Monday, August 9, 2010

menu plan | back to school edition

I enjoy grocery shopping when my list is complete and my menu plan is in place. That was the case this weekend. With two weeks worth of dinner meals planned and a complete list, I headed to the store. The batch cooking I did yesterday is going to come in handy considering school starts next week which means my calendar is going to fill up quick.

Spaghetti w/meat sauce, green beans, garlic bread

Chicken Caeser Salad, Breadsticks

Tuna Patties, (homemade) Creamed Corn, Smashed Potatoes or Salad

Black Beans & Rice

Slow Cooker Fajitas

Chicken & Broccoli Lo Mein

Pork & Asparagus Rice Bowl

Taco Squares, Corn Salad

Chicken & Bacon Sub Sandwiches, Pea Salad

Fritatta, Sausage, Fruit

Nachos Supreme

The items in blue are items that I prepared to some degree as part of my batch cooking this weekend (see Item 9 here). There are only 3 meals in the next 2 weeks that will require starting from scratch. I'd love it if I could make batch cooking a habit. I've done it before in spurts but no level of consistency.

And yes, I'm aware that there are only 11 meals listed and I said I have 14 days accounted for -- we are having dinner at a friend's home one evening later this week and I know we'll have enough leftovers that we can do 2 smorgasboard nights.

With school right around the corner, how do you plan ahead to save yourself time in the kitchen and guarantee you won't be a regular at the drive thru?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

awesome plan. I have until Sept. 1 to get organized. I actually stopped following my meal plan late July. I just wanted a break from it. Well done!!!

Sharon said...

Thanks for all the great meal ideas! School starts early for you guys, my kids don't start until September 7th!

Renee said...

I like your organization Mom!

mer@lifeat7000feet said...

I'm a believer in menu planning. I plan/shop two weeks at a time. I usually pre-cook my meat and freeze it in meal sized portions to give me one leg up on weeknight cooking. It makes all the difference for me when I'm a step or two ahead of the weeknight cooking game.

underthebigbluesky said...

I may steal your meal plan for next week. Sounds delicious.

I spent my 11 hours in the car on the way home from vacation, planning out my meals for the next month.

i have been really wanting to do the batch prep thing. girls here go back to school next week and i think it will really help.

i could not survive without a meal plan and grocery list!