One day recently - when there were probably 20-40 other things I should have been doing - I decided to make an index of every main dish I have made in the last couple of years (at least those that I have a record of and/or remember making).
My rule was that I couldn't write something down unless #1 - I had made it before, and #2 - I felt likely to make it again.
After searching through my recipe binder, my saved favorites online, and various menu plans on scraps of paper, I had a list of 80 meal ideas!
80! That's a potential 11 weeks + without a repeat!
As I searched, I wrote my dishes down divided into categories:
Chicken, Beef, Fish, Pork, Turkey, & Meatless.
From the amount of recipes I have in those 5 categories I figure I could loosely plan for 2 chicken, 2 meatless, 1 beef, and 2 fish/pork/turkey.
Over 25% of the recipes I have listed are crock pot friendly. Most are dairy free.
The only remaining question: Do I reeeeally want to divide these up week-by-week and not have to menu plan for almost 3 months? Or do I just want to enjoy having these lists as a reference?
Oh, and I did break my own rule. I wrote down chicken pot pie. Haven't made one in forver - if ever - but I want to and that's good enough. :)
I'm telling you, really, you could sell this! (to meee!)
ReplyDeleteNow that you have built such a practical database, I think you should just use it as a reference and not break it down into week-by-week. Live large! ;)
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