Tuesday, January 27, 2009
What's for dinner?
This has become my least favorite question of late. I don't mind cooking dinner...I just hate the planning part. For awhile I was doing really well with experimenting! Trying new recipes...that sort of thing. But, we seem to have fallen into a rut. I find myself making the same things for dinner and , to be honest, I am sick of them. I officially hate spaghetti! We eat it so often because it is cheap and easy and my kids love it. But, I just can't stomach it anymore! So, my question for all of you is simple....how do plan meals for your family? I have tried different ideas in the past and none of them really stuck. Please keep in mind that our grocery budget is minimal, so it limits what I can do. Or maybe I am just using that as an excuse...who knows! Please share any advice you may have!! Thanks!!
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4 comments:
Ok this is what I do since I am not a big cooker myself. Take a cookbook go through it flag all the things that sound good. Take one day of the week and try at least one receipe, it can be more than that but I do one day because I am so busy! Go shopping get what you need make it and decide if you like it or not:) Hope that helps.
Oh welcome to my daily nightmare. You are exactly like I am. If I have a plan, I really don't mind making it. But if I am looking into the pantry at 5:30 going hmmm, that is generally when we go pick up Taco Bell!! I have some great sites that you might want to check out. One gives you this really good way to get a huge list of meal ideas. If it helps tonight I am making meatloaf, ( I make mini ones in tins so they cook faster)mashed potatoes and gravy, rhodes rolls and steamed brocoli. I will email you all my favs after the kids go to school!
Not that I've ever really stuck to any kind of menu, but I've been considering trying to do a different KIND of food on a few days each week, and then on the others go back to my old stand-bys. For instance, Mondays do Mexican, Wednesdays Chinese, Fridays Italian. There are so many easy things for each of these (for ideas, think of what your favorite restaurants make and look for a recipe) you could have something new several nights a week before you ran into the expensive dishes or started repeating. I've also thought to maybe try using the same kind of meat in all the dishes, that way whatever is on sale, whether its beef or pork or tuna, tastes different even if you have it EVERY night that week.
Some of my favorite easy dishes:
Stroganoff: On the stove, Gr Beef, Sauted Onions, Cr Mush Soup. Just before serving, stir in sour cream to make it creamy and let heat through. Serve over rice or pasta.
Tuna and Peas on Toast: Exactly what it sounds like. Cr Mus soup, drained tuna, frozen peas all heated and over toast or biscuits. SO FAST AND EASY!
Italian Chicken: Bnls Sknls Breasts and cubed potatoes in a casserole dish. Pour Italian dressing over top, sprinkle w Italian seasoning and cheese (mozz and/or parmes.) Cover and bake 350 for 30 min, then uncover and bake another 30. It tastes gourmet!
Pigs in a Blanket: Just hot dogs wrapped in any kind of biscuit dough, homemade or store bought. I cut the hot dogs in half length wise so you can fit it in your mouth easier. A fun way to serve the same thing to your kids.
Come to my blog for a link to Kathy Habel's blog... She's one of my YW advisers from days gone by and she plans her week's menu every Monday if you need something to look at. Happy planning!
You don't know me, I'm Maria's sister-in-law and check your blog sometimes after she told me your twins were born on my twins' first birthday!
Anyway, I try to plan a month at a time, with a calendar (just printed off the computer) and for each day I have a heading - crockpot, pasta, rice, breakfast for dinner, soup, sandwiches, etc. Whatever you like to eat. So if Sunday is crockpot day, just find 4crockpot recipes and your Sundays are planned! If Monday is pasta night, you can have spaghetti twice and raviolis twice and that takes care of Mondays. If Tuesdays are sandwich days, do tuna, peanut butter, grilled cheese, and ham and you have your Tuesdays planned, and so on.
Some months there's a leftover night, some months a new recipe night, whatever I feel like at the time; it can be easy or complicated, but I can fit meals around what I already have in the freezer or what I have stored or what is cheap at the time. It takes a little time to plan it, but then it's done for the month. Of course, there are always changes, but it really helps me to have a basic plan to start with. And it helps make shopping easier!Hope that gives you another idea to go off of!
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