Meal Planning - I'm not great at it!

On Monday, at 6:30pm, I pulled a 7.5# ham from the freezer. I didn't have a plan but I quickly realized that we would NOT be having ham for dinner as it was going to take some time to defrost and then take about 2 hours to heat after defrosting.

I ended up making this DELICIOUS Buffalo Mac and Cheese recipe! A few notes:

• I forgot I am a blogger so I didn't take any photos
• I doubled the recipe except for the hot sauce because I don't really like spicy foods
• I used my fancy huge skillet from Pampered Chef similar to the one found here that can be used in the oven
• I didn't use the recipe's Planko recommendation and just liberally sprinkled Progressive Italian Breadcrumbs on top before baking

We still didn't eat until 9pm.

I cooked the ham the next night again not starting it until well after 6pm leaving dinner to be at 8pm and I failed at making any sides! We ended up with hot ham sandwiches. Legit ham but sandwiches nonetheless. Ironic that most people have ham sandwiches on the last day of finishing off a ham and I made them on the first night? :) I have high hopes for making three ham related recipes in the next few days plus we're having a pot luck at church on Sunday so I'm sure I'll take one of them!

• Cheesy Ham Potato Soup - Note: I don't boil the halves of potatoes separately. I chop all of them and pull out what I consider to be the quantity to match the halves. It cuts the cooking time down.
• Hearty Ham Potato Casserole - I've been making this one for a number of years and it is also DELISH! I double the recipe and we eat it for days!
• Ham & Scalloped Potatoes - I haven't made this one yet but I'm digging up recipes as someone recommended for me to make it when I posted about my ham dilemma above on Facebook. I'm up for the challenge but there are A LOT of ways to make it. With or without cheese? With a rue or without? I think I'm going to make it for dinner tonight once I find a recipe - It's only 6pm. Plenty of time for those raw potatoes to bake!

I've done some vague meal planning in the past. I think I should get back to it. It narrows down the grocery shopping and it cuts down on my brain power usage on a daily basis. Plus, Homestead Phil gets hungry about this time of the evening. It would be nice if I had some dinner ready sometime around now rather than at 8-9pm!

As a side note, I also have a running update! I went running (you know I use that term loosely!) twice this week. I stayed with my previous ratio of run 15 seconds / walk 30 seconds. I also used my new shoes with my old "old lady" inserts. PLUS, the dirt road near our homestead that received new rocks recently has now evened back out without large rocks randomly about. My times were a bit slower than my recent ratio but I'm still pleased. I think I'll stick with the 15/30 ratio for at least another week before changing my ratios again. Tomorrow is my "long run" of 3 miles! Praying my calves hold up and I can keep up this new hobby!

PS - I'll do better about taking pics for my blog throughout the week!