Meal Planning 101

I make a monthly meal plan.  Upon finding out this fascinating fact about me, people generally have two reactions.  They are incredulous and can't understand how or why I make my monthly menu.  Or they're torn between a combination of admiration and jealousy that I call jealmiration.  Either way, I feel an explanation is in order. Why do I feel this way?  Because my sister-in-law said she thought such a post would be interesting to my readers, and seeing as she makes up a full 25% of my readership, I cannot ignore her.  
So, the method behind the madness:
Step 1 Organize your Recipes

I use a binder with plastic sheet protectors and dividers marking out categories like soups and sauces, side dishes, meats and poultry, etc.  My recipes are torn out of magazines, photocopied from library books, handwritten, or printed off (thank you Pinterest!).  A new recipe does not make it in to the binder until it has been tested and approved by Cee Lo and Christina.  Or just Jimmy and I.  This collection of favourite recipes then becomes your reference guide for building your menu.
Step 2 Give Yourself a Framework
To make this whole process easier, I like to give each day of the week a meal type.  At our house Monday is pasta, Tuesday is meat and roast vegetables of some kind, Wednesday is soup (which will become salad for summer), Thursdays are for stir fry, Friday is "fun" night, meaning homemade pizzas, quesedillas, or nachos (I know, woo hoo!). Saturdays are a "wild card" day meaning it's the day I usually try a new recipe or we go out to eat (the good times never take a break around here).  Sunday is the day my dad makes dinner, and I love leaving that day blank.  Of course, this framework should be customised to fit your schedule.  I purposely plan a lighter meal on Wednesday because that is yoga night.  You may want to plan to make a larger meal one night and have left over night the following day when you are busy with some activity or other.  You could even come up with a set of meals for two weeks and just keep rotating through them, adding something new in every once in awhile. To keep things fresh, I try not to repeat the same dish within a two week span, unless it's one we love.  
Step 3 Lay it Out
Get yourself a calendar of some kind and write your meals out so you can see them.  This is crucial!  I like typing my meals into my iCal.  Then I have them on my phone if I'm out and about and need to pick something up at the store.  
Now that you've got your plan laid out, take a look at your meals and start the master shopping list.  I use a ready made list like the one below to simplify the job a bit.  

I look at my calendar and tally how many meals I'll need chicken, beef, or pork chops for.  Likewise, how many packages of short or long pasta will I need for the month?  And so on.  Since most of the recipes are familiar to me, I can think of the main ingredients off the top of my head, but sometimes I reference back to the binder to double check.  I always look through my cupboards to see what I already have and which staples (spices, olive oil, etc) I'm running low on. In terms of produce and other perishable items, I look at what I'll need for the first week or so of the plan.  Add to this the breakfast, lunch and snack foods you normally buy, and you're ready to hit the store.  I usually go to Save On Foods for the first Tuesday of the month to get 15% off my entire purchase.  Superstore also offers a $25 gift card when you spend $250 once a month.  The only thing is, I don't like to buy my meat at Superstore, so it can be hard to get to $250, and it means I have to go to another store.  But sometimes it's worth it as Superstore has such great prices on other household items like dish soap, laundry detergent, and toiletries.  And I can always find something in the Joe Fresh section to bump up the tally.  Either way, I do only one big shop per month.  I freeze all of my meats and cheese to make it last, and I buy produce and other forgotten items on a weekly or bi-weekly trip as needed.
FAQ'S
A friend once asked me "What about freedom of choice?  What if you don't feel like having spaghetti and meatballs on a given night?".  Others may wonder what will happen if you decide to go out last minute (again, I say others because I never decide on anything last minute).  These people are just trying to find an excuse to avoid planning.  It's incomprehensible to me, but there you have it!  My answer is simple: if you don't want a planned meal on the night it's written, you swap it for another night.  And if you go out instead, maybe you just drop that meal all together.There's room for flexibility within the plan, really!  But knowing the plan is there far outweighs these petty worries about so called "freedom to choose".
And there you have it!  It takes some work, but I find the less often I'm at the store, the less money I spend.  And I love having a ready answer to the question "What am I going to make for dinner?".  It's like the runner's high for people who like to organize.  Jimmy raves on and on about what a marvel I am.  He really appreciates all the thought I put into the meal plan.  Or not.  Let's face it, this whole system is built around satisfying my OCD tendencies.  Jimmy wouldn't mind if we had the same meal every other day.  He does, however compliment my cooking on a regular basis.  He just isn't interested in the planning that brings it to his plate.
If you're still reading, I applaud you.  This seems very long winded and uninteresting, not to me because I love planning, but other, non-planners probably needed a nap half way through step 2.  We'll see if my sister-in-law was right through the page views and always plentiful comments left by my mom and her desk mate at work, each representing another 25% of my readers.
Always striving for new heights of neuroses,
Shelby

Seasonal Affective Disorder

It is April 27th today, in case you lack a calendar.  Even if you are in possession of a calendar, you may still be confused because it is SNOWING here in Edmonton. Not only that, but this bébé is still very comfortable in utero.  I don't know why this surprises me, what with the snow and the due date being a week away, but it does! This waiting is killing me.  And so are the many phone calls and texts of well meaning family and friends "checking in".  The nesting has come to an abrupt halt, and yesterday I spent all morning napping and all afternoon feeling bad about napping all morning.
I know what you're going to say: "Enjoy it, soon you'll be run ragged!"
Somehow that doesn't help!  So for now, it's just me and my anxieties waiting and waiting.  Latest anxiety?  My weight gain has slowed from a steady two or three pounds a week down to one pound two weeks ago, and a pound lost last week. Also, my fundal height has stalled out at a 37 week measurement for the past three weeks.  My doctor says it's not a cause for concern, and I guess I can be glad that the baby won't be a nine pounder.  Still though, the snow, waiting, and anxiety do not a happy combination make!  I'm just going to bundle up in a blanket and watch this commercial on repeat.  And on mute.  One of my friends pointed out that while easy on the eyes, his voice is actually quite annoying.  And she's right!  Also, my mom doesn't like his hair.  Quit ruining my simple pleasures, people!   

Shelby

Nursery Reveal!

You know that my mom is the fashion and art director here at Chez Quinlan, but did you know she is also the fashion and art director of my life too?  Well she is.  And she does a fabulous job.  Her latest project?  The nursery, bien sûr.  The theme? Vintage French Nursery.
The nursery used to be our guest room - of which I have no pictures.  I do have some kind of before pics through which you can see the amazing transformation.

Blah . . .

Floating branch that used to be anchored by the guest room book case.

The old chair and artwork from the guest room.

And now . . . the end result!  It's so full of sweet little touches and details.  My mom did a beautiful job.

As you come in the door, on your right.  More details on the artwork in a post to follow.

A view of the chair, painstakingly re-covered by my mom. You won't believe the deal she got on the chair - sources to come soon!

Notice the nail head detail.

The très French looking dresser.

A view of the chic rug and hand sewn crib skirt and mama's blanket for those late nights.

More of the custom created linens - and yes, I know the bébé can't actually use them.  It's for the look people! The little pillow (which also won't be used - yet- was mine.  It's printed with French poetry, and my mom turned it into a mini pillow for the little one.

The custom made wall decal we plan to use as a growth chart.

My mom calls it the tree of life.  Worry not - sources are coming!

The unbearably cute giraffe lamp and sleek and stylish side table.

The of the moment drum light, lovingly installed by James, after my dad taught him how to do it with our dining room lights.

 My mom slaved over this room.  She did all of the shopping, sewing, and pounding of upholstery nails, not to mention trying to figure out how to fit all of that furniture into a not so big room.  All I did was find a designer for the tree of life then help my mom put it on the wall.  Jimmy of course risked life and limb with the electrical and moved the old furniture out.  Other than that the room was a total surprise fro me and Jimmy, which was so fun to come home to after yoga one afternoon.  And now we wait . . . 10 days to the due date.  Jimmy told me the other day it might be time to tell his boss that we're having a baby seeing as he may need to leave work in a hurry any day now.  
"What?!" I said. "You still haven't mentioned it?"
His reponse: "I like to keep my private life private."
Clearly.
I'll be back soon with all the details on where my mom found all the goods!
Shelby

I am Cray - Cray

Today's nesting project brought to you by the chicken farmers of Canada.

Step 1: Grill chicken

Step 2: Take a picture of grilled chicken for your blog

Step 3: Slice and package chicken in meal sized portions to be frozen.

I'm getting tired of nesting.  Does that mean the baby is coming soon?  When I told my mom about my efforts (as if she didn't suspect based on the overpowering scent of charcoal emanating from my person) she said I was crazy.  I explained that a new mom friend had told me about this trick so that when the last thing you feel like doing is making dinner, you can thaw your pre-grilled and pre-sliced meat to throw in a salad, stir fry, or pasta dish.  Finally my mom agreed that planning ahead did sound like a better strategy than the one she used after my sister was born.  I'm not sure what she means.  I have fond memories of eating nothing but Chips-a-Hoy for weeks on end when my screaming sister came in to the world.
Yours in ever lessening sanity,
Shelby

Uh Oh!

I really made Blogger mad with my not so kind comments yesterday.  Now it won't show me my Reader of all the other blogs I religiously follow, nor will it allow me to obsessively pore over my stats page.  I can't believe it's still letting me write a post. I'm off to buy it some flowers to try and make amends . . .

While we routinely wake up to weather like this (just last Saturday was the latest storm), I know that spring will come eventually.  It may be time for summer when it arrives, but still, I know it will come at some point.  You only have to look to this past September when summer arrived for about a week to know that I'm right.  So while the weather here may not follow conventional time lines, you can create a spring like feeling by baking up a batch of these award winning bites of sunshine that I found on Pinterest.  They turned out crinkly just like the picture showed, and are perfectly tart and chewy-crisp.  I LOVED them.  No surprise they took the top prize at LDS Living Magazine's website, a site I have to admit I would never have been exposed to if not for Pinterest.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Award Winning recipe by Lauren Brennan 

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray cookie sheets with non stick spray and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again.

3. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. 

4. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

5. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte (not melty or shiny). Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Jimmy turned his cookies into what he calls a "chip-wich", even though there are no chips in these cookies.  I would have made mine a chip-wich too, if he could've found Pinochio's Royal Vanilla ice cream for me to sandwich in between.  Alas he could not, and came home instead with cocnut ice cream.  Blech.  He said it was good, so if you go for coconut, you might like to try it.  I'll wait until I can get my vanilla. 
Meanwhile, Ellen has issued a pregnancy dance dare to all expectant mothers who should really be dancing for two.  She wants them sent in for mothers' day.  Should I do it?  I don't know if I can compete with this guy.

Until next time,
Shelby