I have been meal planning ever since I got married 14 years ago. Its the only way I know how to do it. Without a meal plan, I don't know what to buy at the grocery store or what to prepare come dinner time. But last week was a little different. For whatever reason, I never got around to writing a meal plan so when Monday arrived I was unprepared. But instead of panicking (as I normally would), I remained calm and decided to wing it. What followed was a most refreshing break from "the schedule" and a chance to get a little creative. Without a meal plan, I still succeeded in serving a nice dinner to my family each night, cooking almost solely with ingredients I had on hand. Now mind you, I don't recommend giving up on meal planning, and I will be sure to have a plan for this week, but sometimes its good, now and then, to just wing it.So instead of sharing my meal plan for this week, I'm sharing what I came up with each night this past week.
MONDAY - Salad Dressing Chicken and Rice
TUESDAY - A slightly altered version of this Dairy Free Hamburger Helper, replacing the non-dairy milk with beef broth and using sorghum instead of rice flour.
WEDNESDAY - I was stumped on Wednesday so I sought inspiration from my friend Michelle who directed me to this recipe for Alice Springs Chicken. I was missing several ingredients so what I ended up making was basically Honey Mustard Chicken, but it was still good.
THURSDAY - My old standby Gina Chicken Over Rice - I love being able to pull from my freezer cubed and marinated chicken pieces, just waiting to be cooked. My new favorite version of this replaces the peppers and mushrooms with broccoli and cashews.
FRIDAY - Oven Baked Chicken Cacciatore with Quinoa - A quick and easy family-pleasing dinner.
SATURDAY - Wanting to use up the leftover quinoa in the fridge, I mixed up some Egg-Free Shrimp Fried
SUNDAY - Hamburgers on the Grill
For more inspiration, be sure to check out Menu Plan Monday and Gluten Free Menu Swap
Sounds like you had a successful break from menu planning!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I find it hard to get motivated to cook dinner if I don't have a plan. But it looks to me like you didn't have any problem coming up with delicious meals every night.
ReplyDeleteHeather - That is usually the case with me too. I think it was just an unusual week and for whatever reason, it worked. Mind you, I don't plan on skipping the meal plan again anytime soon.
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