes:

• She has great meal plans, recipe and cook book reviews and lovely photos.
• They have simple and seasonal recipes as well as quite a few gluten free ones too.
• This site also has simple and seasonal recipes as well as meal plans.
• This is a great site for Paleo recipes which also happen to be gluten free.
• I just discovered this site recently and she shares her recipes and has meal plans too.

 
Here is a typical meal plan for our house for the week with links for a few  of the recipes (which will link up with other sites I use):

Stir-Fry with Rice, Quinoa, or Cauliflower Rice

Salmon Filet's with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Spicy Cilantro Slaw

Roast Chicken, Green beans, Roasted Potatoes

Mushroom and Tomato Sauce over Spaghetti Squash

Meat Loaf, Cauliflower Rice, Slaw

Tacos, Green Rice, Spicy Black Beans

How do you plan your meals for the week?  Please feel free to share your own favorite recipes, ideas, or links to meal planning ideas.