Menu Planning

Is anyone good at menu planning?  I'm sure many are.  Maybe even most are.  I'm HORRIBLE at it.  I rebel at the thought of it.  I'm not sure why.  I'm not rebellious in other areas of my life, but I fight being locked into deciding in advance what I'll eat.

I Googled "menu planning" hoping for some counseling with those who fight it, but only found ideas on what to eat, recipes, why it's important, etc.  That's probably helpful.  Maybe I'm just going through a phase (a very LONG phase!)  Organizedhome.com tells me:

• A menu plan saves money.
• A menu plan saves time.
• A menu plan improves nutrition. 

I want it to tell me how to make a menu that I'll be excited about and how to stick with just eating that!

When I was in high school, I used to make a menu for my family, would do the grocery shopping and all the cooking.  I loved it!  Where did I go wrong?  *sigh!*  I did snack occasionally, but I mostly waited for my meals and enjoyed them.

Somewhere along the line I became a grazer and thought eating around the clock was the way to go.  Meals just got in the way of my eating if that makes any sense.   But I'm thinking that I need to get back to that structure.  I do like structure.  If only I could get myself back to it.

I'm going to work on planning and sticking to a menu this week, not just for dinner, but for all of my meals be it 3 meals or a few more.  I don't require variety.   I don't mind eating the same thing practically every day.  I just need to eat less of it and increase my vegetable intake (which takes planning on my part).  I'll let you know what I come up with.  I can do great things when I put my mind to it -- (Can't we all!)

Healthy Desserts Galore!

Yes, you CAN have your chocolate chip cookie dough and eat it too!  Even mint chocolate chip ice cream!  If you haven't notice this deliciously adorable blog on my list of favorite blogs (way down low on the right), I need to draw your attention to it.  Even if you never make anything from the recipes (and I hope you do), the photos are stunningly tasty to the eyes and her personality is adorable and fun.  

The blog used to be called Chocolate Covered Katie (which shows her zaniness right there), but somewhere along the line, she changed it to Chocolate Covered Healthy, which gives you more of an idea of what you'll find.  Katie makes up recipes without dairy and healthier versions of pretty much everything.  She started out making her fudge babies and Lara Bar alternatives (since they are so expensive to buy) and is quite talented at figuring out just the right way to make everything taste wonderful.  As she says on her "About Me" page:

What will you find on this website?
Naughty treats that have been given a healthy spanking! My aim isn’t for people to say, “This is good… for a healthy dessert.” I want them to say, “This is good. Period.”

That's kind of how I never wanted people to say I looked good for just having a baby after I had each of my children.  I wanted to look good even for NOT just having had a baby.  :)  She does tell you which of her recipes are great for taking to parties (like this chocolate raspberry fudge cake!), where people won't even suspect they are healthy versions (which is so interesting to me.  I've always thought people would WANT the healthier version or to know that little tidbit, but it tends to scare them away!)  

Mmm!  Look at this one.  Homemade Fudgsicles!  I want to make those tomorrow.  I even have a coconut waiting to be cracked open!

So go enjoy Katie's website and sign up for her e-mails.  She'll send you new recipes practically every day. 

P.S. (Katie gives permission in her FAQ to post her photos in your blog, as long as you give her credit.  So Katie, the credit goes to you at chocolatecoveredkatie.com !)