I decided the best way to do a few meal plans here would be to show my week-at-a-glance, and explain a few things as I go along. I usually do my grocery shopping for the week on Thursday or Friday every week, so I make my plans go from Thursday to Wednesday. I do have a few constants each week to work around too. Sunday's are always Sunday Company Dinner nights, meaning we have about 20 people that I cook for regularly- so this needs to be a crowd pleaser each week. I also don't necessarily make the whole meal, so my meal planning involves only what I make, and may not reflect a balanced meal. Wednesday is crock-pot day due to my daughter's evening dance class. Usually I just use the crock to gently re-heat something, as I don't care too much for cooking in it.
Anyway, here is a weekly dinner meal plan. Later on, we'll work on adding lunch and breakfast's to the plan.
Thursday: Oven Baked Bison Stew, Buttermilk Oatmeal Bread, Carrot Cake
Friday: Pizza Night (topped with sausage, red bell pepper, pineapple, and cheese)
Saturday: Shepherd's Pie made with leftover stew, applesauce
Sunday: Sloppy Joe's, pickles, cheese slices
Monday: Roasted Chicken, Wild rice pilaf
Tuesday: Frittata using leftover pizza toppings, hashbrowns
Wednesday: Sloppy Joe repeat, fruit salad, chips
You can see most everything here is getting re-purposed a second day later on. The stew on Thursday will become an amazing shepherd's pie filling two nights later. I simply cannot make a small pot of stew, and I used to freeze the extras. Except that I really don't like the consistency of potatoes after they've been frozen- and I don't like stew without potatoes. So instead, I plan for a hearty stew, and two days later I top it with cheesy mashed potatoes and bake it for a heavenly take on shepherd's pie.
The sloppy joe's for a crowd on Sunday will undoubtably produce leftovers, which will reheat perfectly in the crock pot for Wednesday's dinner-in-a-hurry. If for some reason I decide against the sloppy joes a second time around, those do freeze wonderfully, so then they would be tucked in the freezer for another busy day to come along.
Monday's roasted chicken doesn't get re-purposed on this menu, but that doesn't mean there aren't plans for him too. The carcass will be simmered for a batch of chicken stock to put in the freezer for one. Extra chicken meat will become a filling for my husband for lunch sandwiches during the week. Anything beyond that will be frozen for use in chicken soup, enchiladas, or pot pie later on.
The frittata is a great way to use extra pizza toppings up- the kids love pizza, and they love frittata, so combining the two is a win-win situation.
By re-purposing ingredients from day to day I am cutting way down on waste. I admit freely that I used to plan menus with no regard to the leftovers. I would say that by recycling the "planned overs" and by using up the odds and ends, that I have easily cut my grocery bill in half. This week I'll need to buy most of the meat you see on the menu. Bison, ground beef, a roasting chicken, and pork sausage. Additionally, I'll need to pick up fresh fruit, bell peppers, milk, eggs, and potatoes. Add some breakfast cereal and the fixings for homemade granola, and my grocery list is short and sweet this week.
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2 comments:
I like your methods of planning & love the "re-purposing"! You have thought of everything! I appreciate all the hard work you are pouring into this sharing of your menu planning secrets--thanks! I can see how your whole family benefits...good tasting food, lots of variety along cost awareness & time considerations.
All these things that I'm trying to get "down on paper" are things that I wish I'd have known ten years ago. I see so often people talking about menu planning, and how great it is for maintaining a budget and so forth. But no one explains HOW they do it.
When I think of all those times we were in a pickle...had I been a better menu planner and shopper, we'd have been much better off. Hopefully this will help someone out!
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