Routine

I'm a stickler for routines, and I always have been. I like them, I thrive with them...and, I'm anal-retentive. And a prepper. By far not a "doomsday prepper," especially since all of the apocalypse stuff just gives me the heebie-jeebies, but back to topic.

I like routines - morning routines, bedtime routines, routines with my son, and routines with regards to my food. Fridays are meal planning days. I have a meal planning pad that I use, which includes dinners for each night (Sunday through Saturday), then a general area for breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. Dinners are what I prep - everything else tends to fall into place after those dinners are planned.

I like to keep my dinners fairly simple on most evenings - as seen above, it's a protein (chicken), carbohydrate (garnet yam), and a BUNCH of vegetables (broccoli, obviously). But again, this was PLANNED.


My lunches tend to reflect, if not copy, my dinners. Seen to the left are two lunches, which were two of about 4-5 I prepared that evening. They all included fried cauliflower rice (riced cauliflower and quinoa cooked JUST like fried rice - amazing flavor, lower carbohydrate than its rice equivalent), plus protein, and vegetables. Thanks to these take-and-go containers, I am able to make as many as 15 meals at once, and the compartments are fantastic! Plus with so many containers, I can have a few in the fridge, and a few in the dishwasher. Oh, and sometimes, one or two left in the refrigerator at work.

Likewise, one of my other favorites is bok choy with garnet yams and chicken, again, in the compartment containers (microwave, freezer & dishwasher safe). But, since I've been so conscious of planning meals, my food budget has decreased, and I've felt so much better - likely due to less processed crap in my body. That's not to say I don't enjoy ice cream on occasion. Or cheese. Or french fries.

So, back to meal planning for the week. Fridays are my typical planning day. That's when I sit down with my grocery list, the grocery store's ad for the week, and my meal planning pad. Then Saturdays can be spent going to the store, and both Saturday and Sunday can be used for preparing foods for the week: marinating meats, cutting vegetables for use later in the week, and just generally putting everything away.

I'm also blessed that my son loves to eat just about ANYTHING, especially vegetables. So what I cook, he eats. Though, at times I have to cook & pack extra vegetables since I know he will take about half of them! (Side note: Perhaps he needs to be the Jolly Green Giant for Halloween....)

So for tomorrow, my breakfast is ready to go, my coffee cup is ready beneath the Keurig, my lunch is packed and in the fridge, and tomorrow's dinner is marinading in the fridge, ready to pop into the slow cooker tomorrow morning before work. No last minute stress tomorrow of what to make for dinner, and the leftovers will be Tuesday's lunch. The cycle, er, routine continues!