Menu Monday

One of my main goals for the move to Nashville was to become more intentional with my time each day.  Instead of spending most of my mornings wondering what I could accomplish, I've tried to start setting some daily goals the night before to help manage my time and tasks.  I think one of the hardest parts about moving and transitioning is the lack of a normal schedule and routine.  I thrive on routines and habits, so to say I've felt a bit "off" lately might be an understatement.

One of my habits in Italy was to go by the grocery store on an almost daily basis.  Our refrigerator was tiny so there wasn't much of an option to do big grocery shopping trips.  During my morning workouts, I would usually decide what I would make for dinner that night, and just pick it up on the way home.

That being said, meal planning is not something I've ever really done…nor do I see myself starting to do it in a full blown manner any time soon, BUT, I have realized that a game plan is a little more necessary here.  Like with my daily schedule, I'm trying to be a bit more intentional with my grocery shopping.  Instead of wandering around until I see something that looks good, I try to have at least three ideas of meals before I walk in the store.

Today, I ventured a bit farther than usual and hit up Trader Joe's for my grocery shop.  They have so many good, organic (and lots of dairy free!!) options that it was difficult to not buy one of everything.  However, I stuck to the plan and came home with a nice assortment of food AND enough to make a few meals.

Here are my three planned meals for this week:

Breakfast smoothies- Finally getting to put the Vitamix to good use with some berry and yogurt smoothies.

Turkey burgers with vegetable couscous-  I'm a big fan of turkey meat, and I've found a ton of great couscous recipes featuring some of my favorite vegetables.

Shrimp and sausage jambalaya- I got a sundried tomato and basil sausage that I think will taste amazing in the recipe.

In the weeks to come, I think I'm going to start doing a "Menu Monday" on the blog to encourage myself to try more recipes and stick to the meal planning.  Hopefully this will help me meet my goals, and it might even give you guys a few good ideas.  If you have some weekday meal plans or go-to recipes, feel free to share them in the comments!