I am a stickler for routine but I loathe the idea of eating the same thing week in and week. How many weeks in a row can a person eat meatloaf on Thursday after all?
So to figure out a way around this without making the menu planning an all day affair I have come up with a routine of sorts to eat the same types of things weekly but leave myself lots of room for creativity. A template of sorts with similar dishes showing up every week that make variations easy. Here is my weekly template for dinners and some sample dishes
Some people may point out "Hey you have pizza every Saturday that's just like Thursday meatloaf!" and they'd be right to be fair. I do like one night a week to use the constraint to force creativity. Lately I've been playing around with far greater hydration levels than I have used before. Summer usually brings on experiments in grilled pizza, something I will try to document more this season. Toppings differ week to week as seasonal produce changes with mushrooms, peppers, roasted tomatoes, squash and greens all making appearances throughout the year along side the traditional pepperoni my family requires.
We build in a couple nights to use things up without having to resort to just eating the same thing a second time that week. By making some big batches of building block ingredients like roasted veggies, beans, grains or proteins I can easily repurpose leftovers.
I have been using this method for a few years now and have not yet made any big modifications. The family does not complain we eat the same things week in and week out and I get to play around with new ingredients and techniques as I find them. If there is a new recipe I want to try I usually slip it in on Sunday or Wednesday night depending on how long it takes.
Comment back or tweet at me about how you plan for the week or work in new dishes to the normal routine.
So to figure out a way around this without making the menu planning an all day affair I have come up with a routine of sorts to eat the same types of things weekly but leave myself lots of room for creativity. A template of sorts with similar dishes showing up every week that make variations easy. Here is my weekly template for dinners and some sample dishes
- Sunday - Main and 2 sides
- Roast Beef, Potatoes Au Gratin, Roasted Carrots
- Monday - Pasta Night
- Spaghetti w/ green sauce
- Tuesday - Turn leftovers into something new
- Beef and cheddar sandwiches
- Wednesday - Main and 2 sides
- Roast Chicken, Instant Pot Risotto, peas
- Thursday - Salad/Soup/Grain bowl
- Salad w/ beans and leftover veggies from the week
- Friday - Turn leftovers into something new
- Chicken Tacos, refried beans
- Saturday - Pizza night
Some people may point out "Hey you have pizza every Saturday that's just like Thursday meatloaf!" and they'd be right to be fair. I do like one night a week to use the constraint to force creativity. Lately I've been playing around with far greater hydration levels than I have used before. Summer usually brings on experiments in grilled pizza, something I will try to document more this season. Toppings differ week to week as seasonal produce changes with mushrooms, peppers, roasted tomatoes, squash and greens all making appearances throughout the year along side the traditional pepperoni my family requires.
We build in a couple nights to use things up without having to resort to just eating the same thing a second time that week. By making some big batches of building block ingredients like roasted veggies, beans, grains or proteins I can easily repurpose leftovers.
I have been using this method for a few years now and have not yet made any big modifications. The family does not complain we eat the same things week in and week out and I get to play around with new ingredients and techniques as I find them. If there is a new recipe I want to try I usually slip it in on Sunday or Wednesday night depending on how long it takes.
Comment back or tweet at me about how you plan for the week or work in new dishes to the normal routine.
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