The Menu Plan

Many moms I see online plan their menu each week.  I can see how this is beneficial, and something I will likely find myself doing once Little Sheep gets old enough.  But for now, my plan is pretty simple.

I took the four main ingredients of our diet -- chicken, pork, beef, and ground beef.  Then I created seven different meals that each item could be used with.  For example, each one can be made into a hash, a soup, or a stew of some sort.  That's 12 meals alone!  But I also added in a pasta meal, and a rice meal, and then something different for each.  After that, I mixed them up so that we never have two of the same meal or two of the same meats twice in a row.  We'll go through 4 meals before we have anything similar.

Some of them are fairly vague (ie "Beef and Pasta") and the reason for that is to allow me a bit of variety.  For "Beef and Pasta" I might make a Beef Bourgandy, or a beef stir fry over egg noodles, etc.  That gives me some wiggle room, as well as allows me to use up excess in the fridge.

I also prep my meat ahead of time so that it is portioned out.  Because at this point it is only myself and PapaSheppard eating real food meals, I have 8 oz of meat per meal, or 4 oz each.  This is plenty of meat for us, as we treat it as a garnish, and not the main focus of the meal.  We often add a salad and homemade bread to the menu.  I bake my favorite recipe, Cuban Bread, to go with it, and we have a delicious, healthy and complete meal!

Here's my current rotation of meals.

Shredded Pork Sandwiches
Beef and Pasta
Hamburger Soup
Chicken Hash
Pork Stew
Beef Kabobs
Mashed Potatoes with Hamburger Gravy
Chicken Alfredo
Pork Kabobs
Beef Stew
Hamburger Hash
Chicken and Dressing
Pork Soup
Shredded Beef Sandwiches
Nachos with Ground Beef
Chicken Cacciatore
Honey Garlic Pork
Beef Soup
Hamburger Casserole
Chicken and Rice
Pork Hash
Beef Stroganoff
Calzones (Can be used with pretty much anything)
Chicken Soup
Sweet and Sour Pork
Beef Hash
Spaghetti with Hamburger Meat Sauce
Chicken Barbecue Sandwiches