Method to my Madness

Before I get too far into this, I’d like to explain how I organize my mealtimes.

For years I was a 4 o’clock dinner mom. I would go about my busy life and not worry about what I was making for dinner until 4 o’clock. My dinners frequently repeated weekly and soon my husband, Steve, was complaining that we ate way too much pizza (or other things.) I started watching The Food Nanny, a show that inspired me to get more organized. Her program was 2 weeks of planned meals. Her tip was to make each night of the week a theme, so you had somewhere to start for meal ideas. This appealed to me, and I quickly printed off her 2 week schedule and started.

Two weeks isn’t very long, and I quite enjoyed the added benefit of my special needs son knowing what was for dinner. He has an obsessive disorder and this small knowledge went a long way with him.

Pretty soon I became a pro at the two week meal plan and pushed myself to make a monthly menu. After all, I didn’t want to repeat a meal throughout the month. Surely I knew enough different meals to get me through.

I should probably insert here that we frequently eat with my empty-nester parents on the weekends, so really, I only have to come up with 5 meals a week.

Once I began planning out our meals life fell into a lovely groove. Then I realized a few things about my cooking habits. I only ever use hamburger all crumbled up and browned. I love easy-to-throw-together meals. I make most of my meals usuing cream of chicken soup. And I love being organized (even in this small way.)

Because of my small realizations I changed a few more habits. I began buying my hamburger in large rolls. (I call them a hamburger log, because it’s 10 pounds of vacuumed burger in a tube.) Then I cook up my burger log all at once, then I portion out the cooked burger into individual freezer bags (I LOVE Ziplock quart bags!) Then I freeze my cooked burger and when I need it, I can either microwave it or heat it in a skillet. That saves me precious evening prep time.

Then I started coordinating my meals. If I needed mashed potatoes for a meal one night, I would make extra on another night when I had more time. This way I spend less time cooking in the kitchen and more time doing things I would rather do.

For me, it is a huge time saver to go shopping once a week. I make my shopping list based on my menus and store my list on my phone. I got a shopping app years ago that allows me to organize my list by color and I can check things off as I get them. I shop at two major stores, so my list is coordinated into two colors for the different stores. This is another huge time-saver.

I also realize that life isn’t always pretty and as functional as it is on paper, so I always keep our family’s favorite go-to meals and snacks in case plans change or stuff happens. (This past year was an example of life not going to plan, maybe I will address that later on...)

For my themes, I chose simple things that my family loves and tried to categorize them. Here’s our general plan:

Monday is Italian or pasta night.
Tuesday is Mexican (taco Tuesday!)
Wednesday is comfort food.
Thursday is chicken dishes.
Friday is soups and sandwiches in the fall and winter, and in the summer we do barbecue favorites.
Saturday and Sunday we eat with my parents.

If your family loves Indian food, pick a night, and make that your theme. Do you like trying new recipes? Mystery Monday anyone?

Make it fun. Make it simple. Involve your family in the plan.

If something doesn’t work, change it. This is YOUR plan. Do you eat a special meal on special holidays or birthdays? Simple, plan for it, make it work into your plan.

I learned I don’t like having the same meat several nights in a row, so I try to be conscious of that when I make the menu. Chicken too many nights in a row is too boring for me. I switch things up and sometimes the meals don’t fit into the theme, but then I remember that it doesn’t really matter what I make, as long as we’re happy.

Here is a simple list of the food I put in each category (really, it’s my plan for this month and next.)

Italian and pasta meals: Spaghetti and green salad, Pizza, Chicken Alfredo and green salad, Macaroni and hot dogs, Lasagna, green salad 

Mexican meals: Taco casserole, Tacos, Super nachos, Chicken enchiladas, Burritos and Spanish rice, Taco salad, Tater tot taco bake

Comfort meals: Breakfast for dinner (pancakes or French toast or waffles) sausage and bacon, Roast with mashed potatoes and  carrots and jello, Wiener boats, Stroganoff, Tater tot casserole, Hamburger gravy and mashed potatoes, Ham and Baked potatoes and jello, Pork chops, mashed potatoes 

Chicken meals: Chicken and rice,  Hot wings and  celery, carrots and dip, Crockpot chicken and stuffing, Hawaiian haystacks, Chef salad, Stir fry 

Soups: Chili, Zuppa Toscana, Chicken noodle soup, Lasagna soup, Fancy ramen, Taco soup, Ham and bean

Sandwiches: BLTs, Hamburgers, Pulled Pork Sandwiches 

Barbecue meals: ribs, steaks, pork chops, hamburgers, hotdogs