I would love to find A menu I could cook all at once ;)

I have a weekly menu that I've worked on up Excel that I could email you, but really it is very simple. Every breakfast and lunch is one of three or four things that I rotate, and every dinner is a meat (usually grilled) a veggie side, and a fruit. It took me about a month to get it together and work out the kinks, but once I did it, it worked perfectly.

I've seen those menus in magazines, and they never work. I just decided that if I rotated a few things for bfast and lunch, and had 14 dinners (the leftover meat is usually the meat on tomorrow's panini or salad), it would seem like we had a daily feast. It works for us!

http://www.drgourmet.com/

This isn't all "make ahead" food, but it will construct a grocery list, and most of the recipes are very quick. (a good site in general.):flowerforyou:

I have used this one. They have books you can buy but I just get the recipes from her and put them in a binder.

http://www.30daygourmet.com/

I need to mark this thread so I can come back and check it out after I play Sorry with my kids!

I didn't get one. Hopefully next week!

Since a few of you seemed to want this, I thought I'd see if I could just post it here. This is my very simple two-week menu. You can easily see how I do the same bfast each day and usually the same lunch. Of course, if I do throw in a new recipe a couple of times a month, or if pork tenderloin is on sale, we'll do that instead of my usual main meat. I'm a stay-at-home mom so I do have access to a kitchen at lunchtime, but most of these could easily be prepared ahead of time for work/travel. Maybe this will give you a few ideas. Let me know if you want any of the recipes! I hide veggies in most of my stuff, even the sloppy joes. It works for me and the kids to get in some extra nutrition!

MONDAY
Oatmeal
Panini (use meat leftover from weekend grilling)
Grilled Fish (usually snapper, halibut or salmon)
*w/ mango salsa
*w/ rosemary & garlic
*w/ sundried tomatoes & kalamata olives
Corn & Slaw

TUESDAY
Cereal
Tuna or Chicken Salad, or leftover fish on salad
Spaghetti (summer/veggie or regular)
*w/ fruit
**brown extra beef for sloppy joes tomorrow

WEDNESDAY
Van's waffles & egg (I'll put a fried egg on top of my waffle and eat it like an open-faced sandwich)
Sloppy Joes (I use the extra beef from last night and make my own healthy sauce.)
Soup/Chili/Crockpot meal
**(I only make this meal about 1x a month. I make a huge amt and freeze the rest. I have some great healthy soup & other recipes that I can share. Sometimes it's as simple as black beans and rice. Cooked black beans and rice freeze great. I just put the rice in a container and top with the beans. Easy to thaw in the microwave for a quick lunch or dinner.)

THURSDAY
Cereal
Pizza (I use whole grain or low carb tortillas for the crust and bake in the oven at 400 degrees until crunchy, top with canned tomato sauce and leftover grilled veggies, chicken, whatever, and rebake until hot. Sometimes it's just fresh basil and mozzarella.)
Bacon-wrapped or grilled Chicken (if I grill chicken, I'll go ahead & grill hotdogs for kid's lunch tomorrow)
*w/ sweet potatoes & roasted asparagus or green beans
**make extra chicken!

FRIDAY
Homemade egg "mcmuffin" with whole-grain english muffin, etc
Leftover chicken on top of salad for adults; hotdogs for kids
Grilled burgers
* topped w/ homemade guacamole; side of cumin-seasoned oven fries or tortilla chips

SATURDAY
Every saturday is the same ...
If we don't have to be anywhere, I do cook a big b'fast on Saturdays: French toast, pancakes, etc
I'll often cook a quick bread or muffins, make extra and freeze the leftovers. I freeze leftover pancakes with wax paper between each for a quick thaw on a weekday morning. We always eat or order out lunch on Saturdays, and then Saturday night hubby and I grill fajitas, beef tenderloin or beer-can chicken (all make great leftover meat!), throw veggies on the grill and serve with a fruit. Always, always, always cook extra! The leftover grilled veggies work great in an omlette or baked in *banana* bread.

SUNDAY
Cereal
Eat out lunch
LEFTOVER NITE!

Week 2
MONDAY
Oatmeal
Panini
Grilled or boiled shrimp (make extra!)
* w/ corn & slaw

TUESDAY
Cereal
Salad topped with shrimp
Meatloaf w/ squash & peas or Tacos (use leftover fajita or steak meat and/or leftover frozen black beans!!!)

WEDNESDAY
Waffles w/ egg or sausage
Soup &/or Sandwich
Boston Butt (throw it in the crockpot for 4-6 hrs on high -- NOT very low-fat but makes a whole lot of meat to use or freeze)
*w/ sweet potatoes & roasted asparagus or green beans

THURSDAY
Cereal
Pizza
Stirfry (use leftover meat from weekend, or even leftover shrimp!)

FRIDAY
Egg "mcmuffin"
BBQ Sands w/ leftover boston butt
Grilled burgers
* topped w/ homemade guacamole; side of cumin-seasoned oven fries or tortilla chips

Saturday & Sunday are same as previous week.

I am feeling totally renewed this week, knowing I have what it takes to keep moving forward...

Thanks again

Awesome! And you are most welcome.

http://www.drgourmet.com/

This isn't all "make ahead" food, but it will construct a grocery list, and most of the recipes are very quick. (a good site in general.):flowerforyou:

Is this a site you have to pay for? 3 months free??

Oh and I would LOVE any soup recipes! I have never :blushing: made my own soup. Well besides chili and I even cheat on that. :blushing:

Looks like some good info here. I will have to check out these websites. You all are soo helpful! :bigsmile:

Really, I still havent found the time to look at any of these sites. :huh:

Ok -- so this is probably a really stupid question... but when you say you freeze the casseroles, do you bake them fully first, then put them into tupperware containers, and then freeze? Or do you put it all into the containers, freeze, and then when you're ready to eat, you thaw and bake?

I've always been confused by this...:blushing: