Monday Menu Planner
12.08.2008
I thought I'd try out this Monday Menu Planning thing that I see on a lot of blogs. We've been trying to cook at home more and bring in our lunches every day. We've done really well the last few weeks, only eating out for lunch once. The easiest way to keep on track with all this is to plan ahead! So I try and think about what I want to cook before I get home. Or even better...at least a day ahead in case we need to defrost something.
Our basic plan for better preparing for meals:
1. Buy from the farmers for the month.
I buy whole chickens (4 or 5 at a time), chicken parts (breasts, legs and thighs), and eggs for a whole month. The whole chickens will last us more than a month - probably 3 months.
After Christmas, I'll start purchasing beef this way too. I hate buying grocery store meat, even from Whole Foods, because even if it's organic it's never grassfed. Meaning it's been fed grain, and most likely soy. After Christmas, we'll be trying to round up a chest freezer to better store this stuff.
2. Stop at Whole Foods on the way home from acupuncture on Sundays to pick up the stuff for the week. I get a lot of produce at David's, which has local organic selections, but for a lot of other stuff (cheese, fish) we shop at Whole Foods.
3. Don't wait until we're starving and it's 7 pm before we start cooking! I'm usually the first one home, so this means as SOON as I get home I prepare for dinner, or start cooking. Even if I'm dead tired. Otherwise, we'll end up having pasta for dinner. Or ordering out.
My menu plans for right now are just for dinner, since I'm taking leftovers for lunch every day and I eat eggs almost every morning.
This week:
Monday: Chicken with Broccoli in Cream Sauce (I have some fresh cream I need to use asap) over rice
To do: make sure we have everything we need to make clam chowder tomorrow
Tuesday: Clam Chowder (Using the rest of the cream, need to pick up clams from Whole Foods - if you order ahead they will shuck them for you. I ordered them on Sunday)
To do: defrost 1 lb ground beef, or maybe we'll have leftovers tomorrow?
Wednesday: Not sure exactly, if we have cream left over we can make stroganoff. I have a feeling we'll have plenty of leftovers from Monday's chicken dinner.
Thursday: Meatloaf and baked sweet potatoes with a vegetable
Friday: Leftovers, or a smörgåsbord of smoked salmon with yogurt/dill sauce and hummus.
Saturday: Dinner with friends
Posted bySarah at 1:29 PM
