Starting from Scratch

Don't you hate it when you have TONS to say, but sit down to create a post and *poof* it all disappears? That's been me recently. I've got about 5 unfinished posts sitting in my draft folder. Recapping Army Bro's wedding and Baby Bro's proposal. (Though I'm STILL waiting on pictures of the proposal to pop up on facebook. *sigh* Doesn't he know I have a blog to post them on? Oh wait . . . No, he doesn't. But that's another post for another day.)

I've got a post drafted about our storage room, but I've not got the pictures on my computer yet. (This is why there aren't many pictures . . . Er . . . Umm . . . I just keep forgetting to load them, then forgetting to post them . . . *sigh* One day!)
After the pool this past Saturday, we went to Mama and Papa Italian's for the day. I don't recall how it came about, OH! I think we were talking about dinner plans for the week. My Italian mentioned he was just going to eat Smart Ones when I was going to be home late and it turned out that was going to be almost EVERY night this week. I mentioned that the sodium content in that was ridiculous and that it wasn't a good idea.
To my surprise Mama Italian agreed with me! So . . . this week, pretty much everything we're eating is from scratch! Albeit, I've only made one soup and have 3 others planned (maybe I'll get to them this weekend?). But my Italian is finally on board with making stuff from scratch at home! 

YES!!!

I've only been fighting this battle since we've been married! He's grown up on ready-made food, since his mom doesn't really cook. She warms. (It's a sad, but true joke/fact in there family.) I on the other hand grew up with meals based around real, whole foods. Though when I moved out of the house, I did delve into the pre-processed foods because, honestly?, they're a lot easier for a single person. 

If I'd known that all I had to do was enlist Mama Italian's help with this, I'd have done that a long time ago. But I think his weight gain has brought more concern to his health and eating habits. Not that he gained a lot, 15, maybe 20 pounds. But he did have to go up a pant size and she WAS NOT happy about that. 

It makes sense. When a person tends to put all of their weight on one side when he or she is walking, you don't want to weigh a whole lot. He was healthy at 150 or 155 just very very slender. He's still pretty slender but he's got a little bit of belly now. His baclofen pump used to look like a hockey puck under his skin, but now you can only see one side of it. 

Most of his weight gain is due to being restricted to his chair while he was recovering from surgery. He still spends most of his time in his chair, but is able to work-out everyday. Whether it be in the pool or the treadmill at home. 

We're eating mostly soups this week. 

They're easy to make, easier to store and quick to reheat for dinners. 

I think I may try to prep all of our meals on Saturday, so when their day of reckoning comes, all I have to do is pop it in the oven or throw it together. Cause I don't want to be eating soup all the time. 

This means I need to do my meal planning by Friday afternoon and grocery shopping, either Friday night or Saturday after the pool. Sunday's are out because my Italian has horseback riding 3x a year for 6 week sessions each time. So during those times, my Sundays are booked. Though I could make a meal between church and the time to leave for horseback riding. Especially if his class stays at 4:15. 

So step 1 has been accomplished. Getting my Italian on board with eating whole, healthy foods. Step 2. Learn to appreciate (and do most of our shopping at) farmer's markets! I just need to lure him out to a few. 

He's uber cheap, so I'm wondering  . . . meh . . . I don't know.

Any ideas on how to accomplish step 2?