Meal planners - would you mind posting your meals?

[lillygator]

DO you have certain days of the week that are chicken, etc...recipes?

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Personally I don't like to have that specific of a plan. I just list meals for 15 days for the purpose of grocery shopping, then when I get home from the store I split up my meat (I try to buy bulk packages when it's cheaper) and I label the freezer bags with what meals they're for, some of the meat I freeze with marinade (a DIS idea that I love!). I only plan a few days ahead of time so I know what meat to put in the fridge to thaw, if any and if there are any days that DH isn't going to be home I plan something light and easy for dinner because I hate to cook, DH does most of the cooking. I have started using a cookbook called "Saving Dinner" by Leanne Ely. It has grocery lists and everything. I don't follow it closely enough to use those, but you may want to look into it. The recipes are pretty much cooking from scratch, but very easy to follow and healthy, IMO. I saved a little money by buying it from half.com.

 

[lovemygoofy]

Here is how my calendar would work for a two week period for example but you can do it however you want.


Sunday: Meatloaf with roasted potatoes and broccli
Monday: Chicken fajitas with mexican rice
Tuesday: leftovers made into sandwhiches or melts served with leftover
sides or chips
Wednesday: Breakfast foods
Thursday: Stirfry
Friday: Homemade pizza
Saturday: Dine out
Sunday: Enchiladas
Monday: Porkchops with brown rice and grilled veggies
Tuesday: Baked chicken with leftover rice and veggies
Wednesday: Breakfast (fav in our house)
Thursday: Sloppy Joes
Friday: Pasta
Saturday: Dine out

This is how my calendar works but I do exchange days ahead of time due to time constraints or if my dh isn't home for dinner or I have to take dinner to him. Kraftfoods.com has loads of receipes that are excellent. It's really whatever makes your life easier they way you organize it. If you need to know everyday what to put out then stick with an organized calendar but can be flexible just know what meals you have in your freezer and pull it out the night before or morning of for defrosting if necessary. If you have questions I can try my best to help. Good luck. I don't know that I find cooking a pain; I think trying to find time to cook is the pain.

 

[bonkos6]

What kind of marinades do you freeze with your meat?

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

What kind of marinades do you freeze with your meat?

Just whatever I'm going to soak the meat in anyway, like this last time they had Lawry's on sale so I got Garlic and Lime for my chicken breasts and just poured about half a bottle in a freezer ziploc bag with my chicken and froze them, then as they thaw they get marinated so I don't have to try to remember to marinade before I cook. And they taste great!

 

[mom2dea]

I never thought of that befor . Thats a great idea

Here is some of our meals this week :

Monday :Teryaki chicken , yellow rice mixed vegis

Tuesday : Chilie and we made enought for a friend that just had a baby and Dh lunch the next day

Wednesday : I am making homemade Pizza (DS wanted to try this ) and Salad also we are dipping strawberrys tonight for dessert .

Thursday : We are SUPER busy so befor we start running like chikens I am putting whole chicken with onion soup , chicken broth , onions, carrotts and pattatos in the crock pot for dinner .

Friday :I may be going to see my mom for the weekend but I am not sure IF NOT then we are cubed steak with mushroom gravy rice , green beans

Saturday : Dh is home by 4pm this day so I will have him grill chicken or steak or pork chops (pretty much what ever I grab first ) then prob Salad or a vegi and a starch .


I usually only do 1 week meals . I never know what we will be in the mood for or what good sales there will be . Also I am trying to clean out our frezzer as well .

Hope this helps some .

Sarah myers


(ohhhh ast week I make a crock pot roast the same way i made the chicken above . The next day I took the left overs and shraded it in the a pot with a half of bottle of BBQ sauce and had yummy sandwiches for dinner the next night )

 

[tlbwriter]

What kind of marinades do you freeze with your meat?

I like to use teriyaki sauce or Italian dressing. Soy sauce is good too, but it can be a little strong, so you might want to water it down with pineapple juice.

 

[kkaisu]

I always have cut up fresh melon, whole peaches and usually strawberries to serve with meals also.

Saturday - Green curry w/ chicken and broccoli over rice noodles
Sunday - Peasant Pasta (Rachel Ray 30- minute meals), bread, salad
Monday - Leftover curry/pasta
Tuesday - Leftover Curry/Pasta
Wednesday - BLT's, corn on the cobe, green beans
Thursday - Fix it yourself night(mac and cheese, soup, sanwiches)
Friday - Tacos and refried beans
Saturday - order take out form somewhere - Famous Dave's or pizza
Sunday - BBQ chicken,cheesy rice and broccoli
Monday - Leftover chicken shredded on buns, veggies, fries
Tuesday - Tuna sald sandwhiches, salad, chips and dip

Thats as far as I've gotten so far, always subject to change based on family's wants.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I like to use teriyaki sauce or Italian dressing. Soy sauce is good too, but it can be a little strong, so you might want to water it down with pineapple juice.

That sounds good, too, I'll have to try those. Is there a certain meat that you think tastes better with those?

 

[lillygator]

Yes - I pretty much use Italian dressing for everything! THanks for the ideas...I think I need to start with at least a week's menu ideas and go from there. I love the breakfast for dinner..... I would like to add that to my planning as well as taco night and pizza night.

 

[disneymom3]

I used to plan two weeks worth of meals at once, but I have cut back to one week at a time. I found that #1, I would fall off the wagon by week two and not stick with the plan and #2 if I needed fresh stuff for week 2, it wasn't always good by then. I do have enough "staple" items in my cupboard adn fridge to get me through some extra days, so I ususally manage 10 days between shopping trips.

Saturday Chilli, salad and corn bread
Sunday soup and homemade bread
Monday enchillada casserole, spanish rice and salad
Tues chicken and rice crockpot meal with vegies
Weds Chilli mac
Thurs Spaghetti pie with salad
Friday homemade pizza
Saturday hamburgers, corn on the cob, raw vegies and watermellon
Sunday eggs and pancakes with applesauce.

 

[tlbwriter]

That sounds good, too, I'll have to try those. Is there a certain meat that you think tastes better with those?

I use either pork tenderloin (sliced and pounded to an even thickness) or boneless skinless chicken breast.

 

[mbb]

I like to use teriyaki sauce or Italian dressing. Soy sauce is good too, but it can be a little strong, so you might want to water it down with pineapple juice.

I've even used the steak/chicken/ dry spice...throw meat into the ziploc, coat with the dry spice, and freeze.

Easy

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Enchilada--do you guys make your own sauce..we like jarred sauce and not the canned sauce and guess what they sell all the time. I'm wondering if it is easy to make homemade.

Spaghetti Pie--what is this???

Are you guys cooking from scratch or do you use mixes and stuff?

cheesy rice caught my eye--is this from scratch?

I"m sooo borrowing ideas!!

 

[wide awake]

My favorite enchilada sauce is canned...Rosarita...the others are gross...and I only use Rosarita if I am making beef, beef and cheese, or black bean and corn enchiladas. If I am making chicken enchiladas I use a green sauce w/ a little sour cream mixed in.

 

[branv]

It's just the two of us, so this may or may not be of use. This week has been pretty bad in the "healthy" arena, but I went a little crazy on the sales.

Sunday: Sausage sandwich (big crusty french bread, grilled Eckrich Sausage that was on sale , colby cheese), with french fries (not healthy, but cheaaap and fast) (cost about $5)

Monday: Boneless pork ribs basted with Lawry's Herb Marinade, cheese and rice, corn on the cob (cost about $5)

Tuesday: Hamburger Bean Stew (1 lb. hamburger, 1 can pinto, 1 can black eyed peas, 1 can Rotel...sounds so bland, but it's surprisingly good!), cornbread (cost about $7)

Wednesday: lunch was leftover stew and cornbread
dinner: we only used half bread/half sausage/half cheese so we had sausage sandwich again for dinner with bag salad

Thursday: Linguini pasta w/ cubed chicken, tomatoes and feta (can tomatoes cooked with garlic, poured over chicken and feta and baked for 10 minutes. You serve over linguini. SO good. Cost about $5.50, and we can eat as leftovers tomorrow)

Friday: chicken alfredo pizza (2 cubed poached chickens, premade pizza crust, mozzarella, onion, jar of alfredo sauce...cost about $7)

*on Thurs. I poached the 4 chicken breasts and cubed them for use both days. Saved time, and very easy as they get reheated in both dishes.

One of my tricks is fried rice. If you make a meat with a side of rice one night, all you have to do is make extra rice and meat for Chicken/Meat/Pork/Shrimp fried rice the next day. Since fried rice is only good with stale rice, this is perfect for dinner the next day. Again, super cheap.

 

[lulu71]

I started keeping a list of dinners I cook so I don't have to wonder around the grocery thinking up things to make. So far:

Baked Ziti
Smothered Pork Chops
Baked Chicken & Potatoes
Steak
Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches
Crawfish Pasta
Eggplant Parmesan
Pork or beef rump roast
Chuck roast with red gravy
Crock pot turkey breasts
Tacos
Stir fry
Chicken divan
Scallops and risotto
Red beans and rice
Brociolone
Spagetti and meat balls or meat sauce
Hot dogs
Baked fish

Tonight is scallops and risotto!