Do you have a menu or dinner plan that you follow? (The recipe is at the bottom)
What I did in the past:
Many years ago I made up for my family 6 weeks of dinner menu's along with grocery lists. Yes you read that right 6 whole weeks. Sounds great doesn't it? And it was great for a while. However, I soon found that this plan had its flaws:
The Pros:
What I did in the past:
Many years ago I made up for my family 6 weeks of dinner menu's along with grocery lists. Yes you read that right 6 whole weeks. Sounds great doesn't it? And it was great for a while. However, I soon found that this plan had its flaws:
The Pros:
- No Brainer: Once the initial work was done, I never had to think about it again.
- Grocery Lists: Once again, not much thinking involved.
- Flexibility. This plan did not allow for flexibility. For instance, if I saw a great looking recipe on a blog or cooking show, I did not really have a good place to plug it in. The obvious solution was to leave a day each week for experimental dinners. However, this also had flaws:
- It still did not leave a place to add something new to the rotation.
- The grocery items for the experimental day did not end up on my pre-made grocery list.
- What if I was having a week in which I did not feel like making something new, did that mean take out?? Take out is something I was trying to avoid by having a plan.
- Frequency. The other problem was, with 6 weeks of menus, some of our favorites did not come around as often as we would like and
- Rejects. Some dinners we determined we really did not like as much as we thought we did, but they were on the plan and it was kind of a lot of work to take them out, because that would leave a hole that had to be filled (the truth is I started with 8 weeks of menus, but after one round I took some things out and scaled down to 6 weeks. Since we did not have 12 rejects, I ended up with some good dinners that never made it into the rotation.)
- Variety. It was hard to balance that many weeks. You really don't want a whole week of nothing but chicken dishes or nothing but Mexican dishes (at least, I don't. Some people can eat the same thing day after day. I am not one of them.) This is part of the reason I went from 8 to 6 weeks, with only 5-6 rejects. (see #4)
- Seasonality. The menus were not geared to the seasons. I Actually started work on making new seasonal menus, but I never finished.
- Cost: Some of the weeks were a lot more expensive than others and Murphy's Law dictated that we always ended up with an expensive week when money was tight. This one is my own fault, but it would have taken a lot of work to price out each dinner and try to balance that along with variety.
What I am doing now: The Nanny Plan (modified for the Van Wagoners)
I don't really know how I found The Food Nanny, but her method is what I am working on implementing now.
How it works:
Basically you just come up with 6 or 7 themes or categories (I have more than that), you assign each day a category then you choose your menu for the week accordingly. HERE is my spreadsheet that I use for choosing meals. (I really hope this works, I admit I have not always loved google docs, but it was the easiest way to do this.) *** The food nanny does not suggest a spreadsheet. That was my idea. I am working on 1" recipe binders for each category.***
The Pros:
- Flexibility: You get to choose your categories, which night to have them on and the recipes for the week. It is also easy to plug in a new recipe. (I have a category on my list of things to try, but that is not a theme necessarily. It is just there to remind me to try that new soup on soup night if I am in the mood. I don't want to add a new recipe to my list/binders until I know I like it.)
- Cost: Since you choose the recipes one or two weeks at a time, you can do it with the grocery adds by your side and choose more recipes that have meat or produce that is on sale.
- Frequency: Because you are choosing, you can have your favorites every week if you want or every once in a while.
- Variety: Since each day has a different theme (for instance one of mine is S.S.S. which stands for Soup, Salad, Sandwich) You get more variety. You still have to be careful that you don't end up with a week of nothing but chicken, but that is not too hard when you are only dealing with one or two weeks as a time.
- Seasonality: This method is ideal for seasonal cooking. Once again look at the S.S.S. category. In the winter we eat more soups and in the summer more salads. Sandwiches are either eaten with the soup or salad or anytime of year if we are in the mood.
The Cons:
- Grocery Lists: You still have to make up a new list every week. However, I now use recipe software on my computer and an app on my phone that help with the list making.
- Variety: I know this one is on the pros list too, however, this negative is not very negative since it is easily overcome. The Food Nanny has some categories that are just too much frequency for me. The solution is obvious and I have done it. I have made up my own categories. She has Mexican and Italian as regular categories every single week. That is too much for me, plus I like lots of different world cuisines. So, I have a category called Ethnic Foods.
- Effort: The work is not all done for you, however, you can take a week you like and save the menu to use again on another week when you don't have the time plan. I do that. I just tuck them in the back pocket of my recipe binder and pull them out when I need them.
Tri-Tip Roast
adapted from The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner p. 173 by Liz Edmunds
adapted from The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner p. 173 by Liz Edmunds
(sorry for no photos, things just generally move too fast in the kitchen and if I don't plan for it photos don't happen.)
Servings:6
Servings:6
Ingredients
2 lbs boneless beef tri-tip roast
2 Tbsp Olive oil
salt and black pepper, to taste
3 Tablespoons shallots, minced
1 1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup chicken broth
5 Tablespoons butter cut into small pieces (I acutally use about 1/2 this amount)
2 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley (if you have it, no big deal if you don't)
2 lbs boneless beef tri-tip roast
2 Tbsp Olive oil
salt and black pepper, to taste
3 Tablespoons shallots, minced
1 1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup chicken broth
5 Tablespoons butter cut into small pieces (I acutally use about 1/2 this amount)
2 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley (if you have it, no big deal if you don't)
Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees 2. Place the roast in a shallow metal pan, pour on the olive oil and rub it thoroughly over the entire surface of the meat. Roast in the oven for 45 to 60 minutes. Check for doneness with a meat thermometer: 135 degrees for medium rare, 150 degrees for medium-well. The temperature will continue to rise 5 to 10 degrees after the meat is taken out of the oven; do not overcook. 3. When the meat is done, set it on a platter and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Let rest for 10 minutes. 4. Place the roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion to the pan juices and cook and stir about 2 minutes. Add the wine and broth. Boil 3 to 5 minutes until more than half the wine has evaporated. Remove from the heat and add the 5 tablespoons of butter and the 2 tablespoons of parsley. 5. Cut the roast into 1-inch thick slices and place them on a platter. Reheat the suace and pour it down the center of the slices.
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees 2. Place the roast in a shallow metal pan, pour on the olive oil and rub it thoroughly over the entire surface of the meat. Roast in the oven for 45 to 60 minutes. Check for doneness with a meat thermometer: 135 degrees for medium rare, 150 degrees for medium-well. The temperature will continue to rise 5 to 10 degrees after the meat is taken out of the oven; do not overcook. 3. When the meat is done, set it on a platter and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Let rest for 10 minutes. 4. Place the roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion to the pan juices and cook and stir about 2 minutes. Add the wine and broth. Boil 3 to 5 minutes until more than half the wine has evaporated. Remove from the heat and add the 5 tablespoons of butter and the 2 tablespoons of parsley. 5. Cut the roast into 1-inch thick slices and place them on a platter. Reheat the suace and pour it down the center of the slices.
