original food meal plan #4 + open goals

blast from the past: my cute little Texan is almost 5 now! It's so weird not to have a baby in the house!

Does life get crazier in the summer for everyone or is it just us? We've been trying to roll with the punches around here.

My to-do list is starting to lose priority in my mind, which is a very good thing. I can so easily start serving my list/goals instead of my family- and I know it when I'm upset by the fact that I didn't get everything done {even though I did spend time with people}. That's a big red flag for me.

So last week, I left my list behind and went without it. And surprisingly, it worked out very well! My week was so much more open to do things I didn't foresee. And it was so much more mentally freeing with our crazy schedule.

Now I'm trying to find the balance of planning but loving people first. I think it has/had to do with my heart- the list wasn't evil itself. :)

It's always so hard for me to see what my heart is doing. I'd so like to think I've got it all figured out. But my God is so much kinder to me than that. He shows me my faults, ever so gently.

I am so blessed to serve a God who loves {and disciplines} me! Oh, so much grace there! :)

With the crazy schedule lately {vbs, broken arms, hosting potlucks, dates!}, we haven't been home at normal times at all, so being home again this week I'm trying to bring back a semblance of routine here at our house without being slave to it. :)

It's an open goal plan, so to speak. A plan that is hopefully bent toward loving people more than productivity. A plan that is grace-filled, instead of goal-filled. For both me and others! :D My life purpose is not about accomplishing my dreams and homemaking and life goals, it's about me loving people and loving and glorifying God. {I need that nailed to my forehead so I won't forget it in five minutes!}

So, knowing it may look totally different in reality, here is my tentative meal plan for my family for this week {see, I'm learning! haha!}:

dinner:
day 1: baked potatoes, purple-hulled peas, and steamed veggies
day 2: my friend Kelli's faux fried rice {subbing the egg for flax seed, and leaving out the fish sauce}
day 3: zucchini pasta with "alfredo" and mushrooms, and salad
day 4: oven-baked sweet potatoes, corn, and lima beans
day 5: east texas caviar on lettuce {make black beans and chickpeas in crockpot the night before}
day 6: black beans and rice {using leftover beans}
day 7: dinner out

lunches:
peanut butter, nuts, fruits and veggies
green chile soup {recipe soon! green chiles, quinoa, and red beans in nutritional yeast broth}
lentil stew
beans and rice
baked potatoes
spaghetti squash with avocado

breakfast:
oats and almond milk
fruit

snacks:
raw carrot cake {carrots, dates, walnuts}
nuts
stove-popped popcorn

grocery list {I'm going today, and we already have much of this, but I thought I would add a complete list for you guys!}
5 lbs. red potatoes
2 cauliflower heads
2-3 lbs. zucchini
3 lbs. sweet potatoes
frozen corn- large family bag
frozen purple-hulled peas- 1 bag
frozen steam veggie mix- family size bag
frozen lima beans- 1 small bag
lettuce- 1 head
3 lbs. baby carrots
spaghetti squash
mixed spring greens
avocados- 2
tomatoes {cherry}
onions- yellow and green
rice {basmati}- 3-4 lbs.
3 lbs. black beans, dried
1 can red beans
1 container mushrooms
oats- 2 containers
lentils- 1lb.
green chiles- 1 can
chick peas- dried or canned
peanut butter- natural
dates- 1 lb.
walnuts- 2 cups
cashews {2 cups}
lemons for juice
limes for juice
almond milk

pantry staples:
stevia for coffee
nutritional yeast
olive oil
flax seed {milled}- we add this to everything!
garlic
salt
What are your "tentative" plans for this week? Are you trying to leave your weekly goals "open" too? :)