I cook breakfast every day...the hubs and I usually eat cereal, and the girls have their rotation of oatmeal / cream of wheat, scrambled eggs / Greek yogurt / cottage cheese, and fresh fruit. On the weekends I make a "family" breakfast, often French toast or banana pancakes.
For lunch, I usually send a sandwich to work with hubby and I make one for myself. I try to rotate the girls between a sandwich + veggie + fruit one day, and then an all veggie / fruit lunch the next.
I don't count those meals into my "planning". I always have those staples on hand.
My "planning" comes into play at supper. On average, I cook three dishes a week. I plan for leftovers, with the intention of us eating each meal twice. Some weeks I might cook a fourth quick meal, or one dish might last us three meals, or we might get a pizza or a rotisserie chicken.
Each week, I think about what dishes I'd like to make. I check what I have in the pantry / refrigerator / freezer, and make my grocery list from there. I try to make different kinds of dishes...not three stews, for example. And I try to vary the primary ingredients...not three chicken dishes.
None of this is rocket science, I know. A couple of months after the girls were born...when I was doing my best to establish myself as the stay-at-home-mama-with-the-mostess, I discovered one thing that has been super helpful.
I keep a log of the meals I make.
I don't do this in any kind of formal fashion. I used to write in a pretty journal, but this year I switched to an Excel spreadsheet. I jot down the meals I made, and where I got the recipe.
The beauty of this comes when I inevitably feel that "I don't have anything to make"..."I'm tired of everything"..."what in the world can I cook this week?"
I can glance back over the past couple of months and realize, "It's been two months since I made white bean chowder, it's high time I made it again" or, "I forgot about that chicken recipe from Pinterest, and we all loved that."
I share this little tip, as it's an easy way for me feel a little more on top of things in the kitchen.
(And I'll also share this little funny...the pretty journal I used to employ? It was once...long before children...a wine journal. My, how times have changed!)
Week | Dish | Source |
31-Dec | Stuffed shrimp / bacon-wrapped smokies…appetizers | Allrecipes / Pinterest |
Honey chicken | ||
Chicken in creamy pan sauce | Recipe binder | |
Baked shrimp scampi | Allrecipes | |
7-Jan | Chicken breast in the crockpot with spaghetti sauce | Crock pot cookbook (adapted) |
Chicken pot pie | Allrecipes | |
Mexican style chili (with black beans) | Kitchen Primer | |
Cheese ball / stuffed eggs / veggies | Pinterest / mine | |
14-Jan | Pork loin / sweet potatoes | N/A |
Pork loin made into gyros | N/A | |
Juvec | N/A | |
Shrimp cocktail | N/A | |
21-Jan | Split pea soup | Heathly Choice cookbook |
Garlic cheddar chicken / fresh corn | Allrecipes | |
28-Jan | Potato soup | my recipe box |
Spaghetti with meatballs | Allrecipes | |
4-Feb | Baked chicken with Dijon mustard and maple syrup | |
Chicken pot pie | Allrecipes | |
Juvec | N/A |
2 comments:
I was wondering how long it would take you to mention Excel in this post. Thanks for not disappointing!
:) i do the same type of thing...but i need to be more formal about keeping a list. we also get into a groove. we really really like korean beef right now, so we'll eat that every week. but then i forget about the stuff that we had in december :)
maybe i'll have to get over my hate of excel!
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