Back to work meal planning!

The time has come! This week is the beginning of the 2012/2013 school year. Last week was a tease- since I work part time I only had to work part time of a half week, however this week will be a "full" work week for me.

In order to help myself be successful as a wife, mother, and OT I need a little more structure/planning than in the summer months. I am still learning how to juggle my new role as a mother with everything else, and I am sure it will forever be a work in progress. One thing I have been looking into to help save $$ and eat better is meal planning.

Meal planning in its simplest form is when you pre-plan the meals you will have each day for an entire week (or month if you are an extreme planner). In my case I am starting with one week of dinners. I scoped out what was in my cabinets and fridge and picked 3 meals. I'm starting small and we like to do leftovers quite a bit. I went shopping Sunday morning for all the ingredients we did not have.

Then... When talking with my mom a few weeks back she mentioned how her neighbor cooks on Sunday only. WHAT?! That is an amazing idea!!! Not only do I only have to shop 1 time/week I only have to cook on Sunday's! Sign me up!

Today was my day- I planned, shopped, and cooked!! 3 main courses. I did not cook sides because they are usually easy enough that I can whip them together in 15 min or less. However I did plan for the sides and bought them also.

My dishes are not fancy, they are not as healthy as they could be, but I am learning how to do this meal planning thing and it is BY FAR healthier then grabbing something from a drive trough window. These 3 meals will last us probably until Friday including some lunches. My next goal- meatless Monday's!! If you have an awesome quinoa recipe feel free to share!!!

Here are my recipes for this week. Happy meal planning!!

Mini Meatloafs
1# ground beef or turkey
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 cup Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup itialian bread crumbs
Topping: 1/4 C. ketchup, 1/4 C. brown sugar, 2 TBSP mustard- mix together

Mix is all together (hands work best), put in muffin tin, add topping if desired, and bake 350 for 30 min or until internal temp is 160.

Chicken Pot Pie
1 pie crust
1 bag frozen mixed veges
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of chicken ( or shredded chicken breast)
1 cup chicken broth

Put bottom pie crust in pan, mix veges chicken and cream of chicken soup in bowl, add mixture to pie crust, fill remaining space with chicken broth, place top crust on. Bake at 375 for about 45 min, or until top is golden brown.

Lasagna
9 lasagna noodles (I usually make 10 because I always break/drop one)
2 jars or sauce
1 pound ground meat (beef/turkey/chicken)
1/2 onion chopped
12 oz cottage cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Boil noodles, brown meat with chopped onion. Add 2 jars of sauce to meat/onion mixture and warm. Mix Parmesan, cottage cheese, and egg.
Layer in a 9x13 dish- sauce, noodles, sauce, 1 cup mozzarella, noodles, sauce, egg/parm/cottage cheese mixture, noodles, and sauce. Bake 30 min at 350, last 15 min add final cup of mozzarella cheese to top.