I have a confession.....

I have a confession to make- cooking for me is a huge deal. I spent 10 years in a marriage being told I wasn't a good cook. I was married to a self declared 'foodie' who was a very good baker and a pretty damn good cook.  By far better then me.  I got no encouragement and often was discouraged if I tried to make anything 'new'.  Toss in being a young mom, two kids and a husband who worked night shift- I did not 'cook'.  I mean don't get me wrong-my kids ate, I ate. But it was more snacky.  Often we ate at my parents house, and meals we didn't were often premade, or easy to make- heated up veggies, a chicken breast some pasta etc. At one point I even was buying meals from a 'personal' chef. M&M meat shops was my friend. On the whole I became very good at "preheat oven and insert for x minutes"

I never tried new recipes.  I was afraid to.  It never added good thing to the marriage when I tried and kids never go "well mommy how about a new recipe tomorrow for supper?"

The end of my marriage brought a lot of ups and downs.  I worked long hours between my business and teaching in the evenings.  My parents fed us-a lot. I started to think about cooking more.  Kids lunches became more adventurous. Over the last year I've gotten more brave and worked on supper and new recipes.  Today really I felt like I can look in the pantry and fridge find a few things and make a decent meal.  I don't cook daily.  I try to make a good meal at least 1-2 times a week.  The rest is left overs and back to snacky foods and yeah-my parents still feed us a lot.  I don't know how I'd make it through some weeks with out them helping out like they do. I'm a full time student and work several evenings a week. Cooking is not something we can do every day. But I've gone from a girl who was worried and scared to try to enjoying it a lot.

Week Three Meal Plan

OK I'm learning my lesson- it's summer and I'm not cooking that much.  Between days at the lake, work and parents feeding us we're not needing a big meal each day on the plan.  So I have 4 recipes for this week. 

Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops

Carlic Cheddar Biscuits (aka Red Lobster Numminess)

Tex Mex Chicken Salad

Wicket Thai Chicken Soup

Meal Plan Week 2

Well as usual this is not a 'we'll eat this this day" type plan but the recipes that i'll have ingredients available to make over the next week or so.  When they get made tends to not change order- but we might miss making a meal.  We live out of town so trips into town and staying in town to save a second trip on a day happens a fair bit.

Day 1
Quinoa Mac & Cheese
Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes

Day 2
Peanut butter Banana French Toast
Sweet potato curry

Day 3 
Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings  

Day 4
Red Wine and Brie Grilled Cheese

Day 5
Ranch pork chops and Potatos

Between left overs and staples on hand we should have meals for close to the week.

Recipes starting tomorrow after a trip into town for groceries!

I think we'll probably make some Popsicles this week too. Kids have been bugging for them.

End of June Meal Plan

Well bear with me here but these most likely will never be a "sunday through saturday" type meal plans.  Instead I look about as far forward as I know my schedule will be. 

Wednesday
Supper:

• Mustard Breaded Baked Chicken Breasts
• Curried Cauliflower and Broccoli Poppers

Thursday
Lunch:

• Simple Chicken Salad 

  Friday
Supper

• Tacos
• Very Merry Berry Smoothie

Saturday
Brunch:

• French Toast

Sunday
Lunch:

• Olive Garden Alfredo
• Cesare Salad 

Supper:

• Mozza stuffed Turkey burgers 

I'll link these directly to recipes as I post the recipes up.
Where's the missing meals? Well folks- I work, I'm in school, my kids go to the grandparents often while I'm working.  Those meals are not being cooked by me.  If I make it- i'll post it.  Saturday this week we're having a BBQ at the lake for my daughters class.  Hot dogs, pop and everyone is bringing a dish. Nothing exciting there.