I know, I know. I’ve been gone a long time. But believe it or not, I had very little to say. The kitten is growing up and taking up some of my time. Work is as busy as ever. I wasn’t feeling too great for a while and discovered that I needed an increase in one of my medications. I’ve been energy filled and feeling good since then. As a result I’ve been making home cooked meals. Exciting, I know.

But I’ve discovered something, meal planning is hard for me.

It’s hard for me to figure out what Husband will eat for the week. He will mostly eat whatever I put in front of him and his praise or dislike of my cooking is about the same. “It’s okay.” If I get a “It’s pretty good.” out of him, I know that I have a hit on my hands.

I don’t have a repertoire of weekly meals yet. I was sick for about a year. During that time, I did very little cooking. If I made dinner at all, it consisted of just “fixing food”. I have managed to forget whatever it was that I cooked prior to that.

I have a grand chili, a decent cilantro chicken, and a marinated chicken breast. You can only eat those meals so many times before you’re sick of them.

So for the past 4-6 weeks I’ve been practicing meal planning. It usually consists of me asking my husband what he wants to eat, getting an unsatisfactory answer and then calling my mother for help. She helps me work through ideas, recipes and shopping lists. Sometimes she’s just moral support. I use the Taste of Home magazine that my aunt gave us a subscription to. I use several websites and of course Pinterest. I have a collection of cookbooks that I scour frequently for meal ideas.

I try to come up with 4 meals a week. This gives us flexibility to adjust the menu as needed, gives me nights of not cooking and keeps us from over-buying groceries (we throw way too much food away in this house). I write-up a list, include the normal staples such as bread & milk, and whatever extras my husband wants for the week.

On Sunday, I clip coupons and review the local circular.

In my town, there is a local grocery chain that does online grocery shopping for a small fee. For someone with chronic illness this is a godsend. I may still spend an hour “grocery shopping” but I do it from home, in my pjs, in front of the computer. It saves me so many spoons. (If that phrase is foreign to you, you must read this: Spoon Theory.) I choose a time when I want to pick up the groceries, pull up to the curb and pay. It’s wonderful. I come home and Husband helps me carry everything inside.

So after about an hour of work today, I have my menu for the week:

• Sunday: Spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread
• Monday: Leftovers
• Tuesday: Ham melts with salt & vinegar chips
• Wednesday: Strip steak, red potatoes and salad
• Thursday: Lemon garlic mahi mahi with wild rice & green beans

The mahi mahi is frozen, and if we don’t get to it this week, it can just be pushed to next.

I don’t cook every portion of every meal. Some of it is just opening a can and warming up the contents. But it’s a home cooked meal that saves money and sometimes calories. And it’s just fun.