Never Wonder “What should I make for dinner?” Again

So now that we have all been home for forty forevers, do you feel like every five minutes it is time to feed your family again?

I feel like every household struggles with this same issue. Every day that ask, “Mom, what are we having for dinner?”

And everyday, you’re left wondering, “What am I making for dinner tonight?” Or actually, in our house, we usually say “supper.” We are Southern.

I have tried about ten different ways to manage the dinner question. Weekly menus, last minute plans, keeping everything in the pantry because I had no plan, eating out, telling everyone to pick their own meal, we have done it all. The only consistency through the years is that I never stick to one method of planning for very long– until this year!

Like most moms I have about six or seven meals that are my favorite to make, and I have throughly run those into the ground. I do realize exactly what mine are: spaghetti, vegetable beef soup, chili, roast, spicy chicken, and sausage and peas.

With everyone home all the livelong day, every single day, this problem has been magnified for all of us, I think. Early on in the lockdown, I came up with this solution that is working brilliantly, so I thought I would share it with you in case any of you want to try it out for yourself!

This has been a “Mom, what’s for dinner?” life saver for me!

****The Monthly Menu List*****

All I do is write out about 26 meals I plan to make in a month.

This way I never make the same thing twice during that twenty-six days. They are numbered, but they don’t have to be made in that exact order. Because let’s face it, some days you have enough energy to roll out the dough for Chicken ‘n Dumplins, and other days you cannot do more than lay out the leftover buffet.

Why 26?

Well, you see, there are twenty-six lines exactly on standard wide-ruled notebook paper. Ha! My reasons are always highly scientific…

It is basically a giant brainstorming list, but it has solved so many problems for me.

When I face that inevitable question each day, I think, “Let me see what the list says we are having. Oh, ehhh it is too late to start the crockpot, so yes, soup, let’s do the that.”

I am going to give you my newest list, typed up all neatly here in a sec, but first let me show you what this actually looks like in what I call my “Mom notebook.” 2020 simply did not require a real calendar, so I am using a spiral notebook for planning this year. I have been doing this monthly menu method since April.

Each month, at the end of the month, I take the meals I did not ever get around to making and consider why. If it is because I never wanted to, I just scrap those. Sometimes it is just because we got take-out too much, so then those just go to the top of the next month’s list.

I have also scrapped a few dishes that everyone hated (crock pot chicken parmesan). Alan and I loved it, but every single boy hated it, so I am giving up on that one for a while.

Examples:

One month one of my boys was desperate to have less “yucky” meals on the menu and more of his favorites, so he made his own list, hoping I would stick to it:

I crossed off the ones I made so he could feel like I was listening to his requests. “VBS” is what he call vegetable beef soup, which I believe is his favorite food in the world. He eats like four bowls in a sitting. I make it in a humongous pot, and there isn’t much leftovers.

This Month’s List:

Now every mom (or sometimes dad) has their own go-to dishes, so I do not expect anyone to want to make my whole month of meals, but you may find a few good ideas here.

For added fun, each month I have at least one night where I write “new recipe”, and usually that ends up being something I saw on a blog or in my family recipe book. The best new recipe I have tried so far turned out to be my Maw-maw’s jambalia. Wow, that stuff is insane level good! I have GOT to do a blog post on that one.

We are going on vacation in August, so this list newest will probably last until September.

1. Hamburgers & french fries
2. Leftover Buffet — Some kids don’t even eat leftovers. They eat oatmeal, and I’m fine with it.
3. Salad with grilled chicken
4. French toast and bacon– because what’s the fun in eating healthy every single night???
5. Sausage, black eye peas, and biscuits
6. Chicken Noodle Soup
7. Salmon, rice, and broccoli
8. BBQ chicken with veggies & mashed potatoes
9. Leftovers
10. Spicy Crockpot Chicken
11. Pepper Steak (video down below)
12. –New Recipe– to be determined
13. Four Vegetable Night (corn on cob, butter beans, mashed potatoes, rolls)
14. Roast in the crock pot
15. Cheesy Tuna Helper and veggies
16. Lasagna
17. Leftovers
18. Chicken ‘n Dumplins
19. Baked Potato Soup
20. Jambalia
21. Leftovers
22. Hot Stuff Soup
23. Spaghetti
24. Ham and veggies and mashed potatoes
25. Vegetable Beef Soup
26. Tacos

The giveaway I mentioned on parenting tweens can be found here.

Always, if you have a particular meal you would like the recipe for, send me a comment, I will be happy to do a post on it. Also, if you have a family favorite that is nut-free and not on my lists, please share! I am always on the look out for new menu items.

I hope you will give this month-at-a-time concept a shot. Maybe it will help you as much as it helped me.