I never thought of myself as very neurotic, but maybe I am? Case in point, I hate deciding what to eat so much that I came up with an 8 week dinner calendar just so I could consolidate the horrors of meal planning to once every two months.
And I probably shouldn’t admit to how much relief I felt when I was done creating this. Now I will know what to get at the store each week and I will seldom have to stare anxiously into the fridge or pantry wondering what I could possibly make for dinner.
I got most of my recipes from the Food Network site because they’re readily available and have nice pictures—Oooo, such pretty colors.
Some of the recipes we’ve already tried and know we like. Some of them will be brand new to us and if we don’t like them I’ll take them off the list and add new ones for next time—note, I am always open to recipe ideas if you want to recommend any…?
It’s only a Monday-Thursday thing because on the weekends I figure we’ll either eat out, eat at the in-laws or Jordan will make it. (Thank goodness for a husband who likes to cook—I’d make him do it all the time if he didn’t get home from work so late most days.)
Here are a couple of the meals I made last week (Forgive the quality of the photos—took them with my phone camera):
Pasta Puttanesca: 3.5 out of 5
Accidentally used salted diced tomatoes, so it was no surprise that it was a tad salty.
Chicken Piccata: 3.75 out of 5
The chicken itself we were both fans of. The sauce I liked a lot but Jordan was on the fence.
I do a 3 week menu plan which we repeat 3-4 times before making a new one. I do Sun-Thurs and plan on making pizza every Friday night and eating out Saturdays. My eventual neurotic plan is to find my ideal meals for each season, create a 3 week plan for each season, and never meal plan again! Mwhahahaha!
Ha ha ha! I know! That is my plan too. To find something that works forever and always and only have surprises every now and again. Oh, that sounds relaxing and lovely.
I know, right? You have to eat every day, so why not automate it? Our family also follows a strict breakfast schedule (M-Sa are the same every week, Sunday is a 5 week rotation which changes seasonally. I like fancy breakfasts.) and a lunch rotation (leftovers for George & me, and a weekly menu for the kids.) People think planning makes you not spontaneous, but I say it frees up greater brain power for spontaneity.
I agree about scheduling allowing more time for other things. Like blogging. 🙂 Or writing, which is really what I need time for.
Good idea. I actually like cooking but sometimes I feel overwhelmed making a menu. Maybe I’ll copy you.
If you want I can totally share my schedule with you. 🙂
That would be great.
Greeat info. Lucky mme I ran across your site by chance (stumbleupon).
I’ve book marked it forr later!