Friday, January 8, 2010

Laura goes to the kitchen

One of my new year's resolutions is to plan our weekly dinners. I want to plan what we're having, make a list of ingredients we need, and stick to the list when I go grocery shopping.

I think this will, eventually, help us cut down our grocery expenses and - while we don't eat out too often (anymore), it will continue to motivate us to eat at home. I say "eventually" about the budget because - I want to branch out. I'm a boring cook.

Every night, we have a meat - usually chicken, pork, or fish - a veggie - and a starch. Sometimes we do tacos or pasta or an occasional chili or soup - but there are half a dozen meals that we pretty much have over and over. I'm ready to branch out.

In the past - I've always been discouraged when looking through all the fabulous cookbooks I have by ingredients that I didn't have handy...or didn't know what they were...yeah, I had to look up what a "shallot" was. But you know what? If I only cook with the ingredients I have, we will only ever have chicken and tacos y'know?

SO- as part of my resolution to plan out our meals - I'm going to branch out and learn some new tricks. That will include a little upfront cost of stocking up on things I don't have in the pantry right now. And I want to try new proteins - this will be the most expensive part I know. Even so, I'm convinced our weekly grocery bill will still be lower after a few upfront expenses.

Kyle and I are both bad about skipping breakfast and/or lunch. Or - having something like a cup of coffee for breakfast and a granola bar or plain bagel for lunch. That will be the next phase of my culinary growth. For now -I'm going to focus on dinners. I thought about just trying one new recipe a week, and maybe that would be smarter, but for now I kinda feel like jumping in with both feet. Besides, I'm bound to ruin half of them on the first try, right? So we might as well keep things exciting.

For next week, I'm going to try:
Monday - Chicken Piccata (give me capers or give me death!...ok, so I just love capers)
Tuesday - Beef Stroganoff, the real kind, no shortcuts.
Wednesday - Cranberry Orange Pork Chops
Thursday - Pan-Seared Lamb chops with wine rosemary sauce
Friday - Frozen pizza (I think I'll want a break)
Saturday - left overs
Sunday - undecided - we don't usually eat a big dinner on Sundays. Maybe I'll make Kyle cook.

Oh, hello Accountability, it's so nice to meet you. No, really, the pleasure is all mine. :)

5 comments:

Bethany said...

I love it - can't wait to hear some recipes you love!

Erin said...

The Cranberry Orange Pork Chops sound delish!

You know how horrible I am with cooking at home, so I soooo understand your post!

REA said...

Oddly enough, we watched "Julie and Julia" the other night (free from the Library) and thought about you. Go for it. You know your dad was once known as "the Gambling Gourmet" and your grandfather used to experiment in the kitchen on Sunday afternoons to see what unusual recipies he might create. (Not use, create). Good luck with your adventure!

Billie Jo said...

I might recommend How to Cook Everything--Mark Bittman. You can look things up by ingredient (so if you have eggplant in the fridge you need to use, you can look up eggplant and find recipes) or you can search more topical (main dishes, side, bread, etc.). He includes lots of healthy alternatives too (e.g., homemade whole wheat bread vs. regular). We've enjoyed ours...or should I say Ricky has. But maybe I'll take a peek in it while he's gone. :)

Anonymous said...

Just a suggestion, you could use that same menu, but spread it out over 2 weeks. Make enough for two meals (except for the lamb....it's not as good left over). Then you'll have nights off of cooking and still have good meals already prepared....and you won't burn yourself out.

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