| Menu Ideas | | | | having a slower week, I want to try new recipes |
| Sometimes the hardest thing about eating at | | | | so I spend some time perusing the cookbooks |
| home every night is deciding what to cook for | | | | and picking out something new, then making a |
| dinner! Here are some sample menus to stir your | | | | quick list of other tried-and-true favorites without |
| imagination. You might make your own list of | | | | assigning a specific day to anything. I can also |
| favorite combinations so when you're brain-dead | | | | switch plans at the last minute, making Fried Rice |
| but need to plan anyway, you can choose menus | | | | with the leftover beef or chicken rather than the |
| you know your family liked. When I started out, I | | | | sandwiches I had planned because the day turned |
| found it very helpful to plan my week's worth of | | | | chilly, for example. |
| meals and make the grocery list from that. I | | | | A Category a Day |
| learned to reserve one night for experiments or | | | | To keep yourself from getting bored with eating |
| leftovers or just emergency "pantry" dinners | | | | "chicken every night" (or whatever your fallback |
| when you're in a hurry. I still find my busy weeks | | | | entree is), try setting up a plan for variety, such |
| go much smoother when I have a list of meals | | | | as: |
| I'm going to make, but I don't assign a day to | | | | * Fish |
| any of them. I just make a list and choose | | | | * Pasta or rice based |
| something from the list depending on what kind of | | | | * Poultry |
| day it's been. (Or choose the night before if | | | | * Vegetarian |
| something needs defrosting.) | | | | * Red meat |
| | | | * Beans |
| Rotating Menus | | | | * Eggs or cheese |
| Some people like to write up two weeks' worth | | | | Having a template to fill in forces you to be a bit |
| of menus and then repeat them, leaving a spot or | | | | creative and keeps your menus from being |
| two for new recipes to try or leftovers. Other | | | | boring. Look at the weekly specials at the grocery |
| people write a month's worth. Some people like to | | | | store and plan accordingly. Seek out some new |
| have seasonally oriented ones, so they might | | | | recipes to keep the creative juices flowing. |
| have rotating two-week menus for each of the | | | | Daily or Thereabouts |
| seasons, with more stews and soups in the | | | | This has never been my style, but I do know |
| winter and barbecue and salads in the summer. | | | | people that shop and cook this way. Some enjoy |
| I like to write down a week's worth of menus | | | | shopping and have the time to go every day and |
| because I tend to go shopping once a week. You | | | | buy that night's dinner. Others might plan a day or |
| might have dietary goals, like eating fish more | | | | two in advance but no farther. If you like to shop |
| often or having a vegetarian dish one night a | | | | and live where it's convenient to buy fresh foods |
| week. Making a plan for the week makes it easier | | | | more often, this can work. |
| to fit those changes into your life. | | | | Healthy Tip |
| Simple Lists | | | | A recent article I read suggested thinking of fruits |
| My preferred style right now depends on what | | | | and vegetables as being in four color groups: |
| kind of a week it is going to be! When I know the | | | | yellow/orange, green, blue/purple, and red. Your |
| week is going to be busy, I tend to plan each | | | | goal for healthy eating should be to eat from a |
| dinner around the loss leaders at the grocery | | | | mixture of the color groups throughout the week. |
| store, go shopping after making the menu | | | | Keep this in mind as you plan your menus and |
| choices, and then follow the plan. When I am | | | | experiment with some new vegetables! |