Monthly Meals: Week 1

I've always prided myself on being able to cook and plan meals on the fly and use up the last of my ingredients in an economical way. As I'm getting closer to student teaching and eventually working, though I've realized that this way won't always work for us!

I thought it would be great to do one of those once-a-month cooking type ideas, but quickly realized that most of the meals aren't the sort of thing we actually like.

Our family isn't picky, but most crockpot meals that include vegetables turn out too soggy for us, and I wanted to be able to reuse side dishes for multiple meals. Cooking meals and freezing them also isn't appealing since they have to be frozen in bags, microwaved, and re-served.

We are also Eastern Orthodox, and so have a lot of fasting days through out the year, including every Wednesday and Friday. The traditional fast is vegan, but we have a blessing from our spiritual father to gradually ease into fasting more fully. That said, we probably include more vegetarian days that your typical American family, so I'm working on getting more new recipes in my repertoire.

Here's our first week of dinners, which started on Friday:

Mon: Crockpot Chicken Tikka Masala with leftover Somali Rice

Tues: White Chicken Chili with chips and Salsa

Wed: Cheese Quesadillas and guacamole

Thurs: Honey Garlic Chicken

Fri: Chicken Gyros with pita and tzatziki sauce

Sat: Tacos (at a friend's house)

Sun: Somali Chicken Legs and Somali Restaurant Rice

I also keep a running shopping list in Google Docs so that I can access it when I'm on the run. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction toward feeding a family in a busy world!