Monday:
- shrimp creole
- boiled rice
- fresh organic strawberries
Tuesday:
- roast
- carrots
- mashed potatoes
- salad
Wednesday:
- leftovers (choir rehearsal night)
Thursday:
- Moroccan chicken
- brown rice
- pita bread
- fresh fruit
Friday:
- birthday dinner for son-in-law?
You have some terrific meals planned.
Happy MPM!
Meal planning is something I’ve just started working on. Any particular system that helps you?
JoJoBeans: I don’t have a specific system, really. I take a look at what we have going on for the week and then try to plan accordingly.
Mondays are my *catch up around the house* days so I often plan a crockpot meal (although I switched that up this week). David doesn’t like seafood so if he’s out of town I will often do fish or shrimp for Chris and myself. I have choir rehearsal on Wednesdays so the guys are on their own, although I try to plan for some leftovers to be available.
I also try to vary the types of meat over the course of the week. For instance, this week I’ve planned shrimp for Monday, beef for Tuesday with leftovers for Wednesday, Chicken on Thursday and Friday is not decided yet. Many weeks I also try to include a meatless (or light-on-the-meat) meal.
We usually have a green salad with most of our meals and then I try to offer a variety of other veggies over the course of the week. As the Farmers Market gets going, a lot of our meals will center around fresh produce.
I also try to vary the starch source. This week I’ve got white rice on Monday, potatoes on Tuesday (and leftovers on Wed.), brown rice on Thursday and if our son-in-law is here for dinner Friday I’ll be making his favorite Cajun Chicken Alfredo over pasta.
In addition, I also take into consideration what items I have on hand or what’s on sale that week when meal planning. As you’ll notice, I just plan Monday through Friday because our weekends are less predictable and we are often out of town or go out to eat then.
I like having a general plan for the week but it’s not unusual for those plans to change. I always have enough food in the house that I can concoct a decent meal even if it’s not planned in advance.
Hope that helps a little.