Menu Planning Mondays

I love cooking. I've taken an extensive hiatus from any real and intentional cooking and menu planning ventures in recent weeks (months!) since we've been so busy. But now that my kitchen is more than 60% unpacked, I feel that it's time to get back in the saddle!

I had two goals in mind for this week's menu:
1 - Plan breakfasts, lunches and snacks *somewhat* in sync with The Abs Diet for Women, my favorite eating and workout plan (it's so easy...except for the protein part since I don't really eat much meat)
2 - Prepare more veggies

So with those goals in mind, here's what we are having for breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with veggies, english muffin
Cereal, banana
Oatmeal with fruit and nuts (probably going to try Jill's baked oatmeal this week)

And lunch:
Veggie burger with salad (me) and carrots/peas/green beans (Charlie)
Veggies and brown rice
Pbutter and jelly, fruit (not creative, I know, but pb&j is still one of my favorites!)

And Dinner:
Salmon Rushdie (from the Abs Diet recipes), salad
Chicken Little Italy (from the Abs Diet recipes), fresh sauteed spinach, rolls
Slow-Cooker Black beans, rice, plantains
Ham, mac n cheese, sauteed veggies
Chili Corn Stack-Up Salad (instead of homemade chili, I'm using Amy's Organic Chili)

And for Sunday lunch: Creamy Black Bean Soup, using some of the beans from the slow-cooker beans above. I'm planning to use the crock pot for this recipe too, so that the meal can be ready when we walk in the door after church. I'm always looking for easy Sunday lunch ideas...my plan is to develop a short list of our family's favorite lunch menus that work for our Sunday afternoon schedule.

Snacks include cheese and crackers, yogurt and abs diet smoothies - yum!

And this week I'm waging war on the chaos around us. I waived the white flag last week due to the kids' colds and all of our disrupted sleep schedules (we are all adjusting to yet another change, I think) but this week, I'm determined to make this house feel like home for all of us.