This Week's Meal Plan

Did you know that Thursdays are my most exhausting day of the week? Most people dread Mondays, but Thursdays are the days that threaten to drag me down. Because Thursday is Grocery/Secondary Laundry Day.

When it comes to grocery shopping, I don't dawdle, but I don't rush it either. I hate it so much when I forget something that I try not to miss anything. And some weeks I need to go to multiple stores to get it all (limited to three stops though thanks to my not-so-patient almost-preschooler). Then it takes me a while when I get home to unload, sort, and store everything. The result is I usually average about three to four hours of time spent each week on groceries. I'm often ready to drop by 2:00.

But I keep doing this, and I do it every week. Because our family's food is important to me. And I like to think that the hours I spend each Thursday prepping and properly storing my ingredients saves me precious minutes throughout the week. To me, it's a worthy trade-off.

Why do I bring this up? Well, because it's my state of mind right now. As I sit typing this morning, I'm mentally gearing up for the morning runaround, hoping Kieran won't mind my pushing him to his three-stop limit. Praying I've got the energy afterwards to do laundry and maybe dye my hair this afternoon, before picking Gavin up from school, coming up with an afternoon outdoor activity, and getting dinner started.

It will all get done though! It helps when I have easier meal plans like the one below.

Thursday

• Confession time! I think I was supposed to make chicken tetrazzini a couple weeks ago. But a combination of too much food in my fridge and not enough time to even tidy up my kitchen lead to it getting pushed back. It's assembled now and just waiting for it's trip through my oven.
• Steamed veggies

Friday

• Pizza
• Popcorn

Saturday

• Did you know this is National Train Day? And as the mother of two train-obsessed little boys, we will be spending the day participating in various festivities. So something simple like sandwiches sounds perfect after a long, fun-filled day.
• Chips
• Fresh fruit

Sunday

• For once, I don't want to cook. This Mama is insisting on being taken out! It's either that or Rob's grilling up some fabulous pub burgers for me.

Monday

• Tonkatsu
• Fresh rolls
• Field greens salad with a balsamic vinaigrette

Tuesday

• Chicken and ramen stirfry with lots of fresh veggies. Rob loves stir fry. And together we'll make a teriyaki sauce for the boys, and a spicier sczechuan-style sauce for us.

Wednesday

• Leftovers

Happy planning!!