Week #1 - Cooking Once for the Week

As I explained yesterday, I have started cooking once for the week.  This is a generous claim, because I do actually make 3 or 4 meals each week, but it really is a simplified meal plan.  Check out the details of the cook once a week plan, and then try it out!

For my first week of cooking once for the week, I went with a meal I had been craving, anyway: Chili and cornbread.  I figured chili is a decent leftover, and cornbread would be a treat for my kiddos.  Plus, I had scored a good deal on some organic cornmeal!  

I don't have recipes to share with you because I always make chili from what I have on hand and season it to taste.  It never comes out the same.  And, I am still testing out vegan cornbread recipes to try to find my favorite.  But here are the basics, and a basic shopping list...

Main Meal:
Chili
Cornbread
Salad

Snacks:
Sweet Potato Oatmeal Bars

Lunch:
Any Smoothie with spinach like this chocolate one
Rice cakes with nut butter
apple or melon
-or- soup with apple or melon

There's my cooking buddy happily perched on my hip.  See my tip below...








Shopping List:
Ingredients for triple-batch of chili (ground beef, beans, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, chili powder, oregano, garlic, salt, etc)
Ingredients for a triple-batch of cornbread
Ingredients for salad (3 romaine hearts, cucumbers, sunflower seeds, peppers, tomatoes, etc)
Ingredients for a triple-batch of oatmeal bars
Ingredients for smoothies
Ingredients for soup (if you are using my soup lunch plan)
Salad Dressing
Steak
Vegetable
More Onions
Pizza Ingredients (we use gf tortillas, marinara, vegan cheese, peppers, red onion)
Rice Cakes
Nut Butter
Apples
Melon

Tip: Instead of cutting the peppers and onions for the chili, I put them in batches into a food processor and pulsed until finely chopped.  The chili turned out great, and it saved me sooooooo much time!  And, it was much easier to accomplish with a baby in one arm. 

A note about ingredients: I use the best ingredients I can find.  We happen to eat a diet free of gluten, dairy and for the most part, egg.   We also don't eat anything with preservatives, food coloring, MSG, nitrates, or sulfites.  The nice thing about this plan is that you can tailor it to your life.  We happen to get grassfed beef from an Amish farmer.  If you like vegetarian chili, go for it.  If you're on a tight budget, buy what you can afford.  No matter what your journey is, I do highly recommend buying the best quality food you can find/afford.  It really does matter.

Are you inspired?  Have you tried cooking once a week yet?  
Tell me about your journey...