Making Evening Meals Easily!

Let me tell you about my simplified meal plan for the week's nightly meals.

MONDAY: Because my husband traditionally stays later to work with AMA students and has meetings, this is soup night for me. I make creamy to clear broth soups and my "canned chili" recipe. I have more time to prepare the soup. Clear broth soups are healthier for us. Jim prefers soup and bread to most meaty meals. It is a way to incorporate leftovers from the week before.

TUESDAY: Today is a meat meal with veggies. Therefore, items made in the crockpot or baked items fall into this night for preparation. Starchy foods are left out of this meal; vegetables comprise half of the meal.

WEDNEDAY: Today is the night we meet to go out to eat. At least this fall, we have been going to Rosati's Pizza every night after work and water aerobics. Jim has found a place he likes their italian beef sandwiches....so far, that is all he has ordered. The second time we went there he convinced me to eat this with the hot peppers. Wow, when the sandwich came, it was so hot that I could only eat a sixth of the sandwich without removing the hot peppers. Jim continued to eat his to the end but found sweat coming from under his eyes. He admitted it was a little to hot for him too! Now the sandwich is ordered with sweet peppers. Anyway we have this 2fer coupon book that is used regularly this night. We can get there in two minutes...like walking to a neighbors for dinner!

THURSDAY: Since this is our Bible Study night, I have declared it as our $2.17 Wendy Chili night. The consitution trail shopping center that has recently built a Wendy's. Jim loves the chili.....so we eat that and go to Bible Study. Everyone brings one thing to pass around the table so the meal gets completed later in the evening.

FRIDAY: Fridays are steak and salad night....sometimes with potato. It is really a fast with low carb meal; healthy for both of us. I have studied hard what it takes to make a great steak from the "experts". Therefore, I am progressing in this area of preparation.

SATURDAY: I regularly edit Food Network recipes and have piles of recipes in waiting to try. Anyway, this is the day to do cooking from groceries obtained at stores or farmer's market. I have committed myself to try one new recipe and one recipe to use up the staples in the house. I wake at 6AM to clean the house which also includes recipe preparation and viewing my favorite cooking shows thanks to expanded basic cable TV.

SUNDAY: The main meal of the day is at noon, after church. Both of us grab a $5 pizza at Little Ceasars and go home to TV sermons/bible classes the rest of the afternoon (sometimes into the evening). We look at many of the religious channels on Direct TV. Many are on prophecy. The evening are appetizers or using up the leftovers.

Next step for me to to count out the carbs used each of these nights. I am avoiding large pasta preparation because of the carb count. I include more veggies in the SAT cooking day as well as the other days.