Tonight is one of my favorite menu planning stratgies: GRAZING! We have lots of left over beef and chicken and vegetables. If you want something other than that you find it and fix it yourself. It's great for a busy Monday night where everyone will be tired from the beginning of the week and the time change. We graze at least once a week to use the leftovers or if we have a late lunch at the office.
We call it "grab and go night"! But I usually save it for times when DD and I might be away at Rainbow Girls or at a swim meet. We manage our leftovers pretty well with DH and myself being home for lunch quite often. But I actually PLAN a leftovers night into the menus every 10 days or so.... just to keep things under control. If we don't have enough leftovers that night, then it ends up being a sandwich night usually.
I'm here. I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm here!!
Well.... we're just glad you're here!
huh???? Pick what, from where??? Hello!!!! You said I was challenged!!!
Uh, tonight we are having taco pop overs.
Pilsbury buiscut, rolled and smooshed in a muffin pan, stuffed with taco meat (97% fat free btw) with taco seasoning. And baked. Probably 2-3 tablespoons in each pop over.
Yes? No??
I'll top with tomatoes, the kids will top with taco sauce, cheese and sour cream.
Well... I don't want to sound critical, but I must agree with LTS that the biscuits are probably pretty fatty and I wouldn't eat them. If you are going to the trouble of cooking the taco meat already, why not just a regular taco night? Offer a choice of soft or hard shells and an assortment of other toppings in addition to the meat. Shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa, taco sauce are the "usual." I also put out a dish of fat-free refried beans.... warm and creamy....mmmmm! DS and I are the only ones who really like those.
If you're family really likes the taco "taste" I have a recipe for a Santa Fe Taco Chili bake that is good (it is a Bisquick recipe that I have lightened up). I actually have another Bisquick recipe that is supposed to be an Italian pizza bake but we've made it mexican with taco meat and refried beans instead of the chicken that it calls for (plus DS is allergic to chicken, so we don't eat much of it). I'd be happy to post either of those recipes on the recipe thread if there is any interest.
*My Index Card tip*
Writing an entire meal with all of it's components on an index card is an easy way to make planning ahead easy. On the front of the card write:
- Protein or main component
- Side #1 (at least one veggie please!)
- Side #2 (2 veggies are even better!)
- Side #3 (usually a starch)
- any other sides? Add them!
- adaptations for other family members
So for tonight my card would say
On the back of the card write the grocery list for this meal
This way you can quickly see what you need and check if you have enough of everything.
*Advanced Index Card Tip*
Buy a pack of assorted colors and designate one color for each type of protein. My family hates having chicken too many days in a row so I try to really mix things up.
Green: Poultry based meals
Pink: Beef based Meals
Yellow: Pork based Meals
White: Seafood based meals
Blue: Vegetarian/ Meatless Meals
This helps you to easily see if you have a variety and to pick something.
You are my twin, separated at birth! I bow down to your advanced planning skills!!
Scratched the pop overs, we well they, are eating pasta. I ate a yogurt. I have 5 minutes til I leave for PTO.
I only eat on pop over, I don't like them very much.
As for dinner tomorrow, not a clue. It's depends on who's day it is to meal plan. I haven't had a chance to look.
I need to go to the grocery at some point, no idea when that's gonna happen. Ack, gotta stir the noodles!!!!
buffy..... take 15 minutes today and plan your next 3 dinners. Look at your calendar, determine how much tiime you might have, then check your fridge/freezer, and pantry and determine what you have on hand... and PLAN IT!! If not much time... how about fish that cooks quickly or something in the crockpot? Plenty of time.... maybe a meatloaf or a light "quiche" dish.
I know I've talked about it before, but I plan my meals several weeks (sometimes months) in advance. I start by printing blank weekly calendars (on recycled scrap paper that I scrounged from the recycling bin near the copy machine at school, of course....
).
Then I grab my calendar and take a quick inventory of the contents of the freezer and pantry. I pull out a few cookbooks and a pencil and I am ready to go.
I start by planning the soonest meals to use up stuff that needs to be used up in the freezer or things I have extra of in the pantry. For example.... I have several of those foil packets of "canned" salmon that I got on clearance at Target a while ago. I noticed they are getting close to their date, so I planned a few salmon meals to start using them up.
Next up I look at the calendar and determine (as best I can) what our schedule will be like that evening. Since I sub and don't always know in advance, this can be very tricky and is the primary reason why almost NONE of my meals will involve me being in the kitchen more than 30 minutes.
I make a small note (usually in red pen) on the menu of anything unusual that might be coming up, scheduling wise, includding holidays.
Next up, I just start writing in stuff. I usually do at least a month at a time, so I start by throwing in some "basics" and favorites throughout the month. We usually have tacos at least oncea month because DS loves them. We also eat my curried chicken at least once a month, and salmon patties once or twice a month.
I throw in a sandwich night if the schedule is going to be really tight on any particular day. This might be tuna melts, or salmon salad (like tuna salad), or something a little more interesting than just your standard cold cuts.... plus I don't buy cold cuts!!
I don't like the prices and I don't like the nitrites. I only buy Hormel all-natural lunch meats and they are too expensive to eat too often.
Then I make sure that each week as AT LEAST one meatless meal (often that is baked potato night or an egg night or a Gardenburger night).... and I throw homemade pizza in there about every two weeks.... usually on a Friday or Saturday night.
Next up.... I try to make sure we have a white fish (other than salmon) once a week or at least every 10 days. I can't always plan what KIND in advance because it depends mostly on what might be on sale that week... it is often ocean perch, but last week was grey sole and I think the week before that it was cod.
If I am running out of ideas, I start looking back at old menus from last week, last month, or last year to find some ideas for something that we liked that I might have forgotten about.
And finally, I try to throw in AT LEAST one or two new recipes a month (hence the reason I grab the cookbooks). Nothing fancy, but something NEW. Most recently was the Kugel I talked about last week. And before that it was a VERY delicious, VERY easy pasta recipe I'd be happy to share.
I make note on the menu about where to find the recipe (which book, what page) and if I am making up my shopping lists simultaneously, I of course, will make note of what is needed. (I don't always make up the lists at the same time as it is much more time consuming.... but it is so helpful when I do).
Some meals just call for certain side dishes, so those are easy to figure out. Like tonight's curried chicken..... I always serve it with brown rice. I don't always add a veggie because the curry is fully of fruits and veggies already. But I will probably be making broccoli for DS tonight (cause he can't eat the curry), so I will make a bit of extra for the rest of us as well.
I go back through and start listing side dishes for everything (usually brown rice, pasta, baked/mashed potatoes, couscous, oven fries, corn bread). And I will SOMETIMES list a specific vegetable, but will often leave it at "green vegetable", so I can buy what is on sale or what we might be craving or what we have grown. I will also write anything else that I might be planning to serve (applesauce, pretzels).
FINAL step.... I make notes along the edge of the menu to indicate any prep work I might have to do on that day for another day.... for example it might say on Tuesday "chicken legs from freezer for Friday".... or "make broccoli salad for tomorrow" (cause this is something that needs to sit), or "prep extra veggies for tomorrow".
Last night's menu said "chicken from freezer" and that would be the chicken for tomorrow night's planned adobo chicken.... but you know what??? We had too much meatloaf leftover from last night, so tomorrow night will be a repeat of the meatloaf!
I know that sounds like so much work.... but if I know I am going to be sitting waiting for SOMETHING (kids, oil change, whatever), I try to grab something to work on cause I can't STAND just sitting there. I will often grab my upcoming blank menus and start on them. Sure, things change and the schedule is unpredictable and sometimes by the end of the week there are so many scribbles and arrows changing things around, but for the most part this system works really well for me.
I can plan about 8 weeks worth of menus in an hour (without the additional shopping list). And if I wasn't so picky about not repeating things and not putting like items together during the week, it would go faster!
Anyhow.... I hope this doesn't sound overwhelming. Try doing something like this for just a week or two and see how it works out. I only do it for dinners, but if lunches are an issue you could include those too.
Love you!......................P
ETA: I do change things up seasonally... for example I rarely have a salad night in the winter and I never have a stew night in the summer... makes sense, right? and I will throw in an "unplanned" or leftover night about every 10 days just in case we end up with something defrosted that doesn't get cooked, or we are overrun with leftovers.
................P
She is hands down the best planner of the BL crowd but it looks like she may be sharing that title soon with you! 
