Recipe Organization Monday, Sep 10 2007

Since we will be moving at the end of September into our new home, I have been working extra hard to try to organize a few more things so the move will be a bit easier.  The recent project I have almost completed is my recipes.  Recipe books are great, but who only has recipes around that are in a nice binding?  It seems that half of our family approved recipes are cut-outs from magazines, prints from the computer, or sheets of paper or note cards from friends.  Many are even just scratched down on whatever scrap I could find at the time.

When it comes to menu planning, my lack of recipe organization was one of my biggest hinderances.  I would spend too much time looking for that recipe that I knew was around here somewhere.  So with the help of other resources, I came up with a better system.

My first rule is that the recipe books I use a lot get to stay as is.  Everything else goes.  I started by buying a set of 3×5 notecards, tabs that are the same size, and a small storage box made for the notecards.  I then began tackling the stray recipes.  I took time out to write each recipe that was tried and true with our family on one of the notecards and then filed them behind the tabs under such categories as appetizers, breads, main dishes, etc.  I made the categories according to what worked best for me to find the recipe quickly.  A lot of the transferring to note cards happened during dinner prep.

After finishing all the “we know we love this” recipes, I actually went through my cook books and wrote down recipes that I use a lot.  This isn’t really necessary, but it has helped to save time trying to remember which book each entree is in.  Recipes I don’t use as often stay in the book.

For all the other recipes, I purchased a few full-size file folders and found a box that they would fit in.  I wrote “Recipes To Be Tried” on the outside of the box in a black permanent marker and labeled the file folders with the same categories I used on the 3×5 tabs.  Then I simply stuck all the rest of the loose pieces of paper under the appropriate category in the folders.  The box is not on public display but is in a closet.  I almost always pull it out when I am planning the menu each week. 

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Menu Planning Tuesday, Sep 4 2007

Before we moved to Louisville, our dinners looked something like this:

Whatever scraps we could put together, PB&J, frozen pizzas, the occasional trips to the store to buy the ingredients for a specific meal we decided we wanted at the last minute, or fast food.

Shortly after moving here, I was introduced to a new concept–menu planning.  I was blessed to be in a church with several godly women who lovingly showed me how much more efficient I can be with my time and money (and health) if I would just set aside consistent time to plan our menu.  Now, it took me a couple of years to get the hang of a system that works for our family, but I will share with you what we do.

After trying everything under the sun, we found that planning one week at a time worked best for our situation (some women plan for a whole month!).  Each Thursday I sit down and plan our menu for the next week (Monday-Sunday) and then we shop on Friday or Saturday.

One trick I have learned is to keep breakfast and lunch simple.  We usually just eat cereal and some fruit for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch.  I do keep some non-perishables like soups or mac n’ cheese in our pantry for those times sandwiches just don’t sound appealing.  Then on the weekends I will spice things up a bit, so really I’m only planning two breakfasts and two lunches.  Most of my other planning is for dinners.

I begin by checking my calendar to see if there will be any special events (i.e. guests coming over, a holiday, or a meal at church).  I plan for those events first and put the date beside that meal so I remember it’s not flexible.  If we will be eating somewhere else, I know I only have to plan six dinners instead of seven.

An intimidating factor for me was finding variety, so here are a couple of solutions.  First, I make sure I have at least one protein, vegetable or fruit, and carb with each dinner.  It really helps keep the meal balanced.  Each week I also plan a Mexican, Italian, chicken, and ground beef meal.  Then I always have what I call the something-else meal where I’ll fix tuna, pork, cheese, or whatever I find interesting.  During the colder months, I try to plan a soup each week.  This helps make sure we’re not eating pasta each night and allows Bill to get his meat (he doesn’t think chicken qualifies).

The other thing I try to do for variety is plan something new each week, a recipe I’ve never tried.  It keeps me from falling into the same patterns over and over.  Then one night a month I will plan a gourmet type meal where I really try to challenge myself and cook something special and a little more difficult.

Each morning, I look at the menu and decide what we are going to eat that night so I can pull meat out of the freezer, throw something in the crock pot, or do any other necessary preparations.

I keep all my menus on the refrigerator during the week and then they move to my planner.  I use the old menus often to be reminded of meals we haven’t had in a while and as a way to make sure we don’t have meatloaf three weeks in a row.

For those of you who have never tried planning your menu, I know it can seem a little intimidating at first, but I would challenge you to begin with baby steps.  Just start planning 2-3 meals a week and find what works best for you.  Even with the time I take planning each week, I save so much time and money in the end.  No more quick trips to the store, non-planned eating out, wasted money on food you bought but never ate, or falling into boring or unhealthy eating patterns.  I am so grateful to the women who pointed me in this direction, and I would encourage you to follow in their footsteps.  

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Hospitality Blunder Thursday, Aug 9 2007

One of my favorite things to do is fellowship with others.  If guests will be coming to our home, I love planning the menu, thinking about decorations, and thinking about conversations we might have.  The seminary Bill attended offered a hospitality class for wives of seminary students.  I never took the class, and a couple of nights ago I regretted it. 

We had a wonderful couple over who we go to church with.  Since this was the first time we would be spending time with this couple alone, I spent a lot of time planning, wanting to make sure they felt welcomed in our home.  I searched cook books and found an amazing recipe for four-cheese lasagna.  I made it ahead of time so the day would be easy and I would be able to spend more time with the couple than in the kitchen.

The couple arrived right on time, and we ate dinner shortly afterward.  The wife ate the portion I gave her and graciously complimented my cooking.  I was pleased with the success of the evening thus far.

After dinner, we went to the couches to sit and talk.  We enjoyed their fellowship so much, but at one point in the conversation the wife mentioned that she was raised vegetarian but that she now eats chicken, too.  As her words sank in, I felt more and more mortified.  I had just served her lasagna with 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef in it.  Bill and I almost spoke at the same time, “You don’t eat red meat!?”  She smiled knowingly and was quick to reasure us, “I’ve eaten it before.”  Before!!?  I felt horrible to say the least and must have apologized 70 times 7 times.  She was so sweet and tried her hardest to convince me she wasn’t bothered in the least and did enjoy dinner.

I have always asked about food preferences of guests beforehand, but I had failed to do so in this case.  Oops!  One thing I did learn from the teacher of the hospitality class during a different meeting was to keep records of preferences of your guests.  In my hospitality folder, it now says, “(name of victim whom I will not reveal)–Stick with chicken.  Do not serve red meat, especially 1 1/2 pounds of it.” 

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Saving Dinner Monday, Apr 23 2007

I just came across a new website last week called Saving Dinner.  The author has lots of great menus already made for many different needs available for a very small price.  We purchased one of her freezer meal plans (only $8.95) that gives shopping lists, instructions, suggestions for side items, and everything else you need to make 22 dinners for 4 people.  You can make as many copies for yourself as you need.  The best part is that she is a frugal woman, so Bill and I only spent around $75 for 2 weeks of groceries yesterday.  That $8.95 was well worth it.  Then we had a great time assembling the meals together last night (we only did 10 at a time, though we actually could have fit all 22 of them in our small freezer, even with ice trays and other food items).  It might sound a little unromantic, but I would recommend doing something like this for a date with your spouse.  We talked a lot and enjoyed working together for a couple of hours so we can save many hours this week on meal prep.  That’s more time we can talk the next two weeks.  All I have to do now is thaw the meal the night before and pop it in the oven or crock pot when we’re ready to cook it.  It really was a lot of fun.  We’re having our first meal tonight–crock pot beef and peppers with mashed potatoes, broccoli, and salad.  Yum! 

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