Monday, Monday

Ba-da, ba-da-da-da.... How about just another manic Monday?  There are lots of song lyrics about Mondays.  We all know why.  Yesterday was a very Monday Monday.  Despite that, I finished up several things and have a precious float almost ready for tomorrow's Mini Gras parade. Such a Monday was it that I here I sit on Tuesday typing what I wanted to post yesterday.

One of my goals for the week was to be better prepared.  For me that means planning ahead for school days, having laundry done and put away, having a semi-clean and neat house, and having a list of several meals to put on the table for dinner.

Meal planning is not my favorite thing nor is scrambling at 4 when we are all hungry and tired.  Previously, I'd make my list of meals, check the pantry, make a grocery list to make up for lacking ingredients, then go shopping.  It often involved multiple stores in Mississippi to find the things I needed and wanted.  Here in Mobile, I can go in Publix and get everything, even natural-minded medicinal items and teas.  I also track the weekly and monthly sales fliers at Fresh Market.  They really have some good deals several times a month if you watch.

For shopping, I make a simple list of everyday needs then go see what produce and/or meat is on sale.  I get the ingredients then make my meal list.  It ends up being about the same cost if not less expensive and works because we keep it simple.  I just don't have time for 12 ingredient stir fry sauces.  Not that more complicated cooking isn't delicious, but I don't enjoy the prepwork and subsequent cleanup on a typical weekday.  For example, this week I only bought one package of chicken thighs and plan on using things from the freezer for other meals. 

When I say simple, I mean it.  Veggies are roasted, steamed, and maybe topped with cultured butter or coconut oil and sea salt.  Meats are baked, braised, sauteed, or slow-cooked in a dutch oven.  I've gotten better with the actual slow-cooker, but I still find the taste better and the meat more tender when cooked in the enameled cast iron dutch ovens.  Every 1-3 weeks, I make hummus from soaked garbanzo beans, granola from soaked oats, a big jar of balsamic dressing, Frank makes bread, and I cook up a big pot of quinoa.  I make huge batches of kidney, black, and garbanzo beans and freeze what we won't use immediately.  I have a very simple repertoire of recipes.  I don't get terribly creative or obsess over it anymore.   

We are not 100% grain free anymore.  What grains and beans we do are usually (ideally) soaked before eating.  Nuts, too.  To keep costs down since I am more and more committed to buying organic and/or verified non-GMO when possible, I buy grains and beans bulk at Publix.  It's SO much less expensive than cans of beans and boxes of oatmeal and quinoa.  I'd even wager that the pricing is on par with the Commissary (military base grocery store) pricing.  Organic nuts are not in my budget, so I get big bags at Sam's club.  You can't beat the price, and I do feel like the soaking and oven-drying process helps get some of the ick out.  I would rather eat well and not take vacations than save for a vacation by eating junk.  Studies like this one just published by Harvard are constant reminders that what we put inside ourselves, more importantly our children, is of critical importance.

Some other things I try and keep on hand ready to eat are avocados, apples, carrots, celery, oranges, bananas, boiled eggs, pickles, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, whole-fat plain greek yogurt, kombucha, organic somewhat local milk, coconut or almond milk, nitrite/nitrate-free bacon (I buy extra when it's on sale), and Applegate sandwich meat (again I buy up when there is a sale and freeze it for Will).  In the freezer for back-up is organic ground meat, Applegate nuggets (come on, every now and then), grass-fed hotdogs, Rudi's tortillas, a couple of Amy's pizzas, and any cuts of meat I find on special.  My pantry staples are a variety of organic canned tomatoes, canned organic green beans, canned pumpkin, a variety of flours, oats both rolled and steel cut, balsamic vinegar, honey, coconut oil, a box of O's just in case, some arrowroot cookies or ginger snaps, and a variety of "crispy" (soaked and baked dry on low heat) nuts.  We don't use up every single thing ever in a month, and the produce is part of my weekly grocery trip.

There's an old saying (and a book) about eating to live not living to eat.  Simple semantics, right?  Well, eating to live can easily turn into living to eat when you are doing your very best to learn about, find, go get, and prepare nutritious meals for your family.  I keep a running list of the biggies we need from the Commissary and Sam's.  I make weekly lists of perishables and everyday items.  All of the planning, getting, and making gets obsessive very easily.  It is important to me, but so are other things in life.  I don't want to be as consumed with food as Pinterest gets me.  Keeping a well-stocked pantry and some things in the freezer helps me not live to eat.  So do simple menus based on what I can find and what my kids will eat like this:

Sunday--Garam masala meatballs, quinoa, and roasted veggies (Maybe recipe coming later for this one.  It is really easy and fast)
Monday--Beet pancakes and fresh berries
Tuesday--Braised pork (based on this with only salt and pepper to season then topped with a jar of chutney in the last hour of cooking), steamed green beans (they were on special last week), and baby sweet potatoes.
Wednesday--leftovers
Thursday--Slow cooker chicken curry with veggies and quinoa
Friday--pizza or leftovers

That's it!  Nothing fancy.  Not a million pots, pans, and prep bowls dirty and priorities somewhat well aligned.