A few months ago I started menu planning and it has made such a huge difference around here. I started when I was searching for something to make these people for dinner and pulled out a few heads of rotten broccoli and a bag of rotten green beans from the refrigerator. It was late, I had no idea what we were eating, and we were wasting food. That night, after we ate Top Ramen for dinner, I sat down and worked out the rest of the week and haven’t looked back since.
I know a lot of people plan breakfast, lunch and dinner. Around here, as it’s just Little and I during the day (and she’s still mostly on a liquid diet) I only plan dinner. As big is getting out of school next week that may change. I’ll update this if and when we do.
First thing I do is check the fridge. Did you know if you have stainless steel appliances you can write on them with dry erase markers? The front of the fridge is where I write our calendar. If there’s girl scouts, an activity at school, a night out or whatever, I need to plan around that. No big, labor intensive meals when we have to be somewhere at 6:30. After that, I open the door. Did something not get eaten from last week’s menu? Any produce hanging around that needs to be eaten? Plan your meals accordingly.
We have certain nights that we have certain things. I would die of taste bud boredom if we had, for example, spaghetti every Monday. What we do instead is a flexible day. Tuesday is something from another culture. Think Taco Tuesday, but with more options. Wednesday is beans. From Red Beans and Rice to Falafel. Friday is homemade pizza day (try this dough recipe, it’s perfect!) but that could be BBQ chicken pizza or Margherita pizza or Chicken Ceasar Salad pizza.
I try to do a big something on Sunday or Monday that we can use to make other meals. Extra points if it goes in the crock pot.
This is this week:
Monday – Crockpot chicken, asparagus, sweet potatoes
Tuesday – Taco Bowl
Wednesday - Egg Roll in a Bowl – Made from leftover chicken.
Thursday – ‘Brats and Sauerkraut (and broccoli)
Friday – Margherita Pizza
Saturday – Birthday Celebration!
Sunday – Sloppy lentils, broccoli cakes from leftover broccoli, homemade fries
I was too lazy forgot to go to the store so Monday and Tuesday got switched. No biggie. Be flexible. Life happens. Sometimes your crying baby lets you know that the grocery store is NOT happening that day. Sometimes your couch is super comfortable. Whatevs.
Do you menu plan? Any great recipes to share?
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