Tanya: I can do anything, as long as I have a plan...

Well, tomorrow brings New Year's Eve and then the celebratory New Year's Day meal and on Friday I return to work. So, this Cajun girl gets over her fears by planning.

So, I jumped out of bed this morning and I created a spreadsheet for the week. (Complete with each meal and a shopping list.) Cool right????

I decided that I was going to come up with my meal plan strategically. Cook enough for leftovers some days, so that we can have an easy meal the next day, use up previously made condiments that do not have long shelf lives, etc. I planned meals that my family and I could both eat...and enjoy...over the next week. So, you may ask, how did it turn out???

Good, I think. I am cooking chili now, with plans for leftover chili dogs tomorrow. I will have a chili dog without the bun and the family will use a bun tomorrow for lunch. And there is probably still going to be leftovers. So, I will package any of those up and pop in the freezer for a workday lunch in the coming weeks! For New Year's Eve we will have a fun meal of hamburgers and I will do mine without the bun, and baked sweet potato fries. This is a meal my family LOVES! I'm thinking deviled eggs and maybe something sweet for fun finger foods while we wait to ring in the New Year.

I am particularly excited about New Years Day. I bought a beautiful pork shoulder roast from US Wellness Meats and we will stuff this with garlic and onions and bake it. I LOVE cabbage and have some super yummy cabbage recipes pinned to Pinterest that I plan to try! Mark and the kids will have black-eyed peas and who knows what else may make an appearance. But it is going to be good and it is going to be lunch and dinner, and if I am OH-SO-LUCKY....I will have LEFTOVERS! (Can you tell I am a HUGE fan of leftovers!)

That is all for now, I will save the rest for later. My purpose for this entry is to highlight the importance of planning. Let's face facts, buying organic is not cheap (they don't call it Whole Paycheck for nothing). I know there are lots of arguments about the food versus the medicine, but all that aside, I can't afford to waste this food. I don't want to waste by letting it spoil, by my family not liking it, by not taking the time to cook it. I also do not want to fail at this challenge. The keys to both of those things require me to plan. My ex found all my planning less than cool, my current husband tolerates it and sometimes is known to be a pretty killer planner himself. I think it is a great trait to have, but hey I am biased right?