Meals Made Easy, Well Easier Perhaps

I have been waiting for my days to switch over to 25 hours ever since I blew out the candles on my last birthday cake --- and we all know that those wishes come true! Since it seems like my wish is not going to be granted any time soon, I have been trying to make better use of the 24 hours I do have.

Meal planning is all the rage these days - especially with Real Simple's Take Back Dinnertime Challenge (I swear it has been popping up on all of my food blogs! Maybe it's the $2,000 prize... wish I knew about that earlier!). I am determined to give it a go. I think it could help me keep my grocery shopping in check and make my weekdays a little easier.

I am trying to carve out time on either Saturday or Sunday when I can do most of the prep work, and maybe even make the majority of the food for my family for the upcoming week.

I was hesitant to do this because I treasure the time we all have together on the weekends. It always seems to go so fast! But I figured if it can give me more family time on a daily basis, it's worth a shot, especially if it means we all get to sit down together for a homemade dinner at a reasonable hour.

Also, since I am just feeding a family of three (well, really more like 2.5 because Phinn doesn't require that much, and still can't eat all the things we do), it's likely that one meal will last two nights ,and maybe even have enough left over for lunches.

I choose at least one dish a week where I can make a batch large enough to feed an army. My poor very lucky husband knows what I am talking about, and is probably having flashbacks to my Red Beans and Rice recipe - delicious, but be prepared to have a LOT of it!

Here are my meals for this week:

Sunday - Summer Squash Turnover stuffed with Ricotta and Mozzarella cheeses (Recreating a meal I had at The Local in Charlottesville. If you live nearby and haven't been there - GO!!!)

Monday- Tomato soup and grilled cheese (for the boys) and soup and tuna salad for me (since I am not a big cheese person)

Tuesday - Risotto with spinach, mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes (I may throw in some more veggies that are hanging out in my fridge just to make sure I use them before they go bad.)

Wednesday-Veggie Burgers from the Farmers Market with roasted broccoli 

Thursday - Risotto leftover :)


Lucky for me, I only have to menu plan through Thursday this week because Hunter and I will be traveling to PA this weekend (more on this soon!), and Phinn will be having a sleepover at his grandparents.

Do you menu plan? Have any recipes this week you are excited to make?