what should we have for dinner?

(Note: This was supposed to be my first post, but I am still learning how to use this thing, so bear with me.)

I was on pinterest one day when I saw this: 

via someecards

I mean if that doesn't ring true, I don't know what does. 

Here’s the thing. I actually like to cook. I certainly like to eat. But I HATE to plan meals. Seriously, how many hours of my life have I spent engaged in the dinner debate? I will never get any of those hours back. I suspect you won’t either. Can we just agree on something? Dinner planning is not fun.

For a long time, I thought I could just pretend I didn’t need to plan meals. I tried to pass off the responsibility onto anyone who would take it: my kids (“What’s for dinner? I don’t know. What do you want to make?”), my husband (who would eat frozen burritos if he could), my (amazing) babysitter. I even suggested to several budding entrepreneurs that I would pay someone for a meal plan every week. Just tell me what to cook, and I’ll cook it. No success. Then one night last week, my husband and I made lasagna. Amazing lasagna. After eating too much of the amazing lasagna, and engaging in a discussion about how to remember that we tried this recipe and it was good, my husband suggested a blog.

This was not a new concept. I have been tossing around the idea of blogging for quite some time. I even went to Alt Summit on a whim last January. Yep, I went with no blog and no concrete idea about what I would possibly blog about. I was looking for a way to reinvent my life. My business cards introduced me as a wannabe designer and hesitant blogger. All true. Still true. I do still want to be a designer. My ideal job? Designing kid’s rooms for Land of Nod. The reality? I’m a food planner. There it is. Out loud. Most of my time is spent planning dinner for my family. So while all the hip bloggers at Alt would tell you to blog about what you love, I’m going to do the opposite. I’m going to blog about what I don't really love but I really do. I’m going to embrace the reality and write about it because if I have to do it every week, then why should you? I think you deserve a break.

So this is what we are going to do together. Each week, I am going to lay out my dinner meal plan. I am not a chef, so don’t be looking for me to create recipes. I am going to give you my plan complete with references to which recipes I plan to use. Then, I’m going to review those recipes (hopefully, with pictures) so that you can learn from my mistakes. Finally, I’m going to give you a look at what really happened during the week. C’mon. We all know the week never goes as planned. Don’t you want to see that someone else’s week got tossed up too? Good.

You are going to comment on the recipes. And be my cheering squad. And hopefully suggest recipes. I like that. Let’s do this. Let’s embrace the dinner plan. Oh, and pizza is ok every once in a while.