What the title says... I'm trying to make meal planning easy. Basically rotating four weeks worth of recipes or so. I'm trying to come up with a set schedule - whether it's crock pot every Wednesday, pasta every Monday, etc. How do you meal plan? What do you make ahead? Share some of your recipes that are in frequent rotation - I need ideas!!
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What seemed to work best for us was just having a small library of recipes that we rotate through.
We also will often just switch up the meat, but do the same sides (usually white/brown rice or white/sweet potatoes and a bag of frozen veggies).
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FOLLOWING
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I do the same thing as you, I basically do a lot of prep on the weekend and know what my plan is for the week. I sometimes will make large batches of things on the weekends and freeze them in portions for the two of us. Those are a lifesaver!
Sunday: double batch cooking, I will do something like a salmon filet and then on Monday, that's turned into a salmon salad or salmon cakes
Tuesday and Thursday we always eat out
Wednesday is pasta or cold meat night (we get a deli platter and cheese selection plus fresh bread from Trader Joes)
Friday is pizza night -
I don't really have a set plan but I keep inventory of what I have since we shop in bulk. I make sure to use what will go bad first. I like to double and triple recipes. So far example I'll make chili and double the meat but triple the rest. That will easily be 4 meals. We will do it for dinner, then lunch the next day then lunch the following day. I'll freeze what's left.
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@looch: Pizza Friday was my best idea yet! I need to plan themes for the other days I think.
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@T.H.O.U.: Any recipes you want to share??
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@LindsayInNY: you know, having 4 weeks of recipes is a good idea. I should sit down and do this.
We cook 75% out of the crockpot during the week. What works best is a bolognese sauce, lasagna, chili, soups, etc.
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We do pizza Fridays too, but we make them at home and eat them on a picnic blanket with a movie. Family tradition and easy cooking - win!
For the rest of the week, I use a spreadsheet to menu plan. I have a column for each meal with a link to the recipe and all the ingredients. Then I just skim, pick a few meals, and copy and paste those columns/ingredients into a shopping list. If I try a new recipe and like it, into the spreadsheet it goes.
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I wrote down all our favorite recipes and made a four week rotation. But if you want themes, what about
Monday: Mexican (tacos, fajitas, enchiladas)
Tuesday: crockpot
Wednesday: entrée salad or soup and salad
Thursday: pasta/casserole
Friday: pizza
Saturday: new recipe experiments
Sunday: brinner -
We base ours on a protein. So, we will have the following and then add a frozen veggie and starch (rice or pasta) with it.
Monday: Steak
Tuesday: Pork
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Fish
Friday: Chicken
Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: During football it is finger foods. Otherwise it could be a stew or something that takes a while to cook. -
Man we have gotten off of our plan lately but I always did:
Monday- meatless (pasta, veggie dish etc.)
Tuesday- Chicken
Wednesday- Fish
Thursday- Beef or pork
Friday- pizza or out -
I meal plan every friday. This week we had:
Mon: tacos/taco salads
Tues: chicken soup
Wedn: crockpot korean beef
Thurs: turkey tenderloins, baked squash, veggies
Fri: leftovers/tbd (probably more tacos!)I prep and chop on weekends and make soups if i can. And assemble sauces the night before for crockpots (like this korean beef, last night at 8pm i measured everything out into a tupperware so this morning at 6am, i could just dump it and go. And i use those handy crockpot liners). Baked fish is also a super quick one during the week. And one thing I've been doing lately is that if i make a soup on sunday, i double or triple it, bag some out, and FREEZE it.
I'm trying to come up with a "method". It's starting to look like one or two items I can make on a weekend (easily...last weekend I made chicken broth and shredded chicken in my crockpot, so it's not like i was slaving away in the kitchen), then one crockpot meal midweek....one leftover or scrounge meal....and then fill in with two other days.
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@blackbird: Would you be willing to share your Korean Beef recipe, please?
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@kentuckygirl: http://damndelicious.net/2015/02/21/slow-cooker-korean-beef/?m
Just made it tonight! It's so good! A friend shared it with me
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I love the idea of themed days! Following
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following.
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I get tons of great recipes from Iowa Girl Eats blog. Easy, fast, healthy most the time, and can fit a variety of theme days!
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@blackbird: Thanks!!!
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We always do a protein rotation! Then on the fly/takeout for wknds!
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@kentuckygirl: I second that Korean beef recipe. It is SO SO good!
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How do you guys making weekend cooking easy/fast? I used to do the prep/cook on the weekends, and it took all my time!
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@regberadaisy: I'd love some of your crockpot recipes!
@Mrs. Microscope: I'll check out her recipes - thanks!
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