Meal Monday - Crazy Sunday!

Sundays are often my cooking day. I try to get a lot done in the afternoon while Jarrod is at work. I do a bunch of things all at the same time - either while Wesley sleeps or when he's content watching from his pack 'n play. Yesterday was no different - I made a lot of things all at the same time in order to best prepare for the week!

Last night we had Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta with Bacon and Veggies. In order to make this, I soaked beans, cooked bacon, roasted a chicken, and cooked veggies.

Because I needed chicken and beans for the recipe, I knew I'd want to roast a whole chicken and make a whole batch of beans. From the chicken I made chicken stock. I made kidney beans and black beans also because on Thursday night we're having turkey and black bean chili.

So I had veggies, bacon, beans, and chicken going at the same time. Once the chicken was done and I got the pasta going for dinner, I started making stock. In addition, I steamed spinach for Wesley.

Tuesday night Jarrod is making grilled chicken and veggies - yellow squash, onions, and red peppers. We'll have leftovers on Monday and Wednesday, and chili is for Thursday. We always have people over for dinner on Thursday nights so we'll be making chili and crusty bread while others bring dessert, salad, and chili fixings.  

Jarrod and I have a date planned for Friday and we'll eat left overs for lunches and on Saturday. It was one crazy Sunday afternoon, but I got a ton of stuff done and am ready to take on the week. I cooked the kidney beans in the crockpot while I did other things. The black beans will cook overnight on Sunday night. I'll cook the chili in the crockpot during the workday on Thursday and it will be ready to go for dinner. I have all the elements ready to go except the turkey. All I need to do is brown that, add the veggies, beans and broth and we're good to go!

How do you prepare for the week? Does keeping a menu or rough schedule help you stay on track?