Staying Accountable

I am so grateful for starting this blog! It's still fresh and I'm probably the only one reading this but it's nice to have my goals for the week out there in cyberspace. It has already helped me stay accountable to two biggies for the week: preparing all my meals and getting active.

After walking around Green Lake with a good friend I put Juliette down for a nap and devoted my now free time to getting us prepped for the week. You should see me in the kitchen during one of my batch cooking episodes. It's complete chaos under control. If that even makes sense.

I've got every burner working, the oven cranking, the rice cooker percolating and veggie scraps piled in compost bowls amongst cooking utensils, used measuring cups, and recipe books. Yes, I am literally making 2-4 meals all at once. Never really worked in the restaurant kitchens but I think I'd do a great job!

At the end of it all (3 hours) I have 3 main meals, 2 large batches of vegetable side dishes (scrapped the zuccanoes and sauteed the zucchini with enoki mushrooms, mirin, toasted sesame seeds and sesame oil), and 2 breakfast dishes ready to go. I also tested out a homemade lara bar recipe. Too many nuts in ratio with the dates but it still tastes great.

I've already come up with a couple of tasty leftover ideas for some of the meals. With the Thai Coconut Soup I plan on reducing the stock and making it into a curry. For the Kale and Currant Salad I omitted the cheese, added sliced almonds and quinoa. The recipe doesn't require cooking but sauteing it and perhaps adding it to a frittata or egg scramble sounds really good to use up any leftovers towards the end of the week.

It feels really good to have all of this prepped and ready to go. Having a plan and sticking to it is definitely the way to go!

Cheers,
Brandi

Planning Day

Sunday is my Planning Day for the week. It's easily over-scheduled but something I try hard to commit to. When my crazy week starts spinning around me, I know I have a few strategic moments pre-set into my day to ground me. Those moments are called MEALS!

This week's meals are adapted from my favorite cookbooks: Feeding the Whole Family, The Moosewood Cookbook, and Sunlight Cafe Cookbook.

FWF p137: Thai Coconut Chicken Soup with fresh green salad
FWF p149:Mexican Brown Rice with Pinto Beans and a green side salad
FWF p194:Seared Ahi Tuna with Kale and Currant Salad
MW p154:Zuccanoes with Baked Chicken
Extra Veggie Fillers: steamed broccoli, sauteed carrots
Breakfast Options: Homemade Lara bars-online search, Sunlight p158:Red Flannel Hash, FWF p254:Winter Fruit Compote on Steel Cut Oats with Vanilla Nut Cream, Baked Turkey Bacon

And thanks to AmazonFresh delivery I had my groceries waiting for me like Christmas morning when I woke up today! Love saving time by NOT actually going to the grocery store some weeks.

Activity Days: Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday