Tag Archives: menu

goals & menu plan for the week of 1/6

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Hi everyone! Hope you are having a lovely Sunday. It’s been a calm, cozy weekend here in West Lafayette, with lots of green tea, unpacking, and reading on my agenda. {It always floors me how long it seems to take to unpack all my stuff after a trip, especially a month-long trip home when I have two big suitcases crammed full!} Mike and I also watched a couple movies this weekend: the clever romantic comedy Ruby Sparks {I definitely recommend this one!} and the campy horror flick Drag Me to Hell {okay, I didn’t really watch this one —  I’m a wimp when it comes to horror movies! I baked in the kitchen while Mike watched it in the living room. He gave it a 1.5 thumbs up.}

I can’t believe school starts tomorrow! Actually, it officially starts on Tuesday for me — I don’t teach on Mondays this semester — but I will probably still go to campus to get some work done and straighten up my office for the new year. If any of you are starting back to school tomorrow, too, I hope the semester is a great one for you! 🙂

Here are my goals for the week:

  • finish planning out entire semester of lessons for both courses I’m teaching
  • submit fellowship application at least one week before the deadline
  • debut first Act of Kindness on blog {tomorrow!} and complete it myself this week
  • write out responses and pack for Key West
  • finish Christmas thank-you notes
  • begin new knitting project
  • finish the new one-act play I’ve been working on
  • finish reading Who’s Irish? by Gish Jen {a wonderful short story collection I began reading last semester and then never finished}

I also made a weekly goal check-off sheet to keep track of my progress on bigger yearly goals that it can be difficult to keep a handle on over the course of an entire year. I find that if I am able to check something off my list every day, it makes me feel more motivated and productive, and soon turns that goal into a habit. Feel free to download my goal list for the week and fill it in with your own goals!

I’ll close off with the list of meals I’m planning to make this week:

Have a wonderful week!

*This post is linked up with Menu-Plan Monday at I’m an Organizing Junkie.*

meal planning whiteboard

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Happy Friday, everyone! I must admit I am really feeling the TGIF vibe today. I love teaching, but the first week back at school always seems so loooong … I think because everything is new, I’m learning all my students’ names, figuring out my new schedule, etc. I’m looking forward to a weekend of recharging my batteries and getting ahead for the upcoming week!

Over the past few months, I’ve gotten really into reading different organization and recipe blogs {you can find links some of my favorites here.} Something I’ve seen recommended again and again is using meal-planning to get organized, save time, and save money. For as much as I like to cook, I’ve never been a weekly meal-planner. I’m the type of person who decides what to make for dinner that morning, at lunch, or even sometimes when staring into my half-empty fridge, stomach rumbling, trying to figure out what I can throw together quickly for a meal.

And you know what? It can be stressful! One of my least favorite things is heading home after a long day with no idea of what to do for dinner. Those are the days I will end up grabbing food out somewhere. I do enjoy eating out in restaurants, but I like it best when it’s something planned in advance, something I can look forward to all day — it feels more special that way.

Which all goes to say, I’ve been thinking about implementing a meal-planning schedule into our routine for a while. This week, with the beginning of a busy new school year, I finally did something about it!

I went to Target yesterday and in the back-to-school aisle I found this adorable whiteboard with a blue frame and attached pen — plus, it had a magnet on the back. Just what I needed! Best part of all: I snagged it for only $3.00.

All I had to do was take it out of the packaging, slap it up on the fridge, and write out my planned menu for the week. On Tuesday Mike and I are planning to go to Outback Steakhouse for dinner to use a gift certificate we have, and on Friday I’m getting together with my friends Xun and Hai for dinner.

I chose to place the whiteboard on the side of the fridge where I’ll see it every time I walk into the kitchen. I hung it right above a monthly calendar/newsletter I get from the apartment complex. It’s my new “information station”!

It makes me feel so great to have the week sketched out like this — no more stress wondering what to have for dinner! And I think planning out the week this way will help save money {and last-minute grocery trips to get that one ingredient I don’t have…}

Do you use weekly meal-planning? I’d love to hear any of your tips!
-Dallas

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Time spent: 5 minutes
Cost: $3.00