Make a list Monday -- My meal planning of joy and love and organization
This plan has been rattling around in my head for some time. I'm going to try it this week. The plan is to assign each day a food category so when Thursday comes around, I'll be able to pick a dinner without so much stress. I really am terrible at planning meals. I hope this helps.
Sunday-- I don't cook, we piece and pick to keep things low key
Monday-- crock pot meal or soup (so I can work, work, work all day and have dinner planned from the beginning)
Tuesday-- Matt's night (recently Matt and I have worked out Tuesdays so that he makes dinner and I get the whole night off to do what I will, in or out and about. Love it! This is by far the best meal category.
Wednesday-- Mexican
Thursday-- Italian (We do love pasta)
Friday-- kids meal (Matt and I try to eat out on a date each Friday)
Saturday-- free day, lets eat whatever (I may change this to the meat night, we'll see)
I am torn about this schedule. I toyed with the idea of a meat night or new recipe night. I'll try this for a while though. What categories would you use?
9 comments:
I like this approach to meal planning.
Usually, I go through my recipes or new food magazines every week and choose whatever sounds good for that week. I keep a list on the fridge of all the recipes for which I have the ingredients. Then I make my husband choose what he wants for dinner the next night based on my recipe list. That seems to work okay for us. I think having a category each night would simplify things, though. I may give this a try next week.
Good luck with your meal plan. I hope it works out for you!
For meals... I choose them all in about a week in advance. So, I am not running to the store so often. Then I just make what is on that day. Although, I give myself a chance to "mix" up the dinners for the week. So I have at least 6 meals to choose from. Every Sunday we eat baked potatoes and chicken for "lunch". Either we grill the chicken on the grill or in the crockpot w/ cream of chicken. It is easy for Sunday but yet filling! We actually don't "eat" dinner on Sunday.
Whatever you do, having a plan is always great.
I do:
Mondays-beef
Tuesdays-chicken
Wednesdays-leftovers
Thursdays-soup or pasta
Friday-pizza
Saturday-something easy
Sunday-nothing unless we have company
I may have to modify this though as I am trying to figure out how to cut down on our meat consumption.
You definitely need a leftover night if you are leftover eaters. I always try to make a little extra every night of whatever we are eating so that we can just have one night of a variety of leftovers. It gives you a free night of no cooking and only heating things in the microwave.
sounds good. i think saturday should be grill night. at least until it gets real cold which won't be for a while in your neck of the woods!
I love all these ideas, from you and the comments. I just know that I need a system, and so far I have nothing other than, what can I make out of what's in the fridge tonight?
Your plan is exactly what a lady said you should do when I went to an "organizational" themed stake meeting/class series. (She is a professional organizer and speaks all over Utah county. So you're agenius!
When I'm in a home and on a routine....I usually make up 10 meals for 2 weeks. I shop for those meals. I always have an easy dinner every week. ie. pizza, cheese sandwiches, etc. Also leftovers for another night.
I get a lot of my meal ideas from the magazine "Quick Cooking" They may have changed that name. They have easy meals, few ingredients, wonderful desserts, and great variety. They even have planned out weeks for you. I love it.
I can't wait to get in our home and start cooking again. :)
I love it! That is such a great idea. This is probably the biggest thing I struggle with--meal planning. I get all hyped up, by the dry erase board and it lasts for about a week. Then I'm stuck again. I need something to stick to. Mind if I give your idea a try?
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