Menu Planning

For the past several months Sarah and I have been subscribing to the Stolen Moments Menu plan. It’s been a good experience to have a month of menus provided for seven days a week. We got the September plan and decided that it would be our last month. We really don’t have any problem with the menu plans, we’ve actually gotten several new recipes we like from the plans. The problem  we had was that the menus don’t really fit our schedule/cooking style. Right now I’m at the church on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. On Tuesdays we have our Life Group or need to eat something quick due to other evening activities. The Stolen Moments plans didn’t really account for creative use of leftovers that would make this type of eating possible.

We generally cook three or four meals a week, preparing enough food to either have leftovers or creatively reuse what has been cooked earlier in the week. This morning we set out with a new goal to plan a menu for the rest of the month. We eat at home most nights of the week, or take food from home with us. The basic schedule involves cooking on Mondays, a crock pot meal on Tuesdays, something from the freezer on Wednesday, a leftover option on Thursday, our most elaborate meal on Friday (it’s my day off). Saturdays are left open for whatever comes up and Sundays  we scrounge. This will certainly change once Josiah starts to eat real food, but we’re going to give it a go for the next several months.

So what are the first run meals for the rest of September?

  • Turkey/asparagus rolls, peas, orzo
  • Stir fried beef with snow peas
  • Seared fish, roasted tomatoes, crispy potatoes
  • Old fashioned pot roast, potatoes, carrots, salad, rolls [crock pot]
  • Chicken tikka masala
  • Tomatillo chicken, bean/corn/tomato salad
  • Linguini with clam sauce, salad, garlic bread
  • Potato soup
  • Chicken adobo, rice, stir fry veggies