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Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Menu Planner

I recently have had several conversations about cooking(or not cooking) dinner each night and how to get it done and not spend too much time planning or slaving away in the kitchen. At the request of some friends, I am posting my menu from last week. We rarely eat out during the week and planning a menu for dinner really helps us stick to that. Here is how I go about planning our dinners. I do my grocery shopping every Thursday, since I am on a cash system and that is the day I get my cash for 2 weeks. Early in the week, either on Sunday or Monday I plan my dinner menu for the next week, based on what we have going on. I love looking in cookbooks, magazines, online and using friends recipes. I don't like to always make the same things. I make a list for what we need, making sure to look and see what we already have. Then when I go shopping, I take my list and pretty much stick to it. I find that this helps me not spend extra on things we don't need and I can estimate about how much I spend. I do buy some things at Costco that we need alot of or go through quickly. Here is what we ate last week. I usually only plan 5 dinners, since Sunday night is Care Group and one night we eat leftovers or something really easy.
Monday- king ranch casserole, green chille rice casserole, black beans
Tuesday- beef kebabs, salad, baked sweet potatoes
Wednesday-creamy chicken enchiladas, chips/salsa, green beans
Thursday- grilled cheese with mushrooms and onions on foccacia bread,broccoli and cheese, fruit salad
Friday-cod wrapped in prosciutto, salad, corn on the cob
Saturday- flank steak, green bean bundles, corn casserole
Sunday-Care Group
I'd love to hear what you make, how you shop, ways to make cooking, fun and not stressful. I will post recipes on our recipe blog (http://dishandspoonrecipes.blogspot.com/) and you can use them if you want.

7 comments:

Sara said...

I definitely plan my grocery list around my menu for the week. Unfortunately, I haven't been the best in the cooking dept. lately mainly because nothing sounds good. Hopefully, that will end soon. Look forward to reading more of your menus.

jonna said...

THANK YOU!!! I will admit that I prepare dinner most nights, but rarely do what most people consider cooking simply because I can't think of something good to make or feel like I don't have time/energy to do it. The recipes you posted look pretty simple, yummy, and not too time consuming. Keep them coming!!

One question - do you freeze your meat or buy it fresh every week and make sure that you use it?

THANKS, AGAIN!

Kim said...

I usually buy meat each week, but do freeze it if I am not going to use it in a day or two(that way if something comes up, no biggie). I do buy frozen chicken breasts most of the time. I get it in a big bag at Costco, but I have seem them at HEB too. It is a little more cost effective and doesn't mean I have to get it each week. Hope this helps.

Kellee said...

everything you made last week sounds very tasty. i will have to make the cod wrapped in proscuitto one! you're so organized with your meal planning - very impressive especially with two kids running around. thanks for sharing.

Amber Knauss said...

Um, Can I come over for dinner? That sounds like some pretty yummy meals! It'd be a long drive from Dallas, though! ~ Amber

CM said...

WOW! I am so impressed with that. Sometimes I get prepared enough to go to the grocery store that day for ingredients for dinner. I am going to try your method next week and see how it works - it is so much cheaper to eat at home, and definitely more healthy. I'll experiment with this next week and then make a post on how it worked. :) Thanks for all the great advice!

twarpula said...

Kim you and I are so much more alike than I ever knew!! I do the cash system too. I plan all my meals for each night, aprox. 5 as well. And almost always new ones & different ones. Its fun and keeps things interesting, not that we are bored over here or anything. LOL!
~Tanya