Making a simple menu plan is an easy way to make things simpler around dinner time. You and your family will know ahead of time what's for supper and you can also rely on the fact that you have everything you need to prepare the meal at home because you took the time to make a shopping list after planning your meals for the week. This simple habit will quickly save you time and money because you only have to head to the store once a week or so and end up throwing less food gone bad out.
A great place to start is to get your family's input. After all, you are not the only one who has to eat the various meals you are making for dinner. Ask each person in your household to tell you 5 of their favorite meals. That'll give you a great selection of recipes to start with. Keep things balanced (and hopefully everyone happy) by including some meals each week from the favorites list. Don't forget to add your own favorites as well.
Of course sooner or later you'll be ready to mix things up with your meal plan and include new recipes and dishes. I almost always start on the Internet. I stick to cooking and recipes sites that allow you to either rate the recipes or even better add comments. It's one of the things I've recently added to my own website as well. It's just nice to see how others liked the dish and what changes they've made to it to suit their family's needs. Hopefully this will also save you from wasting your time and good groceries on a dish your family doesn't like in the end.
Don't forget to go through your own stash of magazines and cookbooks to look for new ideas. Your local library is another great source of recipe inspiration. Keep an eye out for cookbooks and recipe collections put together by church members or other groups (usually as a fund raising mission). They usually contain some really good recipes. I've been able to pick those up for less than a quarter at yard sales and used book stores.
Next, post your meal plan somewhere in the kitchen. Everyone knows exactly what dinner is going to be and can help prepare or cook the meal. This comes in particularly handy when you are running late. By the way, to note where the recipe can be found if needed.
The last step for me is to make a grocery list based on the recipes I'll be preparing that week. Don't forget to add anything else you may need from the grocery store to that list as well. You'll be surprised how much faster the shopping will go with a well organized list. - 30289
A great place to start is to get your family's input. After all, you are not the only one who has to eat the various meals you are making for dinner. Ask each person in your household to tell you 5 of their favorite meals. That'll give you a great selection of recipes to start with. Keep things balanced (and hopefully everyone happy) by including some meals each week from the favorites list. Don't forget to add your own favorites as well.
Of course sooner or later you'll be ready to mix things up with your meal plan and include new recipes and dishes. I almost always start on the Internet. I stick to cooking and recipes sites that allow you to either rate the recipes or even better add comments. It's one of the things I've recently added to my own website as well. It's just nice to see how others liked the dish and what changes they've made to it to suit their family's needs. Hopefully this will also save you from wasting your time and good groceries on a dish your family doesn't like in the end.
Don't forget to go through your own stash of magazines and cookbooks to look for new ideas. Your local library is another great source of recipe inspiration. Keep an eye out for cookbooks and recipe collections put together by church members or other groups (usually as a fund raising mission). They usually contain some really good recipes. I've been able to pick those up for less than a quarter at yard sales and used book stores.
Next, post your meal plan somewhere in the kitchen. Everyone knows exactly what dinner is going to be and can help prepare or cook the meal. This comes in particularly handy when you are running late. By the way, to note where the recipe can be found if needed.
The last step for me is to make a grocery list based on the recipes I'll be preparing that week. Don't forget to add anything else you may need from the grocery store to that list as well. You'll be surprised how much faster the shopping will go with a well organized list. - 30289
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