Planning and a New Love

My injured foot seems to be back to 95%.  I survived a 10 mile run on Saturday and 6 on Sunday with no sharp pain.  There is still a very slight twinge feels like a bruise.  At least I now feel I'm not crazy to continue planning for next year.  So, I recently spent some time coming up with the plan for the first half of 2012 and a schedule to go with it (which will be revealed soon).  I am excited about it but also very excited for the planning part of it. 

I love picking out schedules, mapping out a plan and putting together all of my to-do lists.  I am this way with everything.  If I have a schedule and realistic goals, I typically stick to it, as best I can.  If I have no schedule, I flounder aimlessly.  This goes for pretty much everything in my life.  Work, running, normal chores, goals in life.  If it's not planned, I revert back to my college days where I am 'so busy' only to discover that in reality, I just got sucked into some 'Real World' marathon (do they still have that show?) or a countdown on VH1.  Of course, today, what typically happens is I get sucked into the neverending vortex of the internet and can suddenly realize I just spent 3 hours looking at tax returns for non-profits online (don't ask, I'm weird).

I always make to-do lists for the weekends for all the normal household chores and shit that I need to do.  Lately, I've been trying to do more of those chores throughout the week.  Seems like if I schedule it out, it's easy to do which just leaves more free time on the weekend.  Another thing I do is plan out meals for the week.  I have had very little motivation in the kitchen these days.  I keep skipping over lots of posts on all the food blogs I follow.  I'm the type of person who loves to do a big, huge gigantic meal where I spend 2 full days in the kitchen.  Normal stuff for the week?  Not so much, at least recently.  Lately, it's been a lot of pulling out the container of salad mix and placing it on the counter and then making a PB&J sandwich.  Dinner is served. 

I need a change and I thought back to earlier this year.  When I found out I had to be out of the country for a month, one of the first things my husband questioned was what he was going to eat while I was away.  Where was the concern for the fact that I was travelling, completely alone, to a foreign country?  How on earth could he feed himself for an entire month!  Before I left, I spent one day making tons of food and freezing it.  Typical guy friendly stuff - lasagna, chili, meatballs, burritos, cheesy potatoes, pepperoni rolls.  I can't even remember what all I made but it was a lot and I planned it all out and efficientally knocked it out in a day.  The planner in me totally loved packaging up all the individual portions and labelling them with reheating instructions.  As I was in the midst of the cooking storm, I proclaimed we would probably be eating this way more in the future.  It was so satisfying to see that freezer packed full of food ready to go.  I loved it.  Then, I never really did it again.

See where this is going?  Yes, once a month cooking.  I decided to do a little more research the other day because I was ready to take a day to cook a bunch of food and throw it in the freezer.  I happened upon the Once a Month Mom website since it's pretty much the first one that comes up and fell in love.  Meal plans (including vegetarian, gluten-free, etc.), grocery lists, labels to print and instructions on how to cook all items for that month in the most efficient way.  Be still my heart, I am in love.  If all goes well, I should be making the November whole foods menu this weekend.  If not this weekend, next (depends on some family and holiday obligations).

Now, if I get all this cooking out of the way, I should have some extra time to waste.  So, would anyone out there be so kind and share a Pinterest invite with me?   Updated:  Got one, thank you!