An Empty Fridge Makes Me Freak

Travis and I were away this past weekend visiting my aunt and uncle in Tucson, Arizona. I always love visiting Arizona – the mountains are gorgeous, the Southwestern flavors are delicious, and I appreciate the slower pace of life there.

One of my goals for 2014 was to make more weekend trips up and down the West Coast. I still feel like a newbie in California and there are so many cities I want to explore: San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Barbara, etc. I just have one personal issue with weekend trips that I am reaaaaaally working on. I consider the weekend my “me” time. On the weekends I finally have the time catch up on all of things I put off during my crazy work weeks. This includes dry cleaning, blogging, photo editing, reading, cleaning, laundry, and most importantly grocery shopping. I am one of those people who LOVES routine, and I definitely struggle when it is broken. It was particularly hard for me to come home from Arizona early Monday morning to a dirty apartment with piles and piles of laundry and an empty fridge. On top of that, I had no time to fix any of this because I had to work. Beginning a week unprepared really makes me frazzled (you could say I am Type-A…)

It didn’t help that I was STARVING when we arrived home from the airport, and we all know not to mess with me when I get hungry. As soon as I could, I dashed to the store to fill my poor empty fridge, which basically only contained Travis’ beer and lots of condiments…

Our fridge could also use a good scrubbing, huh?

At Whole Foods I bought as much as I could physically carry home (luckily we live within walking distance!)

I felt SO much better with a full fridge. Everything else on my to-do list seemed a little bit less daunting after that.

What I bought:

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

Tilapia Fillets

Assorted Fruit: Mango, Apple, Navel Oranges, Bananas

Assorted Veggies: Sugar Snap Peas, Red Bell Pepper, Carrots

Cilantro, Lemons, Limes

2 Cartons Cage-Free Eggs

Wallaby Nonfat Plain Greek Yogurt

Frozen Peas

Lactose-Free Milk

Way Better Black Bean Chips

WOO! What a relief. Since I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for new recipes, dinner this week will just be meals I’ve made before and know we love.

On our menu this week:

Monday: Slow Cooker Honey-Sesame Chicken with Sauteed Red Bell Pepper, Snap Peas, Onions and Brown Rice

Tuesday: Grilled Tilapia with Mango Salsa

Wednesday: Chicken Breast with a Sweet and Tangy Pan Sauce and Balsamic Roasted Vegetables

Thursday and Friday we’ll have to wing it!

 

What is on your dinner menu this week? How do you feel about coming home to a long to-do list? Can you handle it or does it make you go crazy?