I need to figure out a way to incorporate new recipes into my meal planning. I see recipes that I want to try, but they never make it to the list. Lisa, do you have a method for this?
Menu Planning
- Thread starter AnnieClaus
- Start date
Chili- You're welcome!
I know here in the US people will buy an entire cow or pig and they freeze all that meat.
In Europe is it more the custom to just buy for a few days?
Annie
I know here in the US people will buy an entire cow or pig and they freeze all that meat.
In Europe is it more the custom to just buy for a few days?
Annie
I think I figured out how I want to do my meal planning. I originally liked the idea of printing 3 months of dinner recipes on cards and doing a rotation kind of like the cleaning card index system. One thing I wanted though, is to be able to see the whole week infront of me, instead of just looking at the cards for that day. I also didn't want to flip through a whole bunch of cards to find a certain card each time I want to use it. I'm also tying to avoid making more lists, since alot of my paper clutter tends to be lists. Originally, I was looking for a solution to help me with the cleaning plan. I like to divide what needs to be done into 5 days (Mon - Fri), using Saturday as a catch up day and Sunday (day of rest) as a planning day for the upcoming week. I liked the idea of listing daily tasks on cards, but with a weekly room focus like the HHP, and I wanted to be able to see the whole week infront of me, not just the day. My son had some trading card pocket pages. I realized these would work great for what I wanted. Each page has 9 pockets. I use 7 of the pockets for each day of the week, The other two will just have the name of the month and the date the week begins. This way I can still list my tasks by day, see the whole week at the same time, keep it visible, or away in my notebook, and rotate the pages each time that room focus comes around the next time (I'm trying to do the cleaning plan year around).
I realized this would work great with my menu planning too. I could do the pockets the same, each page having a pocket for each day of the week, and for the month and date. I want to choose at least 3 months of dinner ideas and keep them stored in more pocket pages, catagorizing them by dish (Chicken, beef, vegetarian etc.) I can write on the back of the card where to find that recipe as well as maybe some of the ingredients I don't usually have on hand. When it is time to do my menu planning, I can flip through the pages and pull out which cards I want to use for that week and place them in the weekly pocket page. Luludou, this would work great to store your magnets too. You could even just take the page out and hang it on the fridge.
I realized this would work great with my menu planning too. I could do the pockets the same, each page having a pocket for each day of the week, and for the month and date. I want to choose at least 3 months of dinner ideas and keep them stored in more pocket pages, catagorizing them by dish (Chicken, beef, vegetarian etc.) I can write on the back of the card where to find that recipe as well as maybe some of the ingredients I don't usually have on hand. When it is time to do my menu planning, I can flip through the pages and pull out which cards I want to use for that week and place them in the weekly pocket page. Luludou, this would work great to store your magnets too. You could even just take the page out and hang it on the fridge.
Hi Kim~I just fit the new recipe into an old slot. Since I try to do a chicken, pork, beef, italian, ethnic recipe every week, I just put a new recipe in that category instead of a standby. It works out pretty well for us. During the school year, I usually try the new recipe on a weekend night so that I have the time to do it right.
jinglemom-
That really does sound like a good plan.
You can actually flip through and see your cards and what jumps out for you can go in the menu for the week.
Very good idea. Let us know how it works!
Annie
That really does sound like a good plan.
You can actually flip through and see your cards and what jumps out for you can go in the menu for the week.
Very good idea. Let us know how it works!
Annie
Jinglemom I had thought of those trading card pockets too and also writing either and/or recipe/ingredients on the back. I just hadn't thought about how to put it on the fridge but I found I could put magnet strips on the back too so I might do that too.
I'll be going to the dollarstore and in function of what I find I'll let you know what I actually will do.
I'll be going to the dollarstore and in function of what I find I'll let you know what I actually will do.
luludou, you can place two small magnets inside the upper two corner pockets behind the cards. They don't even have to be glued in to hold the page in place and they arent seen since they are tucked in behind the card. For the page you are keeping on the fridge, you can trim off the binder hole tab to make it look nicer.
Thanks Jinglemom - this might be better than the magnets because of the things I can write on the back.. I did buy small index cards last time ... just in case.
Annie: this depends where you buy. My favorite supermarket offers packaged meat in various sizes - starting with smaller portions (suitable for a meal of 2 people) until larger packages (2 /3lb) where you can really safe money. Of course I am interested in the larger, money saving packages as this is good for our budget and time saving :-D
But in general: I know that nearly all food/beverage packages are larger in the US - eg I was really surprised about milk sold in gallons as I saw it in Boston and Los Angeles. We wouldn't even have space in the fridge for this here. In Austria the largest amount for milk is a tetrapak of 1 liter (appr. 0.264 gallon). I know - this was off-topic now...
Chilli
chilli-
I think it's interesting to see what people in other countries do.
I know there are many places where you go to the market and just get that day's dinner.
It sounds like your refrigerator is much smaller than what we would typically have here.
People here even have huge deep freezers- that's how they can store up to an entire cow.
Annie
I think it's interesting to see what people in other countries do.
I know there are many places where you go to the market and just get that day's dinner.
It sounds like your refrigerator is much smaller than what we would typically have here.
People here even have huge deep freezers- that's how they can store up to an entire cow.
Annie
Chilli - I like hearing about how people shop in other countries as well. As you probably saw, fridges in America are big and getting bigger all the time! Right now I have three gallon sized drinks - OJ, Milk and lemonade.
I think I need to get in on this too. With school starting up in a month and my DD's cheerleading practice/game schedule things will become hectic in the evening.
I will sit down and write up our family's favorite meals/dishes and start stocking up on the basic ingredients when they go on sale. I also want to use my crock pot more often. I have a few extra calendars so it might be wise to start writing down menu ideas on the schedule to help keep me on track.
I will sit down and write up our family's favorite meals/dishes and start stocking up on the basic ingredients when they go on sale. I also want to use my crock pot more often. I have a few extra calendars so it might be wise to start writing down menu ideas on the schedule to help keep me on track.
Minta - Let me know if you find some good crock pot recipes. I'm getting a little tired of the cream of (fill in the blank) soup bases.
I already have a couple that I can post for you this weekend.
One is for a BBQ flavored version of sloppy joes.
Other things I cook in the crock pot are:
Roast - beef or pork - mix a little water with a packet of onion soup mix and pour over the roast and let cook.
BBQ ribs/chicken legs
Chili
Turkey breast
Small whole chicken
I found myself in a bit of a rut the last few years and was really frustrated with cooking in general. So... I have been using Leanne ELy's Saving Dinner the Low Carb way. It has REALLY yummy recipes and each menu is seasonal and offers 6 days of dinners for 6 weeks. My family loves coming to dinner again and I haven't had to think for myself during a really horrible family crisis!
Ramona - Sorry to hear about your family crisis. I'm glad to see you posting. Is the menu plan you mentioned a book? A website? I'd love to hear more about it.
Kim- my fav crock pot cookbook is Fix it and Forget it. They are recipe that people submit (like they do in Gooseberry patch) and you may have 6 versions of roast pork but they are different and one is bound to be one you like. Its a lot more than just soup based foods.