Monthy Menu help, please

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CakePoet

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I am planning the monthly menu for this house, I am trying to get back to loving cooking again. I havent planned for 2 month and I need to do this.

This is the plan:

Monday: Chicken filet as in kebabs or more "whole" dishes x4
Tuesday: sausage dishes , have recipes for these
Wednesday: Ground beef x4
Thursday: Chicken filet as in casseroles, stew and similar x 4
Friday: comfort food, have recipes for these.
Saturday: Curry with chicken x4
Sunday: Pulled pork and pork roast, I need a recipe for each.


So could you help me with some good and lovely recipes?
It cant contain mixes, soups or canned sauces, I am in Sweden, I am not willing to pay 4 dollar for a tin of rotel. I cannot have citrus, mold cheeses, coffee or rosewater.

Please help me, please, I need to get the love back in cooking:chef:
 
I am planning the monthly menu for this house, I am trying to get back to loving cooking again. I havent planned for 2 month and I need to do this.

This is the plan:

Monday: Chicken filet as in kebabs or more "whole" dishes x4
Tuesday: sausage dishes , have recipes for these
Wednesday: Ground beef x4
Thursday: Chicken filet as in casseroles, stew and similar x 4
Friday: comfort food, have recipes for these.
Saturday: Curry with chicken x4
Sunday: Pulled pork and pork roast, I need a recipe for each.


So could you help me with some good and lovely recipes?
It cant contain mixes, soups or canned sauces, I am in Sweden, I am not willing to pay 4 dollar for a tin of rotel. I cannot have citrus, mold cheeses, coffee or rosewater.

Please help me, please, I need to get the love back in cooking:chef:

I'm not vegetarian but I enjoy a good home-made veg curry occasionally. Easy to work it round your allergies. No recipe as it depends on what's in the 'fridge and what I fancy on the day.
 
Vegs currys does happen as part of dinners sometimes, it just that my husband loves chicken curry Saturday.
 
You remind me of what I used to do...plan meals for a month or so at a time.

What I began with was a blank 30-day calendar with large "day" squares. They're easy to find on the Internet.

Once I printed out my calendar pages, I inserted S, M, T, W, Th, F and Sat for the days across the top.

In the upper corner of each day, I wrote a smallish date corresponding to the month for which I was planning the menus.

Next came the fun, at least for me.

We like variety, so I would begin with B (beef). P (pork), C (chicken/poultry), F (fish/seafood), L (lamb), ML (meatless), and LO (leftovers). One of those notations would go in the daily squares, making sure I didn't repeat within a given 7-day period. Easy to do since there were 7 categories.

Then I could get creative. If I found a recipe for any of them I though was interesting and new, I would write the name of the recipe and set the recipe aside in a small envelope or folder, in order of its use.

Depending on the volume of a recipe, I could count on a leftover meal quite often and simply eliminate the day it could replace an already marked recipe. That recipe would be excused and play the next month.

Occasionally we'd not be hungry for supper because we'd been out during the day and had a late or larger than usual lunch, so that dish would join its buddy in the game next month, too.

I enjoyed doing this because, we were able to try many new things and kept us out of the rut of "same old, same old." But that's not to say that I would include some of our old standby favorites in the month's menu offerings.

After I created my month's plan, I took the recipes and checked any needed canned/frozen/or packaged items not in my stockroom and made a list, in order of first needed.

This allowed me to see what I could purchase as sales arose and have a well-stocked pantry at the same time.
 
All leftovers becomes the next days lunch and my planning is based on what is cheap in the flyers on payday.

I base my whole menu on the idea that a month is four of each day. Then I take 1 main ingredient and find four recipes and that is all Mondays planned at ones and then the next day and so on .
Friday is always comfort food, because it food to wind down the week.


After that I grab a old menu , I have saved on my computer , set in the dates correct and add in the dishes I have found and I am set. Seldom any repeats in a whole month unless it something the family really loves.

Easy and I know I food to last the whole month.
 
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More power to all of you but such intense menu planning just isn't my style and sounds like a heck of a lot of work!!

I've always cooked more on the fly as I was raised in a house attached to my parents meat market/grocery store and everything was available every day.
It was wonderful.

Now I keep a well stocked freezer, and large well stocked 8'x12' pantry so I can pretty much put most meals together as I choose. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
 
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So to clarify - you're asking for four dishes using whole or diced chicken, four chicken soup/stew/casserole dishes, four ground beef dishes, four chicken curry dishes and one recipe each for pulled pork and pork roast?

You could take a look at the recipe forums for each of those. I mean, we could just start posting what we like, but we don't know what ingredients you have available and/or like to use. Are there particular cuisines or seasonings you prefer?

Also, just out of curiosity - no fish or seafood? That surprises me, since you live in Sweden.
 
I be using chicken breast, filets or what it is called, twice per week well actually 3 times if we count the curry, so I try too keep to one day is stews and casserole and the other day it is more like fried chicken, chicken kebab.

And yes I do need ideas or recipes , four dishes using whole or diced chicken breast , four chicken soup/stew/casserole dishes, four ground beef dishes, four chicken curry dishes and one recipe each for pulled pork and pork roast.


I have posted what I cant use, I am up for anything people like because I dont cook any more with happiness and joy as I used to and I need to get the spark back again.
I been going through so many pages and all I feel is meh over any food, so I though if some else is passionate about the dish, I might feel more positive towards it.

If I can make it and it sounds yummy, it will be on my menu.
 
DH and I both like bell peppers with onions and garlic and I make them with a variety of meats in a bunch of ways. You can sub broccoli and/or cauliflower in some of these, if you like.

Chicken:
- Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe from Betty Crocker (can also use pork or meatballs)
- Chicken Fajitas Recipe | SimplyRecipes.com (can also use beef)
- Thai Green Chicken Curry recipe | Epicurious.com (can also use pork)

Ground beef:
- Beef Tacos with Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix Recipe - Allrecipes.com
- Savory Meatloaf recipe from Betty Crocker (I serve this over mashed potatoes with gravy made from the pan drippings, and green beans)
- Spaghetti Sauce with Ground Beef Recipe - Allrecipes.com (I use half of a green, red and yellow bell pepper in the sauce; serve over spaghetti or other pasta with a garden salad)

I posted this recipe for pulled pork in the slow cooker a few years ago. We serve it in sandwich rolls with coleslaw and hot sauce on top, or on the plate, with coleslaw and baked beans on the side. If you don't have a slow cooker, you can cook it covered in the oven for a few hours, till it's tender.
- Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork
- Easy Baked Beansl
- Creamy Coleslaw

A few options for roast pork:
- Herb-Crusted Pork Loin Recipe : Melissa d'Arabian : Food Network
- Maple-Glazed Pork Tenderloin
- Tuscan Pork Roast

Pork kebabs with Greek salad:
- Grilling: Pork Souvlaki with Pita and Tzatziki Recipe | Serious Eats
- Easy Greek Chopped Salad Recipe | Serious Eats

Hope this helps :)
 
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Those are some helpful and good looking recipes there GG.

CP, if you really want to get your cooking mojo back, I suggest inspiration along with pictures can be found at the nightly dinner thread where people are actually cooking every day. You can read the archive of all the past nightly posts here..

Today's Menu - Discuss Cooking - Cooking Forums

Thanks, Kayelle. The daily dinner thread is a great idea :idea:
 
I do have a crock pot which my husband gave me as morning gift after the wedding night, normal people get jewelry I get a crock pot.

Some the recipe posted had mixes and some had citrus, yes green curry has citrus and it sucks since I love it. But I have found some good recipe and the pulled pork sounds lovely.

Any more ideas?

I been looking at the daily menu thread but bit hard when I am bordering on depression but I am trying.
 
I do have a crock pot which my husband gave me as morning gift after the wedding night, normal people get jewelry I get a crock pot.

Some the recipe posted had mixes and some had citrus, yes green curry has citrus and it sucks since I love it. But I have found some good recipe and the pulled pork sounds lovely.

Any more ideas?

I been looking at the daily menu thread but bit hard when I am bordering on depression but I am trying.

Hi CakePoet. :)

I second Kayelle's suggestion of hanging around here and going through the daily menu threads. A lot of us here get pretty excited about seeing what others are having for dinner and get a lot of inspiration from those posts. :chef: :yum:

Several folks here have offered suggestions of what has worked for them, and provided links to some great sounding recipes. Finding what works for you and your family isn't going to be an overnight fix, but a process. And it can be a lot of fun! :)

(I hope you're considering getting medical help for depression - that's certainly not anything to mess with....)
 
Most people here seams to have a good sense of taste, it not like the Swedish forum I help at that thinks potato salad and lentil curry is a lovely meal.

So if you like it, there is a big chance we find something new and yummy.

But the main problem is I need to set a menu now, since I am on fixed budget and I need to at least know we have food for one month.

I have help but I am not there yet and since I have the motivation of trying to turning around my doctor thinks I can do it with no meds.
 
I just wing it. I cook a roast beef on Sunday, the leftovers are used for sandwiches (hot and cold), and then what is still leftover is used for a quick stir fry. I pull chicken breasts out of the freezer, those are cut up for chicken fingers and I will cook a pan of breasts to make sandwiches, etc. A salmon fillet leftover is used to make a salad where I use summer greens, topped with the salmon and an avocado dressing. Pull a pork roast out of the freezer and then use the leftovers to make Spanish rice and then use the leftovers from the Spanish rice to make burritos. I just wing it. Whatever I can pull out of the freezer, pantry, and crisper flies for me.
 
That what I been doing for 2 month and well it is getting boring because I made same dishes over and over again. Left overs goes in to boxes so my husband have lunch at work and the little that is left is for me to make something for my lunch.
 
I do have a crock pot which my husband gave me as morning gift after the wedding night, normal people get jewelry I get a crock pot.

Some the recipe posted had mixes and some had citrus, yes green curry has citrus and it sucks since I love it. But I have found some good recipe and the pulled pork sounds lovely.

Any more ideas?

I been looking at the daily menu thread but bit hard when I am bordering on depression but I am trying.

Maybe we're not communicating well. As far as I can tell, only one of the recipes I posted had a seasoning mix and it was homemade. When you said no mixes, I thought you meant no store-bought mixes. Is that not right?

You can leave the lime out of the dishes that use it. It's a garnish, not an integral part of the dish.

Have you thought about talking to your doctor about how you've been feeling? He or she might be able to help.
 
If you can get kaffir lime leaves, you can get lime flavor in a marinade without citrus. You can also use lemongrass, lemon balm or thyme, tamarind paste, sumac, and, in some cases, various types of vinegar to replace citrus.
 
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