For most people, recipe selections during the winter are heavier, creamier, and heartier than the lighter meals we choose on hot summer days. Keep this in mind by swapping out salad for soup and fresh fruit for cooked tarts and crisps. Think warm applesauce instead of cold and replace pasta salad with roasted potatoes. Aim to include a variety of recipes to keep things interesting. For the ultimate organization, pick a food category for each day of the week. For example, you can include meatless Monday, taco Tuesday, leftovers on Wednesday, pasta Thursday, sheet-pan dinners on Friday, Saturday soups, and more labor-intensive meals on Sunday. Plan for a variety of different types of meals so you don’t have a ton of repeats. To get some fresh ideas, hit up Pinterest, social media, and your favorite dusty cookbooks. Be sure to read through recipes before planning to make them so you don’t find yourself missing ingredients or needing a long period of time to complete the dish. While digital recipes can be organized into files, printing them makes it easier for anyone to find and use. Use a three-ring binder with tab dividers to organize them. Then use a label maker on the spine of the binder to list the types of recipes inside, such as breads, desserts, rice dishes, etc. CHOOSE A VARIETY OF RECIPES
CONSIDER THE SCHEDULE
One essential component of effective meal planning is identifying the times and days that have the most restrictions. When you’re running from the time your feet hit the ground before work until after the kids’ activities in the evening, the last thing you want to do is get creative with dinner ideas. Perform some damage control by aligning quick meals with chaotic schedules. If you only have a one-hour window between after-school activities and evening functions, plan for simple meals like burgers or sub sandwiches and soup. Another option is to use the crock pot for meals-at-the-ready when you have time to pop in to eat. The point here is to think about how you’re going to manage meals on days when time is short, so you have a plan in advance.
PLAN LEFTOVERS
Don’t minimize the power of leftovers. While you may not want to have the exact same foods day after day, you can vary ingredients for quick meals. For example, extra chicken breasts early in the week can then be tossed onto salad, rolled into wraps, seasoned for burritos, mixed into chili, or layered onto a sandwich. Similarly, a double batch of spaghetti sauce that simmers all day on Sunday can later be used on chicken marinara, lasagna, or baked ziti. Winter meals like soups and stews often lend themselves well to cooking in larger batches, which can be warmed for lunches or served as leftovers later in the week.
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January 2025
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