My path to adulthood. . .

As my title suggests, I have taken another step toward being an adult.  I am now doing a monthly food menu.  I have known I SHOULD be doing this for many many many years. Honestly, from the time I got married (8 years ago today!) and started cooking, I knew in my head that planning ahead would be a good idea for many reasons. It would help with shopping and supposedly it would help me know WHAT to cook on a given night.  The problem was that it just did not work for me.  I would make up elaborate menus and then not feel like making the selection for a given day.  However, I think most of my reason for failure was that I did not know a lot of recipes, so I would pick ones that "looked good."  But a new recipe is a BIG DEAL!  If the hubby did not happen to like it (as was often the case), my cooking self-esteem would plummet another 50 points. 

And to let you in on a little secret. . . .  I don't really like cooking all that much anyhow!!  I have finally developed a taste for home-cooked food (as in I would prefer it over eating at a restaurant. . . well, eating at most restaurants - definitely I prefer it over ANY fast-food place and it took A LONG TIME to reach this point!), but cooking in itself is not all that exciting to me.  Being the mildly obsessive-compulsive person that I am, I would dare say I sometimes enjoy cleaning up after dinner more than actually cooking it!!  However, cooking is not an option as we cannot afford to eat out (umm, at all) and it is much healthier to cook. So cooking I will do - and maybe some day I will get good enough to enjoy it.  For now, it is a labor of love.  The good news is that I do appear to be getting better at it, slowly but surely.  My meals are mostly all edible now (a big step for me! - ask my husband!!) and most even taste GOOD!  Plus I am finding more recipes I like (and the family will eat) and more importantly, I am learning how to "adjust" recipes to my family's particular tastes.  This final skill is essential for creative meals that are eaten and not just picked at.  In any case, I digress. 

When I was at Wal-mart picking up cheap school supplies (even homeschooling kids need supplies you know!) I saw a whiteboard calendar for a good price ($5 and change) and decided it MIGHT be time to try and grow up. . . a little.

Caution!  Mild Tangent Ahead:

Here is where I would like to dazzle you with a picture of said whiteboard calendar, but I have LOST MY CAMERA AGAIN.  /sigh. ..   I did not used to lose things. . . EVER. . . but perhaps I am turning into my mother in more ways than one!  The catch is that she has an excuse for losing things.  I'm not sure what my deal is.  But anyhow, here is a link to a whiteboard calendar that does not really look like mine at all, but that is really the best I can do.

I put the board on the fridge with some hefty magnets (not from this trip to Wal-mart, but left-over from something else) and immediately wrote in all my favorite meals.  I even put fun magnets on the days I am planning to reserve for left-overs (as cooking 3 or 4 times a week is usually enough for us to squeeze by).  So far I have mostly stuck to my "menu" and the fun part is that it is easy to change, too.

I have also written some of our "simpler" meals at the bottom (ones that are quick and we generally ALWAYS have the ingredients to) for a quick go-to in "emergencies" and such.  And I started a list of "things to buy" at the bottom also, so I would know what I NEED in order to stick to this menu. (Although I also have a regular "shopping list" on a pad of regular paper, of food items that might not particularly relate to my given "meal menu" if that make sense.  I try to combine the two before going to the store.)

That is all for now.  Perhaps I will have more to say about this later.  In the mean time, my back is available for "pats" as I am of course, so much more amazing now :)