This page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn on qualifying purchases. Please see our disclaimer for more information.

Last week a friend and I were retrieving the rest of our Azure Standard order (a long story that involved ALOT of driving) and we were discussing real food and how it fits into our lives. Well, mostly I was complaining about how I don’t seem to try new recipes and new things lately. It seems we are somewhat in a rut.  The more I thought about our conversation the more I wonder if I’m really in a rut or if what we are doing is just what is working for this time in our lives.

The truth is preparing real/whole/traditional foods takes time.  When you are making 3 meals a day from ‘scratch’ you are going to spend some time in the kitchen.  We feel this time is essential for our health but some weeks there is less time available than other weeks.  What works for me is to take a chunk or two of a few hours each week and do whatever I can during that time. That chunk combined with my crock pot gives us most of our meals.  The end result is rather humble meals with very little experimenting. Perhaps a little boring. Some days I consider trying new things and creating new dishes but time gets away from me and I then consider it a success just to have a home cooked meal that falls under the real/whole/traditional category.  Something we also consider with our meals is the cost involved.  Keeping things at a reasonable expense and spending a reasonable amount of time in the kitchen is quite a goal!

This week’s menu plan is pretty typical of our weekly fare. I don’t usually plan out breakfast or lunches but have been feeling somewhat unorganized for those meals so thought an actual plan might be helpful– at least for this week. I’ll do most of my bulk cooking/baking on Monday for the week and I’ll also have a small cooking time on Friday for the weekend meals.

Sunday
Brunch: Buckwheat pancakes with an interesting syrup made out of sauteed pears, nutmeg and cream.
Dinner: Chicken Fry, mashed potatoes, green salad (all three of these were made by my husband) with blue cheese dressing and almond bread (made without flax meal)

Monday
Breakfast: leftover almond bread, eggs and fruit
Lunch: leftover (from a few days before) split pea soup
Dinner: Crock pot beef roast with carrots and onions, millet (roast beef will become 2 dinners plus 1 lunch)
To Do:  Queso cheese, bread, kombucha, crackers, start beef broth before bed (the meat from the bones will be saved for Wednesday’s dinner and Thursday’s lunch), put beans to soak

Tuesday
Breakfast: hot millet cereal
Lunch: Roast beef, homemade cheddar cheese and crackers
Dinner: Pinto beans with sauteed onions, rice, green salad (beans will become 3 dinners and 1 lunch)
To Do: Start beans in the crock pot early AM, put rice to soak early AM

Wednesday
Breakfast: Eggs and toast
Lunch: Pinto beans and rice
Dinner:  Beef stroganoff type thing (made with the beef on the soup bones from the batch of broth)
To Do: Start pasta for stroganoff early AM, put oats to soak before bed, mix up fry bread

Thursday
Breakfast: Oatmeal (make double batch and save extra for tomorrow’s breakfast)
Lunch: Roast beef salad, crackers
Dinner: Navajo tacos (made with Monday’s leftover roast beef and Tuesday’s beans)

Friday
Breakfast: Butterscotch Oatmeal
Lunch: Leftover Navajo tacos
Dinner: Chili and corn bread
To Do: mix up cholent, make miscellaneous items as needed for the weekend

Saturday
Breakfast: Corn bread, yogurt and fruit
Lunch: Cholent
Dinner: Leftovers

What best works for you to get meals on the table?

Shared at Menu Plan Monday and Meal Plan Link Up