Miscellaneous Monday: Menu Madness

Miscellaneous Monday:  Menu Madness

As you can see I really like alliterations.  A few years ago I decided to plan my menu using alliterations for themes.  Today I am sharing these with you.  I think planning menus can be fun, especially when trying to plan according to themes.  Here they are:

Make It Again Monday:  on this day I planned for leftovers.  If I didn’t have any in the fridge or freezer then my backup was spaghetti or pancakes (or something else really easy)

Taste Test Tuesday:  I planned to try at least one new recipe on this day, it could be a main dish, side, dessert, bread, or all of them.  It is always fun to try something new.  You’ve already gotten a taste of this one as I chose to use this for a blog title to highlight food storage recipes.

World Flavors Wednesday:  on this day was planned to eat foods from around the world:  Chinese, Mexican, Italian, American, etc.  What fun!  If you really want to go all out: find the country’s flag, some songs or dances and have a country night-learn about the country, its culture, its history, etc.  Great family cultural night.

Thrifty Thursday:  I am using this title now in the blog for the financial, frugal part of provident living, but I originally used it in my menu planning--my meals (the whole meal) had to feed the whole family for under $5 (I tried for even lower most of the time).

Food Storage Friendly Friday:  you guessed it, the meals had to use something from food storage--not necessarily the whole meal, but something.  I could replace ingredients with those I had in food storage or try completely new recipes using only food storage items.  This gave my family a chance to learn the preparation methods and tastes of food storage items.

Savor It Again Saturday:  leftovers again!  I decided for my family, we better include at least 2 dinners a week of leftovers (not to mention some lunches are leftovers too), that way I’m not being overwhelmed with the “what’s for dinner” and having to whip up something new everyday problem.

Souper/Slowcooker Sunday:  Sundays have 2 themes:  soups or slowcooker meals.  Sunday is super, so coming up with a theme was easy: Souper Sunday..  But also using the slowcooker on Sunday is so nice--throw in the food before church, come home to a meal already to eat--mmmm!

Well there you have it, my menu madness.  My alliterate themed days.  Feel free to change up your menu planning, theme it or wing it, but either way---Enjoy it!

More ideas on Menu Planning:

How to plan meals (and thereby grocery shopping):  

First:  perishables--what already have that needs to be used right away.  Think of recipes and meals that use those ingredients.  Example:  got sour cream to use up:  tacos, beef stroganof, chip dip, sour cream muffins, funeral potatoes, etc.

Then:  sales-what is on sale?  Now think of recipes using the sale items.  

And of course:  food storage-what can I swap or make with what I have on hand?  Integrate food storage items into the menu.

And lastly:  special occasions-are there any special occasions to plan for--birthdays, holidays, picnics, etc.?  Plan the menu or items needed for such.

Of course, as shelf-stable and freeze-able items are on sale, it is a good idea to stock up so you don’t have to pay full price when you do need it.

Other theme ideas:  have each person in the family be in charge of what’s for dinner one night of the week, pasta days, sandwich nights, rice dishes, under 30 minutes to prepare, breakfast for supper, pizza, appetizer (who says you need a main dish every night?), finger foods, go green (use green colored foods or color everything green or prepare using “green” methods and foods), brown bag, American, Italian, Chinese, (think of restaurants that you enjoy and theme your nights according to them--making the food at home of course)

Have fun!