The week before Tamara invited us to do this awesome blog, I sat down and made a month of menus so I could be like mom. Although, I think she had six weeks of awesomeness.
I like the 4-6 week rotation because then I’m using the same “pantry” ingredients regularly and I can become more familiar with the recipes. It’s hard for me to do a new recipe each night.
Here’s the first draft:
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| Meatless Monday | Casserole | Ground Beef | Chicken | Surprise |
| Biscuits & Gravy | ||||
| Meatloaf |
I started my meal planning with just the main dishes. I like to plan my sides based on what’s on sale that week in the produce department. This week mangos were on sale so I tried out a tasty tomato-mango salad.
Because life is a bit crazy while planning a wedding, I wasn’t able to make all of these recipes during the first month.
Daniel and I loved all the Monday dishes. I think the arugula/ricotta/egg sandwich was our favorite followed by the southwestern omelet.
We’ve only done a few of the Tuesday casseroles, but we love the green chili-chicken casserole.
The Wednesday dishes were all enjoyable (although we haven’t tried the sweet-and-sour muffin meat loaves yet).
Daniel does *not* like the grilled chicken tostadas, but I think they’re quite tasty. Neither of us liked the Fiesta tacos.
I haven’t made the biscuits and gravy yet, but Jack’s were *soooo* tasty that I’m going to give it a go very soon. The pork chops with cinnamon apples are to die for. Daniel has a fancy thermometer that can measure the internal temperature of your meat while it’s in the oven, so the pork chops were cooked to perfection.
What do you do for your meal planning?
I like to make my menu for 2 weeks with some common items and some new. I like to have some easy recipes and some a little more fancy. Then we get a good mix. Jack does the grocery shopping for 2 weeks at a time now, which has really helped to save money. (Not so many extra purchases.)
ReplyDeleteI love your blackened cumin-cayenne tilapia! I buy a bag of individually wrapped frozen filets and make 4 at a time. I've premixed the seasonings for about 5 recipes and then I just sprinkle the mix over the fish. It's a great recipe, so fast and easy. It's my new sunday meal. Roast is out, Tilapia's in.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea about having a 4-6 week rotation. I think I'd like to have 4 different rotations and use each one for 12 weeks. Then, you'd get a nice variety and can have seasonal meals.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of having 4 different rotations. I'm working on perfecting my summer rotation now.
ReplyDeleteYou can use the same cumin/red pepper seasoning on Chicken breasts.
Goodbye Roast, hello Tilapia!