The most popular post on Midwest Neurotica is “How to Organize your Recipes and Plan Meals“. Certain Google searches bring it up on the first page – isn’t that snazzy!
Unfortunately, the menu planning part of that system is moderately laughable these days. (I’m not even mentioning my change in dietary preferences.) Gone are the Sundays leafing through cookbooks, picking out what sounds the most interesting and delicious. My ‘make everything only once’ habit was doomed from the start; but little did I know all the changes that were in store.
My new routine consists of clipping and e-clipping all the coupons I can get my paws on, scouring multiple store circulars to match up deals with coupons, and making a list of what we’re buying this week. Only after that does the phrase ‘menu plan’ come into play. And this is really the first week I’ve attempted it, after far too many ‘on-the-fly’ and ‘let’s just eat cereal’ nights. (And I should add – more dinners out than I care to admit.)
This week’s plan:
- Meat & Potato Casserole
- Pork Fried Rice with Pineapple
- Browned Butter Tilapia with Parmesan Pasta
- Chicken & Rice Casserole
I’m excited to still know ‘what’s for dinner’, but now I’m doing my part to stock up on savings. There is a certain thrill when I look at a receipt and see that I saved more than 50% by matching sales with coupons. Since I rarely (never?) made one of those new recipes again, this new excitement might even be more satisfying. I am eager to update the MN recipe archive with inspired updates to old classics, using in-season goodies and stocked-up-staples.
My favorite menu planning tips:
