Day #6: Menu planning

Unfortunately, I'm fairly certain that even I couldn't finagle the rules on this thing to get "worst hangover I've had in a long time" to pass as "something new". And it is very difficult to motivate oneself to explore new things when one has a six Advil headache. (Don't worry, it was multiple doses several hours apart.)

That said, an emergency trip to the grocery store prompted me to think about what I needed for groceries for the week. I have a fairly well stocked pantry, it is just difficult to find things in it (it is narrow and deep and could use about one more shelf in it). That state of affairs usually leads to less than healthy eating. So, instead, today I went through what I had and put together a menu for the next week.

I've never really done any menu planning before. Not for a full week, at least. I did the table-setting project in 4-H back in the day, and put together a menu there. But that was usually just one meal and I can't think of a time that we ever actually made said meal.

This week's menu is based on A.) some leftovers I have in the freezer that I really ought to use up (some soup and some beans), B.) a whole chicken that has been defrosting in the fridge since Friday (still partially frozen!) which I'll put in the crock pot, and C.) my overwhelming love for my rice cooker. I picked up some salad bags while I was out to make salads as well (and split them into separate tupperware containers when I got home). They won't be as quite nice as the ones I can buy (no tomatoes, different greens, not certain what to do about dressing), but I plan to use leftover beans and chicken to spice them up, and keep them from getting monotonous.

If I can stick to this, I'll be eating out only one time next week. My budget will like that very much.

Menu, February 8-14
Monday:
Breakfast - bagel
Lunch - salad w/ tuna cup
Supper - leftover barley and black beans
**make brown rice for rest of week

Tuesday:
Breakfast - bagel
Lunch - turkey and cheese sandwich
Supper - leftover potato leek soup and rice
**prep veggies for slow cooker chicken recipe

Wednesday:
Breakfast - bagel
Lunch - salad w/ pinto beans
Supper - chicken and veggies
**put leftovers in freezer
**make chicken stock overnight

Thursday:
Breakfast - bagel
Lunch - turkey and cheese sandwich
Supper - chicken, veggies and rice

Friday:
Breakfast - bagel
Lunch - salad with leftover chicken
Supper - rice and beans

Saturday:
Breakfast - multigrain waffles with peanut butter
Lunch - french bread pizza
Dinner - eat out with friends

Sunday:
Breakfast - multigrain waffles with peanut butter
Lunch - chicken and rice
Dinner - leftover soup
**make batch of brown rice for week