What’s for dinner?? Lord help me!

I love to cook.  I truly enjoy it.  I would cook for 30 people every single weekend if given the opportunity.  I can throw together a four course dinner for 10 in a flash.  But I despise making the decision about what we are having for dinner.  YUCK!  I dread it with a capital D!  I get crabby at that time of the day, when that decision must be made and I stand in front of the fridge or cabinets with a blank stare like some mindless idiot.  Please don’t misunderstand, if you said “Farm Wife, let’s have Cajun fettuccini with grilled salmon and a lovely grilled salad.”  AWESOME, done.  Coming right up.  "And what shall I make you, my love, for dessert??”  But I just simply DREAD making the decision.

Cooking.  No problem.

Deciding. SUCKS!  Just shoot me now, please.  Thanks, and much love!

I have been trying to get the family on a trend of eating healthier, better, fresher.  Let me clarify something, we are NOT garbage eaters.  We are not big on fast-food.  Don’t order out, because that’s really not an option where we live.  We don’t fry everything, smear it butter, drown it in sauces(though Husband is a lover of BBQ sauce.  It’s a southern thing, they put that crap on EVERYTHING!), or coat in a plastered layer of breading and artery clogging goop.  We just don’t always make the BEST choices.  Which would seem like a no-brainer considering we raise some small live-stock, Husband hunts, and we grow a humongous garden full of veggies and fruits every year. 

But it’s truly a “time” thing.  (It’s not an excuse, it’s just our lifestyle.)  By the time I get home from work, Husband gets home from work (whether his 9 to 5 or HIS business), and the Kid is wrangled in, it always seems like the night is gone.  (Fun side note: Husband has taken a new job(his 9 to 5 job) with a new company which currently has him preforming about 10% of the activity level he is accustomed to.  He said to me last night during a discussion about my upcoming trip to the grocery store and request for any requests, “I need healthier choices to pack in my lunch.” ~insert a gapping mouth from me here, as this is coming from the man that has solely managed to keep Little Debbie in business for the past 20 years~ “Ok.  What would you like??”  His response was “I don’t care.  But this doing less, at work, it’s going to catch up with me.  I’ll end up looking like the rest of the E’s if I’m not careful.  Let’s try to get back on track with that fresh-eating-thing.”  ~insert smirk from Husband.  The King of the Doritos~  “Will do babe.”  ~insert sarcasm from Wife here.)

So, I told you all of that to tell you this, starting tomorrow, I am going to chronicle our meals, dinners at minimum, for the next week.  I will post my grocery list, recipe selections, shot-by-shot prep and finished presentations.  Then I’ll give a little tid-bit of how it was, would we have it again.

Here we go:  Week One

Grocery list: There are some items I consider “staples” and therefore will not list in the grocery list portion.  ALL items needed will be noted in the recipe. 

• peaches
• wild berry mix (frozen organic)
• oranges
• lemons
• limes
• strawberries
• pineapple juice
• avocado
• mushrooms
• basil, fresh
• cilantro, fresh
• mint, fresh
• romaine hearts
• corn, cob style
• spinach, frozen
• boneless skinless chicken breasts
• ground 98% lean turkey breast
• center cut pork chops
• wild caught salmon
• tilapia
• black beans
• sun dried tomatoes
• soy sauce
• Italian salad dressing, low fat
• real maple syrup
• yogurt, plain
• sour cream

Here is a my meal plan:  (the Kid will be an exception on some of these items. And Husband would rather eat glass than have a smoothie, so he will opt-out on those.)  Most of the dinner recipes take less than 10 minutes of prep and less than 20-30 minutes of cooking time.  (So I just cancelled out my excuse listed above.)

FRIDAY:   Breakfast-Wild berry and yogurt smoothie with protein powder.  Lunch-Grilled Chicken Caesar salad on romaine hearts.  Dinner-Bourbon Grilled Salmon with green beans and romaine salad.

SATURDAY:  Breakfast- Vanilla Cappuccino protein smoothie and a fresh egg.  Lunch-Salads with lean turkey and fresh lemon basil vinaigrette.  Dinner-Grilled Herb Crusted Chicken breast with corn on the cob and romaine salad.

SUNDAY:  Breakfast-Fresh egg with fruit bowl.  Lunch-Chicken salads (from leftovers from the night before).  Dinner- Grilled steaks with herbed baby potatoes. 

MONDAY:  Breakfast-Wild berry and yogurt smoothie with protein powder. Lunch-Salad with lean turkey.  Dinner- Spinach and Sun-dried Tomato stuffed Pork Chops with fresh romaine hearts.

TUESDAY:  Breakfast-Cherry Cheesecake protein smoothie.  Lunch-Chicken breast sandwiches with avocado.  Dinner-Turkey burgers with mushrooms and avocado, fresh green beans, salad.

WEDNESDAY: Breakfast- Citrus yogurt smoothie with protein powder.  Lunch-Chicken salads on romaine with avocado.  Dinner-Spaghetti with lemon and fresh basil sauce and Grilled Salmon.

THURSDAY:  Breakfast-Cherry and yogurt smoothie with protein powder.  Lunch-leftover salmon spaghetti.  Dinner-Baked herb Tilapia with veggie blend and Romaine salad.

SNACKS:  Homemade avocado salsa, Black Bean dip, fresh fruit, 100% natural corn chips.

DESSERT:  We are not big dessert eaters.  Well, let me rephrase that, I’m not.  So I’m going to give grilling fruit a try.  I’ll let ya know what I think.

Well there ya have it. :/  It sounds like a week of some fabulous eats!!  I hope it goes as planned.  I will be sure to include any modifications, adjustments, or general oh-we-scrapped- it-and-came-up-with-this’s we run in to.

Here’s hoping we all survive this adventure.  That’s all I have for now.  Please, excuse me now as I go devour an entire bag of Chili Cheese Fritos and a can of Hillbilly Cheese in a last Hail Mary attempt to eat crap I shouldn’t have.  Lord, help keep me sane as I go through withdrawl!

Love and healthy eats, The Farm Wife