I’m in a Dinner Planning Rut

…but I Found a Promising Solution

Our dinner planning rut starts like this. We sit down on shopping day and throw out ideas for dinner. Did we have that last week? What’s in the pantry already? What do we have going on that will require a quick cooked meal? Inevitably we decide on the old standbys.

• homemade pizza,
• some kind of soup,
• beef stew in the pressure cooker,
• burrito night,
• spaghetti,
• a chicken skillet meal,
• and a few other ideas we rotate through.

And that’s the problem. Oh, we have cookbooks a plenty, but we need inspiration to bring healthy and fresh ideas into our menu planning routine.

What I really need to do is revamp the whole thing and bring some life into it. Enter a solution I found – the Back to Basics Living Bundle.

This weekend I also had the opportunity to purchase and preview the Back to Basics Living Bundle that will be live next week. There are 50+ e-books being offered in 9 different categories. The one that caught my eye is Cooking from Scratch. The titles look promising and offer just the inspiration I’m looking for.

• Homestead Cooking with Carol–Carol J. Alexander (Everything Home With Carol)
• Whole Wheat Bread Making–Donna Miller (Millers Grain House)
• Real Food And Health–Heather Lionelle (Real Food Health)
• Cooking with the Seasons: Winter Edition–Herbal Academy
• Off the Shelf: Homemade Alternatives to the Condiments, Toppings, and Snacks You Love–Kris Bordessa (Attainable-Sustainable)
• Bliss Balls for Beginners–Luschka Van Onselen (Keeper Of The Kitchen)
• 10 Minute Prep Freezer Meals–Shanti Landon (Life Made Full)
• Oh Lardy’s Guide to Fermenting Fruits & Vegetables–Tamara Mannelly and Kelly Liston (Oh Lardy)
• The Trayer Wilderness Cookbook ~ Homesteading The Traditional Way ~ Volume 1–Tammy Trayer (Trayer Wilderness)
• The Hearty and Grounding 7 Day Winter Meal Plan–Tara Wagner (Sustainable Baby Steps)
• Empowered Eating–Teri Page and Tatiana Abatemarco (Homestead-Honey)

I found ideas to freeze meals ahead of time for those busy nights when we don;t feel like cooking, new fermenting recipes, and several books with recipes to cook with seasonal produce I’m likely to find in the grocery right now.

While they are all great, the Empowered Eating e-Course is the one the really catches my eye. It’s a self-paced course with 21 days of resources I need to source, prepare, and preserve locally grown food.  (including my own!) The Course Includes:

•  Sample seasonal meal plans
•  Seasonal recipes from our kitchens
•  Video and PDF tutorials
•  A mini eBook on gardening
•  A local food sourcing spreadsheet template that you can use in your own home
•  Weekly challenges that put your skills into action
•  Thoughtful prompts that help you dive into your “why”
•  A supportive community in our private Facebook group
•  Tips on how to eat locally in a four-season climate
•  Information packed daily emails covering topics such as wild foraging, canning, dehydrating, lacto fermentation, and more!

If I can’t make something new and get out of my dinner planning rut with all of that – then shame on me for not trying!

There are other bundle categories just to round it all out.

1. DIY
2. Frugal Living
3. Green Living (that’s the gardening section)
4. Homeschooling
5. Homesteading
6. Natural Remedies
7. Preparedness
8. Simple Living
9. and Cooking from Scratch

Do you know what gets me the most excited about the Back to Basics Living Bundle?

Every one of these books is something I am interested in. It’s tailor made for those of us leading a frugal, self-reliant lifestyle.

The Back to Basics Living Bundle goes live on January 18, 2016 and ends at midnight (CST) January 24, 2016. Even my e-book, the A-Frame Pallet Planter is included!

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