Pinteresting Dinner Planning

I have memories of my mom making my dad's lunch for work, either the night before or early in the morning. If this is a 'good wife' gene, it must skip a generation, because I've sent lunch to work with my hubby probably thirty times in seven years of marriage.

In an attempt to be sweet to him/not let him starve, I really would like to step up my lunch-sending efforts, and this will probably be done best by meal planning and sending leftovers.

{Note to husbands: your wife is a rock star if she makes you lunch every day. Rise up and call her blessed, already, will ya?}

So, as I wait for a massively huge work file to download, I find myself passively avoiding -

1. Dishes in the sink
2. The man-child who is supposed to be napping, but has been singing in his crib for an hour
3. The two flies antagonistically buzzing around me. They've set out to taunt me - despite five days of unrelenting efforts to kill them, they are still freaking alive

No worries. I will not be distracted from meal planning this afternoon.

Meal planning works like this, if you haven't done it before.

1. Log onto Pinterest.
2. Spot an adorable pair of boots a friend pinned.
3. Click through to see how much said boots cost.
4. They're too much.
5. Remember you're "meal planning".
6. Scroll through your delicious looking "Recipes" board
7. All that delicious-looking food is making you hungry.
8. Stop for a snack.
9. Pick five or six main dishes from that "Recipes" board. Honestly, it's time to make use of some of these things you so laboriously pinned.
10. Confirm that you have the majority of the ingredients for each recipe on hand so you don't have to spend a small fortune on groceries.
11. Make a grocery list.
12. Spot a pin for a scarf sale on another website. (!!!)

So, as you can see, there are roughly twelve very important steps to meal planning like a pro. :)

Here's what I picked.

This Chicken Yakisoba is something I've been wanting to try for a while. I am an aficionado of both real Chinese/any-type-of-Asian food as well as extremely westernized/processed/not real Chinese food. "Toss it in soy sauce, it'll be fine," are words to live by, in my book.

 If you happen to follow this link, you may see that the website implies this is a paleo meal. I'm sure you'll see the first picture for this recipe is of a frothy, boiling pan of ramen. So, this is more "poor college student" and less "paleo". Don't judge me, it's my meal planning list, and it took me twelve grueling steps to pick this!

This Chicken Parmesan is a little something my friend Bernice whipped up one night when we went to her house for dinner. It's only one of the best things I've ever eaten.
No big deal.

I went home and promptly scoured her Pinterest activities until I found the recipe. I'm real creepy. It's amazing I have the friends that I do.

I would like to introduce you to Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken. I haven't tried it yet, but I love it already. Tenderized chicken, breaded and deep fried and then coated with a delectably sticky combination of honey, garlic and my old friend soy sauce. And wouldya look at that garnish. Rosemary? I don't know, but it's lovely.

This is the only recipe of the week that looked remotely appetizing to my five-year-old. He's got a rough week ahead of him, as his mother is not indulging the picky phase he finds himself in.

Beef with Broccoli will be a nice dish after three days of chicken. This will have broccoli carry-over from the Yakisoba, which is one less ingredient I will need to buy. Bonus!

{The pinner claimed something like, "THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT ANYONE HAS EVER EATEN IN THE HISTORY OF LIFE!!! BEST PIN EVERRRRR!!!".

I appreciate their enthusiasm, so I went ahead and stuck it on the list.}

This is a knockoff Red Lobster Shrimp Scampi. I'm going to skip the chardonnay called for in the recipe. Can I use the sherry I will need for the Beef with Broccoli? Anyone?











I put my little shopping list together, and am hoping for some good deals.

10 chicken breasts

1 jar marinara sauce

1 package garlic croutons

1 head cabbage

2 lbs broccoli

Fresh ginger

Soy sauce

2 packages ramen noodles

Sherry

Steak

Angel Hair

1 bag frozen medium/large shrimp

1 bar mozzerella cheese

This will all get really interesting if our kitchen is being renovated next week, as planned. 

Happy Thursday, everyone!