Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Sept 9 - Sept 15)

Last week was the longest short week ever, ha!  I constantly felt like I was on the go and also felt like everything kept changing.  We did an OK job of sticking to our meal plan but we do have a few carryover recipes from last week.  On Monday we were supposed to spend the day at Zoombeezi Bay but apparently all of Columbus decided to do that so we left and went to the downtown fountains and out to lunch instead.  We had such a big lunch at Red Robin that we didn't feel like eating much for dinner so we just had leftovers.  Then on Thursday the boys asked if we could please have pasta for dinner and that sounded quick and easy to me so I bumped the chili to Friday and the chicken to this week.  It's kind of nice that once again this week I don't have to do a lot of shopping to be ready for dinners, although I am starting to run low on staples so I'll need to do more shopping than last week for sure.

This week continues to be busy and that will probably be the theme for at least the next two months.  We have soccer two nights each week and Scout two nights each week.  Throw in me working a few nights and Adrian's small group and we have something just about every night.  Our weekends are jam packed too!  I'm doing my best to make sure we stick to healthy eating and not eating out but it is getting harder.  I am making sure each week to have stuff to make pasta, salad and sandwiches so worse case we can have those for dinner.  I also always have eggs so that is another good option for a quick dinner.

The other thing that is working really well for us is having the one built in leftover day each week.  It really helps to clean out the fridge and give me a day to catch my breath.  Most weeks it will be Wednesday since we almost always have either Adrian or I out Wednesday nights.  This week we are moving it to Tuesday because Adrian's group is not meeting this week so we will both be home on Wednesday.  He's actually going to grill our chicken that night, hopefully the rain will end by then!  He's grilling on Saturday too since I'll be out all day at Zumba events. 

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Dr Pepper Ribs
Monday - Dr Pepper Meatballs - carryover from last week
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - Dr Pepper Chicken - carryover from last week
Thursday - Taco Thursday!
Friday - Black Bean Chili
Saturday - London Broil on the grill & whatever veggies we have left in the fridge

Water Flavor - I have used up all of the apples and didn't think far enough ahead to buy something for this week.  So I'm using frozen strawberries for this week.  Anyone have any experience using frozen fruit in your infuser?  If this works, I will be doing it for the upcoming weeks as I have a ton of frozen fruit that I need to use up.

Overnight Oats - I only had enough Greek yogurt to make one batch this week so I made one of pumpkin chocolate chip.  I also had 3 flavored yogurts that I have gotten as freebies so I used those as well.  I'm hoping we make it thru the week on those but if not, I'm shopping early in the week so I will buy Greek yogurt and get some more set up during the week.

Use it Up - I'm still working on that open bottle of Dr Pepper this week since two of the recipes got bumped to this week.  I'm also using up black beans in the chili on Friday and pumpkin in the oats.  Finally, I'm using up some of the meat and fruit in my freezer as well as the fruits and vegetables in my fridges.

Lunches - Since I made a 12 pound turkey yesterday, we have a lot left over.  We'll be using it this week for sandwiches, salads and I'm making this turkey salad either Monday or Tuesday for us to eat as well.  I also have a few hard boiled eggs that I need to use up this week so I'll either do a lot of salads or eat them as snacks.