Two-week menu

Alright, first of all, can you believe what a blogging streak I'm on? Seriously, I'm impressing myself. :) So down to business.

Those of you who know me know how much I hate cooking. Really, it's right up there with changing diapers. Actually, it probably surpasses that. Because if you have a stinky diaper, the smell forces you into action. Whereas if you don't cook dinner one night, meh, no one will die. Anyway, I digress.

So while watching the mormon channel one night, (BYU something or other, you know the one), there was this crazy screaming grandma lady on. She talked all about the importance of meal time, meal planning, having family together during dinner, yada, yada, yada. She's called the Food Nanny. Basically it's just like that british gal who tells parents how bad they suck at parenting. The Food Nanny does the same thing, but instead she criticizes your cooking. Sweet, right?

Well, she's not mean, she just tells you what you SHOULD be doing and encourages you to do better. Actually she seems pretty nice, just really, overly excited about her food. Anyway, for food-challenged people like me, she has some good ideas. One of the ideas I've tried to incorporate is preparing a two-week menu.

You sit down and plan out meals for 2 weeks. Each day of the week has a theme. Like, Sunday is traditional food, Monday is Mexican, etc. See here for one of her examples. I've tried doing this and while I'm not 100%, it's definitely helped to at least give me an idea of what to prepare each evening for dinner. Then you use your 2-week menu plan to prepare your shopping list.

So here's our menu for the next 2 weeks. It's nothing fancy because we're not fancy people, but it's a least an idea of where to start if you're food-challenged like me.

Week1:
Sunday (traditional): Pork Tenderloin
Monday (rice/oriental): Hawaiian haystacks
Tuesday (Italian): Chicken Parmesan
Wednesday (favorites): BBQ Pulled pork sandwiches
Thursday (Mexican): Tacos and Spanish rice
Friday (pizza): Individual pizzas
Saturday (Soup/salad/grill): Taco salads

Week 2:
Sunday (traditional): Pot roast and potatoes
Monday (rice/oriental): French dip (so it doesn't fit the theme, but will be great to use up the leftover roast from Sunday)
Tuesday (Italian): Creamy ravioli and pesto
Wednesday (favorites): Grilled turkey burgers
Thursday (Mexican): Enchiladas
Friday (pizza): BBQ chicken pizza
Saturday (Soup/salad/grill): Pannini sandwiches

So there ya have it. Hip hooray. I figure once I get an arsenal of 2-week menus built up, I can start repeating them. Less work for me. That's always a good thing. And if you want to know more about the Food Nanny or the 2-week plan, go here.