30-Day Menu Planner

A few months ago, my husband decided he'd had enough of grocery shopping....LOL! For various reasons,  hubby took over the job of grocery shopping, and I simply cooked whatever was in the house. Meals were plain, often bland, but we ate!

So, now after, 30 some years, he's tired of doing it...and I have been assigned the job. So, I started out by doing menus, printing out recipes, making a shopping list, and going to the store. Hubby prefers Wal-Mart, while I like a local chain, Kroger's! So off to Kroger's we'll go! I began doing two-weeks, and then switched to a 30-day menu plan. I am somewhat familiar with Microsoft Excel, and found these menu planners. I don't use all the worksheets in the planners, but have adjusted them to my personal use.

http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/meal-planner.html

In July, I planned out all 30 days with a different, new recipe. Big Mistake!! The planning process took forever to pick out that many different recipes, check my cabinets for ingredients, and make the shopping list! So..here's how I've simplified it!

First, do an inventory of your cabinets, fridge & freezer. Spices are especially important! I made one of the blank worksheets in the above planners to keep an Inventory list by location! Next, make a list of main dishes that you are used to having, and preparing, each month. I like to cook a double-recipe soup, stew, or chili on Friday nights, extend it into Saturday meals. No cooking on Saturdays!! Sundays are the 'extra-special' meal for the week!

Planned Normal, Usual Meals

Spaghetti (2 times/month)
Chili (2 /month) alternating weekends
Meat Loaf (2/month)
White Fish (2/month)
Salmon Filets (2/month)
Salmon Patties (2/month)
Chicken (4/month)
Beef (Roast) (2/month)
Beef Stew (2/month) alternating weekends
Pork Roast (2/month)
Pork Chops (4/month)
Liver & Onions (2/month)
Kielbasa (2/month)

Total = 30 months

Favorite Recipe Haunts

My spaghetti, chili, salmon patties & liver with onions are always fixed the same, so no need for recipes there! For the others, I look upon the internet first at a few of my favorite places:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/
http://www.pillsbury.com/
http://www.bettycrocker.com/
http://allrecipes.com/
http://www.food.com/

I print out the chosen recipes, and put them into order by placement on the menu. If there were no hints on any of these pages for side dishes, veggies, etc...I make those decisions now and add to the menu.

Make your shopping list by comparing what's needed for each recipe, sides, veggies, and special breads against your inventory! Once your shopping list is complete, you're ready to go to the store.

We buy 2 each beef and pork roasts ranging 4-5 pounds each. One of each roast is cut in half and frozen for later use. The other beef roast is cut into cubes, divided into 2 freezer bags for stews and then frozen. The pork loin roast (our favorite) is sliced, placed into freezer bags, and frozen. We like the cuts of roasts for use better than buying seperate cubed beef or pork chops. The ground beef for spaghetti, chili and meat loaf is bought bulk. Once the groceries have been put away, I get out my small kitchen scale, place a plastic bowl on top, and adjust the scale back to read at zero. The beef is divided into 1-pound groups which are placed individually into freezer bags and frozen. On chili day, I pull out 2 bags!!

I also plan on substituting some other soups, chicken & dumplings, or other type meal so that we do not tire of the chili & beef stew. I've not done that yet, but have downloaded some soup & stew books onto my Kindle. There's a nice Facebook page called, https://www.facebook.com/DiningDownloads  that sends a daily offering for free, or reduced-priced, cookbook!

NOTE:  For other free Kindle books, check out https://www.facebook.com/PixelofInk on Facebook. I have signed up for both. Beware though to check specifically for the "KINDLE PRICE" being set to zero, as these offers may not last very long. They're usually good for a day, but I've seen them disappear before the day is over! They also have Inspired Reads and one for Children (I can't remember the name for it!)

MY RECIPES

I only have 1 kidney and use no, to little salt, in my recipes! The saltines I use, are unsalted tops, as they were recommended by the hospital dietician has having less sodium! I use mostly olive oil for cooking also in the recipes that follow, but left it a generic option!

Salmon Patties

2-3 T. Oil
1 stack of saltines, coarsely crushed
1 can of salmon, undrained
2 eggs
1 T. dried parsley

Preheat oil in large skillet. Combine the saltines, salmon, parsely and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Mix well, and shape into patties. I get about 5 sandwich-sized patties. Brown each side, approximately 5-6 minutes each without burning! Times vary on this, so watch carefully!  We tried this with Zatarians Red Beans & Rice and really liked the combination! Otherwise, we usually have spinach and some flavor of mashed potatoes! We like leftover patties for lunch as a sandwich with mayonnaise, too!

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Spaghetti

1 pound of ground beef
3-4 green onions, chopped
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can, drained, mushrooms (4 oz)
1 can/jar of your favorite regular spaghetti sauce

Brown ground beef with chopped green onions until cooked. Drain grease. Add petite diced tomatoes, drained mushrooms and the can of spaghetti sauce. Lower heat, and let simmer while your cooking your favorite noodles to serve with the sauce! Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese! Can be served with garlic or french bread.

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Chili

2 pounds ground beef
1 cup frozen, chopped onions
1/2 cup frozen, chopped peppers
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Brown above ingredients until meath is thoroughly cooked in a large stockpot.  Drain grease! Then add:

1 large can kidney beans in chili sauce
1 can petite diced tomatoes with jalapenos
1 can pinto beans with onions
1 T. Chili Powder
1 can tomato paste, 8 oz.
Water as desired

Add above ingredients to the stockpot. The amount of water needed depends on the consistency you like for your chili to have. I like more liquid so that I can crush my crackers into the chili and let them soak up some juice! Others like less liquid! Others like more spices, so add to your preference. Hubby doesn't like spicy chili, so I have to leave red pepper flakes, etc, out of the mix!

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Liver & Onions

2-3 T. oil
1 pound beef liver
1/2 c. flour
salt
pepper
1 large onion, sliced
1 c. water

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Put flour, salt and pepper into a large plastic bag. Shake to mix ingredients. Add 1 piece of liver at a  time and shake to coat the liver completely. Remove from bag and place into the skillet. Repeat for remaining slices. Cook over medium heat, until flour has set onto the liver and then flip onto other side. Salt & pepper to taste. Once both sides have been lightly browned, add onions and water into skillet. Lower heat, cover skillet with lid, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until onions are tender, turning once midway through the process. 

The steaming water helps to soften the liver, and makes a nice gravy from the bits of loosened flour. Great over mashed potatoes as a side dish!

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Meat Loaf

1 pound ground beef
1 stack saltines, coarsely crushed
1 can tomato paste with Italian seasoning (4 ounces)
1 egg
1/2 cup frozen chopped onions
1/2 cup frozen chopped green peppers
Salt
Pepper
2 heels of bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a loaf pan with 2 heels of bread, crust side facing up.Reserve 1 Tablespoon of the tomato paste to be used on top of the meat loaf!

Crumble beef into a large mixing bowl. Add rest of the ingredients and mix well. Form into a loaf, and place into pan. Do not press the loaf down into the heels of the bread or they will stick to the meat loaf! Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a cut down the center of the loaf shows no pink. If any pink shows, put back in the oven for 5-10 minutes to cook thoroughly. Toss away the heels, as they're only for soaking up the grease from the hamburger.

Note: Because of my diet, I find the seasonings in the tomato paste to be sufficient. If you require more seasoning, try adding additional Italian seasoning.