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Monday, April 8, 2019

Last Week's food plan

I started posting a weekly meal plan a while back, mainly to help me use the meats and various proteins I had frozen. I found it really does help me to use the things I have, but I still tend to over buy when I go to the store. At least now when I do buy too much it seems to be fresh produce and I am finding a lot of ways to salvage it and, except for the occasional cucumber half, I am using it all. I would like to be all noble and say the menu plan keeps me from freestylin' but that would be a big fat lie. It does give me a starting point  some days, but there are some where time or attitude or wants get in the way of the plan. I feel no regret as long as I don't let food go to waste.so here is a brief recap of this past week .

The Plan:
 Baked chicken, mashed potatoes or cauli mash, spinach salad, steamed cauliflower and broccoli
. Corned beef and cabbage, new potatoes or cauli mash
x .  Spaghetti or zoodles with meat or marinara sauce, tossed salad, garlic toast or keto roll
x . Pizza, tomato, onion and cucumber salad 
. Grilled steak, tossed salad, baked potato or cauli mash, bread sticks or keto roll
 x. Cheeseburger casserole, brussels sprouts, cauliflower "potato" salad
✓* Chicken enchiladas, coleslaw, green beans  (kinda happened)

What really happened:

Monday: Heard from Son3 that his band was coming to the deep south in June for a few shows, and he asked if I would open the home "hotel" for them. Of course I said yes, so  I began deep cleaning the upstairs. My time is not my own and I thought as long as I had a free day I might as well get crackin'. I had taken some pre-baked chicken out of the freezer on Sunday so it became dinner in a hurry and I needed a quick meal because I stayed upstairs working pretty late.
Baked chicken with sautéed mushrooms, mashed potatoes (or not), steamed broccoli, spinach salad

Tuesday: Sunday afternoon TheHub and I stopped by Publix on the way home from church. I routinely look at the meat counter for any unadvertised discounts and found 1 corned beef seriously discounted (last sell by date). Of course I picked it up, popped it in the crockpot as soon as we got home, then stuck it in the fridge that night for a meal during the week. Tuesday became that day. When TheHub asked if we were celebrating St. Patrick's day again, I had to tell him no. We were celebrating cheap corned beef with cabbage that was already in the fridge.
Corned beef, cabbage, new potatoes or no potatoes, toast or grilled keto bread, strawberries and stevia sweetened mini chocolate chips

Wednesday: I am not exactly sure what has been going on with TheHubs job but I do know he has been working on one project since before Thanksgiving and he thinks it is coming to an end. I hope so since he has not taken but 1 full weekend off since then. 
I was out buying groceries when he called to see if I had started dinner. No, I was still in the car on the way home from the store. He decided he wanted to go out to eat to celebrate the end of it. (I have serious doubts if it is actually the end, but for once I held my snarky tongue and just agreed to go out to eat anywhere but Italian (Southern not Northern Italy) or Chinese because both are virtually impossible to eat and remain keto compliant. 
Jubilee Joe's grilled grouper, mixed veggies, coleslaw

Thursday: It was a day filled with upsetting things and I really needed some calmness. I had planned on grilling steaks and having a glass (or 2) of wine, but the weather changed and I did not want to cook in the cold. (And yes, I understand cold is  relative term and it would have felt like spring to most of you). 
I grabbed chicken from the freezer to thaw quickly and had to rethink dinner. I still could have had the wine, but opted to save the carbs for a square of stevia sweetened chocolate, which I promptly forgot to eat. I should have had the wine!
Chicken enchilada casserole, tomato cucumber  and onion salad.

Friday: More blooming rain was forecast so I thought about just sticking the steaks in the freezer, but the skies cleared and it was perfect for grilling (except for the bloomin pollen ).
Steak, baked potato (or not) tossed salad, radishes, garlic bread or keto toast 

Saturday: TheHub and I attacked the screened porch and deck. He rinsed while I scrubbed and we got rid of winter grime and about an inch of pollen. I am exaggerating of course, but the runoff did look like a thick yellow river (or stream). After doing that and working in the yard a bit it was game time and we were eating game food.
Sloppy Joe's on bread (or not) spinach salad, chips (or not).

Sunday: Difficult Mom day and that is all I am saying. TheHub ran to Publix and snagged a rotisserie chicken and I made a couple of things I had on hand thats all.
Chicken, tater tots or cauli mash, asparagus, raspberries

And the plan for this week in no particular order:

1. Spaghetti (or zoodles) with meat sauce, tossed salad garlic bread (real or keto)
2. Cheeseburger casserole over lettuce with tomatoes and pickles
3. Mac (or cauliflower)  and cheese, coleslaw, and green beans
4. Egg rolls in a bowl with a side of fried rice (or not)
5. Grilled chicken in white bbq sauce, potato or fake cauli salad, baked beans (or not)
6. Something (unsure what) mashed rutabaga (I bought this and have no idea what it tastes like. It might have been a bad idea but it is something new to try), green beans or possibly broccoli.
7. Out to eat. Will be in Nashville for a couple of days.




27 comments:

  1. Another week of life throwing you curve balls :) It's a miracle you can stay on the Keto diet with all that you go through every week

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    1. I think life is all about dodging the curve balls. Some weeks are just more demanding and I am not always gracious with the demands. Keto and I are companions, mostly!

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  2. I admire your meal plans and especially your flexibility. I've only really started cooking during the week since retirement. Before that we ate a lot of soup/sandwiches, tacos or a pot of something I made on the weekend. I'm finding hard to come with ideas though my son is always grateful for whatever I make.

    Hope this week is less upsetting!

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    1. My life has always been fluid, it s just more fluid now than ever. I make plans just to keep God laughing.

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  3. Sometimes life is just toooo challenging to cook as well.
    Love your plans and your flexibility.

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    1. My plans are tentative at best. I am way too old to still believe whatever I plan is going to happen.

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  4. I'm with you. In my mind, if we don't let food go to waste, it doesn't really matter if we have a plan or not.

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    1. I hate tossing food, so whatever happens and however it is used is fine with me.

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  5. lucky you going to Nashville, only been the once would love to visit again. Hopefully this week is a better week for you.

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    1. Nashville is just a 3 hour car ride from here. I have even driven up just for a kid birthday party and driven home the same day.

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  6. I think, as long as you are able to have a meal on the table that is acceptable to both you and your husband, then, that is all that matters. It's good that you know what you have on hand and have "meal possibilities" in mind. That's my kind of meal planning. :)

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    1. Possibilities are usually the best I can come up with, and sometimes it really does work.

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  7. I'm SO envious that you have Publix! We went there all the time when we lived in Florida -- best supermarket ever. And by a long shot. :-)

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    1. I love the store and think the staff is even better.

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  8. " I should have had the wine" should be on a t shirt!

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  9. Your menu sounds delicious, Anne. I too lose the occasional half of a cucumber. We aren't able to use them all up before they go bad sometimes.

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    1. I understand there is going to be some food waste, but I really do try hard to limit it.

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  10. We were just talking about wasting food, because I must think I'm still cooking for the family with 2 teenage boys! Stuff gets in the way of planning meals and cooking but you seem to take interference in stride. Have fun in Nashville!

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    1. A lot of times I sill think I am cooking for the whole bunch, but I have learned (and it did take a while) to freeze our overage. I am also using fresh produce in different ways to make sure it is used instead of trashing it.

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  11. good menu selections!!! I just cleaned out the fridge yesterday and the garbage had to be taken out again... Leftovers get shoved into the back of the fridge and out of sight, out of mind. Had several duplicates also. Now it's clean and it looks like we have no groceries.

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    1. It is funny how the fridge looks when it is cleaned. I wish I were more habitual about it.

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  12. How is that cauliflower as wheat/ low carb substitute idea? How is cauliflower rice, is it good? What about the pizza crust? I’m apprehensive about it.

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    1. I eat no grains at all so it is a way I get some sort of traditional American diet food using zero grains. Cauliflower mixed with coconut flour and eggs creates a "crust" that has a decent mouth feel.
      I eat cauliflower rice very regularly. It does not taste like rice, but I use it as a base for other foods and it is really good.

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  13. The food looks awesome, but thick sluggy pollen runoff? ewww. We probably need to do that kind of cleaning soon too. NOT looking forward to it.

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    1. Thankfully the pollen is pretty much over now!

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  14. It was really cold that day because of the wind. And, I am not cold-natured!

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