Recipe for Success

Almost every week I sit in my family room surrounded by cookbooks and magazines. I have a pad of paper in my hands and I'm planning the answer to the age-old question, "What's for dinner?"

Cooking is one of my absolute favorite things to do. I find it fulfilling, creative, and relaxing. However, there used to be many nights that I walked in the door exhausted and hungry...cooking dinner was the last thing I felt like doing.

But all of that changed when I started cooking with a plan.

I realized that I was setting myself up for failure when I didn't plan out what I was going to cook and the ingredients I would need. I would go to the grocery store and randomly choose food that "looked good". I would come home, after spending way too much money, and find that I was missing things in order to make complete meals. I can't tell you how many times I threw away rotten food because I didn't have a plan for how to use it.

Now I sit down and think about our plans for the week. Most of the time we don't need seven meals to get through a week. Sometimes we have plans to eat out. Sometimes I plan bigger meals that will last two nights. I make a list of what nights we will need to eat at home and then I choose meals based on my schedule, what I can prep ahead, and what's on sale in the grocery store. For example, I don't plan to make a roast chicken (which takes over an hour and a half to cook) when I have an appointment after work and won't be home until 6:00.

I'm writing this blog so that I can share my ideas about planning smart when it comes to cooking. The goal is to make meals that make sense. That's my recipe for success.