Wordless Wednesday: January Meal Calendar

Monthly Menu Planning - December Menu

I can't believe that Thursday is December 1st!! Everyone says time flies when you have kids, but I think 2011 went by with supersonic speed! The menu is probably a little over-ambitious this month with it being the holiday season and subject to change with Christmas parties and such, but I like being prepared!

I am definitely trying a few new recipes this month and bringing back some favorites. It's chilly and rainy where I am tonight...so tonight it is chili for dinner!

Happy menu planning!

October Meal Planning

Better late than never right? Here is this month's calendar:

If you have not picked up this month's issue of Cooking Light several of the recipes I am trying out this month are from that issue (even the chili corn chip pie, I swear!). I also recently became the owner of a cast iron Dutch oven and cannot wait to braise some meats and make chilis and stews!!

Please share with me your meal planning...big or small we all learn from each other! And don't forget, continue to send me your recipes and results, I may feature your experience and/or test your recipe!

When I planned this post in my head, I was thinking about reveling in the start of Spring, the sun,and the fresh veggies at the Farmer’s Market. As I wrote it, it was raining and cold and my friends and family  in the Northeast were due to get a rude April Fool’s joke of snow! But, it’s still the first of the month, it’s meal planning time and I will forge ahead with my plans confident that Spring will eventually arrive.

This time of year, I start moving away from stews and heavier dishes and move towards more grilling and less use of the oven inside. I have decided this year to experiment more with the crock-pot since it is such a huge time saver. I think it’s a good time especially the cookbook my mom gave me for Christmas specifically has a seasonal section of crock-pot meals. Seasonality starts to equal cost savings for the items that are coming in now like strawberries and asparagus that can be purchased at wonderful prices. The weather forecast has improved for the weekend so I am hopeful I can still make a trip to the local Farmer’s Market and get some more inspiration.

I am also committed to at least one night a month that will be kid’s cook night. I believe like this article from WebMD believes that cooking is not only great bonding time, but learning time and time to build healthy habits as well.

Finally, there is also a holiday to consider with Easter being April 24 and this year, for the first time, I plan to make an Easter Brunch. Not sure if I can do it avoiding real baking but I am going to give it a try.

So for now, I have most of April planned out. Here is the calendar as it stands today:

Some recipes you will recognize and others are new.  I have a personal goal of trying at least one new recipe per week. The bonus is I get to share my successes (and failures) with you! You will also notice a few days are still blank. I will fill those by this weekend when I make my Sunday coupon shopping trip.

As always, I love reading your comments and getting messages from you with tips and ideas. Keep ‘em coming!

Monthly Menu Planning - Planning for Leftovers

The hallmark of a good monthly menu is planning for and using leftovers. I know there are some out there that hate leftovers but in this post, I am not talking about packaging mini-meals for later,but re-purposing what you had left over to create a new dish. Tons of magazines and websites have devoted articles to making a meal one night and using the leftover protein or components for another dish. One of my favorite mags, Real Simple,  did a feature on reusing leftover hamburger and hot dog buns! Like monthly meal planning, planning for leftovers takes a little extra time at the front end but overall, proves to be a time and money saver.

As a mom with a job also outside the home, I save my more complicated meals for the weekends. I am also sort of a traditionalist in that I do like trying to have a nice big Sunday dinner. So for me, my leftover planning starts with whatever I have chosen to cook for the weekends. Remember I start my menu planning by first filling in the evenings I know I am not responsible for dinner. The next step is planning my weekend meals and their related leftovers.

Let’s say Sunday is pork loin day. Depending on the time of year, the seasonal vegetables and what else we have that week, I can cook pork loin in a variety of different ways. However, you can bet that somewhere on the menu for the following week is my fried rice (a family favorite) using the leftover pork. I have even chopped the leftover pork and frozen it for that purpose if the schedule isn't going to allow for rice the next week.

By now you have probably seen all of the cooking segments, recipes and articles that revolve around rotisserie chickens. I will pick up a store made chicken in a pinch, serve it as a meal and then use the leftover meat for another meal. What I prefer, is to roast my own chicken as a Saturday or Sunday meal. I pick the chicken of all the leftover meat that evening and have several meals I can choose from to make using the leftovers (enchiladas, pot pie, wraps, salad, etc.). Then I take the carcass, place it in a large stock pot* with some water and poultry seasoning and boil it to make my own chicken broth. Sometimes I reserve the meat and go ahead and plan for chicken soup using the broth. Otherwise I freeze the broth for later or reserve in the fridge for another meal during the week (if you have never added chicken broth to vegetables when you steam or mash them, you are missing out).

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Wendy’s uses it’s leftover hamburgers for its chili, why not use leftover meatloaf to make a savory chili that you can eat alone or use as filling for a casserole. There is always a can of crescent rolls and/or biscuits in my fridge for just such an occasion. Did you grill an extra chicken breast or two? Slice them up for use in quick fajitas (I sauté in Newman’s Own lime dressing and add a little taco seasoning) or make a grilled chicken salad. My husband loves giant chicken Caesar salads but we have done Asian salads too. And of course, there’s always nachos!

So when you plan out your meals, think about how you can use what’s left for a future meal. If you have a large family, double or triple a recipe if you need to. Because you are using leftovers, you are cutting down on prep time and often cook time for a future meal. Got a leftover you don’t know how to use? Let me know. I am sure I can MacGyver something!

*I have a stock pot that has the removable insert for draining. This is the BEST for making chicken stock because you are not trying to skim out bits of bone and such when your broth is done.