Meal Planning

Here are some photos for what I've made over the past 2 weeks:  Grilled steak with boiled potato and beet salad over wild greens with feta, pizza, crock-pot pulled bar-b-que pork, rice, frozen green beans, buttered roll and rice, salad with steak, crab & scallop stuffed sole with an amazingly yummy white sauce, rice and frozen mixed veggies, the little photos - 2 different soups (chicken black bean and elbow macaroni in tomato), pan fried haddock with buttered rice, frozen mixed veggies and roll, mixed salad, and grilled steak with a aspergus salad over mixed greens, baked sweet potato rounds and sliced tomato.

*

Summer is crazy, hectic, busy around here.  With the arrival of the big yellow school bus (1st grade!) I am starting to catch up on my work.  Once school starts, it is important for me to have a set routine for meals.  It is important for me to have an idea of what we are going to eat so that we eat early.  School nights and all - early to bed, you know?

*

I am a big fan of Meal Plan Monday - that is over at I'm An Organizing Junkie -

http://orgjunkie.com/menu-plan-monday if the link doesn't work just Google Meal Plan Monday - not only does her blog feature meal plans, but lots of other useful organizing helps.  I do a meal plan on Monday and plan for all 7 days and try to use the left-overs as well.  If I manage to accomplish 4 of the scheduled meals - I think I am doing really well.  It is almost like I give myself a "gold star" for the week.  Because that means - for 4 nights I didn't have to give dinner much thought.  Life happens and I never seem to get all 7 meals!   Anyway - do check out Organizing Junkie - Monday is filled with lots of links for lots of wonderful menus!

*

Sometimes people ask me where I get my ideas for cooking.  I grew up with the saying of Wednesday is Prince Speghetti Night.  NOT that we ate pasta on Wednesday because my Mom was not a really organized cook - although she always did feed us.  We used to laugh at my Aunt Patty who posted her menu every week on the 'fridge.  Now, I understand the wisdom of my aunt.  She was from the era of the Iron Clad Aprons.  I wish she was still here so I could learn more tricks from her.  Running a household is a fine art!  So Wednesday is usually pasta.  Although - there is a blog out there that is crock-pot Wednesday - it is http://diningwithdebbie.blogspot.com/  Now, I love my crock-pot, but it just isn't scheduled for Wednesday in my house.  However, check out the blog because there are lots and lots of great crock pot recipes there.  I usually use my crock-pot every other week.

*

Oops - off on a tangent!  So, Weds. is pasta.  Friday... well my sister started a tradition in her family years and years ago - Friday is pizza  and movie night.  I like that idea and have copied it.  Every Friday I mix up a batch of pizza dough.  Actually, I usually make lots of bread and rolls through-out the week, but on Friday I take 1 lb of the dough and make pizza.  Pizza is a great way to use left-over veggies or scrambled hamburger, etc. from the week.  For onions/peppers/mushrooms - I sautee them 1st in butter.  I roll out the dough, prick it with a fork and bake it for about 10 minutes - add the sauce and toppings and bake until almost done and then top with cheese.  My son just likes plain cheese so I make a bit just plain cheese.

*

My husband likes fish 1X a week.  I like chicken 1X a week.  Guess what - there are 4 meals right there!  I like easy things from the grocery store like ham slices, bratwurst, taco mixes, etc.  If you switch out your starch - potato, sweet potato, rice, rice pilaf (I like grocery store blends), couscous, quinoa, etc. and switch out your vegetables - fresh veggies here are pathetic so I use frozen alot and like the smaller portions you are able to use and do use whatever is in season - you will have a nice assortment of food throughout the week.  I use this idea in my baking too - this week it was apple walnut bundt cake - but just a few weeks ago it was peach pound cake.  Do use what is in season!

*

A favorite site for recipes is All Recipes.  http://allrecipes.com/ I get many recipes from here.  Don't try to make an entire meal with new recipes.  I might try a new side with a tried and true main.  Or - if it is a new main - then I make sure there are plenty of sides that we like.  Sometimes it happens that a recipe is a flop and it is a good idea to have something already made to fall back on!  But -  you won't find new favorites unless you are willing to try and risk the few flops.

*

I have a 3 ring binder and any and every recipe that we like - gets thrown in there.  Every once in awhile I will organize it into catagories.  I always write right on my print out any changes I've made and how much we like it.  For example - here we seem to get small eggs - so I usually have to add an extra egg to my recipes. Favorite recipes from cookbooks get photocopied and added to the 3 ring binder.  I don't want to have to search through lots of different cookbooks when I want to cook something!

*

There are lots of times when I just don't have the energy to fix even a simple meal even though it might be "scheduled" - and that is when I depend upon freezer meals.  I often make a big entree and freeze it into single portions for later.  This week I used a crock pot frozen entree - frozen bar-b-que pulled pork.  A big pork roast is way too big for my small family, but I won't pass by a sale.  So, I cook it all at once and portion it out into smaller containers and freeze.   I quickly made some rice, frozen green beans and buttered rolls - instant dinner. Figure out what works for you when it is frozen.  I often pre-bake lots of chicken breast, cube it and freeze it in 1 cup increments.  Great for making soup and other things.  Soup freezes well too as long as you haven't added the potato or rice - I often freeze portions before adding those things.   If I don't get to a scheduled meal - I usually put it back on my meal plan for the next week - sooner or later it will get its turn!  If you click on downloads on Organizing Junkie sidebar you will see a menu planner that you can print out - with a little grocery shopping list on the side - that is what I use.  Because I have a Mommy Brain and if it isn't written out - there is no way I am going to remember!
*
Look at your calendar and see what your week looks like.  If you have to carpool to sports practice or something like that - then fixing an all-day roast might not be the best idea on that particular day.  But, if you made that roast on a slow day - had your roast dinenr and saved the left-overs... a hot roast beef sandwich might be just the thing for game night!  Roasts, hams, turkeys - all favorites in my households for the left-over meals you can make!
*
And yes - there are nights that my son gets a hot dog, frozen corn and instant mashed potato for dinner.  Hey, I grew up on pancakes when Mom was tired.  It is my responsibility to feed my child, but every dinner doesn't have to be a magazine spread!
*
Monday is right around the corner.  Won't you give Meal Plan Monday a try?  Monday is the perfect day to write your meal plan because the grocery store flyers come out on Sunday!