Sunday, January 31, 2010

Menu Plan Monday 2.1.10


January went by quick! Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying snow if you have it. We have freezing night temperatures with nothing to show for :(

This month, we are joining Life As Mom and Money Saving Mom for Freezer Cooking Day. The BIG day for me will be this Thursday but I will try to spread it out the whole week to avoid "freezer burn-out". Instead of coming up with different weekly menus, I drafted a generic weekly plan to stay flexible. I'm praying this works so I can get a break from "What are we having for dinner?" queries. Of course I'm linking to OrgJunkie for MPM and I found at least 5 new recipes I want to try already! And since I'm praying this monthly menu planning becomes habit, I'm linking to Mommy's Kitchen as well.

BREAKFAST
French Toast
Breakfast Burritos
Oatmeal Pancakes
Baked Potatoes
Bagels & Cream Cheese
Tapsilog (Filipino steak, eggs & fried rice)
Breakfast Casserole

MORNING SNACKS
Granola & Yogurt
Granola/Cereal Bars
Muffins
Quesadillas

LUNCH
Soup & Salad
Lasagna
Sandwiches
Tacos
Pizza
Pancit (Filipino Lo Mein)
Adobo (Filipino Chicken/Pork Stew)

AFTERNOON SNACKS
Fruit & Cheese
Pumpkin Bread
Smoothies
Cereal

DINNER
BBQ Sandwiches
Stirfry & Grains
Pasta
Crockpot Casserole
Pressure Cooker Creation
Soup & Salad
Brinner (Breakfast for Dinner)
It's too bad I can't stand leftovers. But that is why I think this will work. Instead of leftovers, we can eat just enough for that meal and have the rest frozen for the following week!

Some meals will be assembled & frozen then cooked the day it's served:
Taco meat
Soup
Adobo porkchops & chicken
Cranberry porkchops & chicken
Stroganoff
Tetrazzini
Oriental Chicken
Deborah's Sweet & Sour Chicken

Other meals have to be cooked first then frozen:
BBQ Pork
Meatballs
Lasagna
Granola
Oatmeal Pancakes
Baked Potatoes
Breakfast Burritos

The other dishes will be whipped up same day.

I'm motivated to get this done not only to get out of the kitchen the rest of the month but also to save money while cutting down on waste. Do you do once-a-month cooking or have freezer cooking days? Pass along your best tips. I could sure use them!

8 comments:

  1. Hi, thanks for coming around my way and leaving your note :) I had the same question when I first looked at the Bourbon Chicken recipe - where the heck is the Bourbon? It's pretty good though :)

    I don't have a freezer cooking day per say, but when I am making dishes that I know we like, say Chicken Enchiladas or Meatloaf, I will try to do up a big batch and stash a few extra in the freezer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. One of these days I'm going to do the freezer cooking thing. Maybe this summer...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm new to freezer cooking, and I don't plan to have a freezer-cooking day. I make double (as Leah mentioned in an earlier comment) or cook up a big batch of something that's on sale.

    I never thought about freezing baked potatoes. Have you tried it yet?

    ReplyDelete
  4. All of your snacks sound so yummy! I need to start planning what snacks we are going to eat, I think that would make it a lot easier.
    Thanks for stopping by my blog!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I used to do this more often than I do now. Since there are only two of us at home now, I find that I am freezing leftovers rather than preparing freezer make-ahead meals. It is such a great idea...time saver and money saver. I would love for you to join me for Crock Pot Wednesday whenever you can. There's a giveaway going on.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My cousin is Filipino and she makes the best Pancit!!! Love your weekly menu, sounds good :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. TY for linking up. I love to see new menu's. I got tickled over the Brinner what a neat name. We love breakfast for dinner at our house.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for posting on my blog! I'm so behind it's not even funny this week LOL! Your menu plans sound great! I have a freezer cooking day once a month typically, and it's been a great relief! One good tip would be to always make a manu AND list of ingredients because almost always, you'll forget something :)

    ReplyDelete

Love to hear what you think! Leave a little note to let me know you dropped by today.

Search my blog or the web.