In an effort to prove that I actually do cook (well, that Mark cooks while I “supervise”), I thought I’d start sharing some of our meal plans. This probably won’t be a weekly thing—but since we spent half our life savings a good bit of money at the grocery this past Saturday (we hadn’t been grocery shopping in a couple of weeks), I thought it would be fun to share this week’s meal plan.

Monday: Gorgonzola-stuffed portabella caps (similar to these, but without the sausage) with a side salad of mixed greens, sunflower seeds, cherry tomatoes, more gorgonzola (there’s never enough cheese!), and balsamic vinaigrette.

Tuesday: Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Crispy Baked Tofu with Honey-Sesame Glaze (served over brown rice) via Cookie + Kate. I’ve wanted to cook tofu for a while, and when I saw this recipe pop up on my blog feed, I knew this was the recipe to try. It’s going to be a bit labor-intensive, but it sounds spectacular.

Wednesday: Mushroom and onion frittata, toast, and fresh fruit. We bought mushrooms for this recipe, but when planning our meals before our grocery trip, I completely forgot about it, so into the frittata they will go. Frittatas are the perfect, easy, protein-packed meal, and leftovers are easily reheated (or eaten cold) for lunch the next day. Plus, Baby M loves his/her eggs! 😉

Thursday: Baked penne with ground beef, marinara, and shredded Italian cheese. Pasta makes an appearance at our dinner table pretty often. While Mark’s homemade marinara is infinitely better than jarred, some nights call for convenience. With a simple side salad or green beans, this meal is perfect for a weeknight, yielding plenty of leftovers for work lunches.

Friday: Sausage, onion, and bell pepper pistolettes—another easy, but satisfying, meal that’s perfect for a lazy Friday night spent at home, binge-watching episodes of “The Walking Dead.”

Saturday: Dinner out for our 6^th anniversary. We’re finally giving the new French restaurant, Bistro Escoffier, a try. We’d planned on celebrating there for my birthday, but a whole lot of “life” happened that week, so we’re giving it a go for an even more special occasion. I can’t wait to sip a tiny glass of wine with my meal (when you go French, you go all out). I’ll be sure to take some pictures and post a review next week.

Sunday: TBD, depending on our plans for the day.

This week’s grocery trip included lots of fresh fruit; a couple of splurges such as Mediterranean Mint gelato, my 2 favorite flavors of kombucha (lavender and hibiscus), and a cheesecake meant for Easter dinner, but eaten during the week instead); meat, eggs, and vegetables for the meals above; and weekly staples like Greek yogurt, English muffins, carrots/celery for snacking, hummus, etc. Our refrigerator is now ridiculously stocked!

Questions for you:

• Do you use a meal plan or do you just wing it?
• How often do you dine out as opposed to cooking at home?
• Do you have a grocery budget?