For those of you who are old enough to know the reference, no this is not a version of “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!” as Jan says from The Brady Bunch (although I totally had that voice in my head when I was typing!), but I’m talking about the rut we get into making the same things over and over for dinner. A few years ago I felt like all I did was make chicken. And chicken. And chicken again. I wasn’t all that inventive with the variety but I had my favorites and knew how to make them without looking at a recipe.
The sad thing was I was collecting all these cookbooks with fabulous recipes in them but I had gotten into the same old routine. I decided I needed to get out of it! So, I started a weekly meal plan rotation. One night would be chicken, the next pasta, the next seafood, etc. This way I would force myself to look through those recipes if something didn’t readily come to mind for me to add to this week’s menu.
Of course, you know I have to write it down to remember it so I wrote out a little card and kept it with my calendar. Now it’s in my meal planning binder. Here’s what mine looks like:
Monday: Crock Pot meal
Tuesday: Beef/Ground Turkey
Wednesday: Pork/Pasta
Thursday: Chicken/
Friday: Fish/seafood
Saturday: Leftovers/eat out
Sunday: Soup/Chili or Salad or Sandwich
This basic plan just focuses on the dinner entree as that was my bigger challenge at the time. You can make yours whatever you want it to be or focus on. I’ve tweaked it over the years as our schedules and preferences change. Do I stick to it strictly each week? No. But it does still make me think about trying new things and get out of the rut of making the same thing over and over.
What tips do you have for getting out of the dinnertime rut? Share it with us in the comments below.
As always, happy cooking!
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