Menu ideas and opions please

[playfelt]

No menu plan as such here either but I do find that after awhile you sort of get in a groove or a rut depending on your point of view in the sense of serving the same things over and over. A lot of meals is based on what we have as a family but I don't sweat it in the sense that if we end up eating it all I have several go to meals for daycare I can use on those days we ordered out for pizza or daughter stayed for supper so most of the lasagna is gone.

I do lunch and two snacks so mostly it is the lunch I need to plan for and the snacks are whatever fruit/cheese/crackers/baked goods are available. I plan lunch to have a protein, vegetable, starch and milk to drink. Fruit and dessert (cookie) of some sort is available IF they finish their first plate of food. For vegetables I usually use the frozen mixed veggies (I like the selection brand from LOEB because it has yellow beans in it instead of lima beans). That way kids can pick out the parts they like and leave the parts they don't. That way I don't have to remember who likes what.

Most of my meals are fingerfood style so I don't have to cook separate meals or do a lot of washing up of kids after eating. That also makes it easier to create a meal from whatever is in the fridge.

Instead of an actual meal plan I starting using more of a recipe file box and cards idea. List the meat and what you need ex: hamburg+box of hamburg helper, hamburg+tomato sauce+spagetti, etc. Then to plan your meals and grocery list pull out the card you want to use that week and buy accordingly. It is a good way to rotate meals because once a card is used you put it to the back of the catagory.

Batch cooking is another good method in the sense that if there are no leftovers you can grab something from the freezer. Set out in the fridge to thaw overnight as you clean up from supper and realize oops not enough left for daycare. Things like meatloaf, sliced cooked chicken. Having a box of chicken nuggets or fish sticks for those oops gotta fill in days makes them a treat for the kids too and not a weekly habit.