Meal Planning aka Savior of my Sanity

Confession time folks: I am a wanderer. No, I do not have that dreamy wanderlust that drives young people all over the world... I'm talking about the grocery store. Seriously, if I don't go in with a list, I will come out with a watermelon, some peanut butter, and a pack of bacon, and nothing for dinner. This girl needs a plan!

So here's the deal:
-Every Sunday after out big brunchy brunch, my hubby and I sit down with a laptop and some cookbooks and decide what's for dinner for the upcoming week. I'm working on incorporating some more variety in that plan because for a few weeks, I think we ate the same 5 things.


-While he cleans up from breakfast, I look through all the recipes for the week (some of which are in my head) and write down all the ingredients that are needed, plus some staples (like eggs and almond milk) and some other things we can have for snacks or treats.


-We load up and hit the grocery store and are surprisingly pretty good about getting only what we need.

-Since we shop at our local commissary, I don't dive much into the world of couponing. However, a couple weeks ago, Nate and I watched a lady spend $30 on like $200 worth of merchandise, so I'm tempted to try it out.


-Some people have found great success in prepping things for meals on Sundays, but since we do our shopping on Sundays, I like some lazy time between shopping and cooking Sunday dinner. Plus, I don't own enough tupperware.


-Right now, I'm not meal planning because I'm living at home, but I do search quite a few food blogs all the time. So I got the fancy pants idea of keeping a running word document with all the new recipes I've found, broken up into categories. That way, when we do get into a food rut, I can just pull one of those out and have a fab new dish for dinner!

I love this system because I don't have to figure out what's for dinner each night. I never have to dig through the fridge at 6 when we're both starving and hope I land on a delicious idea. All I have to do is look at my little listy!

Happy meal planning friends!

The Happiest Place on Earth!

This afternoon, I will be making a semi-spontaneous trip to the happiest place on Earth. That’s right folks. I’m going to Disneyland! 

In a little baby recap, I am back in my hometown of sunny San Diego for about 6 months during the hubs’ deployment. He will be nearby the whole time so I will be able to see him periodically (yay!). It was the best deployment situation that we could’ve ever asked for so we are soaking up this blessing along the way. 

Anywho, earlier this week we looked at our calendars and realized that we should probably go to Disneyland while we are in California because, well, why would that ever be a bad idea? Disneyland was our first date and we’ve been one time since but not for a while. So hotel room was booked, tickets were purchased and the day is finally here! 

Necessity is definitely the mother of invention and we always need to stay on budget. We decided to reserve a hotel room with a full kitchen. It was just slightly more expensive that a regular room but in the long run, it will save us having to eat out. 

I did all our meal prep yesterday. Here is what we will be snacking on during our trip! 

Friday night dinner: Turkey burger tacos (homemade tortilla recipe http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2012/06/soft-homemade-tortillas.html)

Saturday/Sunday lunch and snacks: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (homemade sandwich bread http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2010/03/25/homemade-sandwich-bread/), kettle chips, veggies and hummus, strawberries, apples, Lara bars, Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter 

Saturday night dinner: out

Sunday night dinner: Italian meatloaf (http://paleomg.com/italian-meatloaf/), Lemony pasta salad (http://www.forkknifeswoon.com/food-drink/side-dishes/2013/05/lemony-orzo-pasta-salad-with-cucumber-and-feta/)

Dessert: Lemon Pound Cake (http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/10/lemon-pound-cake.html)

Hmmm I seem to have a lemon thing going on right now. But all these recipes are delicious and super easy! And more importantly, super easy to prep before you go and they will last just fine on the counter or in the fridge. 

Ps... I am so darn proud of that sandwich bread. I have always struggled with baking things that need to rise. Truth be told, I tend to half-bake them while they are supposed to be rising, which is exactly what I did with my first batch but I think I nailed it the second time! It helps that the weather in San Diego is 85 degrees in January. Madness!

Pss... Check out my lovely friend Madi’s post today over at www.homegrownhostess.com This girl is my soul sister and when we got together for lunch the other day, we realized we both decided to go to Disneyland the same day! So we will be meeting up tomorrow, probably squealing at each other across Main Street.