We are puffing out our cheeks and taking the plunge. Throwing caution to the wind. Boldly going where we have never dared to tread.
Fred and I are planning weekly menus.
Are you picking yourself off the floor? Can you stand the excitement? Well, that's how we roll here in B to the Rook to the Lyn, folks.
I know, it's embarrassing. Here I am, thinking I'm this edgy New Yorker, when in reality nothing has made me happier than to sit down on a Saturday with a stack of cooking magazines and blog print-outs and plan our meals.
In the past we'd decide what we'd be having for the evening's dinner in the morning. Fred and Walt would go to the coop together, picking up any odds and ends we may need. It was all very European, including our attitude about Garish Americans and our attempts to pay with Euros.
But Walt's getting older and Fred has things to do. One weekly shopping trip appealed to him and I loved the idea of planning weekly meals.
Last week was the first week, and so far, so good. Fred did 2 shopping trips. A big one on Monday and a weekend one on Saturday. We're loving the way it's working out. I get to ensure we're eating vegetarian a few times a week. Plus I'm scouring our cabinets and using stuff that's been in there a while. Fred feels like some stress has been relieved.
All in all, yay for us. Boo for our cool factor.
Any suggestions or tips, fellow menu planners? Here's our menu for the week:
SATURDAY
Japanese Curry Rice with Chicken
SUNDAY
Little Bo Peep Pot Pie
MONDAY
Spicy Pork Chops, Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans
TUESDAY
Sophie's Chopped Salad, Corn, Rolls
WEDNESDAY
Thai Tofu With Zucchini, Red Bell Pepper and Lime, Rice
THURSDAY
Pasta with Turkey Meatballs, Roasted Asparagus
FRIDAY
Fish Tacos, Refried Beans, Avocado Salad
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15 comments:
I am flabbergasted and completely impressed. I've tried weekly menu planning, I really have, but I always end up cooking way too much meat. And getting distracted or bored. Or I realize I just don't feel like such-and-such on whatever day. It's a great thing to try to do, though, and your delicious-looking list has me almost inspired to take another whack at it.
Found your blog to check out through Team Wallace. I am a menu-planner as well, but I'm super impressed that you have already laid it out via blog as well! Good luck!
@Liana: This from a woman who's written several cookbooks! You are impressive in your own right, even more so than I am. It helps that I don't do the cooking. Fred mans the stove M-F, I take over on weekends. And weekends are the time we plan for that night's meal, so I can make what I feel like making that day.
Thanks, Cajun Cowgirl!
I have wanted to do this and attempted to do this and have failed to do this multiple times. I am jealous/impressed, etc.!!
I am duly impressed. I would love to plan a weekly menu and have tried. I am just not organized to figure out a menu and shopping list. Do you have a method or simply find recipes that are interesting and easy??
I am way too O.C.D. and anal retentive to not menu plan. It would go against every fiber of my being.
Saturday I plan, Sunday I shop. I look through all my tried and true recipes that I've posted, cook books, and posts from my favorite bloggers for new stuff. Then I write down all the ingredients...and then I reorganize then by what section of the market they're in. THEN I plan what to make which day depending on how long the produce will last.
Sometimes I even do it with color coded post-it notes. I'm kidding. (Not really.)
Oh ya, I am a planner. And clearly in need of a therapist.
@Natasha-I have a weird thing with organizing stuff. I love to do it. It's nothing to be jealous of, trust me.
Skattebol: Most of my recipes come from Cooking Light or Real Simple, and I rarely pick anything that takes more than 40 minutes. We have some stand-by favorites, like the curry rice and Thai tofu. Amy's method below your comment pretty much matches mine, except for the color coding part, which means she wins the OCD contest.
Amy: Me too! Me too! Me too! Except for color coding. You win on that one.
Anne, I was just telling Daniel the other night that we need to start doing this. We always seem to find ourselves scrambling to make dinner for Nico and Leo and then trying to come up with something for ourselves around 9pm. Menu planning sounds so nice in theory to me, but my organizational skills have gone out the window lately and just thinking about the grocery list alone for all those recipes makes me tired. Curious to hear how it's going and any tips you discover along the way..
Welcome to the club. I quasi-menu-plan. I love the structure of having a plan, but I also like the impulsiveness of playing it by ear. I usually pick the 'general category' of meals at the beginning of the week, but then I go with the flow on the specifics. For example, I might plan a pasta dish for Monday, a chicken dish for Tuesday, something with salmon on Wednesday, and pizza on Thursday. I work out the details during the week, though. Pasta could be a tuna casserole or mac and cheese. Chicken could be roast chicken, or a stir fry. You get the idea!
Anyway, good luck with your new way of life. I think you can still be cool!
Wow. You've impressed me once again. I try menu planning, but then halfway through the week I feel like the Plan is trying to be the boss of me. I get irritated. I say, "Plan, you can't bend me to your dictatorship ways!" I then think of ways to thwart the Plan, sacrificing the Schedule in hopes of bunking the Plan. End game: everyone is starving and cranky. Like I said, I'm way impressed with your life skills.
I did this when my kids were younger and wow, what a sanity saver it was! Now, not so much, but my kids are older and pretty much take care of themselves.
If you can get into a routine of doing this it is definitely worth it. Good luck!
@PunkRizz: Well,I do think you need to be a lit-tle OCD to make meal planning work. So it's actually healthier NOT to want to menu plan.
Karen-Seriously! It's really been great.
Well, well, well...look who's joined the cult - er- club! It's about time, I say! Of course, the annal-retentive award should go to the likes of your Aunt who plans out SEVEN weeks as that takes off some of the pressure, and a 7x7 block fits nicely on an 8 1/2x11 sheet of paper! Fellow menu-ites, take note. If you make a grid of your market, you can list your "usual" purchases, type it up, copy the list and - VOILA! - you have a list to pull out, highlight and run to the market with once a week. It works like a charm. I've been doing this for 10+ years and LOVE it. It makes me use cookbooks/food mags for more than reading material and we don't get bored with the same meal every week. Bon Appetit!
@ Kathy: I am totally eating crow over all the times I teased you about your fridge menu. Kath, you are the master! I don't know if I will ever reach the pre-printed calender stage of your status, but who knows? The gene is just kicking in!
By the way, really dropped the ball this week and served lots of peas. Like, peas almost every other night. It's one of the few veggies Walt eats.
I'm a menu planner as well. I hated staring into the fridge every night and having to come up with a dinner, I was always one ingredient short and found myself tossing food that had gone bad. Also our grocery bills had just kind of gotten out of control.
So now, every Sunday afternoon, I got through my recipes, pick five and make a list. And really it makes things so much easier. I'm not wasting any food and our grocery bills have shrunk down to normal size.
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