My first time participating in Menu Plan Monday but I’m hoping to make it a habit. When my brother and I were sharing an apartment a couple of years ago, we mostly planned out the supper meals for each week, at least for the days that I wasn’t working a night shift (which starts at 4 p.m.). It was almost amazing how much easier it made things. I’ve told myself many times over the past two years or so that I need to get back into that. So here is the first of hopefully many weeks of meal/supper planning.

• Monday: Crock Pot Rotisserie-Style Chicken (using this rub), potatoes, asparagus
• Tuesday: (nightshift*) homemade vegetable soup (already in the freezer)
• Wednesday: (nightshift) leftover chicken, brown rice, corn, and salsa (mixed together)
• Thursday: turkey meatballs with sweet and sour pineapple sauce, brown rice, and broccoli
• Friday: Chicken Pot Pie IX with a biscuit topping
• Saturday: homemade pizza (dough already in the freezer)
• Sunday: whatever is easy

I’ll need to make up some meatballs from the ground turkey in my fridge and then freeze the rest. For Friday, I’ll need to make some Magic Mix (scroll down) and thaw out the water-packed mushrooms in my freezer to make up a bit of cream of mushroom soup (in the spirit of the Make It Instead challenge) since I add a can of soup and three-quarters of a soup can of milk to the sauce recipe. I can also make up some brown rice in advance. As well, it’s not listed on the menu, but I’ll be making more bread this week and I plan to do up at least three extra batches of the dry ingredients to toss in the freezer to cut down on the prep time.

And oops! I just realized literally a few seconds ago that I’ve messed up on my Make It Instead challenge. The other day at the grocery store I passed up a large tub of yogurt (plan to make it in my crock pot) but picked up a jar of minced garlic. It didn’t even cross my mind to buy the whole heads instead. I don’t use much garlic so the jarred stuff lasts forever in my fridge as opposed to the heads, which always sprout on me but I could have picked up a single head instead of the sleeve of eight or so that I normally see. Slip-up number one. So far so good other than that though!

* On my night shifts, which start at 4 p.m., I drop B at my mom’s on my way to work. The meal planning will only include me on these nights.