Popsicles & Paint: January 2014 Meal Plan

It's been so long since I've visited this space...there are a lot of reasons (school, work, kids...), but several people have asked about my January 2014 meal plan that I posted on Instagram and Facebook and I thought that this might be a great place to share.

My busy schedule over the past year led to bad eating habits for my family--a lot of fast foods and quick, convenience foods. I want to feed my family well and teach my kids healthy habits that they can carry throughout their lives. I also need to lose weight and be healthy. There are two obstacles to this goal:

1. I don't "like" to cook.
2. TIME

I'm not a natural cook. I can cook, I just don't enjoy it. I never know what to make and when I do cook it makes a big mess that I then have to clean up. Limited time only compounds this problem.

I knew that I needed to start 2014 off with a plan. I also knew that I didn't want to set myself up for failure by starting another "diet." I needed good, healthy meals that I could prep for ahead of time. I put the meal plan below together using the resources here and here. I was inspired by the Thriving Home's REAL food philosophy. I put together a meal plan that used as many unprocessed "real" foods as possible--I even made homemade pasta sauce! I then made the trip to Trader Joe's (It was my first time, it's amazing!) and then I stopped at Harris Teeter to get the rest of the items on my list. I then spent yesterday morning making the 11 freezer meals on the menu and organizing the remaining food. Now, I'm set for January. For the next month I should only have to stop at the store to buy milk and produce.

A couple of notes:
-As I was shopping/cooking I realized that I had picked a lot of recipes that use red meat--next month I will try to reduce the amount of meals with red meat. (I'm learning!)
-I buy frozen soup at Ladles ($4 for 1 pint).
-I also plan to exercise and drink ~~less diet coke~~ more water.
-I'm definitely not an expert, if you have any ideas please leave them in the comments.

Here's the plan:

Saturday, January 04, 2014

· Lunch: Whole Wheat 5 Ingredient Mac and Cheese, & apple slices

· Dinner: Chicken Parmesean Casserole & oven roasted broccoli

Sunday, January 05, 2014

· Lunch: Chicken Parmesean Casserole & oven roasted broccoli

· Dinner: leftovers

Monday, January 06, 2014: Italian Bolognese Sauce with Pasta

Tuesday, January 07, 2014: Taco Bar (using homemade taco seasoning) & corn

Wednesday, January 08, 2014: leftovers

Thursday, January 09, 2014: Low Country Smothered Pork Chops & green beans

Friday, January 10, 2014: soup & bread

Saturday, January 11, 2014