I like your idea of a month menu planner! We usually tend to have a fair share of repeat meals, but they are meals we really like. My husband will eat anything so I don’t have to worry about ingredients.

The one thing that is the biggest challenge for me is to have quick suppers. I like to make most of our meals with at least some cook from scratch components and that takes time and planning. Something I’m pretty short of on weeknights.

To help make fast weeknight suppers, I prepare the meat part of the meal ahead of time and store it in the freezer. When ground beef goes on sale I’ll buy a bunch and make it up into meatloaves, meatballs and just crumbled, brown beef. I recently did the same thing with chicken breasts.

Here is a link to this week’s menu at our house.

http://farmhomelife.blogspot.com/2009/05/menu-plan-monday.html

Take Care,

Trixie

Our menu this week is:

(last night) SUNDAY: Pasta with sauce and veggie side
Tonight: Tacos
Tuesday: Pork Chops
Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner (blueberry pancakes, bacon, fruit salad, scrambled eggs)
Thursday: Southwest Chicken with rice and beans
Friday: Chili in Cornbread Bowls with vegetable side
Saturday: Chicken Noodle with Grilled Cheese and vegetable side

RESTRICTIONS/ISSUES:
I can’t eat pineapple or coconut (allergies)
I have issues with raw chicken. I’ll cook it but I won’t eat it if I had to cook it.
No seafood (we live too far inland….seafood this far from the coast makes me nervous)
No stuffing (the only thing oldest son won’t eat)
Nothing too exotic or bizarre….big waste of money as the kids (except oldest) will be afraid of it, even if it tastes good.

To be honest…..food bores the heck out of me. I do not think “what is for dinner” should be the focus of anyone’s day. Dinner is dinner, lunch is lunch, breakfast is breakfast. Eat healthy, don’t eat too much…..wait five minutes before getting seconds/thirds to make sure you are still actually hungry. I try to teach my kids portion control now (in a non food-nazi way) so they don’t develop the habit of eating too much/ not knowing when they are full.

I, personally, think there are way more interesting things to do than spend four hours worrying about what is for dinner on a normal afternoon. I love menus because it makes it all easy for me…..(I grew up in the south surrounded by southern women who started making dinner right after breakfast, sometimes).

We are in Arizona now and I am readying my backyard (reseeding lawn, planting flowers) in preparation for a summer spent grilling out. Grilling out is FUN COOKING….you get to play with fire and the smell makes all your neighbors wish THEY were cooking out, too! I love grilling out so bring on those recipes!

Sunday – crock-pot pot roast and garlic bread
Monday – Mushroom chicken, white rice, green beans
Tuesday – Spaghetti, Caesar salad, garlic bread
Wednesday – Pork chops, potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, salad
Thursday – Fend for yourself night (leftovers or cold cereal or mac and cheese, whatever)
Friday – Chicken wings and french fries – we’ll be eating junk food to celebrate our new TV

The only dietary restrictions in our house is no seafood. Just not a fan is all.

We’re here in Georgia and it is already hot enough to run the AC sometimes. Grill recipes would be awesome.