Saturday, August 04, 2007

Housekeeping

Today Ryan and I made a list of all the things that we wanted done in our house - cleaning, organizing, etc. Then I took the things that I felt ownership of (such as cleaning out the fridge, planning the menu, and making a grocery list) and started on those things while Ryan started on the rest of the list. We have done so many things it is fantastic and best of all I have our menu planned for a week +, which for some reason is really the key to me feeling peaceful and happy as a homemaker/mom/wife.

Along the idea of menus/meal tricks for working moms - I know the assembly dinners for the freezer are a big thing out here. I haven't ever been to one and am reluctant to try one (cost/quality issues). The Dinner Diva had an idea that I like (though I probably will use my own recipes). She offers 5 for the freezer menus based on a certain type of meat - like chicken or ground beef. I like this idea because then you can take advantage of loss-leader sales and buy in bulk with a manageable plan. So next time I see a great deal I am going to try it.

My latest food idea is to try to implement a soup night. Soups are generally really healthy, full of veggies and beans and grains, delicious (homemade of course), frugal (you can use lots of leftovers and smaller bits of meat and still have the full wonderful flavors) and best of all they freeze well. So my plan is to make soup once a week as dinner and freeze the leftovers (in portion sized containers) to take in my lunches to work. I figure since I will be doing 10 hour days and I like to eat lots of smaller meals I will need to pack much more than a typical sandwich and fruit if I am going to be a happy camper. I think soup will bridge that gap beautifully.

So tonight we are having a tomato lentil soup. Any fellow soup lovers out there?

5 comments:

E said...

I am a fellow soup lover. I just discovered Amy's Organic Chunky Vegetable and am obsessed! I love soup for work. I'll have that and then snack on a granola bar and a Naked juice.

Wendi said...

I like a couple of soups: Potato/cheese, chicken noodle, tortilla soup, chili are some that come to mind. I don't make soup much except on cold winter days. I like the idea of freezing meals, but it seems like some food freezes well and some doesn't.

Keep sharing your menu ideas. I love it. If you find anything freezes well let me know. The things I've frozen in the past are lasagna and stuffed shells. (I just made 2 batches when I was cooking dinner and froze the other one.)

I'm never sure how long to cook things after I've frozen them, so I just put it in the over for about 2 hours. Do you know the rule on that?

Wendi said...

How do you have some of the text from your post a different color and underlined so it links to another site? I'm still trying to learn the blog tricks. All I know how to do is upload pictures.

Wendi said...

Hey Ambular--Back to the subject of freezing meals--I made chicken enchiladas today and froze a panful.

crystal said...

Hi there; I got your blog off my friend Wendi's list. I have a fantastic recipe for Navy Bean Soup--VERRRRRY good and healthy (always a bonus). Maybe I'll post it tomorrow! You inspired me! email me if you want the recipe.
-crystal