Independence and Menu Plan Monday!

 Happy 4th of July and Menu Plan Monday.

Does it seem like "Menu Plan Monday" would be antithetical to the theme of independence? Au contaire!  Menu Plan Monday is what has brought  me independence all these years. I've written previously about my themed week days but here are some other things I love about Menu Plan Monday.

• We hear a lot about decision fatigue; menu plans eliminate decision fatigue. You've decided. This is what we're having and that is what you fix. Problem One, solved. 
• It saves so much money. Instead of buying a handful of meats, various veg and starches and then pulling together meals from my larder, which inevitably results in me having to run out and buy the things missing for that meal, I have exactly what I need on my list and I buy only those things. It also keeps me from buying a lot of "just in case" food we do not need. 
• It saves time. Trying to decide day by day what to cook, having to stop and pick up last minute things needed for that particular meal, or look up a recipe is time consuming. By spending an hour on the weekend to plan, it's all done at once and all the plans are made ahead of time. 
• But here's the real beauty of Menu Plan Monday: It eliminates all the wrangling with the kids. "Mom, can we please order pizza tonight?" Oh, no, sorry, I already have spaghetti in the works. "Oh, great, I LOVE spaghetti!" See? it's a lifesaver.  

I often make my shopping list for the whole week but I don't always shop for the whole week. I sometimes do a mid week shop, depending on what Fishy Friday holds. If it's freezer fish, I can shop ahead, and do. Otherwise, a Thursday shop will be needed. 

If I'm standing around for 5 minutes waiting for something to finish cooking, I'll start on tomorrow's dinner, since I know what it is! See how that works out?  Maybe I will chop a bell pepper or grate cheese, just some little thing to give me a head start. The next day, when I start cooking, it's like a little gift I've given myself.

This week, I'm eating citrusy yogurt parfaits for breakfast. I love these so much and starting with homemade Greek yogurt is a great way to get those extra servings of protein and dairy that I'm working for.  

I also linked this Roy Choi spaghetti recipe that I adore. This is not a recipe for weight loss at all but it is worth every precious calorie. It's a treat and we only eat it once a month for that reason. This recipe makes twice what you need so you just put half in the freezer for next month before you add the pasta to the sauce. Don't tell my mom, but we'll never make her spaghetti sauce again. This is the only one I make now. When I saw Chef Choi make this on TV, he said you could add meat to it, but I don't care about the meat so I haven't. It takes some time to make the mushroom roux but the investment is worth it, trust me!

Happy Independence Day.