Show me your weekly menus!

[TwoBees]

I need inspiration badly.
Thanks

[fivi2]

Back when I was better about meal planning, what I did was take all the recipes we liked, pull some new ones from cookbooks or allrecipes, etc, and divide them into categories. (Italian, Mexican, Soup, Chicken, Crock pot, "fast food", etc). Then I would assign one category to each day of the week. Then I would plug a recipe from the category into a day for about 6 weeks at a time. There weren't many repeats. I usually had a leftover or freezer night also. Obviously some recipes overlap, just pick a category that sounds good. I tried to plug the recipes in so that I took advantage of certain ingredients.

I know that isn't really what you asked for, but I do think it is easier to plan with meals you know you like than to work with someone else's.

But, this week we had/are having:

Sat: Rotisserie Chicken and sides
Sun: Chili
Mon: Chicken pizzaola (or something like that from the ATK family cookbook - baked chicken with spag. sauce and cheese) ww noodles, salad
Tues: chili
Wed - no dh, dc and I eat something?
Thurs: Tacos
Friday? Not sure yet.

hth a little!

[TwoBees]

Back when I was better about meal planning, what I did was take all the recipes we liked, pull some new ones from cookbooks or allrecipes, etc, and divide them into categories. (Italian, Mexican, Soup, Chicken, Crock pot, "fast food", etc). Then I would assign one category to each day of the week. Then I would plug a recipe from the category into a day for about 6 weeks at a time. There weren't many repeats. I usually had a leftover or freezer night also. Obviously some recipes overlap, just pick a category that sounds good. I tried to plug the recipes in so that I took advantage of certain ingredients.

This is a fantastic idea, but I am not sure I can wrap my head around all that planning. I certainly will try though. DH would love the variety.

[marie]

Friday - Ravioli w/tomato-pesto sauce
Saturday - Garlicky shrimp w/breadcrumbs, brown rice, broccoli
Sunday - (bday party at friends' house)
Monday - leftovers
Tuesday - Steak tips, brown rice or potatoes (haven't decided), salad
Wednesday - Roast Chicken, carrots, potatoes, salad
Thursday - Pork chops, potato pancakes (leftovers from freezer), applesauce, broccoli
Friday - Chicken pot pie using leftover roast chicken

I also made a pot of minestrone soup last Friday and that has been served as lunch several times.

Lately, my game plan is to use up something from the freezer at least once a week. Also, I'm enforcing (i.e. nagging) the "DH must be responsible for at least one meal a week" rule. And DD1 usually gets to choose one meal a week.

Another guideline that I used to use was to try one new recipe a week. That has fallen by the wayside. . .

[lizzywednesday]

DH has been cooking for us lately because I'm starting to have a little trouble getting around (I am 35 weeks pregnant) and a lot of trouble standing for a long while.

We are also using up our stock of "freezer food", which is either frozen meals (like stir fry for 2, pizzas, etc.) or meat we bought in bulk but couldn't use right away.

This week, we'll be doing a lot of freezer food.

[BeachBum]

Sunday: Chili
Monday: Balsamic Chicken / Salad
Tuesday: Shrimp Stir FrY
Wed: Pork Chops and Cabbage
Thurs: Blackened Halibut
Friday: Eat out

We eat leftovers for Lunch.

Spiced Pork Chops With Red Cabbage and Raisins
Hands-on Time: 25m
Total Time: 25m

Ingredients
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 4 bone-in pork rib chops (about 1 inch thick; 2 pounds total)
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* kosher salt and black pepper
* 1 onion, sliced
* 1/2 small head red cabbage, thinly sliced (about 6 cups)
* 1/2 cup golden raisins
* 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
* bread (optional)

Directions
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season the pork with the cumin, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes per side.

2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a second large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the cabbage, raisins, vinegar, ¼ cup water, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook, covered, tossing occasionally, until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes; stir in the dill. Serve with the pork and bread, if using.

[infomama]

Starting with tomorrow

Weds-Lasagna (Pioneer Woman)-I'll make two of these..one to freeze. serve with salad
Thurs-Garlic brown sugar chicken (crock pot) with veggies and noodles
Fri- Chicken spagetti (P Dub again)-again, double batch..one to freeze with salad or broccoli
Sat- Oatmeal with fresh fruit or egg in a basket (basically breakfast for dinner)
Sun- slow cooker roast, mashed potatoes, asparagus
Mon-homemade pizza
Tues- Crockpot mexican chicken

In between we will have leftovers.

[TwoBees]

Now I am officially hungry!
Can I have the recipes for:
Garlic brown sugar chicken
Balsamic chicken
Slowcooker roast
Mexican chicken?

I didn't intend to ask for recipies when I originally posted, but those all sound so good!

[infomama]

Now I am officially hungry!
Can I have the recipes for:
Garlic brown sugar chicken
Balsamic chicken
Slowcooker roast
Mexican chicken?

I didn't intend to ask for recipies when I originally posted, but those all sound so good!

Here is my mexican chicken but here is the recent thread on it if you want to try another http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin...d.php?t=347286.

6 skinless boneless chicken breasts
Salsa (I use the garden salsa from Costco and use about 1/2- 3/4 of the jug)..it should almost cover the chicken.
Corn (you can use cooked corn off the cob, TJ has a great fire roasted frozen corn or there is a canned corn called 'Summer Crisp' that is awesome)..use as much as you like
1 can black beans rinsed
1 can pinto beans rinsed
cumin (about 2-3 tsp or a small palm..I never measure)
chili powder (same amount as cumin)
salt to taste

cook on high in a crock put for a few hours (maybe 4) until the chicken is cooked then shred the chicken with two forks, mix it all together and add a bit more salsa. After about another hour it's ready! Eat it over rice or in a burrito. Add shredded cheese, taco sauce, sour cream...whatever floats your boat!


My roast http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin...ght=hero+roast


NN317 posted this recently:

Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken
INGREDIENTS
Chicken pieces-enough to feed your family-legs, thighs etc. (I use 4 chicken breasts)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup vinegar
1/4 cup lemon-line soda (I use ginger ale)
2 Tbs. minced garlic
2 Tbs. soy sauce
1 tsp. pepper

DIRECTIONS
Place chicken in crockpot. Mix all remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 4 (original recipe called for 6 hours on low but some of us found that 4 was enough) hours. Serve over rice or noodles. You can thicken the juices after cooking with a little cornstarch. If using cayenne pepper, it gives dish a Szechwan flavor.

[fivi2]

This is a fantastic idea, but I am not sure I can wrap my head around all that planning. I certainly will try though. DH would love the variety.

I promise it sounds like more work than it is! I am the laziest person I know Most of my recipes are printed out or ripped out of magazines, etc. So I just sorted them into stacks. I didn't put a lot of thought into the stacks - you can drive yourself crazy with that! (do chicken tacos go under chicken, fast food, or mexican? just make a decision and run with it )

Then you have your stacks of recipes sorted. Just pick a rotation that works for your week (for me, "fast food" night was Fridays, leftovers were Thursdays, Chili or soup was sundays, etc. other thoughts: seafood night, breakfast for dinner night, vegetarian night, casserole night, red meat night, stir fry night, crock pot night, etc.). You have your stacks already sorted so just print out a blank calendar and stick a recipe into each day.

It was good for remembering to use recipes we liked but I always forgot about. New recipes you come across will usually fit into one of your existing categories.

I just prefer doing this because then I can use recipes I know we like. I did a service once (six oclock scramble maybe?) and we really only liked about two of the recipes a week, so not a good value for us.