Food Friday: The Thought Process

When I sat down to organize this weeks meal plan, I started thinking how I rationalize in my head how the plan will go for that week.

For the most part I base it the main course which is the meat then I pick the sidedishes that I think will compliment it. I also know that Kristen & I have a few staple type meals that we just "mix up"

The only time the layout of the meal plan might change is if I'm in the mood to try something different or something unexpected happens.

So without further ado, here's how I think......

Kristen & I love chicken, honestly we could probably have chicken every dinner of the week and be happy. But for the sake of not turning all of my loyal readers off from chicken we'll narrow it down to twice a week. Then I really try to have fish/seafood once a week, so that leaves two days of the week for the alternate meats such as beef, pork & turkey. I'm sure there are more but that's the basics for me.

Then I think I'd like to have pasta at least once a week (remember whole grains are good for you)

After that I start thinking I'll have pototoes one night, rice another, salad another and straight veggies another. Then I mix & match from there to come up with this:

Monday - BEEF

Slowcooker Stew

Tomatoe sauce, beef chunks, onions, carrots, potatoes, garlic powder, salt, pepper. Let simmer all day :)

Tuesday - FISH

Now this could be a shrimp pasta, or fried fish, or cod au gratin (which I made for the first time not too long ago and must say was just awesome) and since I had potatoes yesterday in the stew I'm going to pair this up with a nice salad.

Wednesday - CHICKEN

Chicken recipes are literally endless....so make your fav chicken recipe. Now I'd pair it up with rice since I haven't had rice yet this week.

Thursday - PORK

This night Kristen will be cooking a pork tenderloin and I think I'll pair it up with a cold pasta salad.

Friday - CHICKEN

Stir fry is an option that way you have chicken, rice again (but if it's brown rice it's a whole grain so it's all good) and LOTS of veggies such as peppers, onions and broccoli.

Then, here's my tip for weekend cooking. I do the "hard" recipes....if I wasn't using my slowcooker, its the weekends that I take the time to let a stew, turkey soup, seafood chowder or chili simmer on the stove all day. Sundays it's good 'ol salt beef for Sunday dinner. I love the winter comfort foods, nothing better than a hot bowl of turkey soup with warm fresh bread. This isn't set in stone it's just the thought process....most of the time.

Good luck with how you figure out your meal plans :)

Today's Quote

"Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can -- there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did"  -Sarah Caldwell