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Meal plans? Who does them?

smallsaver said:
Can I get that enchilada recipe? I've always wanted to try that. Can you freeze it?

My problem is my husband never wants what is planned or he's not hungry... My 2 year old won't eat anything. I work full-time, so I need EASY!
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Here is my go to Chicken or Shrimp Enchilada Recipe. It is really basic and simple. I am kind of embarrased.

1 can of Campbells Cream of Chicken or Mushroom (whatever I have)
1 cup of Sour Cream
1 16oz Bottle of Pace Picante Sauce. I have used the larger one also.
1 tsp. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Cumin
Mix all of this together. Set aside. Ladel a little bit on the bottom of baking dish.

2-4 cups of Chopped/Shredded Chicken or Shrimp ( You can make both)
1 cup of Shredded Cheese (Cheddar, Montery Jack, Mexican - Any )
Chopped Onions
Chopped Olives
6-8 Flour Tortillas

Warm the Tortillas to make them soft (microwave 20 seconds) place a spoonfull of sauce mixture, Chicken (or Shrimp), little sprinke of onions and olives, and shredded cheese. Fold and roll up, place seam side down. Repeat with rest of ingredients. Cover with the rest of the sauce and more cheese if you want. Cover Baking dish and Bake @350* for 40 minutes until hot and bubbling. You can top them with lettuce, chopped tomatoes, olives, green onions, avacado, sour cream etc.

I have never froze this dish. My DH takes leftovers for lunch to work.
 
Some people claim that I am obsessively organized, but I have a "meal plan pad" on my fridge. When I find a good deal on something (mostly clearance meat) I find a recipe for it, put it in a ziploc bag with the other ingredients (and a print out of the recipe in a sandwich bag), and store it in the freezer (This works especially awesome for crock pot recipes). I then write it down on my pad, and am now filled up three weeks out. I do this so I make sure I use what I buy in a timely fashion, and we never have to ask "What's for dinner". I don't specifically have a "Monday" meal, but something will get made off that week, then crossed off - this leaves a little room for tastes and time differences.
It helps out a lot with the temptations to eat out because we know what is on hand (and there is always too much food on hand). And really helps out with using everything I buy, since I don't buy with a reason in mind anymore.
 
allbluezoo said:
Yup, I sketch one out. Try not to have chicken every.single.night but it is hard since we don't really do red meat.

Example - last week was spaghetti with turkey meatballs, grilled chicken over salad, bunless turkey burgers and yesterday I made 2 kinds of chili. DH and I will do leftovers, the kids not so much - that chili will be dinner again tonight and the kids can have grilled cheese or something.
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If your kids don't like leftover chili, try this.

Mix up some corn ****in mix. Grease or spray your ****in tin with Pam. Put a couple of spoonsful of chili into each section of the ****in tin. Top with corn ****in mix. Give each cup a little stir-stir with a fork to get the mix down into the chili a bit.

Cook for the time recommended for the ****ins. Tip out of the tin & serve. Don't use ****in papers, won't work.

kathy s
 
Not exactly a meal plan but I know what I have in the freezer (for the most part :giggles:) so I start with that. Depending what's on sale that week as far as extra ingredients go, I'll plan for the week.

Friday night is pizza night and Sunday morning we go for bagels, otherwise we eat at home.
 
ritachick22 said:
I fly by the seat of my pants! I think about what we have in the house that needs to be used and combine it with what's cheap produce wise at the store and kind of keep that in mind for the week.

For instance, bought the Perdue Italian Short cuts yesterday....realized I have half a bottle of alfredo sauce in the fridge that needed to be used so combined both with a couple of bags of Steamfresh Pasta in the freezer for a quick dinner. Was not what I orginally had planned for dinner...but made more sense.

I tried being all organized and making a game plan for an entire week...but it just didn't work .... 2-3 days out is the best I can come up with!
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Ha! we had the purdue ckn and alfredo sauce for dinner tonight!
 
Okay, Chicken Enchiladas!

3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup sour cream
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped (I use green one)
1 can (4.5oz)chopped green chilies
1 cup shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1 pkg 6 in flour tortillas
1 jar green salsa (I use Dom's Brand) and Medium for the kick
1/2 cup water

1) grease 13 X 9 in baking dish
2) mix chicken, 1/2 sour cream and 1/2 cilantro, the gr. or red pepper, chilies, 1/4 cup cheese, garlic and cumin.
3) warm tortillas as directed on package
4) meanwhile puree salsa, water and remaining 1/2 cup each sour cream and cilantro in a blender or food processor
spread 1 cup over bottom of prepared dish
5) spoon 1/3 of mixture down tortilla, roll and place seam side down, cover with remaining salsa
6) bake at 350, uncovered for 35 minutes
sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake 15 min. longer

I serve this with yellow (vigo) rice
 
bonnie48 said:
Okay, Chicken Enchiladas!

3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup sour cream
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped (I use green one)
1 can (4.5oz)chopped green chilies
1 cup shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1 pkg 6 in flour tortillas
1 jar green salsa (I use Dom's Brand) and Medium for the kick
1/2 cup water

1) grease 13 X 9 in baking dish
2) mix chicken, 1/2 sour cream and 1/2 cilantro, the gr. or red pepper, chilies, 1/4 cup cheese, garlic and cumin.
3) warm tortillas as directed on package
4) meanwhile puree salsa, water and remaining 1/2 cup each sour cream and cilantro in a blender or food processor
spread 1 cup over bottom of prepared dish
5) spoon 1/3 of mixture down tortilla, roll and place seam side down, cover with remaining salsa
6) bake at 350, uncovered for 35 minutes
sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake 15 min. longer

I serve this with yellow (vigo) rice
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Do you think I can leave the cilantro out?? DH doesn't like it and I don't want to listen to him :)
 
After years of doing it myself, I gave the meal planning job to one of my kids (we have all boys 15, 14, and 12).

I keep a list of what meats we have in what quantities. When I had him start doing it, I used index cards and wrote different cards for entree choices, side choices, veggie choices, etc for him. Not always recipes, just choices.

He does it on Saturday mornings. He checks the family calendar to find the trainwreck days (3 kids, 2 visitation schedules with exes, plus they are all in sports year round, 1 in choir, church, and so on) and pulls cards for the week based on what we have meats for. Our meal plans ARE heavily weighted toward what HE likes, but he mixes it up pretty well. After he pulls cards, he checks the fridge and tells me how much veg we need, but not what type (we keep it seasonal or frozen). We always have plenty of drygoods, I keep track of that.

He's great at it! It is the 14yo who does it, he wants to go to culinary school.

(The 15yo manages our finances with DH & me & pays bills weekly, and the 12yo keeps the family calendar updated). They like their jobs, I would have to pry them out of their cold dead hands.

kathy s

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PS

This week we are having


Chicken Divan
Meatloaf
Grilled chicken-strip salad (thanks Perdue!)
Tilapia fillets (these are $4.99/20oz at our Aldi, I bought a LOT)
Friday always pizza night
Roasted pork loin
Pulled pork sandwiches
 
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