So I'm trying (read desperate) to try to meal plan better. I look at most of the meats in the grocery store and have NO idea what to do with them. I am so sick of ground beef (tacos, hamburgers) and chicken breasts (on top of salads, or "seasoned" with rice and veggies).

Yes, I have 9,000 cookbooks. But I am so tired of having to buy "fresh tarragon" or spices I never use again.

What are some of your family's favorite meals that parlay well into leftovers or other meals using the same "main" ingredient?

Thanks for helping a "newbie"!

Sara

I know what you mean. I'm stuck on the same foods and constantly wanting to try new things, but never do. For me it has to be EASY and pretty quick or I won't do it!

Right now the way I do it (to make things easier on myself) is to cook extra one night so I can use leftovers a few nights later - makes my cooking much easier. Of course some of mine are the basics you're getting sick of (and I am too), but here they are...

I cook 2 lbs of ground beef. I immediately put 1 lb away. The first night we'll have tacos. I'll save the rest and later have either enchiladas (faster with the pre-cooked meet) or spaghetti (same deal).

I also like cooking extra chicken. I bake 2 lbs of chicken (topped with our favorite steak seasoning - strange I know). We eat the first night just plain chicken. Then I'll cut it up into cubes (much easier once cooked vs raw) and put it in Chicken Fetticuni Alfredo.

OR, I do 2 lbs chicken cooked covered in BBQ sauce. BBQ Chicken the first night, then I shred the leftovers and we have BBQ sandwhiches later in the week!

These are the basic meals I seem to cook weekly! I'll be looking for any suggestions you get for anything else!!

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WE'RE DEBT FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

My first suggestion is to get different cookbooks - or look on-line. I use Cooks.com - Recipe Search and More - they have really good, really simple recipes. I also get the Kraft magazine which has recipes featuring Kraft food items, but I just substitute generic brands usually since that's what I buy.

I also get a lot of magazines and cut out recipes from there. I use magnetic photo albums to store my recipes in. I make a table of contents for each so I can find them faster.

If I cook a meal that can be frozen for later, I'll double the recipe. For instance, meatloaf. We'll make one to eat and one to freeze. Same with casseroles and soups. For soups, I freeze them in small portions so that we don't get sick of it before it's gone. By small, I mean 1-2 serving sizes. I'll have it for lunch or a snack.

Since I stock up on meat when it's on sale, I usually have it stored in my freezer. I'll see what's in there and then make a meal plan using that meat. The day before I go grocery shoppping for the week (usually on Sun), I'll put together a meal plan for the week, listing each meal I'm going to make. To decide what to make, I look through my cook books, using what meat I have in the freezer or what is on sale.

If I don't do this - we end up eating out a lot (like every other night) or having pasta several times a week.

Speaking of pasta, I had the best idea last week. I grilled marinated chicken and veggies on the grill for dinner one night and then the next night, I made vegetable pasta using the leftover veggies. I sauteed garlic in olive oil, then added the veggies and cooked for about 7-8 mins. Then I added cooked pasta and mixed it all together. Took it off the heat, added freshly ground parmesan cheese and it was delicious!

Hope this huge email helps!

You must have the same genetic trait the women in my family have to collect recipes and cookbooks.
Have you checked out Taste of Home magazines? They have plenty of down to earth recipes that don't call for wierd ingredients you will never use again.

We recently discovered a new favorite. I'll put a whole chicken in the crock pot all day with whatever seasoning I'm in the mood for. We'll have it for dinner that night with a side of veggies and potatoes and maybe I'll make a gravy. Then I'll pull off the extra meat from the bones, save the juice for soup and the next day I'll use the chicken in wraps, sandwiches or enchilladas. We're actually doing this this week. We'll have chicken enchilladas tomorrow and chicken-veggie-rice soup tomorrow. I've been told if you have a large family, you need to use two chickens if you want to stretch out three meals.

It must be contagious, collecting cookbooks and cooking the same hum drum meals. I pretty much just move the same meals around my calendar month after month.

I have been trying to throw in a new recipe at least once a month to see if it is liked or not. If it is I add it to my list of meals. That way we get a taste of something new once in a while but not all the time.

I think I cook just like my mother did and my grandmother and so on and so forth. LOL

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I have a list of meals my family likes, that are cheap and easy to make. I pick from that list generally, and I try to make something new once a week, even if it's just a new side dish.

To get new ideas, I read the "what are you making tonight" threads in the Kitchen Chatter section and see what everyone else is making for dinner. I also ask my friends and playdate moms what they are making when I see them. I know it's silly, but everyone else likes to get new ideas too.

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It's not what you make; it's what you spend.

Join the Budget Scrapbooking challenges and earn a discount to the CC store!

Do you visit Kraft's website? You can sign up for Food & Family, their free magazine-cookbook. It does have ads in it for Kraft products, but it has a lot of great, low-cost recipes in it too. Everyone I have fixed this month from there has been a real winner in my house. And I'm the one sick of food because we also fix the "same ol' thing". It's gotten so bad, that if I didn't need it to live, I wouldn't eat it! So definitely searching for new recipes has helped me!