Meal accountability thread?

[becoming]

Is anyone else having a major problem not wanting to eat out or just fix something like a frozen pizza for every single meal? I REALLY need to get back into real cooking, and with my babies all growing up (my littlest is 2 1/2 now and actually lets me cook *sniff*), I have absolutely no excuse not to cook for my family anymore. So I was wondering if anyone would like to join me in an accountability thread to post what we're making every day. There's going to have to be a little transition period as I use up the convenience items that are already in my fridge/freezer/pantry, but at least I'll be making a step in the right direction. We need to be eating out no more than once or twice a week. I hope others will join in, but even if I'm in here alone, at least I'll have to be accountable to myself and see in print what we ate!

Tonight we're having spaghetti with meat sauce, leftover lima beans, corn, salad, and cheesy garlic bread. Jarred sauce & frozen bread, but better than fast food!

Goals for tomorrow:
1. Make a REAL breakfast, not boxed or packaged.
2. Leftovers for lunch.
3. Make homemade bread in the bread machine.

[LucyRev]

I'll join. I've been thinking the same thing. I have had the Saving Dinner cookbook but just haven't been using it regularly until last week.

Tonight we had double potato soup (w/yams & regular spuds) and broccol. The kids also had cottage cheese and pineapple.

Breakfast was oatmeal w/ raisins (not instant).
Lunch was last night's dinner leftovers.

Tomorrow night is green chicken enchilada casserole & salad. My goal is to have it done by lunch time, and make my meal plan & shopping list for the rest of the week.

[becoming]

Thanks for joining, Lucy!

Today for lunch we had baked shrimp, salad, and apple slices, but we didn't do so good for breakfast (instant oatmeal) or supper (pizza out). We had a hectic day, though, so I'm not beating myself up. Will do better tomorrow

I'm going to see if I can download the Saving Dinner cookbook on my Kindle, because you're the third person who's mentioned it to me lately. Would you mind posting the recipe for the green chicken enchilada casserole?

[425lisamarie]

I actually posted this in your breakfast thread, but it's really helped me and maybe others will find it a good idea.

I cook a TON. With the allergies and things I can't eat I just have to, but for a while I was really getting annoyed by it, not knowing whta to make, what the kids want etc.

I got this really cute diner board, that is like a dry erase but with neon markers. Every night we make it up for the next day. I talk to the kids about what they want for breakfast and they make SO much better choices! They always end up loving and eating it because they planned it. And I can prepare things at night or first thing and easy breezy.

I write down breakfast, and dinner, and since they seem to be hungry at different times which I'm ok with, I write down lunch "options" and snack "options". Like today, I have this pasta they love with broccoli, chicken and peas and a creamy lemon sauce. I have one other pasta, fruit sticks (skewered fruit). So here's what our board says:

Breakfast - Joe - sausage patty, egg boats (hard boiled,cut in half sprinkled with salt and a little pickle stuck in for a sale LOL) sourdough, yogurt
Sarah - sourdough toasts and tzatziki

Lunch - options:

favorite pasta (their name for it, the creamy saucek, chicken, broccoli, peas)
butterfly pasta dish
grilled cheese (i use this really good sharp cheddar and sourdough)
paninis(basically same thing but grilled dif and they like choices)
tomato soup
chicken soup (in the freezer, small portions)

snack options: fruit skewers
yogurt
cheese cubes
carrot salad
vanilla pudding
smoothies (usually i pick 2 kinds, i give them fun names)
ham rolls (i get some really good deli type ham)
oatmeal chewies (a homemade meal type bar)

Dinner: At grammas!! Please call her at your leisure and coordinate dinner plans. SHe would like to know what you want for dinner. And this doubles as reading. Leesure and coordinate will be hard words for DS, and I will help him, then he will ask me what one of them mean probably, so he will get to look it up in the dictionary and tell me (he likes doing this...or on the internet)

Usually I pick the main dish for dinner, or they tell me some ideas for the week and i decide when based on schedules.

This not only makes it fun and gives everyone an option and involvement, but it really keeps ME accountable. It has happened where I had to mess up their plans with lack of motivation and let me tell you i heard about it . But mom, it's on the boooooaaaaard!!!! I had to make big banana splits for dessert to make up for it

Oh and i don't use TOO many options, because they will say "hey, that was an option for yesterday, or 3 times this week, etc" LOL little fuss butts

[LucyRev]

This weekend my husband is having a guy's camping trip, so I feel really unmotivated. My oldest daughter just turned 7 and is getting so picky it is crazy. She won't eat meat (which I think is great, but makes it harder).

The green chicken enchilada recipe was pretty easy, but probably pretty high fat. Cook 6 chicken breast halves w/ 1tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp cumin. Shred.

In a casserole dish, layer tortillas,chicken, grated cheese, sour cream, and enchilada green sauce (the big can). Do that twice. Finish with sauce and cheese, bake at 350 for 45mins loosely covered with foil. Next time I might add onion and garlic and maybe some sauteed bell peppers.

[becoming]

Well, I forgot about my own accountability thread. I can't tell you how much that says about me as a person.

We have been doing pretty good, eating a lot of leftovers to try to get rid of some things that were about to go bad. Tonight we have a special occasion, so we're eating out with my whole extended family.

Lisa, that is a GREAT post with so many good ideas! I'm definitely going to start doing the menu for the next day & letting my kids help. Thanks so much for posting that!

[becoming]

Lucy, the casserole sounds great! I think I'm going to try that tomorrow night actually! Thanks