Week One in Review

It's officially been one week since I started this whole cooking thing. It actually went pretty well! We made a meal plan for the upcoming week last Friday, and we stuck to it pretty closely. At that point, the organic thing was still just an idea, so the focus was just to cook real meals. We decided that if we stuck to our plan, we'd reward ourselves by going out to eat on Sunday evening. After all, we both do enjoy going out, and this whole thing isn't about depriving ourselves of things we like... just about being smart. If we like eating out, we'll still do it.. just not as often. Well, we did decide we earned our reward, but we didn't end up using it... here's what happened.

Day #1 ~ Monday
I had something going on that evening, so Peter was supposed to make me supper. Looking back, I'm not sure why we thought this was a good idea... I usually get home first if I don't go to the gym (which I didn't... didn't want to mess up my hair... sad, but true...), so it would have made more sense for me to make supper for us so that I could get out the door on time. Anyhow, I'll blame that one on inexperience... Peter had to work late and didn't have time to make his Sloppy Joes, so we traded it for Thursday's dinner, which was supposed to be a homemade pizza... only we didn't have time to make the dough... so we put a frozen pizza in the oven. Ugh... Day 1 = epic fail!!!! But instead of beating myself up about it, I just decided to move on, learn from my mistakes and start over. After all, a frozen meal every now and then isn't necessarily a bad thing! They are handy in case of emergency!

Day #2 ~ Tuesday
I was going to the gym after work, so I wanted something that was quick and easy to make. I decided on fish, rice and veggies. You can grill up some fish super fast, rice is easy, and I had frozen peas and corn in the fridge. Everything went off without a hitch, and I finally got to use some of that salmon I had bought on sale forever ago and froze!

Day #3 ~ Wednesday
I walked home from work, which takes about an hour, and I was really, really thankful that when I got home, I was able to pop a frozen Shepherd's Pie that I had made over the weekend into the oven and not do anything. It was hot out that day, so by the time I walked all the way home, I was hot, sweaty, and CRANKY. Hooray for pre-made meals! This day alone sold me on that idea! Actually, I guess I've been a fan for a long time, but now I'm just making them myself... Huh... Well, anyways... I also had enough leftovers for both of us to have for lunch the next day and me the day after (Peter took two portions for lunch on Thursday).

Day #4 ~ Thursday
Peter made his Sloppy Joes, and I was glad he was on dinner duty! I went to the gym after work, and it was very, very nice to come home and have dinner on the table. Starting to get the hang of this planning thing so that days I'm not coming home from work right away (in a non-exercising manner), I either put Peter on dinner duty, or I have something ready to pop in the oven that I've already made.

As a side note, Peter's Sloppy Joes are AMAZING. I could eat them every night, I think... Well... at least once a week.

Day #5 ~ Friday
Ahhh, another pre-made meal after another hot and sweaty walk home! I'm LOVING this! I had made a Mac and Cheese on the weekend that I was able to pop in the oven. This was also the first meal that Peter was really excited about after he ate it. He NEVER comments on anything I make (or anyone else for that matter) unless he's asked, and he told me several times how good it was - without any prompting from me. I think he was surprised because he really isn't a big fan of Mac and Cheese. Thankfully, he liked this recipe (thanks, Peg!!!), and I'll definitely be making it again. Actually, this was the scariest thing I'd made.. I made the cheese sauce myself and was sure I had done it wrong, but I guess it turned out okay! Turns out I can cook! Who knew! And, I also had leftovers from this, so lunch on Saturday was taken care of, which was also really handy because we were out running errands all day and probably would have eaten out if I hadn't had something prepared.

Day #6 ~ Saturday
Oh man... this was the big one... I made my Nana's Baked Beans and Weiners recipe... I've been eating this meal since I was a kid, and I LOVE it. Peter's been eating his Mom's recipe since he was a kid, and he LOVES it. Could I measure up? I came pretty close! It turned out just like Nana's (minus the fact that I bought red kidney beans, and she now uses Joseph's cattle beans... I'll remember that for next time). Peter found it a bit too thick (note to self: add more water next time), and he likes it better with bacon. Well, I happen to be a big fan of bacon (added it to the Mac and Cheese I had made for Friday, and it was delish!), so next time, I will put in some bacon. We also had trucks of leftovers from this, so that kept us going for lunch on Sunday, today, and there's still more left! Anyone know how long beans keep in the fridge??

Day #7 ~ Sunday
This was the day we were supposed to go out! We have a Team Buy ticket for Mongolie Grill that we were planning to use. This was also my cooking/baking day. After church, I was planning to make a Lasagna for Wednesday, a Taco Bake for next weekend, almond power bars for lunch snacks (turned out sooo good, by the way!), and apple cinnamon muffins. I finished all this around 6ish, and we both decided that the lasagna smelled to good to save... plus... it was ginormous. There's enough in that recipe that both of us could eat supper on Sunday, lunches to take to work on Tuesday, and still freeze half to do the same later in the week. Good thing we like lasagna!!

Overall, a very successful week! I didn't mind not going out on Sunday one bit, and the baking I had done last weekend (homemade granola bars and dark chocolate bran muffins) kept us going for snacks all week. No chips, no fruit snacks, no puddings... nothing processed or packaged! I'm also feeling better already. Maybe it's all in my head, but I'm pretty sure I have more energy, am feeling less bloated, and most of my cravings for sweets have disappeared! This whole cooking thing really isn't too bad! I never thought in a million years I would ever say this... but... I kind of enjoy it!!