In my house, I HAVE to meal plan. It's the only way I can make sure we eat dinner every night. I don't always stick to it 100%, but it helps me have ideas ready so I'm not stuck, mid afternoon, trying to think of something to make. It also helps me to make sure I have all the ingredients ahead of time for the dishes I want to make. I usually meal plan for 4-6 weeks at a time. We purchase all of our meat from a local farm and get deliveries every 4-6 weeks, so meal planning makes sure I know what meat I have available to use.
The first step is to get all of your recipes together and make a list of the dishes you like to eat. List everything! Simple dishes, fancy meals, summer dishes, winter dishes, whatever, just write it all down. You can then look over this list each time you make you meal plan to give you ideas of what to fill in each day. As you come across new recipes that you like, add them to the list. I like to organize my list according to food type (chicken, beef, pasta, etc) because it's easier for me when doing the meal plan.
I finally typed mine up in a nice organized list, instead of the scribbled one that has been hanging on my fridge forever. Below are a few of the dinners on my list, just to give you some ideas. You can find a printable version of my full list here.
whole roasted chicken
apricot chicken
lemon chicken
tacos
stuffed peppers
chili
pecan crusted pork chops
grilled pork chops
grilled sausaged
lasagna
basil pesto pasta
eggplant parmasean
ratatouille
beans and rice
shrimp scampi
grilled salmon
pizza
Get your list together and I'll tell you next time how I go about filling my meal plan in.
No comments:
Post a Comment