So…. my Friday ended up with me getting 7 stitches in my finger due to me attempting to help my husband with yard work and breaking out the electrical hedge trimmers. Needless to say, no cooking was done in my house last night or tonight.

I AM doing meal planning… So, I am going to post a bit about that.

My husband gets paid 2x per month… so, therefore, to be most efficient, I grocery shop 2x per month. (SOMETIMES I have to go back out for perishables). So, when the grocery shopping time is coming up, I go through and plan out what recipes I will be making for the next 2 weeks. I usually pick about 18 in case I change my mind, or my mood changes. At least 5 have overlapping ingredients, so that I don’t have to double purchase. Also, I like to be able to use leftovers, or excess from one meal, to make another.

I usually use 3 different things to do the planning. 1: sparkpeople.com . This website rocks! They have a large library of recipes WITH the calories listed, which is really great. I also love the weightloss area of the website too, and how it’s free and makes sure that you have a BALANCED diet, not just get skinny. They focus on HEALTH, which I LOVE!

I also use pinterest. I not only search for recipes, I have a board where I pin my bi-weekly recipes, and then when they are made, if I liked them, I transfer them to my meals board.

I also use my cooking magazines. I just picked up Cooking Light from the grocery store. I will for SURE be incorporating these recipes the next two weeks! They have a lot of fresh and clean focuses on the recipes in there, so I’m excited to try some fun and new stuff!

I’m also trying to learn. I really want to go to culinary school, but until I can… I am watching youtube vidoes, trying new methods, new foods, etc as much as I can. I am just soaking it all in! I’m also trying to be cautious about clean, organic ingredients, and also lower in calories… the “lightened” version of things.

Thats my thinking!

Here is my board on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/rebeccacain23/weekly-meal-plans/

I’ll be up and cooking soon… until then, it will be info, advise, and musings! Praying these stitches heal well and quickly!!