Okay, so the Master Menu idea is great in principle (decide what your favorite meals are, plan them for a month or two, multiply all ingredients by 6 or 12 to get your food storage in place, and then you never have to wonder at 4:30pm everyday what you're going to cook, etc.). I really do think it's a great idea. (And how wonderful would it be to have your food storage that organized! My food storage looks as random as a local food bank's.)
However, I don't think this idea fits my personality. You see, back when the Flylady was swooping through our neighborhood (i.e. a bunch of us were trying it at the same time), I tried to do her method of cleaning, which is very similar to the House of Order lady's method of cleaning, only it's in a binder, not on index cards. Anyway, I tried it for awhile, but I just couldn't commit to always having bathroom cleaning day be on the same day, among other things. Life happens and things have to be pushed back. And also strict structure like that kind of scares me. Plus I'm not a super clean freak. I really don't think it's vital to dust blinds and floor boards every week. And if I can get away with not scrubbing the toilets one week so I can spend time with the family or read a book, I will. I know, I'm gross. Oh well.
Sooo, when the House of Order gal said that if that doesn't work for you, you should just number your chores and rotate through them when you have the time (The Working Person's Method), it was such an eye opener for me! I could do that! Number all the weekly chores and when I have time I go through a few. But the important part was to go in order to keep the cycle going, even if someone came down with croup or pregnancy laziness set in that week. Just do what you can, when you can, in order.
Then this also reminded me of a friend's idea to rotate through family adventures. She made lists of different types of activities she enjoyed with her kids: crafts, board games, non-board games, fun stuff, places to go, etc. She put this on the inside of her closet that she kept most of these things. This way, (and I hope I'm getting this right, Megan!) she wouldn't be doing bubbles with her kids for a whole week straight and then be sick of bubbles for the next 2 months. Instead, she would consult the list and, remembering that they did bubbles yesterday, would move down to the next thing on the list and not get sick of bubbles! And she'd never have to think of more fun ideas off the top of her head because she had a good list on her closet door.
Okay, so back to my original point. I am going to do my own Master Menu like my friend's Family Adventures List. Inside my kitchen cabinet I put lists of different meals that are our family's favorites. A list for chicken dishes, beef dishes, Oriental dishes, Mexican dishes, Crock Pot dishes, etc. And then I'll set aside some time each week to plan out meals for 1 week (that's the most I can plan for, things happen, parties get announced, and leftovers accumulate so that I can't stick to a plan for any longer than that), which I've already started doing recently. So this way, when planning menus on Sunday night, I'll say, "Hmm, well we haven't had any Oriental for awhile, what's next on that list. Okay, we had Teriyaki Chicken last time we did Oriental, so we should have Chinese Chicken Salad this week. And we should probably use up some meatballs this week, which meatball recipe is next? Okay, Swedish it is!" and so on.
Anyway, I just wanted to share this with you because I'm so excited about this! The other methods just didn't work for me. I like to try new recipes a lot, and seriously, if I made Tamale Pie more than 4 times per year, I think I'd have to take it off the favorites list because I'd be so sick of it! Call me spoiled, but that's how I was raised. My mom hardly made things more than once (okay, she did, but they weren't cooked monthly, that's for sure), and as a result we weren't picky eaters growing up, and now us daughters love to cook and try new foods and recipes. Cooking is my favorite hobby, I think. Maybe baking first, cooking second. Young adult books third. But that's another post.
And please do not be overwhelmed with the amount of favorite meals in the picture. It's taken me almost 8 years of trying new stuff to get that list, with only the last couple of years of real dedication of trying to find those Ultimate Favorites from others. And I normally only cook 3 times per week. If we've got the money, we'll go out once a week, and leftovers take up the rest of the week. Maybe when we have more kids we won't be eating leftovers so much!
Sorry about my gabby mouth and horrible picture.
2 comments:
I think your spin on menu planning is great, and here I was typing out all my recipes into the same place when all I really should have done was just make a master list with maybe some reference as to where to find the recipe. Thanks for the ideas.
I think I'll do the idea with the master list and references, but I think I'll put them in my FlyLady control journal, which I still really like, and because I don't think I have any cupboard doors big enough!
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