Let's talk meal planning.

Cuz, I'm horrible at it!  The thing that stresses me the most, I wanna think about the least.  It's not that I hate cooking.  It's just that I'm absolutely-a-follow-everything-by-a-recipe-kinda-girl or throw-something-in-the-microwave-kinda-girl and I can only serve Jude chicken nuggets and frozen peas so many nights a week.

I'm thinking I'd like to do 2 vegetarian meals/week, 1 fish meal/week (even as I type that out, I know that one's NOT gonna happen), and 1 meal big enough for another night a leftovers.  Sounds easy enough, yeah?  That's only four dinners!  Only I'm horribly unorganized.  My grocery lists are usually scribbled on the back of a receipt.  And I usually run to the store 2 more times than I ought.  You see, it's a vicious cycle.

{I hate grocery shopping, I hate list making, and I feel guilty when I eat too much processed food}

{I end up eating processed food, because I hate grocery shopping, because I hate making lists} 

Anyway, I pinned this and I'm hoping to make a legit effort to bring it to fruition for my meal planning.  I like because you can use your tried & recipes an it's all typed up and ready to go when ya need it.

Source: littlenannygoat.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

BASICALLY: just make a list of the top 30 or so recipes you use most often; create a spreadsheet with the recipes along the side and the ingredients along the top; plan a week ahead for the recipes you want to make; circle ingredients on the spreadsheet, and you've got your shopping planned! Boom. That just happened.

What do you think?  A go?  I'm curious if you're a meal planner, and if so what works for you??  I need help!  

Cooking with Crockett: Cinnamon-Apricot Pork Tenderloin

Dave and I are very opposite in many approaches to life, cooking being one of them.  Whereas I have the recipe out, and check it multiple times throughout, he just grabs whatever is in our fridge and whips something together.  And his creativity usually turns into something pretty delicious.  The down-side?  Uhh, we usually never eat what he makes twice...any replication is bound to taste different.  Obvi.  So this is my attempt at mixing the best of both worlds.  He cooks, and I type, and then we have a recipe for next time. 

On the menu tonight: 
Cinnamon-Apricot Pork Tenderloin. 
(This is a surprisingly random thing for Dave to want to make, seeing how we really don't eat pork around this household.  Still, every once and again it's good to try.)

INGREDIENTS:
4 pork tenderloin cutlets
1 L bottle heavy pulp apricot nectar or 1 can apricots in light syrup (purreed)
1 t cinnamon
3 T brown Sugar
1 t finely chopped fresh rosemary
Pepper (optional)

WHAT TO DO:
Preheat oven to 400 F.  Place tenderloins in 8 inch glass pie pan.  Pour apricot nectar or purree over meat so that it is completely covered (about 1/4 inch above meat).  Sprinkle the remaining ingredients over the top.  Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature of pork reaches 170 F.  Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.  Enjoy!