After many failed attempts at dinner planning, I think I have one that I can successfully count on. I recently purchased and Iphone, after an internal debate as to whether it was worth the extra money each month (it is), and I love it. I have been able to keep track of my life, schedule, dinner plans, shopping lists, you name with a much more orderly manner. Side note: I do need to watch my time on the phone as it definitely can be a time waster and does take quality time away from the hubby and kiddos if I get to occupied in the mini portable computer.
We started planning our meals based on nightly themes:
~ Meatless Monday: We are working towards cutting down our meat consumption and having a meal completely dedicated to vegetarian is super helpful. This is probably the hardest night to plan a meal for.
~ Taco Tuesday: Mexican themed... We love Mexican food, so this night is especially easy to plan for!
~ Crock Pot or Casserole Wednesday: I may have other crock pot/casserole meals planned for other days, but I wanted at least one that I definitely planned for because these meals are so simple! Wednesday plans to be a busy day for us, so I decided it would be the best day to implement crock pot/casserole day!
~ Breakfast for Dinner (or Leftover) Thursday: We don't usually have leftovers as we usually eat them for lunches, so I wanted something easy since I knew I would be cooking for at least 6 days, if not the whole week. What's easier than breakfast for dinner?!
~ Italian Friday: Homemade pizza, yummy lasagna, alfrado pasta, and spaghetti and meatballs deserve their own day!
~ One Pot Meal Saturday: Apparently at this stage of my life, I am shooting for simple, so here is another simple meal that will use up less dishes in the kitchen. I'm thinking mainly soups, or casseroles. Over the summer, we may substitute the one pot meals for BBQ as that is an easy clean up too.
~ Misc. Meal Sunday: Every other Sunday we enjoy a potluck dinner with our small group, so this day is designed to be very versatile. Sundays will be the day that I try out new meals or make meals that don't really fall in any another category of the week.
I meal plan using my Iphone on Sundays. I made categories (using a free app called Paperlesslite) for Monday through Sunday where I write down specific meals for each day/category. I then add meals to each day with the date (being the title) that I would like to make that meal. After we do this for a while (say have at least 10 to 12 meals in each category), we can just pick a weekly meal plan using the 10 to 12 meals we have in each category, rotating them accordingly. We would then only have to include new meals every once in a while, if/when we want to. After I have jotted down my meals under each day, I then write my meal list for the week on my "notes" for quicker/easier glances. I try to look at my meal plan the night before to prep (take out meat) and figure out what needs to be done for dinner the next day. I have been prepping meals during nap time for easier dinner cooking moments. If you have little ones, you know what I am talking about. :)
All in all, I love this new system and I have no excuses now because my mini portable computer is almost always with me (unless I give it a timeout upstairs, one sure way I know I will stay away from it)!
I want to be successful in dinner planning to save money, make meal-time less stressful, and get rid of the dreaded "whats for dinner" question at 4:30?!
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