On our way into the city this morning, The Neighbor Wife and I were talking about menu planning and the merits of it. This is now the third week of consistent menu planning for me, and while I haven't been following it letter for letter, I have kept to it about 80% of the time, which, for me, is huge. For it to work, I have to have the flexibility to be able to swap around days. Last week, I forgot about a school meeting on Monday night, so since Tuesday was an open day, I just made that Monday instead and made Monday's menu items on Tuesday. Because I already had the menu formulated, the recipes pulled and most of the ingredients purchased, it takes away a lot of the guesswork and 6 pm-what's-for-dinner stress.
When pulling together the menu for the week, I'm trying to make it a mix of new recipes I've clipped to try, recipes from cookbooks on my shelves and tried-and-trues. If I make 50 new recipes a day between now and the day I die, I will never make all the recipes I've clipped. But at least with this plan of attack, I feel I'm putting the ridiculous amount of recipes I've collected to use, we're getting a nice variety and things are running a bit more smoothly. Or that's the plan.
Sunday:Banana Sour Cream Pancakes from Barefoot Contessa's cookbook, Family Style. Tortellini with the kids (The Husband working tonight, so keeping it easy for early-bedtime-school-work-tomorrow).
Monday: Baked Cod and Potatoes from Family Circle magazine for dinner. Snack: Spicy Chickpea Mix from Every Day with Rachael Ray.
Tuesday: Dinner: open. Baking with Nicholas: Barbara Bush's Shortbread from Christmas Cookies magazine. No political agenda here, I assure you. This recipe is from the last election season – in 2004.
Wednesday: Cuban Black Bean Stew with Rice from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. Green Salad with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing from the February/March 2006 issue of Eating Well magazine.
Thursday: Deep Dish Pizzas from Everyday Food, Tomato Fennel Salad from Barefoot Contessa. Baking with Nick: Banana Rum Coconut Cookies from Cooking Light.
Saturday:Cipriani's Famous Pasta from the March 2006 issue of InTouch magazine, of all places. Cipriani is a popular restaurant in New York City, frequented by celebrities. Baking with Nick: Peanut Butter Bars from Better Homes & Gardens.
Now what about you? What's coming out of your kitchen this week?
Hungry for more menu planning inspiration?
Check out Kristen's Dine & Dish menu (she usually posts on Mondays) and the Organizing Junkie site, where you can find more menus than you'll ever need.
A year ago today… Grilled Peanut Chicken.
Two years ago today… guilty pleasures.
Three years ago today… nothing but muffins.
I've never made Ina's sour cream banana pancakes, but I've always wanted to. Do report back on those please!
Great menu! The pancakes sound amazing!
I menu plan everyweek and have for years. I cook for my family of four and my mom and Aunt. They enjoy trying new things and relish in the fact they don't have to cook or shop.
We were very formal about "this meal this day" for awhile, but once the kids came along we got more flexible (for which read: lazy) and just said "here are the five [or six or whatever] things we're going to have this week" and each evening I would look at the list and we'd decide what tomorrow's dinner was, pull out anything that needed to thaw, and go from there. It also eliminated the temptation to order pizza or something–"I don't really feel like eating THAT tonight, and we didn't thaw anything for any of the other choices…" Either way, I heart menu planning!
I love menu planning! Last week, we stuck to the meals, but switched a couple of the days around. It is so much nicer to have a plan than to go all willy nilly!
I would love the recipe for the Cipriani's pasta. Any chance of that?