Easy Meal Planning Ideas

"What's for dinner, Mom?" is a late afternoon question that rings through the kitchens of households everywhere throughout America. With insatiable appetites, food seems to be constantly on the minds of growing children! Likewise, trying to figure out what to cook for dinner seven evenings a week can become a tiresome task for busy moms! You know what your family's likes and dislikes are when it comes to specific dishes, so rather than tell you exactly what to make in with specific menus, this article tells you how to easily organize and plan your family's favorite meals. So, when that popular question of what's for dinner pops up, you already know the answer!

Meal planning does not have to be difficult! First, come up with seven categories of dinner meals, one for each day of the week. In our house, our categories are the following:

Monday- Mexican

Tuesday- Italian

Wednesday-Chicken

Thursday- Soup or Main Dish Salad, and Bread

Friday- Hamburger and Fries

Saturday- Pizza (or Eat Out)

Sunday- Beef or Chef's Choice

Your categories of meals may look completely different than mine, depending on your family's tastes. You may prefer to have a Vegetarian Night, Pork Night, Sandwich Night, or Greek Night. The possibilities are endless. I like to include a Chef's Choice option during the week to allow some flexibility in what I cook if I feel like trying something new, or I find a good sale on an item and want have it for dinner.

Now, list a main dish your family likes (which is quick to prepare) under each category. Add an optional side dish or dishes, and optional dessert to go with the main dish. You now have one weeks worth of meals planned. The menu plan for one week at our house looks like this:

Monday (Mexican)- Tacos, Refried Beans

Tuesday (Italian)- Spaghetti, Salad

Wednesday (Chicken) Roasted Chicken, Cooked Baby Carrots, Green Beans

Thursday (Soup or Main Dish Salad, and Bread)- Chicken Caesar Salad, Italian Garlic Bread

Friday- Hamburger and Fries

Saturday- Pizza (or eat out)

Sunday- (Beef or Chef's Choice) Pot roast with potatoes and vegetables, Corn Bread

You can repeat the steps of choosing dishes your family likes in each category, for each day of the week, as many times as you'd like to make multiple weekly menu plans. It helps if you first list out as many main dishes as you can for each category. Then, you can pick and choose what main dishes from each category you want in the same week. Continuing the example from my own family's meal plan, my list of dishes in each category include:

Mexican- Tacos, Taco Salad, Quesidillas, Enchilladas

Italian- Spaghetti, Fettuccini, Calzones, Lasagne

Chicken- Roasted Chicken, Chicken Fingers, Broccoli and Chicken Casserole, Chicken Pot Pie

Soup or Main Dish Salad, and Bread- Chicken Caesar Salad, Chili, Baked Potato Soup, Vegatable Beef Soup

Hamburger and Fries (This has become a tradition, we always have this on Fridays.)

Pizza or Out to Eat- (Again, we have this every week and usually do not vary the menu on this day.)

Beef- Pot Roast, Cubed Steak, Grilled or Pan-Fried Steaks, Hamburger Pie

From the above list, I have four weeks of meal plans that I can make. All I need to do is write out each weekly menu plan and add some side dishes.

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Planning meals can take a little effort at first, but definitely saves time in the long run. With meals planned, from those recipes you can easily make a standard grocery list for your dinners for each week. By sticking to your meal plans, you will save money on groceries by having fewer miscellaneous ingredients to buy for dishes you may only make once in a while, which, if they are not used within a short amount of time often go to waste. Plus, with a grocery list in hand and meals already planned, you'll be less tempted to grab for those extraneous items on the grocery shelves that you don't really need, and only add up to a bigger grocery bill at the cash register!

Meal planning is not meant to be confining or restrictive, as you can always choose not to use the plan any time you want to fix something different. Whether or not you strictly follow your plan, once you've got it on paper, you now always have an answer to fall back on when the inevitable question arises, "Mom, what's for dinner?"

New Ice Cream Flavor, Want a Bite?

Now, I know it's not the most healthy food in the world, but ice cream is one of my favorite desserts...it's my weakness! I enjoy ice cream any time of the year, be it sortching hot or freezing cold outside! Are you the type that likes to eat the same flavor every time, or do you like variety? I think one of the joys in life is trying out new flavors--the same old thing is boring to me! I was grocery shopping the other day and happened somehow find myself in the ice cream aisle perusing the latest flavors to hit the shelves. One in particular caught my eye, its limited edition flavor commemorates the holiday season that is almost here: Haagan-Daz Peppermint Bark Ice Cream. This cool and refreshing flavor has white chocolate ice cream with peppermint bark and peppermint candy pieces. Mmm...the peppermint candy pieces crunched like eating candy canes! With the chocolate peppermint bark pieces mixed in,the flavor combination was wonderful! My only complaint, as with most ice creams with mix-ins is that it didn't have enough chocolate and mint pieces! The white chocolate ice cream by itself doesn't hold its own, but all together, the flavors are delicious!

Have I given you a craving? Just talking about it makes me want to get another expensive pint...but then again, it's a tough call when there are so many other new flavors to be discovered!


Copyright 2008 Feeding Growling Tummies

Warm and Comforting Ham and Bean Soup

Our deliciously warm and comforting dinner tonight was a thick Ham and Bean Soup with cornbread. There's something about a crockpot of hot soup simmering on a cold day that brings anticipation for dinner as the aroma fills the house! The price of beans is very economical, and this makes a good amount (serves 7) and, depending on the size of your family, will be enough for leftovers. I want to share this tummy warming recipe for Ham and Bean with you!

Ham and Beans

1 pound dry Great Northern beans
1/2 pound cooked ham, diced
1 meaty ham bone
1 small onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1/8 cup brown sugar (optional)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
salt and pepper to taste

Sort and rinse beans, and soak overnight in a large pot with 8 cups of water. In the morning, drain and rinse beans. Place in crockpot with all ingredients except diced ham. Add just enough water to crockpot to cover the beans. Cook on low for 8-9 hours. Add water during cooking as needed. During last hour of cooking, add diced ham. If you prefer your ham and beans to be spicy, add 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper at the start of cooking.


Copyright 2008 Feeding Growling Tummies

Thanksgiving Menu, or should I say Feast?

I have cooked a big Thanksgiving dinner by myself only once. Our family has always gone to my parents' or my inlaws for Thanksgiving, so I never actually had to host the dinner myself. The one time I did cook the whole meal, I loved every minute of the planning, organizing, cooking and serving. I thought I'd share the menu. It is mostly traditional, except for the lasagne. I cooked that, in addition to the turkey, at the special request of my husband!

Thanksgiving Menu:

Lasagne
Turkey Breast with Italian Herbs
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans
Stuffing in a Crock Pot
Homemade Yeast Rolls with Butter
Sweet Potato Casserole
Homemade Noodles
Corn Casserole
Sweet Tea
Lemonade
Pumpkin Pie
Buttery Cranberry Pie
Chocolate Pecan Pie
Egg Nog

Looking at this list I am amazed that I actually cooked all that food! But, organization was key, and because I had a step-by-step plan and did a lot of preparation in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, I truly was not stressed on the big day.

I wrote out a day-by-day schedule of things to do, starting on the week before Thanksgiving. I assembled and froze the lasagne ahead of time. I also made and froze the uncooked noodles, cooked the sweet potatoes for the sweet potato casserole, chopped vegetables for the stuffing, and put together parts of recipes that could be quickly thrown together on Thanksgiving day. I made out an hourly schedule of what needed to be done on Thanksgiving day, planning ahead of time what dishes could bake in the oven together and when each dish needed to be assembled and cooked. Because I was well organized, we were able to have a huge, completely home cooked meal that did not chain me for hours to the kitchen!

I want to share with you the Sweet Potato Casserole I adapted from the internet. Instead of using a nut topping, I substituted Vanilla Wafers in the topping recipe for a sweet, crunchy, absolutely delicious dish!

Sweet Potato Casserole

4 c baked sweet potatoes, mashed (bake medium sized potatoes 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees)

1/2 c sugar

2 eggs

1/2 t salt

4 T butter, softened

1/2 c milk

1/2 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine all ingredients, mixing well. Pour into a greased 9x13" baking dish. Top with crumb topping(recipe below).

Crumb Topping:

1/2 c brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 T butter, softened

1/2 c vanilla wafers, coarsely chopped

Mix together sugar and flour. Cut in butter. Stir in vanilla wafers. Sprinkle over top of sweet potato mixture in baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Whether you are cooking up a feast, or keeping things simple, remember to keep your priorities in sight. A table full of food is not worth the effort if the cook is overburdened, upset and exhausted from cooking all day! Stressing over the food is never worth ruining a day in which we have so much to be thankful!

Making Dinner From Thin Air- Menu Ideas For Nearly Empty Pantries

Have you ever come to the end of the week or month, just before a trip to the grocery store, and stood before the almost empty refrigerator and pantry wondering what on earth you can conjure up for dinner from the limited selection of ingredients before you? I've got a great resource to do the thinking for you!

Allrecipes.com is a handy source for finding recipes, but it also has a special search function that allows you to type in the ingredients you have on hand to use in a recipe, and it will search for recipes that use those ingredients! No more staring blankly into your cupboards at a loss for what's for dinner! The search also allows you to input the ingredients you DON'T want to include in a recipe. This has been a great way to creatively use the ingredients I have on hand with tried and tested recipe, rather than my coming up with a spur-of-the-moment concoction that may or may not be tasty, as Allrecipes has reviews and ratings of the recipes that are posted on their site. You can read reviewers suggestions as to what they liked or disliked about the recipe, and they often give suggestions on how to improve or alter the recipe.

So, the next time you are at a loss for what to make from a limited selection of ingredients, try Allrecipes for a yummy new dish to grace your table!

Emergency Preparedness

We see ads on TV suggesting we should have a plan in case of a disaster, and I wonder just how many people actually prepare ahead for the unknown? I mean, most do prepare when they know a hurricane is inevitable, especially when they've lived through a disaster and know the discomfort it can bring when you are not prepared!

For those of us who have fortunately not had to live through a disaster, but would like to be prepared for long-term power outages of a storm or what have you, here's a simple, budget-freindly plan to help! There's nothing like having a growling tummy in a bad situation and not having the food to feed it!

Here's what we've done, and it really has not been at all difficult, even on a budget! Each shopping trip we have simply bought a little extra of the non-perishable foods that we normally buy each week! Wow--that's not so hard, is it? I've added a few gallons of bottled water as well, so that if the water supply was not safe for a couple of days we'd have at least some that is drinkable.

Now, there are those who would suggest storing up food to last a year or more, but the type of preparedness I'm talking about is more for a short-term emergency. It would take much more money and planning to prepare for long-term survival! I'm sure there are websites out there that address those issues. What I'm talking about, rather, is to store up some food that you would normally eat, so that you can continue to use the older food and replenish your storage with fresher food. If you mostly buy that what you normally eat, you won't end up throwing out expired food that no one has an appetite for. Also, if there was an emergency, it will the be familiar foods that you already like that will be a comfort for you and your family!

Do you have some emergency preparedness tips to share? We'd like to hear!

Copyright 2008 Feeding Growling Tummies

Beet You'll Love These!

Have you ever opened a can of beets, threw them in the pan, and served them to your family only to receive an unfavorable response? Canned, or even boiled fresh beets don't usually have a lot of flavor. But, beets are really good for you, not to mention their deep red color is beautiful....and there IS a way to cook beets that result in a tender, sweet, flavor! If you know how to bake a potato, you already know how to bake a beet!

To bake beets, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If the green tops of the beets are still on, cut them off at the base and scrub each beet well, leaving the skin on:

Photo Copyright 2008 Feeding Growling Tummies


Wrap each beet well in aluminum foil. Make sure these are completely wrapped to avoid dripping beet juice in your oven!:

Photo Copyright 2008 Feeding Growling Tummies

Bake the beets for about an hour. Depending on the size of the beets, just as in baking a potato, you may need to bake these a little longer, until they are tender. As they cook longer the more carmelized the beets become and the flavor deepens and sweetens.

Remove beets from oven and carefully remove foil. Be careful, the steam in side is hot! With your fingers or a knife, remove the peel from the beets. Slice the beets and butter. If you'd like a little more "wow" to your beets, drizzle the beets with vingar---Balsamic vinegar is delicious with these!

Photo Copyright 2008 Feeding Growling Tummies

It's good to try new foods, or even re-try them with your family from time to time. Just because something wasn't liked the first time around, doesn't mean it won't grow on them in time! Beets are a great place to start since they are sweet and don't have a strong flavor. Try baked beets soon!

Copyright 2008 Feeding Growling Tummies