Weekly Meal Plan - Blast from the Past

This week, I have decided to to try out some of the dishes I have had on my list of "things to try to make" for quite a while! Here is also my offering of my weekly meal plan and grocery list. The dinner plan for the week:

Sunday: BBQ meatloaf, spicy corn fritters and roasted maple, dijon brussel sprouts

Monday: Spinach, cherry tomato and feta pasta

Tuesday: Cuban spiced pork tenderloin with soffrito rice and green beans

Wednesday: Cuban sandwiches with chips and a pickle

Thursday: Super sloppy joes with a fennel and cabbage slaw

I will say this set of meals is not normal for me. I am just on a kick of trying out some traditional, "comfort" foods.

Printable Version of meal plan and grocery list (I will always post at the beginning of the week and update the same post at the end with changes, if necessary).

A few notes on the grocery list: I decided to list everything that you would ever need to make these meals because I know everyone has different pantry items in their household. For me, pantry items are things I always have. Therefore, my personal grocery list did not include any of them (except for the few things I have run out of). If you are trying to start the new year off with some major changes in your cooking routine, I recommend you close your eyes when you are getting ready to pay the first few weeks at grocery store. Building a pantry full of oils, spices, vinegars, etc. is expensive at first. And you don't need a closet size pantry (even though I would totally love one), to store all of them. We have about 1 cubic foot of space where we keep all of our food that doesn't go in the refridge. Who am I? Martha Stewart? I think so. That's fine. Come to think about it, I did want to post how to fold a fitted sheet, but nixed that idea.

Also, if there is not number/size indicated on the list for an item (something Scot cringes about), then just use some common sense. It means, its either obv. or it doesn't really matter. Example: cilantro. Answer: a bunch. If the recipe needs a lot of something, I will always make note of it. ;)

NOTE (01/22/2010):

I have updated the grocery list and plan (above) according to what we actually did!

Here is what we ate for lunch:

Monday: Meatloaf sandwich, yogurt, fruit

Tuesday: Spinach/Tomato pasta, yogurt, and fruit

Wednesday: 2 meatloaf sandwiches (Scot), Spinach/Tomato pasta (me), yogurt, and fruit

Thursday: Rice and a Cuban sandwich (Scot), PB & J (me), yogurt, and fruit

Friday: Sloppy Joe (Scot), Slaw (me), yogurt, fruit

We eat fruit and yogurt everyday for lunch. Always have. For breakfast, we have orange juice and cereal just about everyday. We buy about 1.5 gallons of orange juice per week, so we drink a lot of orange juice. I didn't include breakfast, yogurt or fruit on the grocery list.

I would say for two regular people, this amount of food might be too much. Scot is very active and eats between 4000 and 5000 calories per day. I eat probably a normal amount. For four people, this amount would be enough for dinner only.