Sneaky Cooking

I made spaghetti tonight, and on a whim I decided to try a little adventure.  I had some leftover cooked blackeyed peas.  I used my stick blender to puree the beans to oblivion and poured the slurry into the sauce.  I prepared my sauce as usual otherwise, except I added a little more seasonings.  No one at the table noticed anything different, and the kids even exclaimed how delicious it was.  I declare SUCCESS...since I could use up leftovers and sneak this past the extremely picky Mr. Snippity.

SHHHH...I'm still not telling him  :)

Keeping up the Resolution

So far, I have been completing the meal plans.  There was one day that I "kind of almost" had a meltdown...and a frozen pizza came to the rescue. :)

I have planned out a little less than two weeks from today...and to make it extra adventurous, I am adding a challenge to myself.  I want to try to make it through the rest of the month without doing major grocery shopping.  I will have to buy milk (we use vast quantities that I do not have room for in the fridge) and fresh fruit/veggies at least twice before then, but I have given myself a $60 limit (sounds better than the word budget!) for the rest of the month. (I almost think I am beginning to sound like my friend Amy!)

New Year Plan

As it is a new year...most people make resolutions.  I am not really one of those people who thrives on them.  But- for this year, I have made a resolution.  My goal is to purposefully complete a meal plan for my family's dinners.  I already do meal planning for breakfast and lunch for my business.  My kids usually follow along the same plan.  I have become extremely unmotivated about our dinners, and ultimately this means we eat way too much restaurant food.  SO...I have printed up blank calendar pages for the year, and I will fill in several days in advance.  For now, I only have tonights meal...but I did it in advance :)  Will we still eat out?  Sure.  Will our meals be set in stone? No way.  Will this be a better planning tool for me? It should!  I will try to share meals and recipe links as I have time. 

 

Tonight is spaghetti & meatballs with garlic bread.  I'm using the last bag of crushed tomatoes I froze from the garden with a can of store bought sauce.  The meatballs are some leftover meat chunks from last night's meatloaf.  Garlic powder and sea salt sprinkled on buttered italian bread completes the meal.