Meal Planning

I would really, really love to meal plan. It's right up my alley, seeing as how I love lists and a good plan. But I also can't just eat anything...I like to eat something that sounds good at that moment.

However, last week I decided to give it a (little bit of a) shot. I really only planned 3 meals...for the 3 nights Kate & I were both home. The rest of the "plan" was merely a list of ideas/options for breakfasts & lunches. Anyway, we ended up making 2 of the 3 planned dinners. It doesn't sound like much of a success, but I'm actually pretty happy with it! We used up the pieces of produce that I was worried about going bad, and we ate something different and satisfying.

The first meal was Baked Polenta with Homemade Tomato Sauce & Roasted Brussels Sprouts. Sounds good, right?! And it was really easy.

First things first, I got the sprouts going, using Ina Garten's recipe found here. I especially liked how she suggested sprinkling extra salt on at the end. We (accidentally) got coarse ground sea salt at the store, but it worked so well here!

Once the sprouts were in the oven, I got to work on the sauce. This was something really simple that I threw together with what I had - my favorite way to make a sauce. I knew I wanted leftovers for meal #2, so I made extra.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

(makes about 4 cups)

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 can crushed tomatoes (I used fire roasted)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted)
• salt, pepper, and dried Italian seasoning, to taste
• 1 tsp honey (secret ingredient!)
• large handful of fresh parsley, minced (I didn't have any basil)

Directions:

• Saute the onion in oil over medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes.
• Add garlic and stir to combine.
• Add both cans of tomatoes (no need to drain).
• Season with salt, pepper, and dried Italian seasoning.
• Simmer sauce until flavors meld, about 10 minutes.
• Add honey and stir to combine. Taste for salt & pepper.
• Continue simmering until ready to use.
• Right before serving, stir in fresh parsley.

While the sauce was simmering away, I sliced up a tube of premade polenta into 1/4 inch slices. With 20 minutes left on the Brussels sprouts, I popped the polenta slices into the oven in a single layer on an oiled sheet pan. Half way through, I flipped the slices for even cooking.

I buy premade polenta in my regular grocery store. I've seen it in the produce department as well as in the pasta aisle (it is shelf stable). And when I was taking this picture I realized that it is gluten free!

Altogether now!

Yum.

As I mentioned, the second meal also included the Homemade Tomato Sauce. We had Italian Veggie Burgers w/ Pesto Hummus atop Spaghetti Squash w/Tomato Sauce.

Spaghetti squash takes about 45 minutes to bake, so not the quickest meal, but the other components made up for it.

Once the squash was ready, we mixed it with the leftover tomato sauce. Then we used it as a bed for an Italian veggie burger, which we topped with Trader Joe's pesto hummus. Such a comforting meal...and it really was simple!

Do you meal plan? Any tips for me? I tend to get overwhelmed.