A penny pinched

Last week was really hot in the Kansas City area. Either that or I’m a wimp. In either case, I tried to keep my oven use to a minimum because I’d rather not give any more money than I absolutely have to to the electric company. I hadn’t realized how many of my favorite recipes involve the oven. I guess it’s back to the old crockpot, even though most people, including me, tend to associate it with fall and winter meals. Here are a few of the meals I had last week.

Crockpot BBQ chicken is always a favorite and easy to make. It also helps that it doesn’t heat up the entire house. Instead, it makes it smell great all day long. As good as it is, however, it can get a little boring at times.

I managed to score free dinner with a coupon promotion on Wednesday: Thai Cashew Chicken from Panda Express. I was afraid it would be a tiny serving based on the tiny box they used for my portion, but it ended up being a good-sized meal. The funny thing is I caught the two employees chatting in Spanish about how to only serve a small amount since it was free. Nice.

I had been looking forward to this meal all week. It was initially scheduled for Saturday, but… You know how it goes. It’s so simple, but it incorporates so many ingredients I love that I consider it comfort food. It’s basically plain scrambled eggs with some green onion, salsa, sour cream, and shredded Cheddar cheese. I eyeballed everything. The horror!

Here’s what I’ll be attempting to make this week, “attempt” being the key word here. Head over to I’m an Organizing Junkie for more inspiration.

Monday
Black bean burgers and salad

Tuesday
Steak salad

Wednesday
Make Ahead Lunch Wraps

Thursday
Best tuna casserole

Friday
Mac and Cheddar with Broccoli

Saturday
Easy Crock Pot Salsa Chicken

Sunday
Leftovers?

Like clockwork, two meals were not made last week. The Korean Hamburgers were replaced by the Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken that I didn’t make the day before. Instead of having Catherine Ann’s Enticing Tuna Salad – the Longmeadow Farm on Saturday, I had the Wanchai Ferry frozen meal. To my defense, I did that to make some room in the freezer.

Let me tell you about the Baked Teriyaki Chicken that I made on Monday. It was divine. I remember doubting that it would become a keeper, but I am sold. I loved it so much that I’m tempted to make it again this week. The only thing I regret was not thinking ahead and lining the baking dish with aluminium foil. (Wait. Is that the British spelling?) In any case, cleaning that glass dish was a huge pain and I’m not making that mistake again.

The Baja Black Beans, Corn and Rice was great as always, even when using pinto beans instead of black beans. I have a 25 pound bag to go through so you bet I’ll be substituting every chance I get. I also somehow blindly grabbed the container of basil instead of cilantro and that gave it a slightly different flavor.

I’ll be ridiculously busy this week, so I’m making it extra easy for me.

Monday
Catherine Ann’s Enticing Tuna Salad – the Longmeadow Farm

Tuesday
Pinto Beans and Rice in a Crock Pot (Or on Stove Top)

Wednesday
Korean Hamburgers

Thursday
Pasta and salad

Friday
Morningstar Chipotle Black Bean Burgers and salad

Saturday
Porcupine Meatballs II and veggies

Sunday
Play it by ear (let someone else cook, have leftovers, or canned soup)

Visit I’m an Organizing Junkie for more inspiration.

I’m sure many of you are shaking your heads while looking at some of my menus. Aren’t menus supposed to be filled with healthful and delicious meals every single day? Why do mine include things like frozen meals, pasta, and hot dogs?

The short answer is because I’m lazy. The longer answer is because setting too high a goal tends to lead to failure. As much as I’d like it, I don’t always have the time or motivation to make something fabulous from scratch every single day. Knowing this, I plan my menu accordingly.

If I didn’t do that, I would end up  getting takeout at least once a week. I know because I used to do it. I would start out with the best intentions and plan my nice little menu for the week, and then I would invariably run out of steam and feel like I needed a break. I only went out for pizza so it wasn’t a huge budget buster, but I imagine things can get expensive really quickly the larger your family is. That’s not to say that dining out is bad. You need to treat yourself once in a while, but you need to do it in a responsible way and budget for it.

However, if you’re on a really tight budget and dining out is a very rare occurrence in your household, you need to build in some slack into your weekly menus. You already know you’ll have some busy days and some days on which you won’t feel like cooking, so take that into account when making a menu for the week. Don’t set yourself up for failure by attempting to serve a home-cooked meal every single day. It’s OK to have leftovers, pizza, or a hot dog once in a while. It will save you money and probably even some calories.

Rather than letting these deviations from your plan make you feel derailed and like a failure, take control and make them a part of your menu. You’ll feel so relieved on the eve of a busy day when you check the menu and realize that you don’t have to worry about dinner. You might also look forward to cooking a nice meal on those other days when you’re not as busy.