Week 44: Organize for Efficiency

I have been in a serious funk for about the last month.  I'm tired of eating the same things, cooking with the same ingredients, looking in the same cabinets stocked to the brim with the same old stuff.  Ugh!  Throw me a pity party!  Yesterday, I decided that I'd had enough of eating the same stuff.  I was going to branch out and fix different things.  So I head over to allrecipes.com and begin poking around.  I found myself quickly overwhelmed and thought, "Now what?"

I have a recipe collection that I've been working on since before I was married.  It isn't anything fancy-just a couple of 3 ring binders divided into  various categories and when I had several recipes sitting in a pile, I would go through and put them in sheet protectors and file them in the correct category.  It occurred to me around 10 o'clock last night that I have hundreds of recipes in my binder that I haven't actually tried.

Discarded recipes from the recipe binders

Hmmm, I  think I have a project!  I grabbed a few pieces of looseleaf paper to jot ideas on and grabbed my binders.  An hour and a half and a couch full of miscellaneous recipes later, I cleaned my binder out and made a menu plan for the next two weeks.  There are several recipes that sound great along with some tried and true dishes.  I weeded out all of the recipes that I read and thought, "What was I thinking?" or ones that didn't measure up to the new way of eating that we've adopted (remember these binders are close to 15 years old-there was a lot of junk in there).

I'm kind of excited about our menu for the first time in several weeks.  Granted, I picked a two week span that is full of busy night or holidays, but I can't pick when motivation strikes, can I?

Here is our menu plan for the next two weeks.

Today (Monday)
B:  Banana Muffins, Dried Apples
L:  Scrambled Eggs, Biscuit w/ Jelly, Hash Browns, Banana
S:  Leftover Biscuits and Granola Bars (I had something else planned, but only had 3 kids, so I didn't make a big effort).
D:  Creamy Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish Rice, Refried Beans

Tuesday
B:  Pumpkin Bread, Grapes
L:  *Sausage Sandwich Squares, Bananas, Peas, Nuts
S:  *Zucchini Chip Cookies
D:  Chef Salad

Wednesday (day care closes early)
B:  Egg Muffins, Apples
L:  Pancakes, Yogurt, Applesauce, Dried Cranberries
D:  *Mini Frittatas, Hash Browns

Thursday
B:  Apple Muffins, Oranges
L:  Stromboli, Corn, Peaches, Animal Crackers
S:  Apple Slices
D:  *Pita Pocket Pizzas, Carrot Sticks or Salad

Friday
B:  Waffles, Blueberries
L:  PB & J Sandwich, Pearsauce, Broccoli, Deviled Eggs
S:  Carrots & Raisins
D:  Teriyaki Chicken & Fried Rice

Saturday (out of town)

Sunday (returning late afternoon)
D:  *Chicken Lasagna, Salad

Monday
B:  Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal
L:  Chicken Noodle Soup, Pineapple, Tomato Wedges, Roll
S:  Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
D:  *Layered Fiesta Casserole

Tuesday
B:  *Oatmeal Pancakes, Blueberries
L:  Eggs, Biscuit & Gravy, Roasted Potatoes, Mango
S:  Cheese & Crackers
D:  *Chicken & Dumplings, Carrots

Wednesday
B:  *Oatmeal Muffins, Raisins
L:  Spaghetti, French Bread, Broccoli, Apple Slices
S:  Ham Sandwich
D:  *Pork Chops w/ Mushroom Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Salad

Thursday (closed)
B:  *Sausage Quiche
L:  Cheeseburger & Fries
D:  Tuna Casserole

Friday (closed)
B:  Leftovers
L:  Leftovers
D:  Chili Frito Pie

Saturday
B:  Freezer Stash
L:  Leftovers
D:  Thanksgiving Dinner with family

Sunday
B:  Freezer Stash
L:  Thanksgiving Leftovers
D:  *Breakfast Bake

*Denotes new recipe that I will be trying.

Linked up at Menu Plan Monday on OrgJunkie and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable