help me with my new meal rotation?

[mamatogands]

ok, we have been spending an embarrassing, I mean EMBARRASSING amount of money eating out -- :blush :blush :blush

so, we're going to institute some serious meal planning at our house, and I thought I'd try building it around a kind of theme rotation... then I'll try to have the basic things for things in the theme on hand...

will you help me with relatively easy and quick meals for my themes? :P~

Mondays -- International (taco salad, stir fry, pasta)
Tuesdays -- Crock pot (chicken recipes are what I usually do)
Wednesdays -- Meat and Potatoes (or "real cooking" -- entree, side dish, veggies) (chicken recipes, salisbury steak, meatloaf, ...)
Thursdays -- soup and bread (chili, tomato soup n grilled cheese, broccoli cheese)
Fri -- sandwiches (hamburgers, turkey burgers, pizza...)

That's it. We REALLY need to get serious about this meal planning business.

[expatmom]

Good idea! I need to think about some meal planning for the fall, but I am waiting until it cools down a bit. I can't stand to be in the kitchen right now, let alone turn on the oven; it is too hot!

Anyhoo, here are my random thoughts:

Monday -

for tacos, you could make up a big batch of the meat & then freeze it in meal sized portions. Then it would be easy to pull out and defrost ready made. Also, buy the cheese pregrated for quicker prep. Sometimes insteade of tacos we have quesedillas with diced chicken, stir fried peppers & onions, sour cream, guac, etc.
how about a jar of Pataks indian curry for a quick meal. I find if I have one of those plus a jar of coconut milk, some type of prediced meat (I try to predice some chicken/beef when I buy it and then freeze it that way for easier prep at meal time), and then some kind of veggie (tomato, cauliflower, etc).
Also, on the prediced meat theme, I often marinate it before I freeze it so it is stir fry ready. Then a quick cut up of veggies & rice in the rice maker & the meal is done.
other international meals? how about cabbage rolls or perogies? greek chicken with tzatziki?


Tuesday -
How about crock pot chili? or pot roast? or beef stew? I've also seen recipes for lazy man cabbage rolls but haven't tried them yet. I'd love to try some meat free bean recipes in my crock pot but I'm not sure my kids would eat them.

Wednesday-

A family favourite chicken/pork/turkey (whatever is on sale!) recipe here is dead easy. 1 tin of Cream of Mushroom soup, 1 tsp each of thyme & oregano, 1 tbsp lemon juice, splash of milk, mix together & bake for however long it takes to cook (1/2 hr to 1 hr depending on meat). Make rice & some sort of steamed veggie or veggies and dip. Yum!
Another family favourite is honey mustard chicken. In a saucepan, melt a blop of butter (?5tbsp), add 1/2 cup of honey and a squirt of mustard and a pinch of curry. Pour over chicken and bake. Again, make rice & some sort of veggie. Yummy!


Thursday -
Oh soup options are endless! I'd look on allrecipes.com & try a new one every week. Freeze leftovers for lunch time meals.
Our family favorites are borsch, mushroom& , beef & bean. An easy quick one that our kids love is just to make a couple of packs of ramen noodles with brocolli, mushrooms, green onions, cheese & an egg stirred in. Add soy sauce & some sesame oil.

Friday -
Veggie burgers? Sloppy joes? Wraps of all varieties?

[mamahammer]

International -
I add Rotel tomatoes to my taco meat to give it more flavor
chicken fried rice
egg rolls
chimichangas
lasagna
chalupas


Crock Pot
Roast Sticky Chicken
Chili
chicken and dumplings
Potatoes and Ham (diced potatoes, diced ham, cream of mushroom soup, little bit of milk, cheddar cheese topped with bread crumbs)
red beans and rice
gumbo


Soup
Chicken tortilla soup
taco soup
baked potato soup (use leftover mashed potatoes from meat and potato night)
tomato soup