Meal Planning

One might think that after being married for almost five years I would have meal planning under control. It's kinda come in phases, where I'll do really well for a couple of weeks and then just not do it for like a month. Obviously, it's much cheaper to cook at home than to dine out every night.

Over the course of our marriage I've worked up quite a nice collection of cookbooks. I've done my best to donate the ones I probably wouldn't use and to hang on to the ones that have recipes that actually sound both tasty and feasible. Today, after studying for my RD exam, I spent sometime writing out a menu and looking through some cookbooks. I forgot how much I actually enjoy looking at cookbooks. I have quite a nice collection, it's sad that I haven't used it more than I have.

My mom gave us a Vitamix for Christmas. I've had such a great time making ice-chunk free smoothies with it every morning that I decided I would try another recipe. I want to try the hummus recipe in the recipe book that came with it. I don't know if I'll get around to it this week, but the ingredients are definitely on the shopping list. If you can't tell, I LOVE cooking/kitchen related gifts. I'm seriously pumped about making hummus. Probably more than I should.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a craving for some sort of orange flavored chicken. Not necessarily the Chinese dish though. I had a whole chicken, but I didn't want to bake it - it's too hot for that. So, I grilled it. I found a recipe in a barbeque book mom gave me a long time ago and went with that. I cut the chicken in half and marinated it in white wine, fresh orange juice, and butter. Then I grilled it and some potatoes. It was amazing! Here is a picture of it:

I was actually surprised at how golden the chicken came out. I'm guessing it had something to do with the butter in the marinade? Trying new recipes is also an exciting part of meal planning, at least when they turn out like they're supposed to.

Well I better go and get ready for our small group meeting.