momsie: A Month's Worth of Meals...

Monday, August 1, 2011

A Month's Worth of Meals...

With school right around the corner our evenings are going to be getting a little more hectic. How nice would it be to not have to think about what you are going to cook each night?! I remember seeing or reading about a lady who plans her entire year of meals and although a year sounds a little daunting to me, I think I could handle a month. I figured August is a good month to try this out since school will begin midway through. I will also be factoring in eating out and leftovers once a week to make my schedule more realistic.

I found some great websites of moms who meal-plan for a month at a time. I will also be taking requests from my son and husband for anything they would like on the rotation. To make it even less time-consuming and more inexpensive I will try to find recipes that can do double duty. One of my cookbooks with great recipes like that is, Southern Living's Busy Moms Weeknight Favorites. I will also be firing up my crock pot for busy nights and soup and sandwiches are considered a "meal" in this house!

To attempt to plan for a month's worth of meals, you need to first plan to do a couple of things:

Get suggestions from your family. It will ensure everyone is happy and will eliminate you having to come up with new ideas.
Choose a daily theme such as, Monday: Mexican dish, Tuesday: pasta, Wednesday: vegetarian, etc.
Factor in leftovers so your fridge doesn't overflow!
Choose recipes that use some of the same ingredients to maximize your pantry.
Look at your calendar to see which nights will be busy, therefor better for a crockpot or make-ahead meal.