I know that menu planning helps me stay within my food budget and eat better so I'm returning to that and am going to work hard to take it seriously. It might seem silly for a household of 1 but it is what it is and I need to take whatever actions necessary to keep the food budget under control and still eat nutritious meals.
Since my very recent epiphany that I love to cook but don't necessarily love to eat after I've cooked, I've decided to concentrate on cooking very small amounts of food and not preparing a new dish unless I have no leftovers or the ones I have are planned for in another meal. Over the last year or so my skill (to me it really IS a skill to cook for one and not a horde or even just two if that's what one is accustomed to) in those has improved but as evidenced by the containers in my fridge I'm not yet proficient and improving that area of my kitchen life has become a goal for 2012.
Breakfast today was the last of the mexican stew (I think I hear a choir of angels singing in the background!) and I get the feeling fried cabbage and onions might be in my future for this evening!
The rest of the week I'll have, in no particular order:
Stir fried chicken and vegetables with a small amount of brown rice (had this tonight)
Pan fried tilapia with 1/2 a baked sweet potato and salad
Large salad with chicken, tomato and plenty of cheese
Pan fried sliced turkey ham with baked cabbage, 1/2 a baked sweet potato, and green beans (had this)
Vegetable soup with homemade noodles
Tuna patties with salad and spinach
Whatever leftovers are in the fridge (had this)
Now, I think it's okay to change the plan a little. You know, I'm not in the mood for spinach so I have green beans with my tuna or I'm not in the mood for tuna so I have boiled eggs but I've decided it's not okay for me to decide I don't want tuna and prepare a five course meal including cornish game hen and scallops. 
There's nothing wrong with a meal like that but I need to plan for it. I think that's a fairly reasonable request - does it seem so to you???
Saturday evening edit - I decided to have the stir fried chicken and vegetables tonight and succeeded in preparing just enough for one meal. I did make a little bit extra brown rice but it will get eaten tomorrow morning.
I paid close attention to how much of each ingredient I used to ensure I wasn't preparing too much and it worked well. I used one boneless skinless chicken breast, 1/3 of a yellow squash, 1/3 of a zucchini, a very small amount of chopped onion and chopped red bell pepper and a few baby carrots. That seemed to be the right amount of those ingredients for one good sized meal. I'll have to remember that because it seems to me that slightly smaller quantities with liquid and spices would be right for soup.
Menu for January 8th - 14th & a new goal
January 7th, 2012 at 03:16 pm
January 7th, 2012 at 04:10 pm 1325952626
Have a good week!
January 7th, 2012 at 09:06 pm 1325970360
January 7th, 2012 at 09:36 pm 1325972174
January 7th, 2012 at 10:44 pm 1325976277
January 7th, 2012 at 11:53 pm 1325980415
January 8th, 2012 at 01:58 am 1325987904
Nice menu, sound very yummy.