I’ve always been fascinated by once a month cooking. People who have it together enough to plan ahead and work ahead and then have an easy time of it for the rest of the month.
So a few weeks ago I decided I was spending way too much time and stress on cooking and needed to divide my time more wisely. It seemed like the hour before supper – when I needed to be cooking – the children all got needy and the phone rang off the hook. So I sat down and made a weekly menu that we have each week for a month. Then, in turn, I made my shopping list.
Most of the suppers in the week are make-ahead-and-freeze, and the lunches are either soups, leftovers or wraps. I also wanted to utilize the canned goods we have a lot of, namely, corn, peaches, tomato juice, and salmon, as well as the beans and rice we have in bulk.
And so I planned. Those who know me know I love planning and organizing so this part was a lot of fun! I even planned snacks and food for carry-ins at church.
The down side of a menu like this is the lack of flexibility. I had planned a casserole and vegetables or dessert for Sundays, but then the ladies in charge planned soup and salad for the carry in, or haystacks, and I had to improvise. Also, when we went fishing and camping a couple days for two weeks in a row I found myself scrambling a bit since I hadn’t gotten sandwich fixings or snacks for packed lunches.
So there are definitely pros and cons to this menu I made, but it has really saved me a lot of time spent in cooking as well as having an extra casserole or two to give to the families in church who are in the middle of moving, and the one who just had a baby a week ago.
For those of you who can read my scrawly handwriting, here is a picture of this week’s menu. (It only varies slightly from week to week)
For the rest, I will write it out below and if this part is boring, feel free to skip it. Personally I love food and making food and like to hear how others do things!
Monday
B. Eggs, Bacon, and toast
L. Southwestern Soup with sour cream, pumpkin cookies (Southwestern soup uses beans, rice, tomato juice and canned corn, all things we have a lot of.)
S. Spaghetti casserole (make five at the beginning of the month and freeze extra), corn
Tuesday
B. Egg scramble with sausage, onions, potatoes, cheese
L. Salmon Chowder, Artisan bread
S. Chicken pot pie, (recipe makes 3, freeze two for other Tuesday nights) Skillet cookie
Wednesday
B. Egg Kake (custard-like casserole you can make ahead and bake that morning), peaches
L. Bean and rice burritos with lettuce, cheese, sour cream
S. Meatball Sub casserole (make four or five at the beginning of the month and freeze) mixed vegetables
Thursday
B. Biscuits and sausage gravy (can make biscuits ahead and freeze)
L. Leftovers
S. Southwestern chicken and rice (dump about six ingredients in a crockpot and turn it on for the afternoon. So easy and so delicious over rice!)
Friday
B. Breakfast casserole (make the day before and bake that morning)
L. Fried rice with vegetables (a favorite since our Tibet trip. Gabe likes to try chopsticks too but eats veeeery sloooowly this way.)
S. Lasagna casserole, (make 4 at the beginning of the month and freeze. I made extra to give away and for fellowship meals.) Salad
Saturday
B. Pancakes
L. Leftovers
S. Pizza, vegetables, fruit smoothies
Sunday
B. Granola and yogurt
L. Enchilada casserole and chocolate chip bars
S. Popcorn, leftover pizza
So there you have it! I made my shopping list from this menu and kept it within our budget. Suppers have been so simple this month. Just pull out a casserole or put something in the oven or crockpot. I’ve been loving it!
We did our monthly shopping trip the last week of June and I got some disposable casserole pans. The next day I made casseroles. Lots and lots of casseroles.
If you want any of these recipes, email me at 1994godsprincess@gmail.com and I’ll be glad to share. I’d also love to hear your easy recipes or things you do to keep the house running smoothly while busy with young ones. Here in Alaska we are also in the middle of fishing season so often we’ll be gone part of the day for that.
Andy caught some nice Silver Salmon last night.