[make] Grocery Menu

Now that it is summer, I plan on tackling many of the organizational projects that I didn't have time (or energy) for during the school year. One of these projects is maintaining a monthly menu for our groceries, eating out, and vacation/traveling days. There are loads of cute ones on Pinterest, but sometimes you just have to make your own thing (minus the bells/whistles of "cute" menus, do you know what I mean?).

I have always had a "menu" of sorts, but it has never been organized enough to where Nate and I were confident in the meals we were going to eat... not in that we didn't HAVE food, I mean we would constantly find ourselves saying, "What do YOU want for dinner?", "I don't care, what do YOU want for dinner?" Agghh! Aggravating. So, insert monthly menu:

I have each day labeled with B, L, D, indicating the three meals of the day. For date nights, the dinner option is labeled "Out" (as are Sunday afternoons since we usually go eat with our "family group" after church). I also have vacation days highlighted out since those will be separate grocery trips and/or eating out, depending on the location. We take two semi-big grocery trips a month, so we shop for two weeks at a time.

For breakfast most days, we will be having green smoothies: we JUST bought a Magic Bullet to create yummy green smoothies and I will be posting recipes soon. It's the main way I will be getting my "greens" since my name is Chrissy, I'm 27 years old, and I do not eat vegetables. I know, I know.

For lunch, we are going for easy, simple, or leftovers. Yep, there are some frozen meals featured. Don't judge. Nate is still working during the week and I'll be helping him out at the office or I'll be doing stuff at home. The last thing we want to have is dirty dishes sitting out from an extravagant lunch menu. Nope.

Dinners are "themed": you will notice this under the days of the week:

Sundays- Comfort Food. Will most likely be made with a crock pot since Sundays are our relaxation and napping days.

Mondays- Taco Night, our favorite night! Nate makes his homemade guacamole and we use corn tortillas to make beef street tacos with taco rice (made from a package: keeping it real)

Tuesdays- Casserole night: this will create lots of leftovers for us to eat for lunch the next day (and who doesn't like an easy casserole?)

Wednesdays- OUT. We have church Wednesday nights until 8pm and we usually don't feel like cooking something that late. And to be honest, we usually go to Whataburger or Wendy's :)

Thursdays- Italian Night, self explanatory. 

Fridays- New Recipe Night, courtesy of Pinterest. Nate also enjoys cooking and since he is off Friday, this day will give us time to cook together in the kitchen and experiment with whatever meal we will be making that evening.

Saturdays- Big Breakfast Day, because lunches are usually simple/easy/quick so we can go out and have a Date Night!

So there you have it: my attempt to have a somewhat organized meal schedule for the week. I think Nate's excited about it too but we will see how it goes when it comes into play! Maybe I'll even post the recipes we create... Who knows! It is super easy to make your own: just create a new Word document, but as a calendar (there are oodles of templates on Word). Pick your month, and type in the calendar days! This could work for menus, scheduled events, anything you'd like!

Happy Wednesday! We have spent the first part of this week with Nathan's family and are now back home (or heading home by the time this posts at 12pm...).

Half of the week is over, and you may be dragging. Look to God for strength: pray for peace, comfort, and guidance in your day. Be still. Say thank you for all He has done for you! Let His light and goodness radiate from you, yes even on a Wednesday, and let others see Him in you!

"...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect..." 1 Peter 3:15