How many meals are on your supper rotation? If you wrote down all the different things you made for supper over the course of one year, how long of a list would you have? I did this last week and was pretty surprised with what I discovered. I went through a year of my Menu Monday posts and discovered I only have FIFTY meals on my supper rotation. If I make supper six times a week (leaving one night for date night or leftovers), we could potentially be eating the same thing every two months. No wonder I feel like I put the same stuff on my menu all the time!
I’m so glad I took the time to write out our meal options. When I wrote my menu for this week, I grabbed that list and chose a few items we hadn’t eaten in a while. Now my challenge is to find some new recipes that we both like. Having this list has also started me thinking about a new meal-prep organization project that I can’t wait to share with you!
On The Menu
Breakfast:
- Grits
- Eggs & Bacon
- Three Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Lunch:
- Stuffed Pizza Rolls (I used canned biscuits instead of pizza dough)
- Crock Pot Chicken Taco Soup
Supper:
- Olive Garden Chicken & Gnocchi Soup/Parmesan Toast
- BBQ Chicken Legs/Mac & Cheese/Green Beans
- Chicken Quesadillas/Corn/Quick Mexican Rice
- Smoked Sausage with Peppers/Tossed Salad
- Baked Ziti with Chicken & Sun-dried Tomato Sauce/Salad
- Toasted Ham & Cheese Sandwiches/Apple Slices/Broccoli
- Leftovers
Come Home For Comfort 
For a couple of years I’ve been keeping a Google document of everything I’ve made and also the items I’d like to make. Currently it’s thirteen pages of foods I have made, and five more pages are meal plans and ideas of things I’d like to make. If I need inspiration I can search one ingredient (example: chicken) and see what I’ve made, when I’ve made it, or new chicken dishes I’d like to make. I have a code for finding recipes later, example Sky High Strawberry Pie (TOH) means I can find the recipe on the Taste of Home (TOH) website. Also I like being able to easily find all the holiday and party menus I’ve cooked and seasonal items. Tonight I made Mexican shredded beef for burritos (or what we call Machaca beef) from chuck roasts leftover from yesterday. I like to make a lot of new items and while there are a few old favorites, like Machaca beef, I like looking forward to making new things.
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Your Google document sounds like a treasure! That’s a great idea! I like the idea of being able to search by ingredient.
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We constantly recycle the same supper ideas. I really have to remind myself to try something new once in a while! 50 meals sounds like a good number to me. I am guessing we do only 20ish meals. Our food allergies take away a lot of our choices. 😉
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You have to do what works, especially with food allergies. I grew up eating different things all the time, so I’m still getting used to Paul’s limited palate. 🙂
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Hey Whitney! You’ll be pleased to know that “the experts” say the average woman only has a rotation of six weeks. You’re ahead of the curve!
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Well that’s good to know. 🙂
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This is a really good idea, Whitney. I have never done this and, as a result, I feel like I’m constantly re-inventing the wheel. I like offering new dinner choices, but sometimes it would be nice to have have list of go-to, tried and true choices as I sit down to meal plan. I am going to do this this week! (I’m also going to make your three ingredient pumpkin muffins! 🙂 )
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It was so much fun to look back over all the menus I’ve made in the last year! You won’t regret compiling a list of go-to meals!
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What a fun way to reevaluate the meals you serve. I made a list of all my husband’s favorite meals several years ago and try to incorporate them into my meal planning regularly. You’ve got me thinking… I wonder how many different things I make. I have an overflowing pinterest board of recipes waiting to be tried so I should probably give that a glance at the beginning of each month for inspiration 🙂
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I still need to go through my recipe file box to see if there are things I’ve forgotten about in the last year. Of course any time we get to make a list, you know it’s going to be fun! 🙂
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Well I am going to have to do more cooking this week since I am keeping grandson, Elliott. I do not think he appreciates Lean Cuisines.lol…And I am making some cookies for our church’s prison ministry. They say the men LOVE homemade cookies and that alone will encourage them to attend a Bible Study.
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Aww, have fun with Elliott!!
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