I've talked about starting to menu plan our dinners as many times as I've resolved to stop stuffing receipts into my mess of a wallet. Every week I find myself in the same what-to-make-for-dinner pickle and make the same resolution. I've had a few failed attempts over the last couple of years, which undoubtedly shook my confidence. My former version of meal planning consisted of spending a couple hours on a Sunday afternoon perusing through my cookbooks (many of my favorites have rather complex 12+ ingredient recipes alongside the gorgeous photography.) By the time I'd picked the recipes, jotted down a list of all the ingredients, and decided on a schedule, I was already exhausted. And I must have missed the notice that my name is Jen, not Giada — and a homemade bolognese sauce on a weekday is not a smart move if you're looking to eat dinner before 10pm. So my meal plans would typically fall apart by day 3, and the end of the week saw me tossing fresh produce that had turned rotten. I think I forgot to mention how every magazine pantry feature — with a handy worksheet for menu planning — has not worked for me, because I don't eat chicken, and chicken's always on the menu.
And then every once in a long while, you make a small shift that feels monumental. That's what happened to me on Monday. Dan and I were talking about our month of October. It quickly became apparent that we have an intense month ahead, filled with a growing mountain of commitments that will be working against leisurely weekday evenings. There will be no wiggle time for my current cop-out version of meal planning (decide what I'm going to make in the morning and pick up groceries right before I cook.) Something clicked. Simplify, Jen.
Just like that, I jotted down a list of 5 simple recipes that I've made before and we've both liked. I put the fish dish at the front of the week and put the (rather short) list of ingredients in my shopping cart on Fresh Direct. Tuesday at 6pm, our food arrived, and I made my favorite salmon dish that night. It's working. And I also imposed a no-new-recipes rule for the month. I have a tendency to daydream about cooking, because I do love to cook. But sometimes you need to get down to business and just make a meal that fills you, is semi-nutritious, and reduces the stress of your evening with its simplicity. All I can say is thank god for Molly Wizenberg, because her recipes from A Homemade Life are a majority of my menu plan!
my menu for the week:
+ Tuesday: cider-glazed salmon (from A Homemade Life) with lemon spaghetti (from Giada's Everyday Italian, but this pasta dish is actually fast since the no-cook lemon sauce is simple)
+ Wednesday: I had a dinner out with friends, so Dan was on his own (Annie's mac + cheese and a sandwich)
+ Thursday: Italian grotto eggs from A Homemade Life with my twist. I add in a fresh baguette that I've topped with olive oil and parmesan cheese and warmed in the oven. We dip the bread in a little tomato sauce (from a jar) and pair it with Molly's yummy eggs. Breakfast for dinner is so satisfying.
Since that egg meal takes all of 10 minutes to make, I'm going to make a simple soup at the same time. I also love the tomato soup with two fennels from A Homemade Life. This will be my lunch for the end of the week and deal with the hunger cravings that can easily move a Saturday (around noon) to a cranky place. Dan loves grilled cheese paired with the tomato soup, and I prefer a piece of bread smeared with goat cheese to dunk in my soup.
+ Friday: shrimp pad thai from the Everday Food: Great Food Fast cookbook. I've made this once before and it's easy — and I now have all the unusual ingredients (like the tomato-based chili sauce) so my shopping list ingredients were simply frozen shrimp, bean sprouts, and rice-stick noodles.
+ Saturday and Sunday lunch: leftover tomato soup + grilled cheese
I guess we like cheese!
Why it has taken me this long to get what weekly meal planning is supposed to look like is beyond me — maybe I can break out of my receipt-stuffing rut, too. Hopefully by next week's menu, our chalkboard will be hung up in the kitchen. I plan to write out our menu, just like a restaurant, and note the snacks we have in (since we have a tendency to forget what food we have in, and then our snacks get lost in the back abyss of the refrigerator.) This adorable vintage chalkboard, above, is from Mechanical Stag's shop. It looks like it needs a menu.
If you have any tips or stories from your own meal planning, I'd love to hear — just leave a comment below. My current conundrum is how to keep it simple but add in some more vegetables + sides. Thanks!
