Yummy, Yummy in our Tummies--Meals for the Week!

I began a subscription to Rachael Ray's Magazine, Everyday with Rachael Ray, last month for two reasons:

1. We were getting sort of tired of the same rotation of home-cooked meals and wanted to try something different (that didn't take a lot of time).
2. I found a really good deal on the magazine.  I think I got a year's subscription for $5 or something crazy like that.  I am not a magazine subscriber (mainly because I do not have time to read them) so I would only subscribe if the deal was crazy good like that.

I made some of the recipes in last month's magazine, and they were, as Rachael would say, "delish."  But, I didn't try her 7 Days of Dinners section last month.  I LOVE this section of her magazine.  She creates recipes for meals for every night of a week, and even includes a shopping list for you, arranged by section of the store.  She really leaves no excuses for you not to cook the meals for your family.  That is, unless you are picky.  Last month, I wasn't sure if we would enjoy some of the dishes, so I opted not to try this out.

Well, this month, I'm not sure what changed in me, but I decided I was going to cook every meal in her weekly planner, regardless of picky feelings.  I decided to take the plunge, fight the picky urges, and plan the meals for the week using her planner.  (Qualification--I had to remove the Tilapia dish from the plan for Friday, as Drew has a fish allergy.  Friday is the night of the week that we enjoy going out to eat anyway, so we are okay with this.)

Step 1.  Go shopping.  Not sure if you can see the picture below, but this is her menu planner.   You can actually get a new menu planner every week by going to rachaelraymag.com/menu.  It didn't take me as long as I thought at the store, thanks to the handy dandy shopping list she provided me.   The shopping bill totaled $58.63, but that included some snacks for Luke.  $58.63 actually bought 24 meals, considering each dish provided four servings, and there were 6 dishes I planned on preparing.

 Something else that I love about this weekly planner is that you can really tell Rachael is trying to conserve on groceries.   For example, I purchased a 16 ounce container of mushrooms--8 ounces will be used in one dish and 8 ounces in another.  So, there will be no leftover mushrooms.

Since I am going to try this, I thought we may as well share our experience with you. So, I decided I would create a blog post for each meal we prepare.  My plan is to give each of our verdicts on the recipes and then list the recipe in case you want to try it.  At the end of the week, I will let you know my favorite meal of the week and Drew's favorite.  For the 5 of you or so who read this, enjoy!  :-)

Now...for step 2.  Prepare the meals!