Tip from a Reader-Create a Meal Rotation

I love to make new recipes all the time.  I have a meal plan framework that I build my meals around for the week.

I usually do:

• one night of pasta
• one night of Mexican
• a salad and soup night
• grilled chicken or fish with veggies one night
• pizza night every Friday
• leftovers night
• Go out one night a week (using coupons of course!)

It makes it easy because when it’s pasta night, I have a list of my favorite pasta recipes (i.e. 2-3 different kinds of lasagna, ranging from very easy to more difficult, spaghetti with or without meat, spaghetti pie, manicotti,  Thai noodles in peanut sauce, Chinese noodle salad, etc.) and then every week for one or two months I rotate the different pasta recipes, so we don’t have spaghetti more than once every 6 weeks or so.  Then when it’s Mexican night, I have all my favorite Mexican recipes such as different enchilada recipes, tacos, taco pie, stacked burrito pie, regular burritos, fajitas, etc. and then I rotate all of those for two months or more so we don’t have tacos more than once every 6-8 weeks.  Soup night’s the same thing- I have about 6-8 different soups that I make during a two month time period.

We never get bored because we don’t eat the same thing that often!  When we get bored with one lasagna or soup recipe, then I’ll go hunt for a new one.  I find that having this framework really makes my meal planning much easier!

Angie