How to Make Meal Planning Easier

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

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For being somewhat creative I lack it in the meal department. Every month I sit down and come up with about six meals that I will double to make a total of twelve. I freeze six of them and give six of them to a friend who then give me six meals that she has made. I find that it is hard to come up with ideas each month which makes no sense in the era of online recipes and Pinterest.

So this summer I am getting my act together or at least trying to. I made a list of "theme nights". What are theme nights in cooking? They are basic categories of different main dishes. Here is my list:

Slow Cooker

Soup

Sandwiches

Oriental

Pasta

Mexican

Chicken

Beef/Sausage

Breakfast for Dinner

Pizza {and the like}

After coming up with a list, I then made lists under each category. I started by listing our favorite...my go-to recipes that are always well loved. I then went through one of my favorite cookbooks, Not Your Mother's Make-Ahead and Freeze Cookbook, to pick out ones that I have done before and we have liked. Finally I went to Pinterest.

I now have an extensive list to choose from. I can pick one recipe from the different categories to insure that the meals aren't too repetitive in nature. No more reinventing the wheel each month for my non-creative brain! Stop by tomorrow as I share my very long list (many with links to the recipes)!

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Other great helps in freezer cooking:

31 Days of Freezer Cooking